JP4091032B2 - Image forming system self-running system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus self-running system in which an image forming apparatus moves to a request generation place and executes printing, and more particularly, a system in which an operation panel can face a user at a moving destination. About.

Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a self-running system related to a printer.
That is, in Patent Document 1, print data and destination identification information are received from a user-side terminal by a transmission / reception device, destination position information is acquired by referring to map information, and a plurality of destinations are efficiently circulated. A movable printer is disclosed in which a possible movement route is planned and moved by driving means based on this plan, and the print data is printed out.

  According to the mobile printer having such a configuration, it is not necessary for the user to go to the place where the printer is located, and the mobile printer itself moves to the user's location to perform print output, thereby saving the user's wasteful labor. Can be omitted. Furthermore, the printing efficiency can be improved because the mobile printer can perform a printing operation during the movement.

However, since the technique described in Patent Document 1 is limited to a printer, unlike a printer, a copier that requires a document is not considered.
Moreover, although the cooperation method of map information and the user side terminal identification information which is a movement destination is not considered, at the time of introduction, it is expected that communication with the outside is necessary for obtaining map information.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the schedule is updated based on the map information representing the position information in two-dimensional coordinates from the position information of the destination and the current position information included in the movement command received by the communication means. A mobile type copying machine is disclosed that moves to each destination by driving means according to the updated schedule and performs a copying operation.

  According to the mobile type copying machine having such a configuration, the mobile type copying machine moves to the user's place in response to a user's request and performs copying from the original there. There is no need to move to the place.

However, since the technique described in Patent Document 2 is limited to a copying machine, the printer is not considered.
In addition, since map information using two-dimensional coordinates is used as current position information and destination position information when moving, it takes time to create map information at the time of introduction, and each user or When the position of the user side terminal is changed, it is necessary to recreate map information based on two-dimensional coordinates, and an operational load is imposed on the administrator.
Further, when the movement command of the mobile printer or the copying machine, that is, the call can be made only from the user side terminal, if the LAN for connecting the user side terminals to each other is not introduced, the mobile printer or the copying machine Is difficult to introduce.
JP 2001-125646 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-11079

  However, in the techniques described in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2, the printer or the copying machine is merely moved to the destination, and the operation panel of the printer or the copying machine cannot be correctly oriented with respect to the user. When the user tries to use the image forming apparatus that has been moved to the destination without being considered at all, a situation may occur in which the operation panel faces the opposite side. I had to wrap around and use it.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and in an image forming apparatus self-running system in which the image forming apparatus can move within a predetermined movement range, a user calls the image forming apparatus from his desk or the like. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a self-running system for an image forming apparatus in which an operation panel of the image forming apparatus that has been moved close to the user is directed toward the user.

  To achieve this object, the image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 1 of the present invention is configured integrally with the image forming apparatus, and is called by a calling unit disposed at a destination of the image forming apparatus. And moving means for moving the image forming apparatus to the vicinity of the moving destination based on the moving destination position information, and when the image forming apparatus is moved to the vicinity of the moving destination, the moving destination attribute information from the calling means for the moving destination Based on this, there is provided a direction changing means for arranging the image forming process so as to face the destination.

When the image forming apparatus self-running system has such a configuration, the moving means integrated with the image forming apparatus moves to the vicinity of the destination based on the call request from the destination and the destination position information. .
As a result, the user operates the calling unit at hand to send a calling request and destination position information to the moving unit, so that the image forming apparatus can automatically reach the vicinity of the moving destination by the moving unit. Will be moved.

Then, when the image forming apparatus moves to the movement destination in this way, during or after the movement, the direction changing unit causes the operation panel of the image forming apparatus to face the movement destination user based on the movement destination attribute information. Then, the direction of the image forming apparatus is changed.
Therefore, when the user wants to use the image forming apparatus, it is not necessary to go to the place where the image forming apparatus is installed, the image forming apparatus goes to the vicinity of the user's location, and the operation panel faces the user.
As a result, the user can easily perform image forming processing such as printing by operating the operation panel of the image forming apparatus on the spot.

In particular, the image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 1 is provided with a moving path for providing a trajectory to be moved by the moving means by the moving means, and in a region between the bending point and the branching point of the moving path. A destination point to which unique destination identification information is assigned, and the destination calling means transmits destination destination identification information of the nearest destination point as destination position information to the moving means. The destination attribute information is transmitted to the direction changing means.
If the image forming apparatus self-running system has such a configuration, it is possible to easily control the movement of the moving means by determining in advance the trajectory to which the image forming apparatus is to move, and to make it necessary to move along the movement path. With the destination point provided at the location, the current position information of the image forming apparatus and the direction of the destination with respect to the movement path can be easily obtained.

