JP3974103B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing apparatus, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine of these.

In a general image forming apparatus, when multiple people print at the same time, printing and paper discharge based on multiple print jobs are performed on the paper discharge tray, unless the paper discharge tray to be used can be individually specified. As a result, each sheet is currently mixed.
Further, in printing using a network, a print job is assigned to any output bin regardless of the user's intention, and thus there is a problem that it is unclear to which output bin the print job is output. For this reason, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, even if a print job is automatically allocated to any output bin, an output in which the print job is output based on identification data added to the print job. The bin can be recognized, and furthermore, only the user himself / herself can take out the printing paper by using a lockable output bin.
JP 2001-265561 A

  Conventionally, when printing paper is mixed, the owner may not be clear. Then, a situation occurs in which the discharged paper is taken away by a person other than the owner, and the owner cannot obtain his / her printing paper. Further, the technique of Patent Document 1 is able to identify an output bin printed on a printing apparatus having one or more output bins connected to a network by displaying it on a display unit. When the lockable output bottle is not used as described above, it cannot be prevented that a third person takes it by mistake.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is capable of preventing a print sheet discharged to a discharge tray from being taken away by anyone other than the owner of the print sheet (the person who performed the printing). The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention provides a display means, a paper discharge tray capable of detecting the presence or absence of discharged print paper, a predetermined identifier attached to a print job, and paper discharge by the print job. Control means for changing the output of the display means in accordance with the detection state of the presence or absence of printing paper in the discharged paper tray.

In a second aspect based on the first aspect , the predetermined identifier is associated with information relating to a transmission source. When the control unit detects removal of the printing paper from the paper discharge tray, Based on a predetermined identifier assigned to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray, information on the corresponding transmission source is displayed on the display means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an informing means for emitting a warning sound, a paper discharge tray capable of detecting the presence or absence of discharged print paper, a predetermined identifier attached to the print job, and a paper discharged by the print job. Control means for changing the output of the notification means in accordance with the detection state of the presence or absence of printing paper in the paper discharge tray.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention , in any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention , there is provided input means for receiving a release identifier associated with the predetermined identifier, and the control means After detecting the removal of the printing paper from the tray, the release identifier input from the input unit corresponds to a predetermined identifier attached to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray from which the printing paper has been removed. If it is determined that the output is determined, the output mode is restored.

Further, a fifth invention according to any one of the first to fourth inventions , further comprising a time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time, wherein the control means is arranged before the elapse of a predetermined time measured by the time measuring means. When the printing paper is detected in the printing tray from which the printing paper has been removed, the output mode is restored.

According to a sixth invention , in any one of the first to fifth inventions , there are a plurality of the paper discharge trays, and the control unit changes a paper discharge tray for each print job with a different transmission source. For the same transmission source print job, control is performed to discharge the paper to a discharge tray that has discharged the paper first, at a position shifted from the position of the previous paper discharge.

In addition, in a seventh aspect based on the sixth aspect, when all of the discharge trays are in use, the control unit waits for a print job of a transmission source that is not assigned to the discharge tray, It is characterized in that a print job in a waiting state is executed when a predetermined time elapses after the printing paper is removed from at least one paper discharge tray.

In an eighth aspect based on any one of the first to seventh aspects, the control unit performs control to distribute and transfer the received print job to another image forming apparatus according to a predetermined condition. It is a feature.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the output of the display unit is determined according to the predetermined identifier given to the print job and the detection state of the presence or absence of print paper in the paper discharge tray discharged by the print job. Alternatively, since the output of the notification unit is changed, the user can be alerted when collecting the discharged printing paper from the image forming apparatus.

  Further, according to the present invention, when the printing paper is removed from the paper discharge tray, information on the corresponding transmission source is displayed based on the predetermined identifier assigned to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray. The person who took the printing paper can recognize the owner of the paper.

  Further, according to the present invention, when it is determined that the input release identifier corresponds to the predetermined identifier assigned to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray from which the print paper has been removed, Alternatively, when the printing paper is detected in the printing tray from which the printing paper has been removed before the predetermined time has elapsed, the output mode is restored. In other words, since the changed output mode (which is preferably a mode for alerting the user) continues until these conditions are satisfied, the printing paper on which sheets other than the proper owner are discharged Can be taken away. By using an identifier that can be understood only by the person who made the printout as the release identifier, it is possible to determine whether the print paper discharged by the rightful owner has been collected or collected by a third party.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the paper discharge tray to be discharged is changed for each print job having a different transmission source, and the print job of the same transmission source is first transferred to the paper discharge tray that has been discharged first. Control to discharge to a position shifted from the position of the discharged paper, and if all of the paper discharge trays are in use, the print job of the sender that is not assigned to the paper discharge tray is put in a waiting state, When the print paper is removed from at least one paper discharge tray and a predetermined time elapses, a waiting print job is executed. As a result, a paper discharge tray is assigned to each transmission source, and printing is output by a different transmission source. Printing paper will not get mixed up and the owner will not be unclear.

