JPH10126547A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve productivity and efficiency of copying by making the operating time of two image forming devices or over nearly the same, to considerably improve the operability with one copy reception job, to improve maintenance efficiency and to reduce service maintenance cost by designing mechanical components of each image forming device to be worn nearly impartially thereby causing component replacement jobs or the like to be at the same time. SOLUTION: When a designated copy processing is finished by a 1st image processing unit 1, whether or not other image forming device continues copying is checked. When the other image forming device 1 continues copying and the remaining copy is not one copy or below, the copy processing that is to be processed by the other image forming device 1 is shared by the image forming device 1 whose copy processing has already been finished and the device 1 provides outputs from the final page.

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 for outputting each page image forming one image in cooperation with two or more image forming apparatuses, and more particularly, to each of the image forming apparatuses. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which, after the output of a page image is started, each page image is redistributed according to the output state of each image forming apparatus to improve output efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected to each other, and a series of image images obtained by reading a document set in one of the image forming apparatuses is shared by each image forming apparatus and printed out. However, a system has been developed which can greatly reduce the time required for printout. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In the "image forming system" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-270, when a plurality of copies are designated in the distribution copy mode, the status is transmitted from each of the other copying apparatuses via a communication line by the copying apparatus serving as a transmission source. The information data is fetched and the status of each of these copying machines is checked. If each of these copying machines is in the idle state, the copy number designating data and the image data are transmitted to perform the copying operation of the designated number of copies to each copying machine. Sorting improves copy productivity and utilization efficiency.

[0003]

However, such a conventional image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus has the following problems. First, even if copying is started simultaneously at each image forming apparatus connected by the communication line, the difference in the copying speed of each image forming apparatus and the time required to replenish the paper when the paper runs out during the copying process. Due to loss of data, loss of the time required for jam processing when a jam occurs on the way, etc., the time when each connected image forming apparatus processes the number of copies allocated from the beginning and ends may vary. Occurs. In such a situation, the operator cannot go to the finished copy at the same time,
There is a problem that the user has to go to each image forming apparatus many times and take copies in the order of finishing. For example, in a case where two image forming apparatuses are connected to each other, after the copy of the first image forming apparatus is completed, the copy finishing time due to connection depends on only one of the image forming apparatuses. Therefore, there is a problem that the merits of connection are lost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. According to the first aspect, when the first image processing apparatus completes a copy process assigned in advance, another image forming apparatus performs a copy operation. Check if
When another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation and the number of copies remaining is less than 1, the copy processing that should have been processed by the other image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. And output from the last page, it is possible to make the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses substantially the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and making the completed copy. The operability can be greatly improved by completing the work of removing the machine only once, and furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, the work such as parts replacement can be done at the same time, and the maintenance efficiency can be improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving service cost and reducing service maintenance costs. In claim 2, 1
When the first image processing apparatus has completed the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation, and the other image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been processed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing, and is inverted and output from the last page to output. The operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same,
As a result, the productivity and efficiency of copying can be improved, and the operation of removing the completed copy can be completed only once, thereby greatly improving the operability, and further, the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus. Work such as parts replacement can be done at the same time by almost even consumption of parts, improving maintenance efficiency, reducing service maintenance costs, and eliminating the need for extra work such as page alignment. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing such operations.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the image forming apparatus is performing the copy operation and the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been performed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. By inverting or non-inverting the output from the last page, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and One task to remove the copy that came up
Times, and the operability can be greatly improved.
Furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, parts replacement and other operations can be performed at the same time, maintenance efficiency can be improved, service maintenance costs can be reduced, and transfer paper can be transferred during duplex printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus which can eliminate the misunderstanding of the front and back. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the copy operation is being continued and the remaining number of copies is one or more, a part of the number of copies that should have been copied by another image forming apparatus has been partially copied by the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. And output them, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, so that the number of remaining copies does not cross over a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
It is possible to improve the productivity and efficiency of copying while simplifying the work of integrating the output results, and it is possible to greatly improve the operability by removing the completed copy only once. Further, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of substantially equalizing the consumption of mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus, performing operations such as parts replacement at the same time, improving maintenance efficiency, and reducing service maintenance costs. It is an object.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation and the stapling function is selected, the output of the sorting unit is prevented from straddling between the plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Make sure that the output result can be stapled, and when the stapling function is not selected, part of the number of copies that would have been copied by another image
By distributing and outputting to image forming apparatuses that have already completed copy processing, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, thereby improving copy productivity and efficiency. In addition to being able to carry out the completed copy once, the operability can be greatly improved. Furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, and the work such as parts replacement is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving maintenance efficiency and reducing service maintenance costs.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect, each page image constituting one image is designated by a designated number of copies by two or more image forming apparatuses. When an image forming apparatus that outputs in cooperation outputs one image in a designated number of copies in cooperation with another image forming apparatus, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the first image forming apparatus ends. At this point, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the other image forming apparatus is continued, and when the remaining number of copies is less than one at this time, the last image forming apparatus is sent to the first image forming apparatus. A feature is to output from a page image to a designated page image. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for outputting each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies in cooperation with two or more image forming apparatuses. When outputting the specified number of copies in cooperation with
When the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the second image forming apparatus is completed, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by another image forming apparatus is continued, and the remaining number of copies at this time is less than one. In this case, the first image forming apparatus reversely outputs from the last page image of the remaining number of copies to the designated page image. According to a third aspect, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect,
When outputting one image in a designated number of copies in cooperation with another image forming apparatus, when the first image forming apparatus finishes outputting the number of copies scheduled to be output, the other image forming apparatus ends. Continues the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output, and when the remaining number of copies is less than 1 at this time, the first image forming apparatus sends the final It is characterized in that double-sided output or single-sided output is performed from a page image to a designated page image.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus in which two or more image forming apparatuses cooperate to output each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies. When the specified number of copies are output in cooperation with the first image forming apparatus, when the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the first image forming apparatus is finished, The output is continued, and when the remaining number of copies is one or more, the first image forming apparatus outputs the designated number of copies among the remaining number of copies. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus in which two or more image forming apparatuses cooperate and output each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies. When the specified number of copies are output in cooperation with the first image forming apparatus, when the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the first image forming apparatus is finished, If the stapling function is selected when the output is continued and the remaining number of copies is less than 1 at this time, the first image forming apparatus is prohibited from outputting the remaining number of copies, and Stapling is performed on the first image forming apparatus when the stapling function is not selected.
It is characterized by outputting from the last page image of the remaining copies to a designated page image.

