JP5375573B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, image forming program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an image forming program, and a recording medium that reduce power consumption used for fixing and improve image forming performance while maintaining image quality. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus 1, when continuously forming images on a plurality of sheets based on print data, a halftone processing system judgment section 5 compares a halftone processing system for the print data of the present paper with the halftone processing system set for the print data of the previous paper in terms of a set fixing temperature, and sets the halftone processing system which suppresses change of the set fixing temperature as the halftone processing system to be performed for the present printing medium. Images are formed in a printing section 7 by adjusting the set fixing temperature based on the printing data subjected to the halftone processing by a PDL section 4 using the set halftone processing system. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an image forming program, and a recording medium, and more particularly, an image forming apparatus that reduces power consumption and improves image forming performance while maintaining high image quality. The present invention relates to an image forming method, an image forming program, and a recording medium.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a recording agent image such as toner transferred to an image forming medium such as paper or film is heated by a fixing unit to fix the recording agent image on the image forming medium.

  The fixing temperature required for fixing the recording agent image on the image forming medium in the fixing unit varies depending on the density of the recording agent image.

  Conventionally, as a fixing unit of an image forming apparatus, a heating roller type mainly including a heating roller that is heated and rotated to a predetermined fixing temperature and a pressure roller that rotates in close contact with the heating roller and rotates together with the heating roller is used. A fixing unit is used.

  This heat roller type fixing unit heats a heat roller made of a metal heat roller with a heat source such as a halogen lamp, and causes the image forming medium to adhere to the heat roller with a pressure roller, thereby developing the developer on the image forming medium. The image is fixed on the image forming medium. However, the heating roller has a large heat capacity and a long time (warm-up time) for heating the heating roller to the fixing temperature. Therefore, even when the image forming apparatus is in the standby state, it waits from the standby state to the start of image formation. In order to shorten the time, it is necessary to preheat the heating roller, and it is necessary to improve the power consumption.

  Conventionally, the heater of the fixing unit is controlled to be heated according to an arbitrary image processing mode or halftone processing method from among a plurality of image processing modes previously set according to image attributes according to image processing. A technique has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  However, in the prior art described in the above publication, since only the heating control of the fixing unit is performed according to the image processing mode and the halftone processing method, image formation is continuously performed on a plurality of image forming media. If image processing modes or halftone processing methods with different fixing temperatures are mixed for each image forming medium, frequent adjustment of the fixing unit is required for each image forming medium. Until the temperature is adjusted to the required fixing temperature, there is a need to wait for image formation, which may deteriorate the image forming performance.

  For example, when a toner image is transferred to 10 sheets and the toner image is fixed by a fixing unit, as shown in FIG. 11, the fixing temperature is high (N and N in FIG. 11). When the error diffusion method that requires a set fixing temperature is applied to the print data of all sheets, the set fixing temperature is medium and constant (the temperature image is flat). As shown in FIG. 12, as a halftone processing method, the line dither method that requires a set fixing temperature with a low fixing temperature (denoted as L in FIG. 12) is used for all paper images. When it is adopted, it is medium immediately after rising, but thereafter, the set fixing temperature is low and constant (temperature image is flat). However, as shown in FIG. 13, when the line dither method and the error diffusion method, which have a fixed fixing temperature of medium and low, are mixed, the fixed fixing temperature changes to medium and low. There is a need to wait for image formation until the temperature of the fixing unit is adjusted to a necessary fixing temperature, which may deteriorate the image forming performance. In FIG. 13, a blank provided in a portion where the set fixing temperature changes between N and L indicates a waiting time for adjusting the fixing temperature.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program capable of improving the image forming performance while maintaining power and saving power while maintaining the image quality. And it aims at providing a recording medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a halftone process for print data of the current image forming medium when a recording agent image is formed and fixed on a plurality of image forming media continuously based on the print data. Compare the setting fixing temperature of the halftone processing method set for the print data of the image forming medium and the previous image forming medium, and the halftone processing method that suppresses the change in the setting fixing temperature is used for printing the image forming medium of this time The image forming apparatus is characterized in that it is set as a halftone processing method to be executed on data, and an image is formed by adjusting a set fixing temperature based on print data subjected to halftone processing by the set halftone processing method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the change of the fixing temperature during image formation while maintaining the image quality, thereby saving power and improving the image forming performance.