Further, in the image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 2 , the direction changing means refers to the direction management table based on the destination attribute information, and direction information is obtained from the current position information and destination attribute information of the image forming apparatus. The direction of the image forming apparatus is changed based on the direction information.
When the image forming apparatus self-running system has such a configuration, a direction management table in which the current position information in the vicinity of the movement destination of the image forming apparatus is compared with the movement destination attribute information is prepared in advance. The means can quickly acquire the direction information from the current position information and the destination attribute information of the image forming apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus self-running system, the direction changing unit is a rotating unit that rotates the image forming apparatus around a vertical rotation axis.
When the image forming apparatus self-running system has such a configuration, the image forming apparatus is rotated by the rotating unit after the image forming apparatus has moved to the vicinity of the moving destination or during the movement. The direction can be changed.

The image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 4 is configured such that the direction changing means changes the direction of the image forming apparatus by moving the moving path by the moving means and changing the direction at the branch point. is there.
When the image forming apparatus self-running system has such a configuration, the direction of the image forming apparatus in the vicinity of the moving destination is changed by using the moving means without providing the rotating means for rotating the image forming apparatus. Can be done.

As described above, according to the present invention, the moving means uses the plurality of movement destination points arranged at various locations in the movement range of the image forming apparatus, and the calling means and the calling request from the calling means arranged at the movement destination. Based on the movement destination position information, the image forming apparatus is moved to the vicinity of the movement destination.
Then, after the image forming apparatus has moved to the vicinity of the destination, or during the movement, the direction changing unit changes the direction of the image forming apparatus based on the destination attribute information, so that the destination, that is, near the user. The image forming apparatus is moved so that the operation panel faces the user.
Therefore, the user can easily operate the operation panel of the image forming apparatus and perform image forming processing such as printing by the light image forming apparatus.

[Example]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus self-running system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus self-running system according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus self-running system 10 includes an image forming apparatus 100, a moving unit 110, a direction changing unit 150, a moving path 200, and a user desk 300.
Although only one user desk 300 is shown in the drawing, a plurality of user desks 300 are actually arranged adjacent to the movement route 200 as shown in FIG.

The image forming apparatus 100 is an image forming apparatus having a known configuration, and has at least one of a copy function, a scanner function, a printer function, and a facsimile function.
Here, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 100 has a printer function.

The moving means 110 includes a receiving means 120, a movement planning means 130, and a driving means 140.
Here, the moving unit 110 is configured integrally with the image forming apparatus 100 and can move the image forming apparatus 100.
The moving unit 110 may be configured separately from the image forming apparatus 100 and may be integrally attached to the image forming apparatus 100, or may be integrated into the image forming apparatus 100. It may be. Further, the moving unit 110 does not necessarily have to be attached to the image forming apparatus 100 with a stopper or the like. For example, the moving unit 110 may move integrally with the image forming apparatus. In the present invention, these configurations are included as the integrated configuration.

The receiving unit 120 receives the call request 311 and the movement destination position information 312 from the calling unit 310 of the user desk 300, and when the moving unit 110 is moving along the moving path 200, the nearest branch / bend. The point identification information 211 from any one of the identification information transmission / reception units 210 provided at the points A to I (see FIG. 2) is received, and the moving destination provided in the area between the branch / bending points A to I The destination identification information 251 from any destination identification information transmission unit 250 provided at the point is received and transferred to the movement planning means 130.
Here, the transmission unit 230 of the identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of each of the branch / bending points A to I transmits / receives the point identification information by any method such as RFID, IrDA, Bluetooth, or the like.

The receiving means 120 sequentially sends a point detection signal 121, and in response to the point detection signal 121, the transmission unit 230 of the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of each branch / bending point A to I and each The point identification information 211 and the movement destination identification information 251 sent from the transmission unit 260 of the movement destination identification information transmission unit 250 of the movement destination point are received.
At that time, the receiving means 120, when only one point identification information 211 or destination identification information 251 is sent for the point identification information 211 and the destination identification information 251, the point identification information 211 or the destination identification information. The information 251 is transferred to the movement planning means 130 as the current position information 122, and point identification is performed from the transmission unit 230 or the movement destination identification information transmission unit 250 of the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of a plurality of branch / bending points or movement destination points. When the information 211 or the movement destination identification information 251 is sent, for example, the current position information 122 is generated corresponding to the signal strengths of the identification information 211 and 251 and transferred to the movement planning means 130.