With the above arrangement, when the first image processing apparatus completes the pre-assigned copy processing, it checks whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation and the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been performed by the other image forming apparatus is transferred to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. By distributing and outputting from the last page, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses is made almost the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and performing the operation of removing the completed copy once. Operation, greatly improving the operability, making the wear of mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus almost uniform, and replacing parts at the same time to improve maintenance efficiency. By, reducing the service maintenance costs. According to the second aspect, when the first image processing apparatus completes the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. Is continuing the copy operation,
When the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been processed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing, and is inverted from the last page to be output. The operation time of more than one image forming apparatus is made almost the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and the operation of taking out the completed copy only once, greatly improving the operability, Furthermore, the consumption of mechanical parts in each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, parts replacement and other operations are performed at the same time, maintenance efficiency is improved, service maintenance costs are reduced, and extra work such as page alignment is unnecessary. To
According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the copy operation is ongoing and the remaining number of copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been performed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing, and Depending on the presence or absence, by inverting or non-inverting from the last page and outputting it,
The operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses is made substantially the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and the operation of taking out the completed copy only once is performed, thereby greatly improving the operability. Furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, the work such as parts replacement is performed at the same time, and the maintenance efficiency is improved.
It reduces service maintenance costs and eliminates misunderstanding of transfer paper when printing on both sides. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the copy operation is being continued and the remaining number of copies is one or more, a part of the number of copies that should have been copied by another image forming apparatus has been partially copied by the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. To make the output time of two or more image forming apparatuses almost the same, thereby preventing the remaining number of copies from straddling between multiple image forming apparatuses and simplifying the work of integrating the output results. While improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, the operation of removing the completed copy only needs to be performed once, greatly improving operability, and reducing the consumption of mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus. And equally, a work such as replacement of parts and at the same time,
Improve maintenance efficiency and reduce service maintenance costs. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus ends the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation, and the other image forming apparatus is checked. While the copying operation is continuing and the stapling function is selected, the output of the sorting unit is prevented from straddling between a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Make sure that the output result can be stapled, and when the stapling function is not selected, some of the copies that would have been copied by another image forming
By distributing and outputting to the image forming apparatuses that have already completed the copy processing, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses is made almost the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of the copy and completing the operation. The operability is greatly improved by completing the operation of removing the copy only once, and furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, the work such as parts replacement is done at the same time, and the maintenance efficiency is improved. And reduce service maintenance costs.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. An image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an apparatus housing 2 formed in a vertically long rectangular shape, an automatic document feeder 3 provided on an upper part of the apparatus housing 2, and an image reading apparatus provided on an upper side of the apparatus housing 2. Device 4
An image forming device 5 provided below the device housing 2;
An operation device 6 is provided at an upper portion of the device housing 2, and a sheet feeding device 7 is provided at a lower portion of the device housing 2. The print key 32 (see FIG. 2) in a state where the electronic sort with the other image forming apparatus 1 is specified by the operation device 6
Is operated, copying is started by sharing each page image of the document image to be copied with another image forming apparatus 1 and one of these image forming apparatuses 1 is assigned in advance. When the copy operation is completed, it is checked whether or not the other image forming apparatus 1 is continuing the copy operation. When the other image forming apparatus 1 is continuing the copy operation and the number of remaining copies is less than one, Then, the copy processing that should have been processed by another image forming apparatus 1 is distributed to the image forming apparatus 1 that has already completed the copy processing and output from the last page. Hereinafter, the automatic document feeder 3, the image reading device 4, the operation device 6, the image forming device 5, and the paper feeding device 7 constituting the image forming apparatus 1 will be sequentially described in detail.

The automatic document feeder 3 includes a feeder housing 8 provided on the upper portion of the device housing 2 so as to be openable and closable, a platen 9 provided on the upper portion of the feeder housing 8, and a document placed on the platen 9. Are set, a document set detection sensor 10 for detecting this, a feed roller 11 for taking in the documents set on the document table 9 one by one, a plurality of rollers 12, a feed belt 13 and the like. Composed of
The document taken in by the feed roller 10 is transferred to the apparatus housing 2.
A feed mechanism 14 that feeds onto the contact glass 17 on the side, and after the image is read on the contact glass 17, the original conveyed by the feed mechanism 14 is taken in and formed on the upper part of the feeder housing 2. A discharge roller 16 for discharging the paper onto the paper discharge unit 15,
A control unit 102 (see FIG. 5) that performs processing for controlling the discharge roller 16 and processing for counting the number of fed documents.
And a transport motor 103 (see FIG. 5) for driving the feed roller 10 to the discharge roller 16 under the control of the control unit.
And When a document feed instruction is output from the image forming device 5, the documents placed on the document table 9 are taken one by one, and guided on a contact glass 17 provided in the image reading device 4. Are read, and the process of transporting the original again and discharging it onto the paper output unit 15 is repeated.

The image reading device 4 is inserted into an opening formed in the upper portion of the device housing 2 and the automatic document feeding device 3
Glass 17 that can be opened and closed
And a guide rail (not shown) arranged in the apparatus housing 2 so as to be movable in the sub-scanning direction, and a first carriage 18 driven to run at a first speed in accordance with the magnification. A light source 19 for illuminating a document placed on the first carriage 18 and placed on the contact glass 17, and a light source 19 placed on the first carriage 18 and reflecting light (optical image) from the document. And one mirror 20. Further, the image reading device 4 is configured to be movable in the sub-scanning direction by a guide rail (not shown) arranged in the device housing 2, and reads an original even when the first carriage 18 moves. A second carriage 21 that is driven to run at half the first speed (second speed) so that the optical path length at that time is constant, and is reflected from the first mirror 20 disposed on the second carriage 21. Second and third mirrors 22 and 23 that reflect the optical image that has been obtained, and the optics that are movably disposed in the apparatus housing 2 and are adjusted in position according to the focus, magnification, etc., and emitted from the third mirror 23. A lens 24 for condensing the image, and an optical image condensed by the lens 24 which is movably disposed in the apparatus housing 2 and adjusted in position according to focus, magnification, etc., and receives an electric signal (image). CCD image to convert to And a Jisensa 25.

When an image reading command is output from the image forming apparatus 5, the positions of the lens 24 and the CCD image sensor 25 are moved in the horizontal direction in accordance with the reading magnification, the reading range, and the like, and the positions are adjusted. After the light source 19 of the first carriage 18 is turned on, the first carriage 18
And the second carriage 21 read the image of the original placed on the contact glass 17 while traveling in the sub-scanning direction at the first and second speeds, respectively.
The light is collected on the D image sensor 25 to generate an image signal,
This is supplied to the image forming apparatus 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, an operation device 6 has an LCD display (liquid crystal display) 26 arranged on the upper part of the device housing 2 so as to be elongated in the left-right direction. A touch panel 27 that is arranged and detects touches on the LCD display 26 by the operator to generate touch position information, a numeric keypad 28, an initial setting key 29, and a mode clear key 3 arranged on the right side of the LCD display 26.
5, a keyboard 33 including a clear / stop key 31, a print key 32, etc., and a microprocessor as shown in FIG. A process of acquiring a display instruction command, status information, and the like output from the main controller 94 while communicating with the main controller 94 of the image creating device 5 and displaying them on the LCD display 26; And an operation unit 34 that performs a process of detecting a key operated by performing the above process, a process of detecting an operation content of the keyboard 33, a process of transmitting a result of the process to the main controller 94, and the like.

