JPH07140849A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inform required time up to the finish of copying at the time of the start of copying or in the midst of copying. CONSTITUTION:The required time up to the finish of copying is calculated based on a copying condition such as the number of an original, the number of copies, copying magnification or the like and the size of copy paper by a required time arithmetic part 102, and its arithmetic result is displayed at a copying completion required time displaying part, and even in the midst of copying, the required time up to the finish of copying is calculated by the required time arithmetic part 102 and its arithmetic result is displayed at the copying completion required time displaying part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying machine,
During the copying operation, the set number of copies is added one by one, or a back-calculated numerical value is displayed to inform the user of the progress. In such a method, the same display will always be displayed even if the copying speed per copy machine, the usage status of the additional device, and the number of originals are different, and the user estimates the time required to complete the operation. It was impossible.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, it is intended to eliminate the drawback that it is impossible to inform the time required to start image formation or to finish image formation during image formation processing. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of notifying a required time until the image formation is completed during the formation process.

[0004]

An image forming apparatus of the present invention reads an image of an original and forms the read image on an image forming medium, in accordance with the number of originals, the number of image formings, and settings. Setting means for setting image forming conditions with different image forming speeds, instructing means for instructing the start of image formation, the number of originals, the number of image forming sheets, and the image forming conditions set by the setting means give instructions by the instructing means. And a display unit for displaying the time required from the start of image formation to the end of all image formation calculated by this calculation means Has been done.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image of the original is read and the read image is formed on the image forming medium by the image forming means. In the image forming apparatus, the image is formed according to the number of originals, the number of image formings and the setting. Setting means for setting image forming conditions having different speeds, instructing means for instructing the start of image formation, the number of originals set by the setting means, the number of image formings and the image forming conditions, after the instructing means gives an instruction The first calculation means for calculating the time required until all the image formation is completed, the image formation conditions such as the image formation magnification set by the setting means, the image forming medium size, etc. Second calculating means for calculating the image forming processing time for one image forming medium, and one image forming medium by the image forming means. Each time the image forming process is completed, the subtracting unit that sequentially subtracts the image forming processing time calculated by the second calculating unit from the required time calculated by the first calculating unit, and the first calculating unit. The display unit is configured to display the calculated required time from the start of image formation to the end of all the image formations, and to display the new required time subtracted by the subtraction unit.

According to the image forming method of the present invention, an image of a document is read, and the read image is formed on the image forming medium. In the image forming method, the image forming speed varies depending on the number of documents, the number of image formations and the setting. A unit for setting a forming condition, a unit for calculating a required time from the instruction to start the image formation to the completion of all the image formation, based on the set number of originals, the number of image formations and the image forming conditions, and It comprises a means for displaying the calculated time required from the start of image formation to the end of all image formation.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an image of an original is read and the read image is formed on an image forming medium. In this case, the image forming conditions are set such that the image forming speed is different depending on the number of originals, the number of image formings and the setting. Then, based on the set number of originals, the number of image formations, and the image formation conditions, the time required from the instruction to start image formation to the end of all image formations is calculated, and the calculated image formation start is calculated. The time required from the time until the completion of all image formation is displayed.

According to the present invention, an image of an original is read, and the read image is formed on an image forming medium by an image forming means. The image forming speed is different depending on the number of originals, the number of image formations and settings. The forming condition is set by the setting means, and the time required from the instruction to start the image formation to the completion of all the image formation is set to the first by the set number of originals, the number of image formations and the image forming conditions. The image forming processing time for one sheet of image forming medium is calculated by the image forming unit according to the image forming conditions such as the image forming magnification set by the setting unit and the image forming magnification set by the setting unit, and the size of the image forming medium. It is calculated by the second calculating unit, and is calculated by the first calculating unit each time the image forming process for one image forming medium is completed by the image forming unit. The required time from the start of the image formation calculated by the first calculation means to the end of all the image formation calculated by sequentially subtracting the image formation processing time calculated by the second calculation means from the required time by the subtraction means. Is displayed, and the new required time subtracted by the subtracting means is displayed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of a copying machine 1 as an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
A photoconductor drum 12 is rotatably provided at a substantially central portion thereof. Around the periphery of the photosensitive drum 12, a charger 13, an exposure unit 14, an exposure unit 14,
Developing device 15, transfer charger 17, peeling charger 1
8, a cleaner 19 and a static eliminator 20 are provided.

Further, the exposure system 2 is provided in the upper part of the main body 11.
1 is provided. The exposure system 21 is an exposure lamp 2
2, first to third reflection mirrors 23, 24 and 25, variable power lens block 26, fourth to sixth reflection mirrors 2
It is composed of 7, 28 and 29.