For example, when the image forming apparatus 100 is activated, the movement planning unit 130 includes point identification information 211 for each branch / bending point A to I, point identification information 211 for adjacent branch / bending points, and destination identification of each destination point. Information 251 is stored, and the movement route 200 is searched from the movement destination position information 312 transferred from the reception unit 120 and the current position information 122 received by the reception unit 120 to create a movement route 131.
Here, when the movement planning unit 130 receives a plurality of destination position information 312, the destinations indicated by the destination position information 312 are sequentially displayed, or the priority or urgency of each destination is set. Accordingly, the movement route 131 is determined in the optimum movement destination order.

Then, the movement planning unit 130 sends the movement route 131 to the earliest destination to the driving unit 140.
The movement planning unit 130 receives the processing completion notification 101 from the image forming apparatus 100 after the movement by the driving unit 140 to the first movement destination and the print output by the image forming apparatus 100 are completed. The earliest destination is deleted, and the movement path 131 to the new earliest destination, that is, the next destination is sent to the driving unit 140.

The driving unit 140 has a conventionally known configuration, and includes, for example, wheels that are driven and controlled by a driving source, a steering unit, and the like, and may have an endless track.
Here, the drive means 140 is driven so that the movement means 110 moves the movement means 110 to the vicinity of the movement destination based on the movement route 131 to the earliest movement destination inputted from the movement planning means 130. Be controlled. As a result, the moving unit 110 and the image forming apparatus 100 are moved to the vicinity of the earliest destination.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the direction changing unit 150 is disposed between the image forming apparatus 100 and the moving unit 110, and is attached to the image forming apparatus 100 and a lower rotary table 151 attached to the moving unit 110. And an upper rotary table 152 supported rotatably about a rotary shaft 153 perpendicular to the lower rotary table 151, and a driving means 154 for rotating the upper rotary table 152 around the rotary shaft 153; The control unit 155 that drives and controls the driving unit 154 is configured as a rotating unit.

  Here, the control unit 155 serves as detection means for detecting the direction of the upper turntable 152, four sensors 151 a arranged at equiangular intervals near the periphery of the lower turntable 151, and the upper turntable 152. 1 sensor 152a provided on one side edge (in the case of FIG. 3, for example, the front direction of the operation panel), and this sensor 152a detects one of the sensors 151a of the lower turntable 151. As a result, the current direction of the upper turntable 152 and the image forming apparatus 100 can be detected.

Then, after the image forming apparatus 100 and the moving unit 110 have arrived in the vicinity of the destination, the control unit 155 performs the control of the image forming apparatus 100 based on the destination attribute information 313 transmitted from the destination calling unit 310. The rotation unit 150 is driven and controlled so that the operation panel 100a (see FIG. 3) faces the user at the movement destination.
As a result, the image forming apparatus 100 is arranged such that the panel operation surface 100a faces the destination user.

  Here, the control unit 155 reads out the direction information 157 based on the current position information 122 and the destination attribute information 313 of the image forming apparatus 100 in accordance with a direction management table 156 (described later) registered in advance, and performs image processing. The direction of the forming apparatus 100 is determined.

Thereafter, the movement planning unit 130 sends a processing start command 132 to the image forming apparatus 100.
Thus, the image forming apparatus 100 performs a predetermined print output by operating the operation panel 100a by the user of the movement destination, and sends a processing completion notification 101 to the moving unit 110 after the printing is completed. It is supposed to do.

The moving path 200 is constituted by, for example, rails stretched around an office floor.
In addition, this rail may be embedded in the floor of an office, and may be affixed on the floor surface.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the travel route 200 is a department composed of four user desks 300 arranged in a so-called island shape, for example, in an office, that is, Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, 4 It is laid on the floor in the so-called “rice” shape around and between the sections.
As a result, the moving means 110 can be moved to an arbitrary location along the moving path 200 described above by the driving means 140, that is, to the vicinity of each user desk 300.
At that time, the moving means 110 can move in any direction at each branch point.