  Further, according to the present invention, the received print job is distributed and transferred to another image forming apparatus according to a predetermined condition, so that the load on the image forming apparatus can be reduced and printing can be performed when a large number of print jobs occur. The output waiting time can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of a conventional image forming apparatus, and includes an image forming unit 10, a paper discharge tray 10a, a control unit 20, a communication unit 30, an operation unit 40, and a display unit. 50 and a notification unit 60.

  The image forming unit 10 includes a sheet feeding unit that feeds a sheet material that is printing paper, a transfer unit that performs a transfer process of a toner image to a sheet material, and a fixing unit that performs a fixing process of a toner image transferred to the sheet material , And a sheet discharge unit (none of which is shown) for discharging the sheet material after fixing, and performs a series of processes related to the image forming process. The paper discharge unit is provided with a plurality of paper discharge trays 10a for receiving the discharged sheet material. Each discharge tray 10a is provided with a sensor (not shown) for detecting the presence or absence of discharged sheet material, and notifies the control unit 20 of the detection result.

The control unit 20 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, the control unit 20 has a timer 20a, and measures the current time or the elapsed time from a certain time by a timer interruption from the timer 20a.
The communication unit 30 receives and transfers a print job by connecting to a PC (personal computer) that transmits a print job or another image forming apparatus via a communication network. The communication unit 30 includes a buffer memory that temporarily stores received data (print job data and the like).

The operation unit 40 includes various keys, a touch panel, and the like for the user to input operation commands and settings to the image forming apparatus 1.
The display unit 50 is a display unit that displays the processing status in the image forming apparatus 1 and setting information input from the operation unit 40, and includes a liquid crystal panel, an LED (Light-Emitting Diode), and the like. When a light emitting element such as an LED (Light-Emitting Diode) is used, lighting and blinking of the light emitting element are controlled by the control unit 20 to alert the user.

The notification unit 60 emits a notification sound (buzzer sound, melody, etc.) for alerting the user and other attention.
The control unit 20 includes a memory, a CPU (central processing unit), and the like, and the functions are realized by loading a program for realizing each function of the control unit 20 into the memory and executing the program. To do. Further, a nonvolatile memory for storing the program is provided (none of which is shown).

  Next, a characteristic operation of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to an operation flowchart shown in FIG. Description of the basic operation of the conventional image forming apparatus is omitted.

[Operation when a print job is received (see Fig. 2)]
First, the communication unit 30 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives a print job from a host computer or the like connected to the outside (step S101). The received print job is temporarily stored in the buffer of the communication unit 30. A predetermined identifier is attached to this print job, and at least the transmission source can be identified.
When the communication unit 30 receives the print job, the control unit 20 determines whether there is a paper discharge tray 10a that is in use and has the same transmission source (step S102).

If it is determined in step S102 that there is a paper discharge tray 10a that is in use and has the same transmission source (Yes in this step), the process proceeds to step S103.
In step S103, printing is performed on the printing paper based on the received print job, and the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 10a being used for the transmission source. The control unit 20 temporarily stores the position where the paper is discharged first, and at this time, discharges the paper to a position shifted from the position where the paper was discharged first.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that there is no paper discharge tray 10a that is in use and has the same transmission source (No in this step), the process proceeds to step S104.
In step S104, it is determined whether or not there is an empty paper discharge tray (an unused paper discharge tray) in the paper discharge tray 10a. If it is determined that there is no empty paper discharge tray (No determination in this step), the process returns to step S102 and the subsequent processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 that there is an empty paper discharge tray (Yes in this step), the process proceeds to step S105.
In step S105, printing is performed on the printing paper based on the received print job, and the printed printing paper is discharged to an empty paper discharge tray.

[Operation after printing (see Fig. 3)]
At some point after printing, when it is detected in the paper discharge tray 10a that the discharged print paper has been removed, the detection result is notified to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20 detects the print paper that has been discharged. Removal is detected (step S201).