Further, on one side of the main body 11, a paper feed cassette 30 and a large capacity paper feed device (LC
F) 31 is provided. If the most frequently used paper (for example, A4 size) P is set in the large-capacity paper feeding device 31, the number of paper outs can be reduced.

Paper (image forming medium) P fed from the paper feeding cassette 30 or the large capacity paper feeding device 31.
Are transported along a sheet transport path 32 provided in the main body 11.

A registration roller 33, the transfer / separation chargers 17 and 18, a conveyor belt 34, a fixing device 35, and a paper discharge roller pair 36 are sequentially arranged in the paper conveyance path 32 along the conveyance direction of the paper P. ing.

A document placing table 38 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 11, and an automatic document feeding device 39 is provided on the document placing table 38. On the other hand, the main body 11
A sorter device 45 is provided at the paper discharge unit. The sorter device 45 has a plurality of bins 46 arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and a gate means 47 for distributing the paper P from the paper discharge roller pair 36 to the bins 46 ,.
, And the transport rollers 4 for transporting the paper P sorted by the gate means 47 into the corresponding bin 46.
8, ...

In the vicinity of the pair of paper discharge rollers 36, there is provided a gate means 50 for switching between discharging the paper P out of the main body 11 or guiding it to the reversing paper feeding section 49. The paper P guided to the reverse paper feeding unit 49 has its front and back reversed, and
The sheet is again conveyed along the sheet conveying path 32.

However, during normal copying, the exposure system 21 scans the original O placed on the original placing table 38 with light, and the reflected light is charged on the surface of the photosensitive drum 12 by the charging charger 13. An electrostatic latent image is formed by forming an image on the surface. This electrostatic latent image is visualized by the developer supplied by the developing device 15. At this time, when the paper P is supplied from the paper feed cassette 30 or the large-capacity paper feeder 31, the paper P is sent to the image transfer portion 12a between the photoconductor drum 12 and the transfer charger 17, and the photoconductor is transferred. The visible image on the drum 12 is transferred to the paper P. The sheet P to which this image is transferred is peeled from the photoconductor drum 12 by the action of the peeling charger 18, and the conveyance belt 34
Thus, the image is sent to the fixing device 35 and the image is fixed. The sheet P on which the image is fixed is discharged via the pair of discharging rollers 36, and is discharged onto the uppermost bin 46 via the gate means 47 of the sorter device 45.

Further, when a plurality of copies of the original O are to be sorted, they are sorted by the gate means 47, ... And selectively sorted into the bins 46 ,. Further, in the case of double-sided copying, the gate means 50 is switched to the reverse sheet feeding section 49 so that the sheet P is reversed.
9 and is turned upside down, and then the paper transport path 32 is again turned on.
The image is transferred on the back side, fixed, and discharged.

The automatic document feeder 39 is composed of a document supply table 61, a feed-out section 62, a reversing section 63, a conveying section 64, a sheet discharge section 65, and a sheet discharge tray 66. On the original document supply table 61, a plurality of originals O to be supplied are placed. The one-pass take-out section 62 takes out and conveys the originals O on the original paper supply table 61 one by one. The reversing unit 63 guides the original O from the first take-out unit 62 to the conveying unit 64 as it is, or reverses the original O from the conveying unit 64 and returns the original O to the conveying unit 64. The conveying section 64 conveys the original O from the reversing section 63 to set it at a reference position on the original placing table 38, conveys the original O on the original placing table 38 to the reversing section 63, and ejects it. It is adapted to be conveyed to the paper section 65.
The paper discharge unit 65 discharges the document O from the transport unit 64 to the paper discharge tray 66.

An operation panel 70 for inputting various copy conditions and a copy start signal for starting a copy operation is provided on the upper front surface of the main body 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation panel 70 includes a ten-key pad 71, a start key 72, a status display section 73, a display section 74, a document size setting key 75, a paper size setting key 76, a copy completion required time display section 77, and a density display. Section 78, area setting key 79,
Magnification setting key 80, density setting key 81, original number setting key 82, copy number setting key 83, clear key 84, edit setting key 85, binding margin setting key 86, cover mode setting key 87, frame erase setting key 88, page Continuous shooting setting key 89,
It is composed of a sort mode setting key 90 and a document feeding mode setting key 91.

The ten-key pad 71 is used to set the number of originals and the number of copies. The start key 72 is an instruction to start copying. The status display section 73 displays the selection status of a paper feed cassette, a document, a paper jam, and the like.

The display unit 74 is composed of a document number display unit 74a, a copy number display unit 74b, and a guide display unit 74c, and displays the number of documents and the number of copies.
The copy magnification is displayed and various operation guidance is provided.

The original size setting key 75 is for setting the size of the original O. The paper size setting key 76 is
The size of the paper P is set. The copy completion required time display unit 77 displays the time required until the copy is completed.

