JP6911615B2 - Image forming apparatus and control method of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method for controlling an image forming apparatus.

As an example of a recording medium used in an image forming apparatus, there is a processed paper that has been subjected to predetermined processing, for example, perforation processing, crease processing, or the like. In this processed paper, the processing positions such as perforations and creases may vary. If the processing position of the processing paper varies, an image may be formed on the processing position such as a perforation or a crease.

Then, when an image is formed on the processing position, the formed image may be divided by the separation of the paper at the perforation in the processed paper for perforation processing, and it may be difficult to discriminate the image. Further, in the processed paper for crease processing, the fixing property of the toner at the crease portion may be insufficient in the post-processing after image formation.

Therefore, in the processing paper, particularly the processing paper in which a plurality of processing positions exist in one sheet, the processing position information is compared with the detection result of the processing position of the sheet by the detection unit, and the image is based on the comparison result. The formation position is corrected (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-15495

Normally, in the inspection of the quality of the output product in which the image is formed and output by the image forming unit, the image of the output product obtained by reading the image of the output product is compared with the reference image, and the difference between the two images is within a predetermined range. If it fits within the range, it is a good product, if it exceeds a predetermined range, it is a defective product, and so on, based on the amount of deviation between the two images.

However, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, when the processing position of the processed paper varies, the two images are compared with the output image and the reference image misaligned. Therefore, the output product that should be judged as a non-defective product may be judged as a defective product.

Therefore, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus and a control method of an image forming apparatus capable of performing a quality inspection of an output with high accuracy even when the processing position of the processed paper varies. The purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit to read the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation,
A second reading unit, which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product that is image-formed and output by the image forming unit,
A control unit that controls the image position formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
To be equipped.
And the control unit
The image of the output product read by the second reading unit is acquired as a reference image, and is obtained.
The amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit and the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit when acquiring the reference image is calculated, and only the amount of the deviation is calculated. After adjusting the relative positions of the output and the reference image, the image of the output read by the second reader is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output is judged based on the comparison result.
Each time an image is formed on a recording medium, a reference image is created based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
The feature is that the image of the output product read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output product is judged based on the comparison result.

Further, the control method of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is as follows.
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit to read the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation,
A second reading unit, which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product that is image-formed and output by the image forming unit,
In an image forming apparatus that controls an image position formed on a recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
The image of the output product read by the second reading unit is acquired as a reference image, and is obtained.
The amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit and the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit when acquiring the reference image is calculated, and only the amount of the deviation is calculated. After adjusting the relative positions of the output and the reference image, the image of the output read by the second reader is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output is judged based on the comparison result.
Each time an image is formed on a recording medium, a reference image is created based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
The feature is that the image of the output product read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output product is judged based on the comparison result.

According to the present invention, even when the processing position of the processed paper varies, the quality inspection of the output product can be performed with high accuracy.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of the structure of the main part of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware composition of each part of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the structure of the control system of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the processing paper which the perforation area A to E of a rectangular shape are formed in different sizes. It is the schematic which shows an example of the basic flow of the quality inspection of an output product. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the reference image creation process (that is, the process which makes the image of the output product read by the 2nd reading unit the reference image) which concerns on Example 1. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the quality inspection process (that is, the process which judges the quality of an output material based on a reference image) which concerns on Example 1. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the creation of the reference image which concerns on Example 2 and the quality inspection process of an output thing.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to embodiments. In the following description and each figure, the same reference numerals will be used for the same elements or elements having the same function, and duplicate description will be omitted.

[Structure of main parts of image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a main part of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment transfers, for example, a toner image formed on a photoconductor to a paper which is an example of a recording medium, and heats and pressurizes the paper on which the toner image is transferred in a high-temperature fixing portion. This is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for fixing a toner image on paper. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus is applied to a copier, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a printing machine, a multifunction device, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment operates the paper feeding unit 10, the first reading unit 20, the image forming unit 30, the second reading unit 40, and the control unit 50. It is provided with a display unit 60. The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image on the processed paper using the processed paper subjected to predetermined processing as a recording medium.