When the main controller 94 outputs a normal copy display screen instruction indicating that only one unit is operated, the instruction is taken in by the operation unit 34 and is displayed on the LCD display 26 as shown in FIG. Key 35, two density change instruction keys 36, an automatic paper selection key 38, three paper size instruction keys 39, a scaling instruction key 4
0, a sort instruction key 41, a staple instruction key 42, a format original instruction key 43, a double-side instruction key 44, an aggregation instruction key 45, and the like are displayed. When the main controller 94 outputs a linked display screen instruction indicating that the image forming apparatus 1 operates as the master unit and the other image forming apparatus 1 operates as the slave unit, the operation unit 34 captures the instruction. 4 on the LCD display 26
Automatic density instruction key 46, density change instruction key 4
7, automatic paper selection key 48, paper size instruction key 49,
A scaling instruction key 51, a sort instruction key 52, a staple instruction key 53, a format original instruction key 54, a double-side instruction key 55, an integration instruction key 56, a connection instruction key 57, and the like are displayed. Then, in this state, the operator
If the display surface of the D display 26 is touched, this is detected by the touch panel 27, and touch position information is generated while displaying the key of the position touched by the operation unit 34 in reverse video, and the touch position information is processed to process the touch position. Is generated and supplied to the main controller 94.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feeding device 7 is housed in the apparatus housing 2 so as to be able to protrude and retract, and first to third paper feeding trays 58 to 58 each storing transfer paper of a designated size. 60
And first to third paper feed clutches 99 to 101 provided for each of the first to third paper feed trays 58 to 60 (see FIG. 5).
Of the first to third paper feed trays 58 to
The intermediate clutch 60 includes first to third paper feed units 62 to 64 for taking out each transfer paper 61 stored in the intermediate paper 60, an intermediate clutch 98 (see FIG. 5) that operates intermittently, and a plurality of transport rollers 65. A vertical transport unit 66 for transporting the transfer paper 61 taken out by the first to third paper feed units 58 to 60 by the intermittent operation 98 and a transfer paper 61 transported by the vertical transport unit 66 are taken in. A registration roller 67 for supplying the image forming apparatus 5 with a timing. When the printing operation is performed, the transfer roller 61 of each size stored in the first to third paper feed trays 58 to 60 is provided. The transfer paper 61 of the designated size is taken out, transported upward, and the leading end of the toner image formed on the photoconductor 79 reaches the paper transfer position. The transfer sheet 61 in accordance with the timing that
Is supplied to the image forming apparatus 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 5 includes a writing optical unit 68 for writing an optical image based on an image signal output from the image reading apparatus 4, and front and back sides of a transfer sheet 61 on which an image has been formed. Reversing unit 6 for reversing
9, a visualization unit 70 for visualizing the optical image generated by the writing optical unit 68 as a toner image
And a paper transfer unit 71 for transferring the toner image visualized by the visualization unit 70 onto the transfer paper 61 taken out by the paper feeding device 7, and a transfer on which the image is transferred by the paper transfer unit 71. A fixing unit 72 for fusing and fixing the toner on the paper 61; and a transfer paper 61 on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit 72 is discharged onto a discharge tray 73 attached to the left side plate of the apparatus housing 2. A conveyance path switching unit 74 for leading to the reversing unit 69,
A control board 75 for controlling the operation of the entire image forming apparatus 1
After the image represented by the image signal output from the image reading device 4 is visualized as a toner image and the toner image is transferred onto a transfer paper 61 of a designated size, the toner image is fixed. Then, the paper is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 73 outside the apparatus.

In this case, the writing optical unit 68
Is a laser composed of a laser diode that generates a laser beam based on image data output from the control board 75, a polygon mirror that scans the laser beam emitted from the laser diode, a drive motor that rotates the polygon mirror, and the like. Output unit 7
6 and a lens group 7 such as an f-θ lens for converting the laser beam output from the laser output unit 76 to fθ conversion.
7 and a mirror 78 that reflects the laser light from the lens group 77 and supplies the reflected light to the visualization unit 70. The image data output from the control board 75 is converted into an optical signal to visualize the image. An optical image corresponding to the image data is written on the photoconductor 79 constituting the unit 70 to form an electrostatic latent image. The visualizing unit 70 is rotated by a main motor 97 (see FIG. 5), and has a photosensitive member 79 on which a latent image is formed by a laser beam emitted from the writing optical unit 68, and a vicinity of one end of the photosensitive member 79. When a laser beam emitted from the writing optical unit 68 is detected, a beam sensor (not shown) that generates a main scanning synchronization signal (LSYNC) and supplies it to the main controller 94 is provided. A photoreceptor cleaning unit (not shown) that is disposed around and cleans the photoreceptor 79; and a charging unit (not shown) that is disposed around the photoreceptor 79 and uniformly charges the photoreceptor 79. , Arranged around the photoconductor 79,
A developing unit 80 for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 79.

When the printing operation is performed, the photosensitive member 79 is driven to rotate by the driving force of the main motor 97,
After cleaning by the cleaning unit, the photosensitive unit is uniformly charged by the charging unit, and is further charged by the laser light emitted from the writing optical unit 68.
9 when an optical image corresponding to the image data is written on
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 79. Thereafter, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 79 is developed by the developing unit 80 to form a toner image. The paper transfer unit 71 is disposed so as to face the photoconductor 79, and transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor 79 to the registration roller 6.
7, a paper transfer bias roller 81 to which a bias voltage is applied, and a drive roller 82 that is driven to rotate by a main motor 97.
And the drive roller 82 and the paper transfer bias roller 81
The photosensitive member 7 is stretched by the paper transfer bias roller 81.
And a transport belt 83 for transporting the transfer paper 61 onto which the toner image on the transfer belt 9 has been transferred. When the printing operation is performed, the transport belt 83 is exposed while the transfer paper 61 supplied from the registration roller 67 is interposed. A predetermined bias voltage is applied to the paper transfer bias roller 81 while pressing against the body 79 to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive body 79 to the transfer paper 61 and transfer the toner image to the fixing unit 72.
Transport to

The fixing unit 72 includes a fixing roller 84 controlled to a predetermined temperature, and a pressure roller 85 for pressing the transfer paper 61 conveyed by the paper transfer unit 71 against the fixing roller 84. ,
The transfer paper 61 conveyed from the paper transfer unit 71 is heated while being pressurized to melt and fix the toner image formed on the transfer paper 61, and is carried out to the conveyance path switching unit 74. The transport path switching unit 74 includes a pair of switching rollers 86 for switching the transport path of the transfer sheet 61, and the transfer sheet 61 is moved to the left side (the left side in FIG. 1) by the switching roller pair 86.
When the transfer paper 61 is transported to the left side, the transfer paper 61 is conveyed to the left and guided to a discharge tray 73 outside the apparatus, and the transfer paper 61 is moved downward (lower in FIG. ) When the transfer paper 61 is discharged from the reversing unit 69 to the pair of discharge rollers 87 when the reversing transfer paper 61 is discharged from the reversing unit 69. A paper roller 89 is provided to take in the transfer paper 61 conveyed from the fixing unit 72, and switch the conveyance direction by the switching roller pair 86 to discharge the paper as it is and discharge it onto the paper discharge tray 73. Or lead it to the reversing unit 69 to reverse it,
The inverted transfer paper 61 is taken in and discharged onto the discharge tray 73.