1 is a block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a fixing temperature table corresponding to a halftone processing method. The figure which shows an example of a printing mode setting screen. FIG. 6 is a processing timing diagram of image forming processing for setting a halftone processing method in accordance with a printing mode designated by print data. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an input / output unit when a printing mode is set. FIG. 4 is a processing timing diagram of image forming processing for selecting a halftone processing method according to a printing mode designated by an input / output unit. The flowchart which shows the halftone processing system judgment process at the time of energy saving priority mode. Explanatory drawing of the halftone processing system setting at the time of energy saving priority mode. 10 is a flowchart illustrating halftone processing method determination processing in an image quality priority mode. Explanatory drawing of the halftone processing system setting at the time of image quality priority mode. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a change state of a fixing temperature when all the conventional print jobs are error diffusion. The figure which shows the change state of the fixing temperature in the case where all the conventional print jobs are line dithering. The figure which shows the change state of the fixing temperature in the case where the line dither and error diffusion coexist in the conventional print job.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The range of this invention is unduly limited by the following description. However, not all the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent elements of the present invention.

  1 to 10 are diagrams illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an image forming program, and a recording medium according to the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image according to the present invention. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 1 to which an embodiment of a forming program and a recording medium is applied.

  In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 includes a data receiving unit 2, a PJL ((Printer Job Language) unit 3, a PDL (Page Description Language) unit 4, a halftone processing method determination unit 5, an input / output unit 6, and a printing unit 7. Etc.

  The data receiving unit 2 is connected to an external device such as a computer through a communication line such as a dedicated line or a network, and exchanges signals with the external device to receive print data or send print result information. .

  The PJL unit (print mode acquisition means) 3 analyzes the PJL command of the print data received by the data reception unit 2 to extract print setting information (print mode, etc.) and passes it to the print unit 7.

  A halftone processing method determination unit (halftone processing method determination unit) 5 determines a halftone processing method applied to the print data received by the data reception unit 2, and passes the determination result to the PDL unit 4.

  The halftone processing method mainly includes a dither method and an error diffusion method. The error diffusion method binarizes as “255” density data when the density of an image is greater than a certain threshold value, and as “0” density data when it is less than a certain threshold value. Thereafter, the difference between the actual density data and the binarized data is distributed to surrounding pixels as an error signal. In the error diffusion method, this error distribution is performed by multiplying an error caused by binarization by a weighting factor on a matrix prepared in advance and adding it to surrounding pixels. By doing so, the average density value of the entire image is stored, and the halftone can be expressed in a pseudo binary manner. The error diffusion method has a heavy processing load, a low processing speed, and is suitable for high image quality. A high fixing temperature is required for fixing a toner image formed by printing data subjected to halftone processing by the error diffusion method because the toner density is high. On the other hand, in the dither method, image processing is performed by a dither method in which one pixel is constituted by a dot matrix composed of a plurality of dots, and a random dot dither method or halftone dot in which the growth order of each dot in the dot matrix is randomly generated is used. There are various dithering methods such as the halftone dot dithering method used. Among them, there is a so-called line dither method in which dots are generated such that the growth order of dots with respect to the dot matrix is always adjacent to the arranged dots in the dot matrix. Such a dither method is light in arithmetic processing, capable of high-speed processing, is suitable for low to medium image quality, and moiré countermeasures are essential. Among the dither methods, when the line dither is used, the toner density is low, so that fixing can be performed at a low set fixing temperature. When the halftone dither method is used, the toner density is high. Fixing at a high fixing temperature is necessary.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 requires a high set fixing temperature (High) when the error diffusion method and the halftone dither method are used as the halftone processing method. Yes, when the line dither method is used, a low set fixing temperature (Low) is required.

  The halftone processing method determination unit 5 stores the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table of the necessary setting fixing temperature for each halftone processing method in the internal nonvolatile memory, and forms an image. The halftone processing method to be applied to the print data is determined for each page (each sheet) based on the set fixing temperature and notified to the PDL unit 4. Note that the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table is not limited to the case where the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table is stored in the non-volatile memory in the halftone processing method determination unit 5. However, it may be stored in the ROM as system data.

  The input / output unit (print mode acquisition means) 6 includes various operation keys such as a numeric keypad, a start key, and setting keys for setting a plurality of setting items related to image formation, and also includes a display (for example, a liquid crystal display). The input / output unit 6 performs various setting operations related to image formation from the operation keys, in particular, print mode setting operations. The display (display means) displays the command contents input from the operation keys and the image forming apparatus 1 to the user. Various information to be notified is displayed.

