JP4917818B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and image forming program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile or a printer, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  Examples of the image forming apparatus include a printer and a copying machine connected to an external device such as a personal computer. Some of these printers and copiers have a plurality of paper feed trays set in the apparatus main body. In these printers and copiers, a desired paper feed tray is selected at the start of printing, paper is fed from the selected paper feed tray, and an image is printed on the fed paper.

In Patent Document 1, when a print operation start command is input, a paper feed tray on which desired paper is stacked is selected by a paper feed tray selecting unit, and printing held by an attribute information holding unit of the selected paper feed tray The condition availability attribute information is read by the attribute information reading means, and when there is a restriction on the use of the read printing condition availability attribute information, the selection of the paper feed tray by the paper feed tray selection means is denied by the paper feed tray selection denial means. When the user inputs a use restriction release command, the use restriction by the paper feed tray selection refusing means is released by the use restriction release means, and the paper is fed from the paper feed tray selected by the paper feed tray selecting means. By printing an image on the printed paper, even if the paper feed tray is selected by the paper feed tray selection means, the selected paper feed tray is selected. If there is a usage restriction that restricts the use of paper loaded in the paper, paper will not be fed from the selected paper feed tray. An image forming apparatus that can be prevented has been proposed.
JP 2004-74808 A

  However, the above invention has the following problems.

  The image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 selects a paper feed tray on which desired paper is stacked when a printing operation start command is input, and based on the print condition availability attribute information of the selected paper feed tray, The use of the image forming apparatus is restricted depending on whether or not the use restriction is set for the sheet feeding tray, but the use cannot be restricted for each user.

  The present invention stores the remaining number of times of use for each operator, and prohibits the use of the operator when the remaining number of times of use becomes 0, and if there is a remaining number of times of use, An object of the present invention is to propose an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of restricting the use of a multifunction device for each operator by permitting the use of the operator.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus executes each function relating to image formation, and stores storage means for storing the number of times the function is used by each operator , and the operator requests use of the function. When the number of usages of the operator is read out from the storage unit, a determination unit for determining whether there is a remaining number, and execution of the requested function is permitted when the remaining number of usages of the operator exists. And a counting means for counting down the number of uses of the operator when the requested function is executed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the image forming apparatus further includes a specifying unit that specifies the operator, and the determination unit stores the number of times the operator is specified by the specifying unit. It is characterized by reading from.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect further comprises a notification means for notifying that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number of times the operator has used. Features.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit is returned to a specified value every predetermined period. And

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the specified value is added to the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit every predetermined period. Features.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect, when the number of uses of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit value, the upper limit value is set to each operator. The number of uses is stored in the storage means.

The invention according to claim 7 is an image forming method of an image forming apparatus having a storage unit that executes each function related to image formation and stores the number of times the function is used by each operator.
When the use of the function is requested by the operator, the number of uses of the operator is read from the storage means, and a determination step for determining whether there is a remaining number, and when there is a remaining number of use of the operator when a permission step of permitting execution of the requested function, the requested function is performed, and having a count down process of counting down the number of times of use of the operator.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the seventh aspect, in the specifying step of specifying the operator and the determining step, the number of uses of the operator specified in the specifying step is read from the storage unit. It is characterized by that.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming method according to the seventh or eighth aspect further comprises a notifying step for notifying that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number of times the operator has used the system. Features.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming method according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, further comprising a step of returning the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit to a specified value every predetermined period. It is characterized by that.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, the step of adding a prescribed value to the number of times of use of each operator stored in the storage means every predetermined period. It is characterized by having.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the eleventh aspect, when the number of uses of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit value, the upper limit value is set to each operator. The number of times of use is stored in the storage means.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming program for an image forming apparatus having a storage unit that executes each function relating to image formation and stores the number of times the function is used by each operator . when use is requested, from the storage unit reads the usage count of the operator, a determining process of determining whether there is a remaining number, when a number of remaining on the use count of the operator, the requested function It is characterized by having permission processing for permitting execution and countdown processing for counting down the number of times the operator uses the requested function when the requested function is executed.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming program according to the thirteenth aspect, the specifying process for specifying the operator and the determination process read out the use count of the operator specified by the specifying process from the storage unit. It is characterized by that.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the image forming program according to the thirteenth or fourteenth aspect further comprises a notification process for notifying that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number of times the operator has used it. Features.

  According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming program according to any one of the thirteenth to fifteenth aspects, the processing for returning the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage means to a specified value every predetermined period. It is characterized by that.