The reversing unit 69 takes in the transfer paper 61 supplied from the conveyance path switching unit 74, and then conveys the paper in the reverse direction to reverse the transfer paper 61.
0 and the transfer paper 6 inverted by the inversion roller 90
Switching roller 91 for guiding 1 to either the left or lower side
When the transfer paper 61 is guided downward by the switching roller 91, a transport roller 92 that takes in and transports the transfer paper 61.
And a re-feed roller 93 for supplying the inverted transfer paper 61 transported by the transport rollers 92 to the vertical transport unit 66 of the paper feeder 7, and outputs a reverse discharge instruction from the main controller 94. After the transfer paper 61 supplied from the transport path switching unit 74 is taken in, the transport direction of the transfer paper 61 is reversed by the reversing roller 90 and the transfer paper 61 is switched by the switching roller 91.
Is guided to the reversing paper discharge roller 89 side to discharge the paper onto the paper discharge tray 73, and when the double-sided paper input instruction is output from the main controller 94, the transfer paper 61 supplied from the conveyance path switching unit 74 is taken in. After that, the reversing roller 9
0, the transfer direction of the transfer paper 61 is reversed, and the transfer paper 61 is
After being guided to the second side, the reversing transfer paper 61 is supplied to the vertical conveyance unit 66 of the paper supply device 7 by the paper supply roller 93.

A main controller 94 constituting the control board 75 has a microprocessor as shown in FIG. 5, and communicates with the operating device 6 and an image signal processing unit (IPU) 96 via an I / O port. A process of controlling the operation of the entire image forming apparatus 1 while performing the process, transmitting and receiving information to and from other image forming apparatuses 1 via a connection interface unit (connection IF unit) 95, and performing a connection sort, etc .; Processing for Controlling the Feeding Device 3, Image Signal Processing Unit 96
, The process of receiving signals output from each sensor (not shown), the process of driving the main motor 97, and the control of the intermediate clutch 98 and the first to third paper feed clutches 99 to 101. This is a circuit for performing processing and the like.
Processing the signals output from the respective sensors based on the operation information transmitted from the controller and operating the automatic document feeder 3 to feed the original, the main motor 97, the intermediate clutch 98, the first to third paper feeds A process of controlling the clutches 99 to 101, a process of generating an image reading command and transmitting it to the image reading device 4, a process of generating a display instruction command, status information, display information, and transmitting the same to the operating device 6, A process of generating an image processing command and transmitting it to the image signal processing unit 96, a process of transmitting and receiving information to and from another image forming apparatus 1 via the connection interface unit 95, and the like are performed.

The image signal processing section 96 constituting the control board 75 includes a CCD image sensor 25 as shown in FIG.
The image processing circuit 104 generates image data by processing the image signal output from the CPU, and communicates with the image processing circuit 104 for supplying the image data to the writing optical unit 68 and the main controller 94 based on a preset program. Control circuit 105 for controlling the image processing circuit 104 according to
When an image processing command or the like is transmitted from the main controller 94, image processing information transmitted together with the image processing command is fetched, stored, and stored from the CCD image sensor 25 based on the image processing information. The output image signal is processed to generate image data, and the image data is supplied to the writing optical unit 68 to write a latent image.

In this case, the image processing circuit 104 includes a CCD
A / D converter circuit 10 that A / D converts an image signal output from image sensor 25 to generate image data
6, a shading correction circuit 107 for performing shading correction on the image data output from the A / D converter circuit 106, and a shading corrected image data output from the shading correction circuit 107 as M
MTF / γ correction circuit 108 for TF correction and γ correction
And the MT output from the MTF / γ correction circuit 108.
A scaling processing circuit 109 for scaling the F-corrected and γ-corrected image data to a specified magnification, and a control circuit 105
A selector circuit 110 for selecting one of the image data output from the scaling processing circuit 109 and the control circuit 105 based on the input / output specification information output from the controller and transferring the selected image data to an output destination designated. Circuit 11
Selector circuit 110 when designated as output destination by 0
And a writing γ correction circuit 111 for taking in the image data output from the, correcting the writing γ according to the image forming conditions and supplying the corrected γ to the writing optical unit 68.

An image signal output from the CCD image sensor 25 is captured to generate image data, and the image data is subjected to shading correction, MTF correction, and γ correction.
After performing the correction and the magnification change processing, based on the input / output designation information output from the control circuit 105,
, Or takes in the shading correction, the MTF correction and the γ correction, the image data which has been subjected to the scaling process, or the image data output from the control circuit 105, corrects the writing, and supplies it to the writing optical unit 68. Or At this time, the selector circuit 110 outputs the main scanning synchronization signal (LSYNC) as shown in FIG. 7A while the frame gate signal (FGATE) indicating the range of one page is output as shown in FIG. 7B. ) Is output every time the main scanning synchronization signal (LSYNC) rises.
When the pixel synchronization signal (VCLK) is output for a predetermined number of clocks as shown in FIG. 7 (c) and the line gate signal (LGATE) is output as shown in FIG. 7 (e), every time the pixel synchronization signal is output As shown in FIG. 7D, each pixel data (for example, pixel data of 256 tones indicated by 8 bits) constituting the image data is fetched and transferred to a designated output destination.

The control circuit 105 includes a CPU circuit 112 for performing various data processing,
A ROM circuit 113 that stores a program that defines the operation of the CPU and various constant data, a RAM circuit 114 that is used as a work area for the CPU circuit 112, a hard disk, and the like are used as storage areas for image data. The selector circuit 110 based on an instruction from the image memory circuit 115 and the CPU circuit 112.
, A process of taking in the image data output from the selector circuit 110 and storing it in the image memory circuit 115, and a process of storing the image data stored in the image memory circuit 115 based on the image processing command output from the CPU circuit 112. Processing, processing for reading out image data stored in the image memory circuit 115 and performing the specified processing, and then supplying the processed data to the selector circuit 110; And a memory controller circuit 116 for transmitting and receiving control commands, image data, and the like, and an I / O port circuit 11 for supporting communication between the CPU circuit 112 and the operation device 6.
7 is provided.

The image processing procedure is determined by communicating with the main controller 94, and the image processing circuit 104 is controlled while communicating with the operating device 6 via the I / O port circuit 117 based on the determined content. The processing of the image signal output from the CCD image sensor 25 is performed, and the obtained image data is fetched to perform specified processing such as image thinning processing, image cutting processing, compression processing, and the like. Supplying image data or processed image data to the writing optical unit 68,
Another image forming apparatus 1 via the connection interface unit 95
And exchange image data.