  Although not shown in detail, the printing unit (image forming unit, fixing unit) 7 is an electrophotographic printing unit (image forming unit), and transfers a toner image onto a sheet based on print data from the PDL unit 4. An image generation unit, a paper supply unit that supplies paper to the image generation unit, and a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred onto the paper to the paper are provided.

  The image generating unit is provided with a charging unit, an image writing unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a charge eliminating unit, a cleaning unit, and the like centering on a rotationally driven photoreceptor, and is uniformly charged by the charging unit. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member by irradiating write light modulated based on print data input from the PDL unit 4 by the image writing unit. The image forming unit supplies the toner (recording agent) from the developing unit to the photoconductor on which the electrostatic latent image is formed and develops the toner image on the photoconductor between the transfer unit and the photoconductor. Then, the toner image is transferred onto a sheet (image forming medium) conveyed from the sheet, and the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit.

  The fixing unit (fixing unit) includes a heating unit (for example, a heating roller) heated to a set fixing temperature according to a halftone processing method by a heating element that is energized and a sheet on which a toner image is transferred together with the heating unit. A pressure unit (for example, a pressure roller) that presses at a predetermined pressure is provided, and the heating unit and the pressure unit are used to heat and press the sheet on which the toner image is transferred and fix the sheet. The completed paper is sent to a paper discharge tray (not shown).

  Although not shown, the PDL unit (halftone processing unit, fixing temperature setting unit) 4 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The image forming apparatus 1 is controlled by using the RAM as a work memory on the basis of the internal program to execute basic processing as the image forming apparatus 1 and interpret the PDL of the print data to print the printing unit 7. Generation of print data suitable for printing in the image processing and image forming processing for setting a halftone processing method that makes the fixing temperature of the present invention efficient.

  That is, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a ROM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM, a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable), and a DVD. An image forming program for executing the image forming method of the present invention recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD (Secure Digital) card, or an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc) is stored in a ROM or the like. Introducing an image forming apparatus that executes an image forming method for forming an image by setting a halftone processing method that suppresses a change in fixing temperature within a range allowed by a print mode while maintaining high image quality, which will be described later Is built as. This image forming program is a computer-executable program written in a legacy programming language such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark) or an object-oriented programming language, and is stored in the recording medium. Can be distributed.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment forms an image by setting a halftone processing method that suppresses a change in the fixing temperature within a range allowed by the print mode while maintaining high image quality.

  First, before inputting image data as print data, the print mode (print quality) is set by the printer driver of the external device, and the print data corresponding to the print mode setting is input to the data receiving unit. explain.

  In setting the print mode in the printer driver of the external device, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the document type (general document, photo (image data), DTP, CAD, etc.) and the print mode (balance between image quality and print speed) The print mode is set from among image quality priority, speed priority, speed top priority, energy saving priority, and the like. The printer driver adds the print settings set in this way, in particular, the print mode settings to the print data by PJL and transmits the print data to the image forming apparatus 1.

  When the data receiving unit 2 receives print data consisting of a plurality of pages, the image forming apparatus 1 passes the print data to the PJL unit 3 as shown in FIG. 4, and the PJL unit 3 The PJL command set to “1” is interpreted, the print mode is acquired and notified to the halftone processing method determination unit 5, and the print data is passed to the PDL unit 4.

  The PDL unit 4 interprets the print data, determines a halftone processing method (line dither, error diffusion, halftone dither, etc.) suitable for the print data, and determines the halftone processing method of the determination result as halftone processing. A determination request for the halftone processing method is sent to the method determination unit 5 (displayed as an intermediate processing determination request in FIG. 4).

  Upon receiving the halftone processing determination request, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 receives from the PDL unit 4 according to the print mode received from the PJL unit 3, and the PDL unit 4 uses it for halftone processing of the print data. A halftone processing method determination is made as to whether the halftone processing in the halftone processing method to be used is “OK” or whether the halftone processing method used in the previous page should be used as it is. In FIG. 4, the intermediate processing determination result and display.) Are transferred to the PDL unit 4.

  The PDL unit 4 performs image processing of the print data using the halftone processing method set by the halftone processing method determination unit 5, and then passes the print data to the printing unit 7 and sets and fixes the fixing unit of the printing unit 7. The temperature is set to a set fixing temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method used for image processing.

  Then, the PDL unit 4 makes a halftone processing method determination request to the halftone processing method determination unit 5 for each page, and sets the halftone processing method determined by the halftone processing method determination unit 5 for each page. Then, the printing unit 7 is caused to perform print processing using the print data that has been subjected to halftone processing using the set halftone processing method.