As the predetermined processing, well-known processing such as perforation processing and crease processing can be exemplified. In this case, the recording medium to be image-formed by the image-forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is processed paper that has been perforated or crease-processed. In the following, a case where a processed paper that has been perforated is used as the recording medium will be described as an example.

The paper feeding unit 10 is provided in, for example, the image forming apparatus 1. The paper feeding unit 10 stores the processed paper 70 that has been perforated, and supplies the processed paper 70 to the image forming unit 30 under the control of the control unit 50.

The first reading unit 20 is provided in the middle of the transport path of the processed paper 70 from the paper feeding unit 10 to the image forming unit 30, that is, on the upstream side of the image forming unit 30 in the paper transport direction, and the processed paper 70 before image formation. Read the processing position information of. As the first reading unit 20, for example, an in-line sensor in which photosensitive units (pixels) are arranged in a straight line over at least the maximum width of the processed paper 70 can be used.

The in-line sensor consists of image sensors such as CCD (Charge Coupled Device) type and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type, and pixels the reflected light from the processing paper 70 based on the irradiation light emitted from the light source to the processing paper 70. The processing position information of the processing paper 70 is read by receiving light in units and performing photoelectric conversion.

The processing position information of the processing paper 70 is information on the processing applied to the processing paper 70, more specifically, in the case of perforation processing, the perforated shape (the shape of the perforated area), and the processing paper 70. Information such as the processing position (perforation position) and the perforation length in.

The image forming unit 30 forms an image on the processed paper 70 that has been perforated, for example, by an electrophotographic method. The electrophotographic image forming unit 30 transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor to the processing paper 70, and heats and pressurizes the processing paper 70 on which the toner image is transferred to fix the toner image on the processing paper 70. ..

The second reading unit 40 is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit 30 in the paper transport direction, and reads an image of an output product (processed paper 70 after image formation) that is image-formed and output by the image forming unit 30. As the second reading unit 40, the same in-line sensor as the first reading unit 20 can be used.

Here, the in-line sensor is used for both the first reading unit 20 and the second reading unit 40, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an image reading sensor other than the in-line sensor can be used. Further, the first reading unit 20 and the second reading unit 40 may be configured to use different types of image reading sensors.

The control unit 50 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52 for storing a program or the like executed by the CPU 51, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area of the CPU 51. It has 53 and. As the ROM 52, for example, an electrically erasable programmable ROM can be used.

The control unit 50 controls the entire image forming apparatus 1 including the paper feeding unit 10 and the image forming unit 30. Further, the control unit 50 performs a quality inspection (good / bad judgment) of the output product based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit 20 and the image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40. The details of the quality inspection of the output by the control unit 50 will be described later.

The operation display unit 60 includes, for example, a touch panel in which a panel-type display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display device and a position input device such as a touch pad are combined. The operation display unit 60 displays an instruction menu for the user, information on the acquired image data, and the like. Further, the operation display unit 60 is provided with a plurality of keys and has a role as an input unit for receiving input of various instructions, characters, numbers and the like by the user's key operation.

[Overall configuration of image forming apparatus]
Next, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each part of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, in addition to the paper feeding unit 10, the first reading unit 20, the image forming unit 30, and the second reading unit 40, various post-staple processing and the like are performed. It is configured to include a post-processing unit (post-processing device) 80 for performing processing. However, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the post-processing unit 80 is not an essential component, but a component provided as needed.

The paper feed unit 10 has, for example, two storage trays 11 and 12 for storing the processed paper 70 according to size. In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is assumed that as the processing paper 70, cut paper cut to standard dimensions such as A4 size and B4 size is used. Under the control of the control unit 50, the paper feed unit 10 sends out the processed paper 70 of the specified size from the storage tray 11/12.