  When the control unit 20 detects the removal of the discharged print paper, the control unit 20 sends a message corresponding to the identifier based on the identifier assigned to the print job assigned to the discharge tray 10a from which the print paper is discharged. For example, a transmission source management table in which the identifier and transmission source information are associated with each other is provided on the display unit 50, and the corresponding transmission source information is displayed on the display unit 50 with reference to this table. Good. Along with this display, the control unit 20 causes the notification unit 60 to emit a warning sound and alert the user (step S202).

Thereafter, it is determined in step S203 whether a predetermined time set in advance has elapsed.
Here, it is assumed that the predetermined time has elapsed. Then, it determines with Yes in step S203, and transfers to step S204.
In step S204, it is determined whether or not there is printing paper in the paper discharge tray 10a.

  When the printing paper is still removed from the paper discharge tray 10a, the control unit 20 has received the notification of the detection result relating to the removal of the printing paper from the paper discharge tray 10a. Determines that there is no paper (No determination). On the other hand, if the previously removed print paper is returned to the original paper discharge tray 10a within a predetermined time, the paper discharge tray 10a determines whether or not there is print paper. When the detection is made and the printing paper is returned, the control unit 20 is notified of the presence of the printing paper as a result of the detection.

When it is determined in this step S204 that there is no paper in the paper discharge tray 10a (No in this step), the process proceeds to step S205.
In step S205, the release identifier is determined. Here, if a release identifier is input and this release identifier corresponds to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray 10a, “OK” is determined, otherwise “NG”. Is made. If “NG” is determined in this determination, the process proceeds to step S207.
Note that the release identifier is input by a user through a predetermined key operation using the operation unit 40.

In step S207, a print job (waiting print job) temporarily stored in the communication unit 30 and waiting is executed. At this time, the display in step S202 and the output of the warning sound remain unchanged, and it can be seen that a person other than the rightful owner has taken out the discharged printing paper.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S204 that there is paper in the paper discharge tray 10a (Yes in this step), or if "OK" is determined in step S205, the process proceeds to step S206.

In step S <b> 206, the control unit 20 restores the display on the display unit 50 and the sound emission of the warning sound in the notification unit 60. That is, the display on the display unit 50 is displayed before the printing paper is removed, and the warning sound by the notification unit 60 stops. In this way, when the third party has not taken away the printing paper, or when the right owner removes the printing paper and inputs the release identifier, the output for calling the user's attention is stopped.
Each operation flow described above is an example, and is not limited to the above processing flow.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes a configuration and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation during printing in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation after printing in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus 10 ... Image forming part 10a ... Paper discharge tray 20 ... Control part 20a ... Timer 30 ... Communication part 40 ... Operation part 50 ... Display part 60 ... Notification part

Claims (6)

Display means or notification means for emitting a warning sound ;
A paper discharge tray that can detect the presence or absence of the printed paper,
A control unit that detects an output of the display unit or the notification unit according to a predetermined identifier attached to the print job when the removal of the printing paper in the paper discharge tray discharged by the print job is detected;
Input means for receiving an input of a release identifier associated with the predetermined identifier;
The control means detects the removal of the print paper from the paper discharge tray, and then attaches the release identifier input from the input means to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray from which the print paper has been removed. An image forming apparatus , wherein the output mode is restored when it is determined that the output corresponds to the predetermined identifier . Display means;
A paper discharge tray that can detect the presence or absence of the printed paper,
Control means for changing output on the display means according to a predetermined identifier attached to the print job when the removal of the printing paper in the paper discharge tray discharged by the print job is detected,
The predetermined identifier is associated with information on the transmission source,
When the control unit detects the removal of the printing paper from the paper discharge tray, the control unit displays information on the corresponding transmission source on the display unit based on a predetermined identifier assigned to the print job assigned to the paper discharge tray. Display
An image forming apparatus. Having a time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time;
2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the printing paper is detected in the printing tray from which the printing paper has been removed before the lapse of a predetermined time counted by the time counting means, the output mode is restored. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 . There are a plurality of the output trays,
The control unit changes a paper discharge tray for each print job with a different transmission source, and discharges the first paper discharge to a paper discharge tray that discharges the first transmission job for the same transmission source. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein discharge control is performed to a position shifted from the first position . 5. When all of the paper discharge trays are in use, the control unit waits for a print job of a transmission source that is not assigned to the paper discharge tray, and the print paper is removed from at least one paper discharge tray, and a predetermined time has elapsed. Then execute the waiting print job
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 . The control unit performs control to distribute and transfer the received print job to another image forming apparatus according to a predetermined condition.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

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