At this time, the image data is compressed by the memory controller circuit 116 and stored in the image memory circuit 115, so that the data of 256 gradations corresponding to the maximum image size is written in the image memory circuit 115 as it is. A large number of document images can be stored by effectively utilizing the limited memory capacity of the circuit 115, and each page image of the stored document image can be sorted (rearranged) when read and expanded. I have.
When writing a document image in the image memory circuit 115,
A plurality of original images are transferred to the transfer paper 1 of the image memory circuit 115.
By sequentially writing the areas corresponding to the number of sheets into the divided areas, the four original images can be combined with the four original images on one transfer paper image, and an integrated copy output can be obtained.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to flowcharts and schematic diagrams shown in FIGS. <Initialization Operation> First, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, when a power switch (not shown) provided on the side of the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, various flags are reset, and various counters are reset. After performing initialization processing such as clear processing of image memory circuit 115, clear processing of image memory circuit 115, and reset processing of image forming mode (magnification, division, etc.) (step ST1), a key input wait state or an operation from the image forming engine is performed. An event wait state (wait state until some change factor occurs) (steps ST2 to ST
5). Here, when the user performs some key operation,
This is detected by the operating device 6, and the main controller 94 is notified of this (step ST2). Also,
When a change is made in the image forming engine, for example, when a document is set in the automatic document feeder 3, this is detected by the document set detection sensor 10, and this is notified to the main controller 94 by the control unit 102 of the automatic document feeder 3. (Step ST2). Then, the types of these events are determined by the main controller 94 (step ST3). If the generated event is an engine event, an engine event processing routine is called and executed (step ST4).
If the event is a key input, a key input event processing routine is called and executed (step ST5), and when these event processes are completed, the system enters the event waiting state again (step ST2).

<Key Input Event Operation> At this time, as a key input event process, for example, a process shown in a flowchart of FIG. 9 is executed. First, the main controller 9
4, the contents of the notification from the operation device 6 are processed to determine which key has been operated. If the print key 32 has been operated (step ST6), a copy process is executed (step ST7), and the ten keys 28 are operated. If operated (step ST8), numeric key processing is executed (step ST9), and the clear / stop key 31 is further operated.
Is operated (step ST10), a clear / stop process is executed (step ST11). Also,
If the connection instruction key 57 or the like displayed on the LCD display 26 is operated (step ST12),
A job setting, processing speed information, image data, and the like are transmitted to and received from the other image forming apparatuses 1 to execute a connection setting process (step ST13).
Is operated (step ST14), when the double-sided function is selected or when the selection state is released, the double-sided setting process is executed (step ST15), and the format original keys 43 and 54 are operated. BA (Step S
T16), a format setting process is executed (step ST17). Similarly, if another key is operated (step ST18), an event process corresponding to the operated key is executed (step ST19).

<Operation of Claim 1> When the user does not operate the connection instruction key 57 displayed on the LCD display 26 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 (step ST20), the sort instruction key 4
1 and 52 are not operated (step ST2).
1) A single function as a normal copying machine is assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 according to the operation contents of the operation device 6. In this state, every time the print key 32 is operated, an image of a document set on the document table 9 of the automatic document feeder 3 or a document set on the contact glass 17 is read, and is transferred onto the transfer paper 61. The sheet is transferred and discharged onto the discharge tray 73 (step ST22). In addition, the connection instruction key 57 is operated to instruct a connection operation with another image forming apparatus 1 (step ST20), and if the sort instruction key 41 is operated and the electronic sort function is selected (step ST21). ), The function of the master machine is assigned to this image forming apparatus 1 and the function of the slave machine is assigned to the other image forming apparatuses 1 in accordance with the operation contents of the operating device 6. In this state, if the print key 32 of the master image forming apparatus 1 is operated,
The images of the originals set on the original platen 9 of the automatic original feeder 3 provided in the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine are sequentially read one by one, and an image signal processing unit (I
PU) 96 are sequentially stored in the image memory circuit 115 (steps ST23 and ST24).

When the reading of the original to be read is completed (step ST24), the performance information is transmitted from the master image forming apparatus 1 to the slave image forming apparatus 1. When a request is issued, copy speed information of another image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine, information indicating whether or not the other image forming apparatus 1 is currently executing a copy, While outputting information indicating whether an abnormality has occurred,
The information is fetched and stored by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine (step ST25).
Thereafter, the copy speed of the master image forming apparatus 1 is compared with the copy speed of the slave image forming apparatus 1 by the master image forming apparatus 1. Then, the number of copies (scheduled number of copies) at which each of these image forming apparatuses 1 can complete the copying process at the same time is obtained, and based on the calculation result, the image forming apparatus 1 as the master unit and the slave unit as the slave unit. After the number of copies has been allocated to the image forming apparatus 1 which is the master apparatus (step ST26), the image data to be copied is transferred from the image forming apparatus 1 which is the master apparatus to the image forming apparatus 1 which is the slave apparatus. Then, the copy operation of the image processing apparatus 1 as the master machine and the copy operation of the image forming apparatus 1 as the slave machine are started (step ST). 7, ST28). Here,
The calculated number of copies is a predicted value to the last, and does not take into account the time required for paper replenishment waiting for paper replenishment or jam processing during copying, for example.

Next, if the copy processing in the slave image forming apparatus 1 is completed while the copy processing is being executed in the master image forming apparatus 1 (step ST29), the master image forming apparatus 1 performs the copy processing. It is checked whether the number of uncopied copies is less than 1 in the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a copy machine. If the number of uncopied copies (remaining copy number) is 1 copy or more (step ST30), the image forming apparatus 1 becomes the master machine. The value “1” indicating the copy in progress is added to the remaining copy (the number of copies not including the copy in progress) “A” by the image forming apparatus 1, and the value obtained by this addition operation (addition). Value) is divided by the value “2”, and the quotient is converted to an integer,
The expected number of copies “B” is calculated (steps ST31 and ST31).
32). Then, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine
Sends a copy job request to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine, and starts copying the number of copies indicated by the predetermined number of copies “B” (step ST
33), the planned number of copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is changed to “AB”, and copying of the planned number of copies “AB” is started after the copy currently being copied (FIG. 33). Step ST34).

In this case, for example, when the remaining number of copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is "4" and a 1/4 page copy is left, B = INT {(4 + 1) {2} = INT (2.5) = 2 where INT is a symbol indicating an integer conversion process, and a copy of two copies is requested to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine and an image forming apparatus serving as a master machine The apparatus 1 resumes the copy of the １ ／ page that was currently being copied, and when the copy is completed, the copy of the remaining two copies is started. In the above-described processing, when a part of the planned number of copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master is assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave, the remaining part of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master is If the number of copies is less than 1 (step ST30), the number of remaining pages “C” of the copy currently being copied is divided by the value “2”, and the quotient is converted to an integer.
The number of requested pages “D” is calculated (step ST35,
ST36).