The processed paper 70 sent out from the storage tray 11/12 is conveyed by the transfer roller 91 and supplied to the resist roller 92 located upstream of the image forming unit 30 in the sheet transfer direction. The first reading unit 20 is provided in the middle of the transport path 93 of the processed paper 70 from the paper feeding unit 10 to the image forming unit 30, more specifically, on the upstream side of the resist roller 92, and is provided before image forming. Read the processing position information of the processing paper 70 of.

The image forming unit 30 has a structure including a photoconductor 31, a charging unit 32, an exposure unit 33, a developing unit 34, a transfer separation unit 35, a cleaning unit 36, and a fixing unit 37. The photoconductor 31 has a drum-like shape and rotates under driving by a drive motor (not shown). The charging unit 32 uniformly charges the drum-shaped photoconductor 31. The exposure unit 33 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 31 by exposing the surface of the photoconductor 31 based on the image data given via the control unit 50.

The developing unit 34 develops an electrostatic latent image that is exposed by the exposed unit 33 and is formed on the photoconductor 31, and forms a toner image by adhering toner to the electrostatic latent image. The transfer separation unit 35 transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor 31 to the processing paper 70 conveyed by the transfer roller 94, and separates the processing paper 70 from the photoconductor 31. The cleaning unit 36 cleans the photoconductor 31. The fixing unit 37 heats and pressurizes the processing paper 70 to fix the toner image transferred on the processing paper 70 to the processing paper 70.

The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a double-sided image forming mode, and is provided with a back surface conveying section 95 between the paper feeding section 10 and the image forming section 30 in order to realize double-sided image forming. .. In the double-sided image forming mode, the processed paper 70 whose image is formed on the first surface and discharged from the fixing portion 37 is conveyed to the back surface conveying portion 95 by switching the conveying path by the switching gate 96. The switching gate 96 can select the transport path of the processing paper 70 by being driven by a driving unit (not shown) such as a solenoid under the control of the control unit 50.

The back surface transport unit 95 reverses the front and back of the processed paper 70. Then, the processed paper 70 whose front and back sides are reversed by the back surface transport unit 95 is conveyed by the transfer roller 97 and merges with the transfer path 93 via the transfer path 98. The processed paper 70 is again supplied from the resist roller 92 to the transfer separation section 35, an image is formed on the second surface, and then the fixing process is performed by the fixing section 37.

The processed paper 70, which is formed with a single-sided image or a double-sided image and is discharged from the fixing unit 37, is supplied to the post-processing unit 80. The post-processing unit 80 includes transport rollers 81, 82, a switching gate 83, and, for example, two paper ejection trays 84, 85. Here, for the sake of simplification of the drawings, the mechanical part related to the post-processing of the post-processing unit 80 is not shown.

In the post-processing unit 80, the processed paper 70 discharged from the fixing unit 37 is conveyed by the transfer rollers 81 and 82 and discharged to the output tray 84. Further, the processed paper 70 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 85 by switching the transport path by the switching gate 83. Similar to the switching gate 96, the switching gate 83 can select a transport path to the output tray 84/85 by being driven by a driving unit (not shown) such as a solenoid under the control of the control unit 50. ing.

The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a manual feed unit 90 in the vicinity of the paper feed unit 10. The manual feed unit 90 is manually fed by a user to set processed paper having a size not stored in the storage trays 11 and 12 of the paper feed unit 10 and special paper such as an OHP sheet. The paper set in the manual feed portion 90 is taken into the transport path 98 by the roller 99, and is supplied from the transport path 98 to the image forming section 30 via the transport path 93.

[Structure of control system of image forming apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is added to the paper feeding unit 10, the first reading unit 20, the image forming unit 30, the second reading unit 40, the control unit 50, and the operation display unit 60. A storage unit 110 and a communication unit 120 are provided. The components of these control systems are connected to each other via the system bus 130.