The moving path 200 includes branch / bend points A to I at the respective bent portions and branch portions in FIG. Each of these branch / bending points A to I is provided with a point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 as shown in FIG.
Furthermore, the movement path 200 includes a movement destination point in a region between these branch / bending points A to I. Each of these destination points is provided with a destination identification information transmitting unit 250 as shown in FIG.
In addition, the movement route 200 has a destination attribute point in each of the departments, that is, the first section, the second section, the third section, and the fourth section. Each of these destination attribute points is provided with an attribute information transmission unit 270 as shown in FIG.

  Each point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 stores unique point identification information in the storage unit 220 such as an IC chip or a magnetic card, for example. The stored point identification information 211 is transmitted to the moving unit 110 by the transmission unit 230 and to the reception unit 240 of the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of the branch / bending point adjacent in the movement path 200. To do.

  Further, when the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 transmits the point identification information 211 as described above, the point identification information unique to the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of the adjacent branch / bending point received by the reception unit 240 is received. 211 is simultaneously transmitted to the moving means 110.

Further, the transmission unit 230 of each point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 responds to the point detection signal 121 from the reception unit 120 of the movement unit 110 when the image forming apparatus 100 and the movement unit 110 pass the branch / bend point. Then, the unique point identification information 211 of the branch / bending point point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 and the point identification information 211 of the branch / bending point ahead in the traveling direction are transmitted to the moving means 110.
As a result, the moving unit 110 determines the current position information 122 and the progress in the moving path 200 based on the nearest branch / bend point received by the receiving unit 120 and the point identification information 211 of the front branch / bend point in the traveling direction. You can get directions.

Each of the destination identification information transmitting units 250 stores unique destination identification information by storage means (not shown) such as an IC chip or a magnetic card, for example.
Then, each movement destination identification information transmission unit 250 responds to the point detection signal 121 from the reception unit 120 of the movement unit 110 when the image forming apparatus 100 and the movement unit 110 pass the movement destination point. The unique destination identification information 251 of the destination point destination identification information transmission unit 250 is transmitted to the moving means 110.
Thus, the moving unit 110 can acquire the current position information 122 on the moving route 200 based on the destination identification information 251 of the nearest destination point received by the receiving unit 120.

Each attribute information transmission unit 260 stores unique attribute information by a storage means (not shown) such as an IC chip or a magnetic card.
Each attribute information transmission unit 260 transmits unique attribute information 261 to the calling unit 310 when the calling unit 310 of the user desk 300 is operated. As a result, the calling unit 310 transmits the attribute information 261 as the destination attribute information 313 to the direction changing unit 150.
As a result, the control unit 155 of the direction conversion unit 150 refers to the direction management table 156 based on the received destination identification information 251 of the nearest destination point and the destination attribute information 313, and determines the destination destination. By determining the direction of the image forming apparatus 100 and controlling the driving of the driving unit 154, the operation panel 100a of the image forming apparatus 100 can be made to face the user at the movement destination.

The user desk 300 includes a calling unit 310 for calling the image forming apparatus 100.
Here, the calling unit 310 is operated by the user to generate a call request 311 and transmit it to the image forming apparatus 100 together with the movement destination position information 312, and the attribute information from the nearest attribute information transmission unit 260. Information 261 is acquired as destination attribute information 131, and the destination location information 312 and destination attribute information 313 are transmitted to the direction changing means 150.

Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the above-described direction management table includes attribute information (caller area ID) corresponding to the current position of the image forming apparatus 100, that is, each section between the access points A to I. ) 313 and direction information (orientation) 157 (L or R).
The attribute information 313 is represented as the caller area ID in the table shown in FIG. 4, and as shown in the table shown in FIG. Former areas IDI, II, III, and IV are assigned, and outside the first section to the fourth section, the out-of-service area is assigned.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the moving direction of the image forming apparatus 100 is + in the sections G to H, from the comparison table, when the attribute information 313 is Section 3, the direction information 157 is L, It can be seen that the image forming apparatus 100 may be rotated so that the operation panel 100a faces leftward with respect to the traveling direction.
Here, the moving direction is selected to be + toward the right and downward in FIG. 2, and when the moving direction is reverse-, L and R of the direction information 157 are switched. That's fine.
Further, the attribute information 313 being out of range means the outside of the surrounding movement route 200, and the destination of the movement is other than the above-mentioned department, that is, the first section to the fourth section. Printing processing is not performed.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus self-running system 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of operations of the image forming apparatus self-running system 10.
In FIG. 6, first, as indicated by reference numeral A <b> 1, when the image forming apparatus 100 is started, the point identification information transmitting / receiving unit 210 of each branch / bend point A to I is adjacent to the unique point identification information. The point identification information of the point is associated and transmitted to the moving means 110.
As a result, the movement planning unit 130 of the moving unit 110 acquires the adjacent relationship between the branch / bending points A to I as indicated by reference numeral A2.