Then, a copy job request is issued from the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave, and copies for the page indicated by the requested page number “D” are copied. Then, the process is started in a direction opposite to the copy direction of the master image forming apparatus 1 (step ST37), and the number of remaining pages of the master image forming apparatus 1 is changed to "CD". Being
Copying of the remaining pages is resumed (step ST3)
8). In this case, the number of pages of the document to be copied is “30”, and the copy to the last “10” page of the last copy has already been completed by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine, and the remaining copies have been completed. If the number of pages is “20”, D = INT (20 ÷ 2) = 10 where INT: a symbol indicating an integer conversion process is calculated, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine is calculated.
The number of pages "10" requested to be copied is calculated. If the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is to copy from the last page, the copying from page 30 to page 21 has been completed by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine. Then, copying from the 20th page to the 11th page is started by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine, and the first to 10th pages are copied by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine.
Copying up to the page starts.

Also, before the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine finishes copying the planned number of copies during the copying process described above, the copy of the planned number of copies is finished by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine. Then (step ST3
9) Information indicating that copying of the expected number of copies has been completed is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is sent to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine. It is notified that the copy operation in device 1 has been completed (step ST40). At this point, the copying has not been completed in the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus, and if there is a request for a copy job from the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus (step ST41), the apparatus becomes the master apparatus. This is taken in by the image forming apparatus 1 which is in operation, and the planned number of copies of the image forming apparatus 1 which is the master machine is changed based on the request (step ST4).
2) If the planned number of copies after the change is one or more (step ST43), the planned number of copies are copied by a normal copying procedure (steps ST28, ST29, ST39).

If the planned number of copies after the change is less than one copy (step ST43), the direction is opposite to the copy direction of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine, that is, the slave machine. If the image forming apparatus 1 is to copy from the first page, copying is started from the last page by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine (step ST44). Thereby, for example, the total number of copies is set to “8”, four copies are assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine as the planned number of copies, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine is assigned. Copying is started in a state where four copies have been allocated, and while the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine is copying the latter half of the last copy (fourth copy) having the planned number of copies. When the copy process of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is completed and the first page to the m-th page of the fourth copy assigned to the slave machine are copied, as shown in FIG. The first copy, the second copy, the third copy, and the fourth copy, which have been allocated in advance as the expected number of copies, on the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a machine in order from the bottom. Copy ejected After,
Again, the assigned copy of the first half of the fourth copy is ejected,
Also, the first copy, the second copy, the third copy, and the fourth copy, which have been allocated in advance from the bottom as the planned number of copies, on the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave unit. The second half of the copy is ejected.

As shown in FIG. 12, the operator picks up the fourth copy (reallocated the first half copy of the fourth copy) discharged onto the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine as shown in FIG. Then, after the pages are aligned, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine is superimposed on the copy of the latter half of the fourth copy discharged onto the paper output tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine. The fourth copy assigned to 1 is completed. As described above, in this embodiment, if another image forming apparatus 1 is performing a copy operation when the copy processing of the number of copies previously assigned to one of the image forming apparatuses 1 that are connected to each other is completed, another image is generated. Forming device 1
Since the copy processing that should have been performed in step (1) is redistributed to the image forming apparatuses 1 that have already completed the copy processing, the operation times of two or more image forming apparatuses 1 should be substantially the same. As a result, the productivity of copying can be improved, and the efficiency of the copying operation can be increased.
Further, by simply setting the total number of copies in the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine, the scheduled number of copies previously assigned to each image forming apparatus 1 is automatically determined based on the copy status of each image forming apparatus 1. In other words, the copy process of each image forming apparatus 1 is terminated almost at the same time, so that the operation of taking out the copy discharged onto the discharge tray 73 of each image forming apparatus 1 can be performed once. With one
By simply setting the total number of copies, the number of copies to be assigned to each image forming apparatus 1 can be automatically optimized, thereby greatly improving operability. Further, the operation time of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine and the operation time of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine can be made substantially the same.
The wear of the mechanical parts can be made substantially uniform, and the work time for parts replacement and the like can be made the same, thereby improving the efficiency of maintenance work and reducing service maintenance costs.

<Operation of Claim 2> In the above-described operation of claim 1, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine finishes copying the predetermined number of copies (step ST39) and becomes the master machine. The number of copies is again distributed between the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus (steps ST40 to ST42). When the process of copying a set is assigned (step ST43), the last page (if the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine is the image forming apparatus 1 that copies in descending page order, the first page to be copied last) To start copying from the designated page (step ST4).
4) At this time, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13, the transport path switching unit 74 and the reversing unit 69 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine are set to the reversing discharge mode,
The copies discharged on the paper discharge tray may be superposed in a reversed state (step ST45).

By doing so, for example, the total number of copies is set to "8", and four copies are assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 which is the master machine as the scheduled number of copies, and the slave machine becomes the slave machine. Copying is started in a state in which four copies are allocated to the image forming apparatus 1 which has been set up, and the latter half of the last set (fourth set) in which the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine has the expected number of copies. During the copying, when the copy processing of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is completed and the first to m-th pages of the fourth copy assigned to the slave machine are copied,
Image forming apparatus 1 serving as a master machine as shown in FIG.
After the first copy, the second copy, the third copy, and the fourth copy, which have been assigned in advance as the expected number of copies, are ejected in order from the bottom on the paper ejection tray 73 on the side, and are again assigned after being ejected. The first copy of the fourth set is discharged, and the first copy, the second copy, and the second copy, which are assigned in advance from the bottom, to the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave unit. The copy of the copy, the copy of the third copy, and the copy of the second half of the copy are discharged.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the operator copies the fourth copy (the first half of the allocated fourth copy again) discharged onto the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine as shown in FIG. ) Is taken up and turned upside down, and is superimposed on the second half copy of the fourth copy discharged onto the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine, thereby becoming the slave machine. The fourth copy initially assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 is completed. As described above, in this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine performs less than one copy by reassignment, the transport path switching unit 74 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is used. And the reversing unit 69 is set to the reversing discharge mode so that the copies discharged onto the discharge tray 73 are overlapped in the reversing state, so that in addition to the effect obtained by the operation of claim 1, The effects described can be obtained. First, of the two or more image forming apparatuses 1, less than one copy newly assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 whose copying is completed earlier is inverted and discharged, and the other image forming apparatus 1 discharges the paper. The copy discharged on the tray 73 can be directly superimposed on the copy, so that the divided copy made by the plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 can be easily arranged while eliminating extra work such as page alignment. Can be put together. Further, as compared with the state of claim 1, the processing time of the connected image forming apparatuses 1 is further equalized,
Productivity can be further improved.