The storage unit 110 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and under the control of the control unit 50, the storage unit 110 reads an image of the output material (processed paper 70 after image formation) read by the second reading unit 40 as the output material. Acquire and store in advance as a reference image that serves as a reference for quality inspection (quality judgment). Further, the storage unit 110 stores in advance the processing position information of the processing paper 70, which is used in the quality inspection of the output product described later. In the following, the machining position information stored in advance in the storage unit 110 will be referred to as master machining position information for convenience.

The communication unit 120 receives job information transmitted from an external device 100 such as a personal computer through a LAN cable 200, which is an example of a network, and sends the received job information to the control unit 50 via the system bus 130. The job information includes information such as image data of the image to be formed and the type of paper to be used associated with the image data.

As described above, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image on the processed paper 70 which has been perforated. When forming an image on the processing paper 70 in the image forming apparatus, if the processing position of the perforation of the processing paper 70 varies, the image may be formed on the processing position of the perforation. Then, when an image is formed on the processed position of the perforation, the formed image may be divided by the separation of the paper at the perforation, and it may be difficult to discriminate the image.

[About quality inspection of output]
From this point of view, when an image is formed on the processed paper 70, a quality inspection (good / bad judgment) is performed on the output material from which the image is formed and output. In this quality inspection of the output product, the image of the output product obtained by reading the image of the output product is compared with the reference image, and if the difference between the two images is within a predetermined range, the product is good and exceeds the predetermined range. If so, it is a defective product, and it is performed based on the amount of deviation between the two images.

In the quality inspection of the output product, when the processing position of the processing paper 70 varies, when the two images are compared with the image of the output product and the reference image misaligned, the output product should be judged to be a non-defective product. May be judged as a defective product. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even when the processing position of the processed paper varies, the quality inspection of the output product can be realized with high accuracy.

In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when performing the quality inspection of the output product, the processing position information related to the processing of the processing paper 70 is stored in advance in the storage unit 110 (see FIG. 3) as the master processing position information. .. An example of the processing paper 70 is shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of processing paper 70 in which rectangular perforations regions A to E are formed in different sizes. In the example of FIG. 4, five rectangular perforations regions A to E are formed in different sizes. In FIG. 4, the perforations are shown by broken lines.

In FIG. 4, the perforation area A and the perforation area B are arranged along the sub-scanning direction (paper transport direction) with one side of the main scanning direction aligned, and the perforation area C and the perforation area D are arranged. And the perforation area E are arranged along the sub-scanning direction with one side of the main scanning direction aligned. That is, it is a two-row array consisting of the arrangement of the perforation region A and the perforation region B and the arrangement of the perforation region C, the perforation region D, and the perforation region E.

Then, in the arrangement of the perforation region A and the perforation region B, the width w1 of the perforation region A in the main scanning direction is wider than the width w2 of the perforation region B (w1> w2), and the perforation region C and the sewing machine In the arrangement of the eye area D and the perforation area E, both widths in the main scanning direction are the same w3. Further, the distance d1 between the perforation area A and the perforation area B, the space d2 between the perforation area C and the perforation area D, and the space d3 between the perforation area D and the perforation area E in the sub-scanning direction are different. The intervals d4 between the perforated areas A and the perforated areas C and D and the intervals d5 between the perforated areas B and the perforated areas D and E in the main scanning direction are different.

The shapes of the perforated areas A to E of the processed paper 70 (rectangular shape in this example), the processing positions of the perforated areas A to E on the processed paper 70, the mutual spacing between the perforated areas A to E, and the like. Information about the perforations is stored in advance in the storage unit 110 (see FIG. 3) as master processing position information.

(Basic flow of quality inspection of output product)
Here, the basic flow of the quality inspection of the output material in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a basic flow of quality inspection of an output product.