Then, the calling means 310 (for example, located between the branch / bending points E and F in FIG. 2 and belonging to the second section), as indicated by reference numeral A3, calls request 311 and destination position information. 312 is transmitted to the moving unit 110 and the destination attribute information 313 is transmitted to the direction changing unit 150.
At this time, the image forming apparatus 100 and the moving unit 110 are moving from the branch / bend point G toward H as shown in FIG.

  Accordingly, the movement planning unit 130 of the moving unit 110 moves from the current position based on the current position information 122 sequentially input from the receiving unit 120 and the destination position information 312 described above, as indicated by reference numeral A4. The previous movement route 131 (for example, branch / bending point H → E → F) is created, and the drive unit 140 is driven and controlled as indicated by reference numeral A5.

As a result, the moving unit 110 and the image forming apparatus 100 start moving as indicated by reference numeral A6 by the driving unit 140 that is driven and controlled based on the movement route 131, and the destination indicated by the destination position information 312. That is, it moves to the vicinity of the destination point between the branch / bend points E and F.
At that time, as indicated by reference numeral A7, each time the moving means 110 passes through the branch / bending points H and E and the destination point between them, the receiving means 120 is branched as indicated by reference numeral A8. In response to the bending point detection signal 121, the point identification information 211 sent from the transmission unit 230 of the point identification information transmission / reception unit 210 of the branch / bending points H and E or the branch / bending points H and E The position is confirmed by the movement destination identification information 251 sent from the movement destination identification information transmission unit 250 of the movement destination point in between, and the current position information 122 is updated and transferred to the movement planning means 130.

As a result, the movement planning unit 130 can always acquire the movement status based on the latest current position information 122 as the movement unit 110 and the image forming apparatus 100 move.
When the moving unit 110 reaches the destination as indicated by reference symbol A9, the control unit 155 of the direction changing unit 150 receives the destination received from the calling unit 310 of the user desk 300 as indicated by reference symbol A10. Based on the attribute information 313, the direction information 157 is acquired by referring to the direction management table 156.
In this case, the direction information 157 is L with reference to the direction management table 156 because it is a destination belonging to Section 2 between the branch / bend points E and F.

Subsequently, as indicated by reference numeral A11, the control unit 155 of the direction changing unit 150 drives and controls the driving unit 154 based on the direction information 157 to turn the image forming apparatus 100 and operate the operation panel 100a. Are arranged toward the user desk 300 of the moving destination.
For example, the control unit 155 controls the driving unit 154 according to L of the direction information 157 and arranges the operation panel 100a of the image direction device 100 toward the left side.

Then, the moving unit 110 sends a processing start command 132 to the image forming apparatus 100 as indicated by reference numeral A12.
In response, the image forming apparatus 100 receives this processing start command 132 and enters a print standby state as indicated by reference numeral A13.
Here, the user belonging to the second section between the branch / bend points E and F performs manual printing by the image forming apparatus 100 that has moved close to the user desk 300 as indicated by reference numeral A14.
At this time, since the operation panel 100 of the image forming apparatus 100 is disposed facing the user, the user can easily operate the operation panel 100 on the spot.

When the print output is completed, the image forming apparatus 100 sends a processing completion notification 101 to the moving unit 110 as indicated by reference numeral A15.
As a result, the movement planning unit 130 of the movement unit 110 deletes the movement destination, creates a movement route 131 to the next earliest movement destination, and returns to the code A5.
The movement planning means 130 repeats the operations from A5 to A16 to create the movement route 131 as long as there is the next earliest movement destination, and if there is no next movement destination, And then waits at the current position until a call request 401 is transmitted from any of the identification units 400.
This completes the calling operation.
In this case, the user can easily perform image formation such as print output by moving the image forming apparatus 100 to the vicinity of the user desk 300 by operating the calling unit 310 in the user desk 300. In addition, since the operation panel 100a of the image forming apparatus 100 faces the user at that time, the operation panel 100a can be operated on the spot without going around the image forming apparatus 100.