  According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming program according to any one of the thirteenth to fifteenth aspects, a process of adding a specified value to the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage means every predetermined period. It is characterized by having.

  According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming program according to the seventeenth aspect, when the number of uses of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit value, the upper limit value is set to each operator. The number of times of use is stored in the storage means.

  The present invention stores the remaining number of times of use for each operator, and prohibits the use of the operator when the remaining number of times of use becomes 0, and if there is a remaining number of times of use, By permitting the use of the operator, the use of the multifunction device can be restricted for each operator.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  First, the configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  1 forms a toner image for each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), and forms a full-color image by superimposing these toner images. A tandem-type device, a document table 11, a reading device 12, an optical scanning device 13, a photosensitive drum 14 (YMCK), a charging roller 15 (YMCK), a developing device 16 (YMCK), and a drum. Cleaning device 17 (YMCK), intermediate transfer belt 18, transfer belt cleaning device 19, transfer roller 20, fixing device 21, registration roller 22, paper feed roller 23, paper feed tray 24, paper discharge A roller 25 and a paper discharge tray 26 are provided.

  The document table 11 is a table on which a document to be printed, that is, a document to be read is placed. The lower surface of the document table 11 is formed from contact glass.

  The reading device 12 is a device that reads a document placed on the document table 11 and irradiates the document with a laser beam through a contact lens and receives reflected light from the document to read the content of the document.

  The optical scanning device 13 irradiates the photosensitive drum 14 corresponding to each color with a writing laser beam based on the content of the original read by the reading device 12. The configuration of the optical scanning device will be described in detail later.

  The photosensitive drum 14 (YMCK) is a drum-shaped image carrier provided for each color of YMCK. The photosensitive drums 14 have the same diameter and are in pressure contact with the intermediate transfer belt 18 at equal intervals.

  A charging device 15, a developing device 16, an intermediate transfer belt 18, a drum cleaning device 17, and a charge removal device (not shown) are disposed in the vicinity of the periphery of the photosensitive drum 14 along the drum rotation direction. . Further, the laser beam for writing from the optical scanning device 13 is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 14 between the charging device 15 and the developing device 16.

  The charging device 15 (YMCK) is a roller-shaped device arranged in a non-contact manner for each color photoconductor drum 14 and uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor drum 14. When the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 charged by the charging device 15 is irradiated with a writing laser beam from the optical scanning device 13, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to each color is formed on the photosensitive drum 14.

  The developing device 16 (YMCK) is a device that is disposed in contact with each photosensitive drum 14 with a developing roller, and holds toner (developer) of a color corresponding to the photosensitive drum 14 corresponding to each color. At the time of image formation, toner is supplied to the photosensitive drum 14 and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 14 is developed. The electrostatic latent image becomes a toner image by being developed with toner.

  The drum cleaning device 17 (YMCK) is a device that is provided with a blade (cleaning blade) in contact with each photosensitive drum 14 and remains on the photosensitive drum 14 after the transfer of the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 18. Residual toner or the like is removed and collected, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 14 is cleaned.

  In addition, a static elimination device (not shown) is provided between the drum cleaning device 17 and the charging device 15. The static eliminator neutralizes the surface of the photosensitive drum 14.

  The intermediate transfer belt 18 is an endless belt for sequentially superimposing and transferring (primary transfer) each color toner image formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 14. The respective color toner images are sequentially superimposed to form a composite color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 14.

  The transfer belt cleaning device 19 is a device that is disposed by bringing a blade (cleaning blade) into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 18, and is intermediate after the transfer (secondary transfer) of the composite color toner image to the fed recording paper. Residual toner and paper pieces remaining on the transfer belt 18 are removed and collected, and the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 18 is cleaned.

  The transfer roller 20 is a roller provided facing the intermediate transfer belt 18, and transfers the composite color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 18 onto the recording paper conveyed from the paper feed tray 24 (secondary). Transfer).

  The fixing device 21 includes a heated roller, and heat-fixes the composite color toner image secondarily transferred onto the recording paper onto the recording paper.

  The registration roller 22 is a roller for aligning the leading end positions of the recording paper and the composite color toner image, and feeds the recording paper in accordance with the timing of the composite color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 19.

  The paper feed roller 23 feeds recording paper. The paper feed tray 24 stores recording paper for each recording paper size. The paper discharge roller 25 discharges the recording sheet on which the composite color toner image is thermally fixed to a paper discharge tray outside the image forming apparatus 10. The paper discharge tray 26 is a tray on which the discharged recording paper is placed. An arrow starting from the paper feed tray 24 indicates a conveyance path of the recording paper.