  Further, the print setting such as the print mode is not limited to the setting by the printer driver of the external device, and may be performed by, for example, key operation of the input / output unit of the image forming apparatus 1 or touch panel operation.

  In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the input / output unit 6 includes a display 6a, upper and lower selection buttons 6b and 6c, an OK button 6d, and the like, and a print mode selection for selecting a print mode on the display 6a. Display the screen. In FIG. 5, a selection screen for selecting either the energy saving priority mode or the image quality priority mode is displayed on the display 6a as a print mode selection screen. By operating the up and down buttons 6b and 6c, the energy saving priority mode and the image quality priority mode are displayed. Is selected and the selection is confirmed with the OK button. Here, the energy saving priority mode means a printing mode that prioritizes the reduction of power consumption over the image quality, and the image quality priority mode means a printing mode that prioritizes the image quality of the formed image.

  In this case, in the image forming apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 6, the input / output unit 6 passes the print mode set on the print mode selection screen to the halftone processing method determination unit 5, and the data reception unit 2. Receives print data consisting of a plurality of pages, the data receiving unit 2 passes the print data to the PJL unit 3. The PJL unit 3 interprets the PJL command set in the print data and passes the print data to the PDL unit 4.

  The PDL unit 4 interprets the print data, determines a halftone processing method suitable for the print data, passes the determination halftone processing method to the halftone processing method determination unit 5, and determines the halftone processing method. Request (displayed as intermediate processing determination request in FIG. 6) is made.

  Upon receiving the halftone processing determination request, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 receives from the PDL unit 4 according to the print mode received from the input / output unit 6, and the PDL unit 4 performs halftone processing of the print data. The halftone processing method to be used is determined, such as whether the halftone processing in the halftone processing method to be used is “OK” or whether the halftone processing method used in the previous page should be used as it is. A halftone processing method determination process is performed, and a determination result (in FIG. 6, displayed as an intermediate process determination result) is passed to the PDL unit 4.

  The PDL unit 4 performs the image processing of the print data by the halftone processing method based on the determination result by the halftone processing method determination unit 5, and then passes the print data to the printing unit 7 and the fixing unit of the printing unit 7. The set fixing temperature is set to the set fixing temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method used for the image processing.

  Then, the PDL unit 4 makes a halftone processing method determination request to the halftone processing method determination unit 5 for each page, and sets the halftone processing method determined by the halftone processing method determination unit 5 for each page. Then, the printing unit 7 is caused to perform print processing using the print data that has been subjected to halftone processing using the set halftone processing method.

  Then, when the print mode is the energy saving priority mode, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 performs halftone processing method determination processing as shown in FIG. That is, in the energy saving priority mode, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 is notified from the PDL unit 4 when it receives a halftone processing method determination request from the PDL unit 4 (step S101), as shown in FIG. By referring to the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table based on the halftone processing method, the necessary setting fixing temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method is acquired (step S102), and the previous page or the previous print data is acquired. It is checked whether it is the same as the set fixing temperature for the last page (step S103).

  In step S103, if the set fixing temperature of the current page (current paper) is the same as the previous set fixing temperature, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 performs the halftone processing by the notified halftone processing method. “OK” is notified to the PDL unit 4, and the halftone process determination process is terminated (step S104).

  When the set fixing temperature of the current page is different from the previous set fixing temperature in step S103, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 checks whether the current set fixing temperature is lower than the previous set fixing temperature (step S103). S105) When the current set fixing temperature is lower than the previous set fixing temperature, the PDL unit 4 is notified that the halftone processing by the notified halftone processing method is “OK”, and the halftone The process determination process ends (step S106).

  If it is determined in step S105 that the current set fixing temperature is higher than the previous set fixing temperature, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 refers to the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table and sets the previous set fixing temperature. A halftone processing method that sets the same fixing temperature as the temperature is set and notified to the PDL unit 4, and the halftone processing determination process is terminated (step S107).

  When the halftone processing method different from the halftone processing method notified from the halftone processing method determination unit 5 to the halftone processing method determination unit 5 is notified, the PDL unit 4 prints the print data using the notified halftone processing method. After the halftone processing, the processed print data is transferred to the printing unit 7 and the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method is set in the printing unit 7 to form an image.