The density display section 78 displays the copy density set by the density setting key 81. The magnification setting key 80 is for setting the copy magnification.

The density setting key 81 is for setting the copy density. The original number setting key 82 is input when setting the number of originals O placed on the original supply table 61 at the start of copying, and when the number of originals setting mode is set by this key, an input is made by the ten keys 71. Is displayed as the number of originals on the original number display section 74b of the display section 74.

The copy number setting key 83 is input when setting the number of copies at the start of copying, and when the copy number setting mode is set by this key, the input from the ten key 71 is displayed on the display unit 74 as the number of copies. It is displayed on the copy number display section 74b.

The clear key 84 clears the setting contents of each key and returns to the standard state. The edit setting key 85 is used to copy one side of the original O using both sides of the sheet P, copy both sides of the original O to both sides of the sheet P, and copy both sides of the original O using each side of the sheet P. , Or book copy is set.

FIG. 1 shows a control circuit of the copying machine 1. That is, the control unit 100 that controls the whole is provided. The control panel 100 includes the operation panel 7
0, a memory 10 in which control programs and the like are stored
1, a required time calculation unit 102, and a copying mechanism unit 103 are connected. The copying mechanism unit 103 corresponds to each unit of the internal configuration of the copying machine 1 described with reference to FIG.

The memory 101 has a document counter 101.
a, a copy start counter 101b, a copy end counter 101c, and a copy counter 101d. The document counter 101a is used for reading and scanning a document O.
Every time is changed, it is counted up. The copy start counter 101b counts down to "0" at the start of the copy operation.
The copy end counter 101c counts down to "0" when the final copy is completed. The copy counter 101d is incremented each time the copy operation for one sheet P is completed. Original counter 101a, copy start counter 1
01b, the initial value of the copy end counter 101c is "1", and the initial value of the counter 101d is "0".

In the memory 101, the number of originals set by the operation panel 70, the number of copies, and the start key 7 are set.
The time from the input of 2 to the start of the copy operation by the copy mechanism unit 103, the copy time according to the copy conditions such as each paper size and copy magnification, each of the original O and the paper P, double-sided copy, single-sided copy, and sorter. (Time required for one copy cycle) is stored.

The required time calculation unit 102 is set by the operation panel 70 and the number of originals set by the operation panel 70, the number of copies, the time until the copying operation by the copying mechanism unit 103 read from the memory 101 is started. The time required from the input of the start key 72 to the end of all copying is calculated according to the size of the sheet P and the copy time for the copy magnification. In addition, the required time calculation unit 102 includes a copy mechanism unit 103.
When the copy operation is started by, the new necessary time is calculated by subtracting the time until the copy operation by the copy mechanism unit 103 stored in the memory 101 is started from the necessary time, and the copy mechanism unit 103 calculates When the copy process for each sheet P is completed, the time required until all the copies are completed is calculated according to the contents stored in the memory 101.

That is, the required time calculating unit 102 has a time Ts from the start key 72 being pressed until the copying operation is started by the copying mechanism unit 103, a copying time Tc according to copying conditions such as a paper size and a copying magnification, The time Te required to complete the copy operation, the number of originals M, the number of copies N, the count value Mc of the original counter 101a, the count value Cs of the copy start counter 101b, and the count value Nc of the copy counter 101d are changed to the following equation (1). The required time is calculated by the calculation formula shown below. Copy required time = (M-Mc) * Tc * N + (N-Nc) * Tc + Cs * Ts + Te = Tc [N (M-Mc + 1) -Nc] + Cs * Ts + Ce * Te (1) The control unit 100 is The required time calculated by the required time calculation unit 102 is displayed on the copy completion required time display unit 77 in the operation panel 70.

Next, the display operation of the required time in the above configuration will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. First, the control unit 100 waits at the end of warming up, and the document counter 101a, the copy start counter 101b, and the copy end counter 101.
The c is initialized to "1" and the copy counter 101d is initialized to "0".

In such a state, the user operates the operation panel 70 to set the copy conditions such as the number of originals, the number of copies, the paper size, the copy magnification, the double-sided copy for the original O and the paper P, the single-sided copy, and the sorter. Set.

Then, the control unit 100 stores the setting contents in the memory 101, and at the same time, the required time calculating unit 10
2 is used to calculate the time required from the input of the start key 72 to the completion of all copying.

That is, the required time calculating unit 102 has a time Ts from the start key 72 being pressed until the copying operation is started by the copying mechanism unit 103, a copying time Tc according to copying conditions such as a sheet size and a copying magnification, The required time is calculated from the time Te required to complete the copy operation, the number of originals M, and the number of copies N by the calculation formula shown in the above equation (1).