  The photosensitive drums 14 all rotate in the same direction, and the intermediate transfer belt 18 moves in a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 14. Further, the transfer roller 21 rotates in a direction opposite to that of the intermediate transfer belt 18 (the same rotation direction as that of the photosensitive drum 14). In FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum 14 and the transfer roller 21 rotate counterclockwise, and the intermediate transfer belt 18 rotates clockwise.

  Next, a system configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The MFP according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 201 that controls the entire apparatus, a ROM 202 that stores programs and data for control, a RAM 203 that stores various data necessary for control, and operations input by an operator and information. An operation port 204 that conveys to the operator, a scanner 205 that controls a scanner that reads a document, a plotter 206 that controls a plotter that performs copying and document output, a network control unit 207 that controls a communication line, modulation of a transmission signal, and a reception signal A modem 208 that performs demodulation of the image, an encoding / decoding unit 209 that encodes image data according to a predetermined encoding method, and that decodes the encoded image data, a communication control unit 210 that transmits and receives signals to and from an external device, And a bus 211 that connects these components.

  Next, an operation for restricting the use of the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the power is turned on, the multifunction peripheral waits for login by the operator (step S301). Note that login is performed based on whether or not the user ID and password input by the operator from the operation port 204 match the user ID and password stored in advance in the RAM 203.

  When the user ID and password are input from the operation port 204 and match the user ID and password stored in advance in the RAM 203, the login process is completed (step S301 / YES). When the login process is completed, the use of the multifunction machine 10 is permitted. When the use of the function of the multifunction machine 10 is requested by the operator (step S302), it is determined whether or not the number of times the function is used by the operator remains (step S303).

  When the number of times of use of the function of the operator remains (step S303 / YES), the use of each function of the multifunction machine 10 is permitted (step S304). When the function of the multifunction device 10 is used, the CPU 201 counts down the number of times the operator is stored in the RAM 203 (step S305). When the use of the multifunction machine 10 is terminated, the operator requests logout from the operation port 204 (step S306 / YES). The CPU 201 performs logout and transitions to the standby state again (step S301).

  On the other hand, when the number of times the function is used by the operator does not remain (step S303 / NO), the CPU 201 displays that the function cannot be used in the operation port (step S307). When the use of the multifunction machine 10 is terminated, the operator requests logout from the operation port 204 (step S306 / YES). The CPU 201 performs logout and transitions to the standby state again (step S301).

  According to the configuration described above, the RAM 203 stores the remaining number of times of use for each operator. When the remaining number of times of use becomes 0, the use of the operator is prohibited, and the remaining number is not included in the number of times of use. In some cases, by permitting the use of the operator, the use of the multifunction device can be restricted for each operator.

  Next, a method for managing the number of uses of each operator managed in the RAM 203 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, when the month changes, the usage count of each operator is returned to the specified value, but the administrator of the multifunction machine 10 can arbitrarily set the period for resetting the usage count. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the multifunction machine 10 according to the present embodiment includes a date / time management unit 212 that manages date and time. Other configurations are the same as those described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The CPU 201 monitors the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212 (step S401). When the date / time measured by the date / time management unit 212 reaches a predetermined date or time, the usage count for each operator stored in the RAM 203 is returned to a specified value. In the present embodiment, the CPU 201 returns the usage count of each operator to a specified value every month.

  The CPU 201 monitors the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212 and determines whether the month has changed (step S402). When the month changes (step S402 / YES), the CPU 201 returns the usage count of each operator managed in the RAM 203 to a specified value (step S403).

  According to the above-described configuration, the usage count of each operator per month can be managed for each operator.

  Next, another management method for the number of uses of each operator managed in the RAM 203 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, when the month changes, the usage count of each operator is returned to the specified value. However, the administrator of the multifunction machine 10 can arbitrarily set the period for returning the usage count. Further, the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as that shown in FIG.

  The CPU 201 monitors the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212 (step S601). Then, based on the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212, it is determined whether or not the month has changed (step S602). When the date / time measured by the date / time management unit 212 reaches a predetermined date or time, a specified value is added to the number of uses for each operator stored in the RAM 203 (step S603). Then, the value obtained by adding the specified value to the number of times of use for each operator is stored in the RAM 203 as the number of times of use of this month (step S604). In this embodiment, the CPU 201 returns the usage count of each operator to a specified value every month.

  According to the above-described configuration, the usage count of each operator per month can be managed for each operator, and the remaining number of last month is added to the usage count of this month. Can be used.