When forming a user-created image (combining user-created images) by the image forming unit 30 on the processed paper 70 processed in the perforated areas A to E, the first reading unit 20 uses the processed paper before image formation. The processing position information of 70, specifically, the information related to the perforations in the perforation areas A to E is read as the processing position information. Then, the image forming unit 30 compares the processing position information read by the first reading unit 20 with the master processing position information stored in advance in the storage unit 110 under the control of the control unit 50, and the comparison result is obtained. Based on the above, image formation is performed while adjusting (correcting) the image position to be formed.

The second reading unit 40 reads an image of an arbitrary set of perforated areas A to E in the output product that is output by forming an image on the processing paper 70 by the image forming unit 30. The image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 is stored in the storage unit 110 as a reference image as a reference for quality inspection of the output product under the control of the control unit 50. The reference image and the processing position information read by the first reading unit 20 are used as a standard for determining the quality of the output product when inspecting the quality of the output product.

Here, an example is given in which the reading result of an image of an arbitrary set of perforated areas A to E is used as a reference image, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of sets of perforated areas A to E are used. The average of the reading results of the image may be used as the reference image.

A specific example for realizing the quality inspection of the output product will be described below. In the following examples, the case where the above-mentioned perforated processed paper 70 is used as the processed paper that has been subjected to the predetermined processing will be described as an example.

(Example 1)
The first embodiment is an example in which the image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 is used as a reference image, and the quality inspection of the output product is performed based on the reference image. FIG. 6 shows the flow of the reference image creation process according to the first embodiment (that is, the process of using the image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 as the reference image). The process is executed under the control of the control unit 50 (more specifically, the CPU 51). The same applies to the examples described later.

First, the control unit 50 acquires the processing position information of the processing paper 70 before image formation read by the first reading unit 20 (step S11). Next, the control unit 50 obtains a difference between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit 20 and the processing position based on the master processing position information stored in advance in the storage unit 110, and the difference is obtained. Is stored in the storage unit 110 as a difference 1 (step S12).

Next, when the image forming unit 30 forms an image, the control unit 50 determines the position of the image to be formed in the perforation areas A to E of the processing paper 70 based on the difference 1 with respect to the processing position based on the master processing position information. The adjusted image (step S13) is then formed in the perforated areas A to E of the processing paper 70 (step S14). Next, the control unit 50 acquires an image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 (step S15), and then stores the acquired image of the output product as a reference image in the storage unit 110 (step S16). ..

FIG. 7 shows the flow of the quality inspection process of the output product according to the first embodiment (that is, the process of determining the quality of the output product based on the reference image). This quality inspection process is a process for the second and subsequent sheets of processed paper 70.

First, the control unit 50 acquires the processing position information of the processing paper 70 before image formation read by the first reading unit 20 (step S21). Next, the control unit 50 obtains a difference between the machining position based on the machining position information read by the first reading unit 20 and the machining position based on the master machining position information, and saves the difference as the difference 2 (step S22). ).

Next, the control unit 50 obtains an average value between the difference 1 obtained in the processing for the first processing paper 70 and the difference 2 obtained this time, and processes the average value for the processing position based on the master processing position information. The deviation amount is set as the deviation amount of the processing position of the paper 70, and the deviation amount is updated (step S23). The difference 1 is stored in the storage unit 110 in step S12 in the process of creating the reference image of FIG.

Next, the control unit 50 adjusts the relative position between the output and the reference image, that is, the position of the output or the position of the reference image by the updated amount of deviation when the image forming unit 30 forms the image. (Step S24). Subsequently, the control unit 50 forms an image in the perforation areas A to E of the processing paper 70 based on the image data (step S25).