As a result, the control section 100 displays the copy required time as the calculation result obtained by the required time calculating section 102 in the copy completion required time display section 7 in the operation panel 70.
Display at 7.

Also, every time the user changes the number of originals, the number of sheets to be copied, the paper size, the copy magnification, the double-sided copy or the single-sided copy for each of the original O and the paper P, or the copying conditions such as a sorter, etc., through the operation panel 70. Then, the required time is calculated and displayed.

Next, when the user depresses the start key 72 and the copying mechanism section 103 starts the copy operation, the control section 100 sets the copy start counter 101b of the memory 101 to "0", and the above calculation is performed. A new required time is calculated by subtracting the time Ts from the required time to the start of the copy operation, and the new required time is displayed on the copy completion required time display unit 77.

After that, each time the copy operation for one sheet P is completed, the control unit 100 increments the copy counter 101d of the memory 101 by "1", and a new required time is calculated for each addition. Calculated by the unit 102,
The new required time is displayed on the copy completion required time display unit 77.

Further, when the original O is changed to another original O, the control unit 100 causes the original counter 10 of the memory 101 to operate.
"1" is added to 1a, the copy counter 101d is initialized to "0", and the new required time is calculated by the required time calculation unit 1
02, and the new required time is displayed on the copy completion required time display unit 77.

Then, at the time when the final copy for the last original O is completed (Nc = N and Mc = M), the control unit 1
00 is a copy end counter 101c of the memory 101
Is set to "0", the required time becomes "0",
“0” is displayed on the copy completion required time display portion 77, a copy end operation is performed, and the operation is ended.

As described above, the required time until the end of copying is calculated from the copy conditions such as the number of originals, the number of copies, the copy magnification, and the paper size, and the calculation result is displayed. The required time is calculated and the calculation result is displayed.

That is, when the user sets the copy conditions such as the number of originals, the number of copies, the paper size, the magnification, and the double-sided, the time required for the completion of the copy is displayed, and the time required is designated as the start of copying. At the same time, the subtraction is performed so that the required time at that point is clearly displayed even during the copying operation. That is, the time taken until the end of copying is displayed during operation and during copying.

As a result, it is possible to notify the required time from the start of copying or the end of copying during copying. In the above embodiment, the case where the number of originals is input by the key has been described.
A method of counting the number of sheets with an automatic document feeder before the start of copying as described in No. 10943 may be used.

[0045]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus capable of notifying the time required to start the image formation or to finish the image formation during the image forming process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a control circuit of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an internal configuration of a copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation panel.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a required time display operation in the copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Copier 70 ... Operation Panel 72 ... Start Key 75 ... Original Size Setting Key 76 ... Paper Size Setting Key 77 ... Copy Completion Required Time Display 80 ... Magnification Setting Key 82 ... Original Number Setting Key 83 ... Copy Number Setting Key 85 Edit setting key 100 Control unit 101 Memory 101a Document counter 101b Copy start counter 101c Copy end counter 101d Copy counter 102 Required time calculation unit 103 Copy mechanism unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In an image forming apparatus for reading an image of a document and forming the read image on an image forming medium, an image forming condition is set in which an image forming speed is different depending on the number of documents, the number of image formings and the setting. Setting means, an instruction means for instructing the start of image formation, and the number of originals, the number of image formations and image forming conditions set by the setting means And a display unit for displaying the time required from the start of image formation to the end of all image formation calculated by the calculation unit. Image forming apparatus. 2. An image forming apparatus for reading an image of an original and forming the read image on an image forming medium by an image forming means, wherein an image forming speed is different depending on the number of originals, the number of image formings and setting. Setting means for setting the forming conditions, instructing means for instructing the start of image formation, and the number of originals, the number of image forming sheets, and the image forming conditions set by the setting means are all provided after the instruction by the instructing means is made. The first calculation means for calculating the time required to complete the image formation, the image formation conditions such as the image formation magnification set by the setting means, the size of the image forming medium, and the like. Second calculating means for calculating the image forming processing time for one image forming medium, and one image forming medium for one image forming medium by the image forming means. And a subtraction unit that sequentially subtracts the image formation processing time calculated by the second calculation unit from the required time calculated by the first calculation unit each time the image formation process is completed. Display means for displaying the calculated required time from the start of image formation to the end of all image formation, and for displaying the new required time subtracted by the subtracting means. Image forming apparatus. 3. A means for reading an image of an original and forming the read image on an image forming medium, wherein an image forming condition is set such that an image forming speed is different depending on the number of originals, the number of image formings and settings. And means for calculating the time required from the instruction to start image formation to the completion of all image formation, based on the set number of originals, number of image formations, and image forming conditions, and the calculated image formations. An image forming method comprising: a means for displaying a time required from the start of the process until the completion of all image formation.