  Next, another management method for the number of uses of each operator managed in the RAM 203 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, when the month changes, the usage count of each operator is returned to the specified value. However, the administrator of the multifunction machine 10 can arbitrarily set the period for returning the usage count. Further, the MFP 10 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as that shown in FIG.

  The CPU 201 monitors the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212 (step S701). Then, based on the date and time measured by the date / time management unit 212, it is determined whether or not the month has changed (step S702). When the date / time measured by the date / time management unit 212 reaches a predetermined date or time, a specified value is added to the number of uses for each operator stored in the RAM 203 (step S703). Then, it is determined whether or not the value obtained by adding the specified value to the number of uses for each operator exceeds the upper limit value (step S704).

  If the value obtained by adding the specified value to the number of uses for each operator exceeds the upper limit (step S704 / YES), the upper limit is stored in the RAM 203 as the number of uses for this month (step S705). On the other hand, if the value obtained by adding the specified value to the number of uses for each operator does not exceed the upper limit (step S704 / NO), the value is stored in the RAM 203 as the number of uses for this month (step S706).

  According to the above-described configuration, the usage count of each operator per month can be managed for each operator, and the remaining number of last month is added to the usage count of this month. Can be used. Further, since the number of uses does not exceed the upper limit value, it is possible to prevent the number of uses from continuing to increase.

1 is a schematic diagram of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of an operation for restricting the use of the multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement which manages the frequency | count of use of each operator. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement which manages the frequency | count of use of each operator. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement which manages the frequency | count of use of each operator.

Explanation of symbols

201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Operation Port 205 Scanner 206 Plotter 207 Network Control Unit 208 Modem 209 Encoding / Decoding Unit 210 Communication Control Unit 211 Bus 212 Date / Time Management Unit

Claims (18)

An image forming apparatus that executes each function related to image formation,
Storage means for storing the number of times the function is used by each operator;
A determination unit that reads out the number of times the operator is used from the storage unit when the operator requests use of the function, and determines whether there is a remaining number;
Permission means for permitting execution of the requested function when there is a remaining number of usages of the operator;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a count unit that counts down the number of times the operator uses the requested function . Having a specifying means for specifying the operator;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit reads out from the storage unit the number of times the operator has been identified by the identifying unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying unit that notifies that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number of times the operator uses the apparatus.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit is returned to a specified value every predetermined period. 5.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined value is added to the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit at predetermined intervals. 5.   6. The storage means stores the upper limit value as the number of times of use of each operator when the number of times of use of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit value. The image forming apparatus described. An image forming method of an image forming apparatus having a storage unit that executes each function related to image formation and stores the number of times the function is used by each operator,
When the use of the function is requested by the operator, a determination step of reading out the number of use of the operator from the storage means and determining whether there is a remaining number;
When there is a remaining number of times of use of the operator, a permission step for permitting execution of the requested function ;
And a countdown step of counting down the number of uses of the operator when a requested function is executed. A specific step of identifying the operator;
The image forming method according to claim 7, wherein the determining step reads out the number of times of use of the operator specified in the specifying step from the storage unit. 9. The image forming method according to claim 7, further comprising a notifying step of notifying that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number of times of use of the operator.   10. The image forming method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of returning the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit to a specified value every predetermined period.   The image forming method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of adding a specified value to the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit for each predetermined period.   When the number of uses of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit, the upper limit value is stored in the storage means as the number of uses of each operator. The image forming method according to claim 11. An image forming program for an image forming apparatus having a storage unit that executes each function related to image formation and stores the number of times the function is used by each operator,
When the use of the function is requested from the operator, a determination process for reading out the number of times the operator is used from the storage unit and determining whether there is a remaining number;
When there is a remaining number of times of use of the operator, permission processing for permitting execution of the requested function ;
An image forming program comprising: a countdown process for counting down the number of uses of the operator when a requested function is executed. A specific process for identifying the operator;
14. The image forming program according to claim 13, wherein in the determination process, the number of uses of the operator specified by the specifying process is read from the storage unit. 15. The image forming program according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising a notification process for notifying that the requested function cannot be executed when there is no remaining number in the number of uses of the operator.   The image forming program according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising a process of returning the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage unit to a specified value every predetermined period.   The image forming program according to any one of claims 13 to 15, further comprising a process of adding a specified value to the number of uses of each operator stored in the storage means for each predetermined period.   When the number of uses of each operator to which the specified value is added exceeds a preset upper limit value, the storage unit stores the upper limit value as the number of uses of each operator. The image forming program according to claim 17.

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