  In the sequence diagram, the direction of the image forming apparatus 100 is changed after the image forming apparatus 100 arrives at the moving destination by the moving unit 110. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be performed while moving to the destination.

The preferred embodiment of the image forming apparatus self-running system of the present invention has been described above. However, the image forming apparatus self-running system according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be variously within the scope of the present invention. Needless to say, it is possible to implement this change.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the direction changing unit 150 is configured as a rotating unit, and the image forming apparatus 100 is mechanically rotated with respect to the moving unit 110, but is not limited thereto. The moving unit 110 may have the function of the direction changing unit 150.

In this case, for example, as described above, the image forming apparatus 100 calls the calling command from the calling unit 310 of the user desk 300 belonging to the second section between the branching / bending points E, F from the intermediate position between the branching / bending points G, H. 311, after obtaining the direction information 157 based on the destination attribute information 313 from the calling unit 310 based on the function of the direction changing unit 150, the movement planning unit refers to the direction information 157. 130 determines the movement route 131.
Therefore, as the movement route 131, the route H → I → F → E is selected in consideration of the direction at the movement destination, not the aforementioned route of the branch / bend point H → E → F. As a result, the operation panel 100a of the image forming apparatus 100 faces the user at the destination.

In the above-described embodiment, the moving path 200 is constituted by rails. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the moving means 110 may be a simple tape or the like as long as the moving means 110 can move along the moving path 200. It may be.
Further, when each branch / bend point is arranged in a proper position and the path between each branch / bend point is clear, the moving path 200 may be omitted.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the movement planning unit 130 is provided in the movement unit 110, but is not limited thereto, and is provided on the management server side of a network such as a LAN that interconnects the user side terminals 310, for example. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the calling unit 310 is configured by itself, but it is also possible to use a computer or the like installed in the user desk 300, for example, a portable IC card, a magnetic It may be configured as a card or the like.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is configured to perform print output as a printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and at least one of a copy function, a scanner function, a printer function, or a facsimile function is used. It is obvious that the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus having a function.

  Since the present invention relates to a structure for rotating the image forming apparatus in a self-propelled image forming apparatus, the present invention can be used for a mechanism for rotating the apparatuses.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus self-running system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating a configuration example of a movement path used in the image forming apparatus self-running system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a configuration example of direction changing means used in the image forming apparatus self-running system of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the direction management table used with the image forming apparatus self-propelled system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the attribute information comparison table used with the image forming apparatus self-propelled system of FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the image forming apparatus self-propelled system of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus self-running system 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Processing completion notification 110 Moving means 120 Receiving means 121 Point detection signal 122 Current position information 130 Movement planning means 131 Movement route 132 Processing start instruction 140 Driving means 150 Direction changing means 151 Downward rotation Table 152 Upper rotating table 153 Rotating shaft 154 Drive unit 155 Control unit 200 Movement path 210 Point identification information transmission / reception unit 211 Point identification information 220 Storage unit 230 Transmission unit 240 Reception unit 250 Destination identification information transmission unit 251 Destination identification information 260 Attribute Information transmission unit 261 Attribute information 300 User desk 310 Calling means 311 Call request 312 Destination location information 313 Destination attribute information

Claims (4)

A moving unit that is configured integrally with the image forming apparatus and moves the image forming apparatus to the vicinity of the destination based on a call request from the calling unit arranged at the destination of the image forming apparatus and destination position information;
When moving the image forming apparatus in the vicinity of the destination, based on the destination attribute information from the calling means of the destination, and a direction changing means for placing the image forming process by facing the destination ,
A moving path for providing a trajectory to be moved by the moving unit by the image forming apparatus;
In the area between the bending point and the branch point of the moving path, a destination point assigned with unique destination identification information is provided,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the destination calling means transmits destination identification information of a nearest destination point as destination position information to the moving means and transmits destination attribute information to the direction changing means. Self-propelled system. The direction changing means obtains direction information from current position information and destination attribute information of the image forming apparatus with reference to the direction management table by the destination attribute information, and based on the direction information, the image forming apparatus The image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 1 , wherein the direction of the image forming apparatus is changed. 3. The image forming apparatus self-running system according to claim 1 , wherein the direction changing unit is a rotating unit that rotates the image forming apparatus about a vertical rotation axis. The image according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the direction changing unit changes the direction of the image forming apparatus by moving the moving path by the moving unit and changing the direction at a branch point. Forming device self-running system.

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