After the image is formed, the image of the output product is read by the second reading unit 40. The control unit 50 acquires an image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 (step S26), then compares the image of the acquired output product with the reference image (step S27), and determines the amount of deviation between the two images. Calculate (step S28). Then, the control unit 50 determines whether the output is good or bad if the amount of deviation of the output image with respect to the reference image is within a predetermined range, and if it exceeds the predetermined range, it is considered as a defective product (step S29).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 is used as a reference image as a reference for determining the quality of the output product. Then, the amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit 20 and the processing position based on the processing position information acquired when the reference image is acquired is calculated, and the output is output by the amount of the deviation. After adjusting the position of the output or the position of the reference image, the quality of the output is judged. As a result, even when the processing position of the processed paper varies, the quality inspection of the output product can be realized with high accuracy.

(Example 2)
The second embodiment is an example in which a reference image is created each time an image is formed on the processing paper 70, and the quality of the output is inspected based on the reference image. FIG. 8 shows the flow of the creation of the reference image and the quality inspection process of the output according to the second embodiment.

The control unit 50 first acquires the processing position information of the processing paper 70 before image formation read by the first reading unit 20 (step S31), and then based on the acquired processing position information, the perforation areas A to A to E is displayed on the display screen of the operation display unit 60 (step S32).

When the perforations areas A to E are displayed on the display screen of the operation display unit 60, the user allocates the user-created image corresponding to each of the perforation areas A to E on the display screen, and the perforation area The positional relationship of the user-created image is determined for each of A to E, and is stored in the storage unit 110 as a reference image (step S33).

Next, the control unit 50 forms an image in the perforation areas A to E of the processing paper 70 based on the image data (step S34). After the image is formed, the image of the output product is read by the second reading unit 40.

The control unit 50 acquires an image of the output product read by the second reading unit 40 (step S35), then compares the image of the acquired output product with the reference image (step S36), and determines the amount of deviation between the two images. Calculate (step S37). Then, the control unit 50 determines whether the output is good or bad if the amount of deviation of the output image with respect to the reference image is within a predetermined range, and if it exceeds the predetermined range, it is considered as a defective product (step S38).

As described above, in the second embodiment, a reference image is created each time an image is formed on the processing paper 70, and the quality of the output is inspected based on the reference image. As a result, quality can be judged based on the reference image in which the positional relationship of the user-created image is determined for each of the perforation areas A to E each time. Therefore, when the processing position of the processing paper varies. Even so, the quality inspection of the output product can be realized with high accuracy.

[Modification example]
Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. That is, various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention, and the modified or improved forms are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case of dealing with the variation in the processing position of the processing paper has been described as an example, but the processing position of the processing paper may be intentionally shifted regardless of the variation in the processing position. Can be accommodated.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the processed paper is applied to the perforated paper is described as an example, but the application is not limited to the perforated paper. It can be applied to all types of paper on which a predetermined format is printed in advance, such as crease-processed paper. Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the perforation region is a rectangular shape, but the shape is not limited to the rectangular shape, and any shape such as a circular shape, an elliptical shape, or a star shape can be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first reading unit 20 and the second reading unit 40 are integrally provided in the image forming apparatus 1, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and one or both of them are not limited to this configuration. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the image forming apparatus 1 is provided outside the image forming apparatus 1. When the first reading unit 20 and the second reading unit 40 have a CPU in addition to the image reading sensor, the CPU replaces the control unit 50 to calculate the deviation amount of the first and second embodiments. It is also possible to have a configuration that executes the functions of comparison and quality inspection.

Further, in the above embodiment, it is assumed that the cut paper cut to the standard dimensions such as A4 size and B4 size is used as the processing paper 70, but the application is not limited to the cut paper and is formed into a roll shape. It can also be applied to long paper / continuous paper (continuous paper) such as rolled roll paper. For example, an image forming apparatus that handles roll paper has a configuration including a paper feeding unit that feeds the roll paper to the image forming unit 30 and a paper winding unit that winds up the roll paper after image formation discharged from the image forming unit 30. Become. In this case, the paper feed unit corresponds to the paper feed unit 10 of FIG.