<Operation of Claim 3> In the above-described operation of claim 1, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine finishes copying the predetermined number of copies (step ST39) and becomes the master machine. The number of copies is again distributed between the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave apparatus (steps ST40 to ST42). When the process of copying a copy is assigned (step ST43), copying from the last page to the designated page is started (step ST44).
It is determined whether or not the duplex mode is set as shown in the flowchart of step ST46 (step ST46). If the duplex mode is not set, the transport path switching unit 74 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine and the reversing unit 6
9 is set to the reverse discharge mode so that the copies discharged onto the discharge tray 73 are overlapped in the reverse state (steps ST47 and ST48). When the duplex mode is set (step ST46), Such reversal processing is skipped, and double-sided copying is started from the last page (if the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine is the image forming apparatus 1 that copies in descending page order, the first page copied last). (Step ST4)
8).

By doing so, in this embodiment, when the duplex mode is set, the discharge tray 73
By unifying the front and back of the copy discharged above, it is possible to prevent an error from occurring when superimposing the divided and discharged copy bundle without making the operator perform the work of judging the front and back. . In this embodiment,
Even when the number of copies is less than one, the pages to be copied are redistributed in page units. However, in the flowchart of FIG. 16, when the number of remaining copies of the master image forming apparatus 1 is less than one, It may be determined whether or not the duplex mode is set, and when the duplex mode is set, the page allocation to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave device may be skipped. By doing so, although the copy productivity is slightly reduced, when the copy processing is redistributed to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine, the copy processing is requested for each copy, and the page after the copy is copied. Alignment work can be made unnecessary.

<Operation of Claim 4> In the above-described operation of claim 1, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine finish copying the predetermined number of copies. (Steps ST29 and ST39), when the number of copies to be copied is less than one (steps ST30 and ST43), each page of the copy to be copied in each image forming apparatus 1 is allocated (ST29).
35 to ST38, step ST44), at the time when the copy processing of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine ends as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 (step ST2).
9) When the number of remaining copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is less than one, the copy request to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine is stopped, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is further stopped. At the time when one copy process is completed (step ST39), when the number of remaining copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave machine is two or more and a copy job request for one or more copies is made (steps ST40 and ST4).
1) The planned number of copies of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine may be changed (step ST42).

By doing so, for example, the total number of copies is set to "8", and four copies are assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 which is the master machine as the scheduled number of copies, and the slave machine is also used. Copying is started in a state in which four copies are allocated to the image forming apparatus 1 which is in operation, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine copies the last copy (third copy) having the expected number of copies. When the copy process of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine is completed during the copying and the fourth copy assigned to the slave machine is copied, as shown in FIG. Copy of the first copy, 2
The copy of the third copy is ejected,
The first copy, the second copy, the third copy, the fourth copy, and the fourth copy, which are assigned in advance from the bottom as the expected number of copies, are sequentially placed on the discharge tray 73 of the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine. After the copy of the copy has been ejected, 4 is first assigned to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine.
A copy of the copy is ejected. As described above, in this embodiment, the processing is not divided when the number of copies to be copied by each image forming apparatus 1 is less than 1, so that the sort unit is added to the effect obtained by the operation of claim 1. Is prevented from straddling a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1, confusion at the time of integrating the copies can be eliminated, and the work of the operator can be simplified.

<Operation of Claim 5> In the operation of the above-described claim 4, the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a slave device
Finishes copying the scheduled number of copies (step ST29),
When the number of remaining copies to be copied by the master image forming apparatus 1 is less than 1 (step ST3)
0), the copy job is not requested to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine, and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine finishes copying the predetermined number of copies (step ST39). When the number of remaining copies to be copied by the image forming apparatus 1 is less than 1 (steps ST40 and ST41), a request for a copy job is not made to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as a master machine. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 19, when the number of remaining copies to be copied by the master image forming apparatus 1 and the slave image forming apparatus 1 is less than 1 (steps ST30 and ST4).
1) Similar to the operations of the first to third aspects, the remaining one copy of the remaining pages may be allocated to the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine. Good (Steps ST49, ST35 to ST38,
ST50).

At this time, it is checked whether the staple function is set in the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine or the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave machine, and when the staple function is not set (step ST4).
9) The remaining pages of the remaining copies are divided and copied by the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the slave unit and the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master unit (step ST35).
When the staple function is set (step ST49), the image forming apparatus 1 serving as the master machine sets the remaining pages of the remaining copies in copy units.
Alternatively, copying may be performed by one of the image forming apparatuses 1 serving as slave apparatuses. As described above, in this embodiment, when the stapling function is selected, the copy in the sort unit is prevented from straddling a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1, so that the copy can be stapled reliably and the stapling can be performed. When the function is not selected, the remaining one or more copies are efficiently shared by the master image forming apparatus 1 and the slave image forming apparatus 1, thereby greatly increasing the copy productivity. Can be improved.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect, when the first image processing apparatus completes the pre-assigned copy processing, another image forming apparatus continues the copy operation. It is checked whether copying is in progress, and when another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation and the number of copies remaining is less than one, the copy processing that should have been processed by the other image forming apparatus has already been copied. By distributing the processed pages to the image forming apparatuses and outputting the output from the last page, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying. Operability can be greatly improved by removing the completed copy only once, and the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost evenly reduced. Tasks such as parts replacement can be at the same time, to improve maintenance efficiency, it is possible to reduce service maintenance costs. In claim 2, 1
When the first image processing apparatus has completed the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation, and the other image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been processed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing, and is inverted and output from the last page to output. The operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same,
As a result, the productivity and efficiency of copying can be improved, and the operation of removing the completed copy can be completed only once, thereby greatly improving the operability, and further, the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus. Work such as parts replacement can be done at the same time by almost even consumption of parts, improving maintenance efficiency, reducing service maintenance costs, and eliminating the need for extra work such as page alignment. it can.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus has completed the copy processing assigned in advance, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the image forming apparatus is performing the copy operation and the number of remaining copies is less than one, the copy processing that should have been performed by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing. By inverting or non-inverting the output from the last page, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, thereby improving the productivity and efficiency of copying, and One task to remove the copy that came up
Times, and the operability can be greatly improved.
Furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, parts replacement and other operations can be performed at the same time, maintenance efficiency can be improved, service maintenance costs can be reduced, and transfer paper can be transferred during duplex printing. The misunderstanding of the front and back can be eliminated. In claim 4,
When the first image processing apparatus has completed the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation, and the other image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. Yes, when the number of remaining copies is one or more, a part of the number of copies that should have been copied by another image forming apparatus is distributed to the image forming apparatus that has already completed the copy processing and output in copies. Thereby, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, so that the number of remaining copies does not cross over a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and the operation of integrating output results can be simplified. The productivity and efficiency of copying can be improved, and the operation of removing the completed copy can be completed only once, so that the operability can be greatly improved. And substantially equal the consumption of parts,
Operations such as parts replacement can be performed at the same time, maintenance efficiency can be improved, and service maintenance costs can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the first image processing apparatus completes the pre-assigned copy processing, it is checked whether or not another image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation. When the image forming apparatus is continuing the copy operation and the stapling function is selected, the output of the sorting unit is prevented from straddling between the plurality of image forming apparatuses,
Make sure that the output result can be stapled, and when the stapling function is not selected, part of the number of copies that would have been copied by another image
By distributing and outputting to image forming apparatuses that have already completed copy processing, the operation time of two or more image forming apparatuses can be made substantially the same, thereby improving copy productivity and efficiency. In addition to being able to carry out the completed copy once, the operability can be greatly improved. Furthermore, the wear of the mechanical parts of each image forming apparatus is almost equalized, and the work such as parts replacement is performed. Can be performed at the same time, maintenance efficiency can be improved, and service maintenance costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a detailed configuration example of the operating device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of display contents of an LCD display shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of display contents of an LCD display shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a main circuit of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a detailed circuit configuration example of the IPU shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7A to 7E are time charts showing operation timing examples of the IPU shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a main operation example of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a specific operation example of the key input event process illustrated in FIG. 9;