In the case of this roll paper-compatible image forming apparatus, the first reading unit 20 and the second reading unit 40 can both be provided in the image forming apparatus 1 as in the above embodiment, or the paper feeding unit side can be used. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the first reading unit 20 is provided and the second reading unit 40 is provided on the paper winding unit side.

In the case of long paper / continuous paper such as roll paper, the same image formation and quality inspection of the output as the cut paper are performed in the unit of the cut paper shown in FIG. Further, in the case of both cut paper and long paper (continuous paper), processing position information is generated for each of a plurality of processing areas (for example, perforation areas A to E in FIG. 4) included in the processing paper. It is also possible to control the image position formed on the processing paper based on the processing position information corresponding to each processing area, and to judge the quality of the output product for each processing area.

1 ... Image forming device, 10 ... Paper feeding unit, 20 ... First reading unit, 30 ... Image forming unit, 31 ... Photoreceptor, 32 ... Charging unit, 33 ... Exposure unit, 34 ... Developing unit, 35 ... Transfer separation unit , 36 ... Cleaning unit, 37 ... Fixing unit, 40 ... Second reading unit, 50 ... Control unit, 51 ... CPU, 52 ... ROM, 53 ... RAM, 60 ... Operation display unit, 70 ... Processing paper, 80 ... Post-processing Unit (post-processing device), 90 ... manual part, 100 ... external device, 110 ... storage unit, 120 ... communication unit, 130 ... system bus, 200 ... LAN cable

Claims (8)

An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit and reading the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation.
A second reading unit which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product which is image-formed and output by the image forming unit.
A control unit that controls an image position formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
With
The control unit
The image of the output product read by the second reading unit is acquired as a reference image, and is obtained.
The amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit and the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit when acquiring the reference image is calculated, and the deviation is calculated. After adjusting the relative positions of the output and the reference image by the amount, the image of the output read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the output is based on the comparison result. An image forming apparatus characterized in determining the quality of an object. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined processing is perforation processing or crease processing. The image of the output product read by the second reading unit is acquired in advance as the reference image, and is obtained.
The control unit determines the amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit and the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit when acquiring the reference image. The image formation according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the image formation according to claim 1 or 2 is characterized in that the relative positions of the output product and the reference image are adjusted by the amount of the deviation, and then the quality of the output product is determined. Device. An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit and reading the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation.
A second reading unit which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product which is image-formed and output by the image forming unit.
A control unit that controls an image position formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
With
The control unit
Each time an image is formed on the recording medium, a reference image is created based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that an image of the output product read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output product is determined based on the comparison result. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined processing is perforation processing or crease processing. The recording medium includes a plurality of processing regions and includes a plurality of processing regions.
The control unit generates the processing position information for each of a plurality of processing regions included in the recording medium, and the image forming unit is formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information corresponding to each processing region. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the image position to be processed is controlled, and the quality of the output product is determined for each processing region. An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit and reading the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation.
A second reading unit which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product which is image-formed and output by the image forming unit.
In an image forming apparatus that controls an image position formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
The image of the output product read by the second reading unit is acquired as a reference image, and is obtained.
The amount of deviation between the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit and the processing position based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit when acquiring the reference image is calculated, and the deviation is calculated. After adjusting the relative positions of the output and the reference image by the amount, the image of the output read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the output is based on the comparison result. A control method for an image forming apparatus, which comprises judging the quality of an object. An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium that has undergone predetermined processing,
A first reading unit provided on the upstream side of the image forming unit and reading the processing position information of the recording medium before image formation.
A second reading unit which is provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit and reads an image of an output product which is image-formed and output by the image forming unit.
In an image forming apparatus that controls an image position formed on the recording medium based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
Each time an image is formed on the recording medium, a reference image is created based on the processing position information read by the first reading unit.
A control method of an image forming apparatus, characterized in that an image of the output product read by the second reading unit is compared with the reference image, and the quality of the output product is determined based on the comparison result.

Images