10 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure example of an operation corresponding to claim 1 among operations of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a copy discharged according to the procedure shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing an example of superimposition of each copy shown in FIG. 11;

13 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure example of an operation corresponding to claim 2 among the operations of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a copy discharged according to the procedure shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of superimposition of each copy shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure example of the operation corresponding to claim 3 among the operations of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure example of an operation corresponding to claim 4 among operations of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

18 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a copy discharged according to the procedure illustrated in FIG. 17;

19 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure example of an operation corresponding to claim 5 among operations of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Device housing, 3 ... Automatic document feeder, 4 ... Image reading device, 5 ... Image creating device, 6 ... Operating device, 7 ... Feeding device, 8 ... Feeding device housing, 9 … Manuscript table, 1
0: Document set detection sensor, 11: Feeding roller, 12:
Roller, 13: feeding belt, 14: feeding mechanism, 15: paper discharge section, 16: discharge roller, 17: contact glass, 1
8 first carriage, 19 light source, 20 first mirror,
21: second carriage, 22: second mirror, 23: third
Mirror, 24 lens, 25 CCD image sensor,
26 LCD display (liquid crystal display), 27
... touch panel, 28 ... numeric keypad, 29 ... initial setting key, 30 ... mode clear key, 31 ... clear / stop key, 32 ... print key, 33 ... keyboard, 34 ...
Operation unit, 35: automatic density instruction key, 36: density change instruction key, 38: automatic paper selection key, 39: paper size instruction key, 40: variable magnification instruction key, 41: sort instruction key, 4
2 ... staple instruction key, 43 ... format original instruction key, 44 ... double-side instruction key, 45 ... grouping instruction key, 46
... Automatic density instruction key, 47 ... Density change instruction key, 48 ...
Automatic paper selection key, 49 ... paper size instruction key, 51 ...
Zooming instruction key, 52: Sort instruction key, 53: Staple instruction key, 54: Format original instruction key, 55:
Double-sided instruction key, 56: Combination instruction key, 57: Connection instruction key, 58: First paper supply tray, 59: Second paper supply tray, 6
0: third paper feed tray, 61: transfer paper, 62: first paper feed unit, 63: second paper feed unit, 64: third paper feed unit, 65: transport roller, 66: vertical transport unit, 67
… Registration roller, 68… writing optical unit, 69…
Reversing unit, 70 visualizing unit, 71 paper transfer unit, 72 fixing unit, 73 discharge tray, 74
... Conveyance path switching unit, 75 ... Control board, 76 ... Laser output unit, 77 ... Lens group, 78 ... Mirror, 79
.., Photoreceptor, 80, developing unit, 81, paper transfer bias roller, 82, drive roller, 83, transport belt, 84,
Fixing roller, 85: pressure roller, 86: switching roller pair,
87: paper discharge roller pair, 88: double-sided paper input roller, 89: reversal discharge roller, 90: reversal roller, 91: switching roller,
92: conveyance roller, 93: re-feed roller, 94: main controller, 95: connection interface (connection IF)
, 96 image signal processor (IPU), 97 main motor, 98 intermediate clutch, 99 first feed clutch, 100 second feed clutch, 101 third feed clutch, 102 control Unit, 103 ... conveying motor, 104 ...
Image processing circuit, 105: control circuit, 106: A / D converter circuit, 107: shading correction circuit, 108
... MTF / γ correction circuit, 109.
... Selector circuit, 111 ... Write gamma correction circuit, 112 ...
CPU circuit, 113 ROM circuit, 114 RAM circuit, 115 image memory circuit, 116 memory controller circuit, 117 I / O port circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Takahiko Uno 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Norio Michiya 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Share Inside the company Ricoh

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for outputting each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies in cooperation with two or more image forming apparatuses, wherein one image is linked with another image forming apparatus. When the first image forming apparatus finishes outputting the number of copies scheduled to be output when the designated number of copies are output, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by another image forming apparatus is continued. When the remaining number of copies is less than one at this time, the first image forming apparatus outputs the remaining copies from the last page image to the designated page image. 2. An image forming apparatus for outputting each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies in cooperation with two or more image forming apparatuses, wherein one image is linked with another image forming apparatus. When the first image forming apparatus finishes outputting the number of copies scheduled to be output when the specified number of copies are output, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by another image forming apparatus is output. The image forming apparatus further comprising: when the remaining number of copies is less than one at this time, the first image forming apparatus inverts the output from the last page image of the remaining number of copies to a designated page image. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first image forming apparatus is to output a designated number of copies in cooperation with another image forming apparatus. When the output of the number of copies is completed, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by the other image forming apparatus is continued. When the remaining number of copies is less than 1 at this time, a two-sided output instruction and a one-sided An image forming apparatus, which causes a first image forming apparatus to output a double-sided or single-sided image from a last page image of the image to a designated page image in response to an output instruction. 4. An image forming apparatus for outputting each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies in cooperation with two or more image forming apparatuses, wherein one image is linked with another image forming apparatus. When the first image forming apparatus finishes outputting the number of copies scheduled to be output when the specified number of copies are output, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by another image forming apparatus is output. The image forming apparatus further comprising: when the remaining number of copies is one or more at this time, causing the first image forming apparatus to output a designated number of the remaining copies. 5. An image forming apparatus in which two or more image forming apparatuses cooperate and output each page image constituting one image by a designated number of copies, wherein one image is cooperated with another image forming apparatus. When the first image forming apparatus finishes outputting the number of copies scheduled to be output, the output of the number of copies scheduled to be output by another image forming apparatus is performed. If the staple function is selected when the remaining number of copies is less than 1 at this time, the first image forming apparatus is inhibited from outputting the remaining number of copies and stapling is performed on all the copies. And when the stapling function is not selected, causes the first image forming apparatus to output from the last page image of the remaining number of copies to a designated page image.