  That is, as illustrated in FIG. 8 as an explanatory diagram of halftone processing in the energy saving priority mode, the image forming apparatus 1 has, for example, a case where the print data of the first page is a line dither method with a low set fixing temperature. The setting fixing temperature is changed from the high setting fixing temperature (N), which is the fixing start-up temperature, to the low setting fixing temperature (L), and then the high setting fixing temperature (N) according to the contents of the print data. Even in the error diffusion method, halftone processing is performed by a line dither method with a low fixing temperature (L), and image formation is performed without increasing the fixing temperature.

  In the above description, the case where the energy saving priority mode is selected as the print mode has been described. However, the print mode is not limited to the energy saving priority mode as described above. In the priority mode, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 sets a halftone processing method, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the same processing steps as those in FIG. 7 are given the same step numbers, and the description thereof will be simplified.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when the halftone processing method determination unit 5 receives a halftone processing method determination request from the PDL unit 4 (step S101), the halftone processing method determination unit 5 is based on the halftone processing method notified from the PDL unit 4. Referring to the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table, the necessary setting fixing temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method is acquired (step S102), and the setting fixing of the last page or the last page of the previous print data is performed. It is checked whether the temperature is the same (step S103).

  If the set fixing temperature of the current page is the same as the previous set fixing temperature in step S103, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 indicates that the halftone processing by the notified halftone processing method is “OK”. Is notified to the PDL unit 4 and the halftone process determination process is terminated (step S104).

  In step S103, when the set fixing temperature of the current page is different from the previous set fixing temperature, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 has already executed the start-up process of the fixing unit of the printing unit 7 during the printing process. In other words, it is confirmed whether or not the fixing unit temperature has already risen to a high set fixing temperature (step S201). If the fixing unit startup process has not been executed, halftone processing using the notified halftone processing method is performed. The PDL unit 4 is notified that it is “OK”, and the halftone process determination process ends (step S106).

  In step S201, when the fixing unit start-up process has been executed, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 refers to the fixing temperature-halftone processing method table and determines the intermediate value that is the same as the previous set fixing temperature. The halftone processing method is set and notified to the PDL unit 4, and the halftone process determination process is terminated (step S107).

  When the halftone processing method different from the halftone processing method notified from the halftone processing method determination unit 5 to the halftone processing method determination unit 5 is notified, the PDL unit 4 prints the print data using the notified halftone processing method. After the halftone processing, the processed print data is transferred to the printing unit 7 and the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method is set in the printing unit 7 to form an image.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10, when the PDL unit 4 notifies the halftone processing method determination unit 5 of the line dither method in which the first to fourth pages have a low setting fixing temperature, the setting fixing temperature is set. As shown in the figure, except for the first page at the time of start-up, the PDL unit 4 is notified (“OK” notification) as a halftone processing method to be processed as it is, except for the line dither method with a low fixing temperature. When the error diffusion method of the high setting fixing temperature is notified from the PDL unit 4, the error diffusion method of the high setting fixing temperature is notified to the PDL unit 4 as a halftone processing method to be processed in order to prioritize the image quality. After that, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 performs a low tone fixing temperature halftone processing method, for example, on the sixth and ninth pages in FIG. Even when notified, the PDL unit 4 is notified as a halftone processing method for processing the error diffusion method of the high setting fixing temperature which is the same setting fixing temperature as the previous page. Accordingly, even in the image quality priority mode, even if a change in the halftone processing method that requires a change in the set fixing temperature occurs in the middle, it is only necessary to perform the process of changing the set fixing temperature only once. The time required for changing the set fixing temperature can be reduced while maintaining high image quality.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment, when the halftone processing method determination unit 5 continuously forms and fixes toner images on a plurality of sheets based on the print data, The halftone processing method for suppressing the change in the set fixing temperature by comparing the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method for the print data and the halftone processing method set for the print data of the previous paper. It is set as a halftone processing method to be executed for the forming medium, and the set fixing temperature is adjusted based on the print data that has been halftone processed by the PDL unit 4 using the set halftone processing method, and an image is formed by the printing unit 7. ing.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the waiting time for image formation caused by the change in the setting fixing temperature by suppressing the change in the setting fixing temperature during continuous printing, to reduce the power consumption, and to improve the image forming processing performance. be able to.

  The halftone processing method determination unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment corresponds to the halftone processing method set for the print data of the previous paper in which the halftone processing method for the print data of the current paper is used. If the halftone processing method has a set fixing temperature lower than the set fixing temperature to be performed, the obtained halftone processing method is used to perform the halftone processing to be executed by the PDL unit 4 on the print data of the current paper. If the halftone processing method has a set fixing temperature higher than the set fixing temperature for the print data of the previous paper, the halftone processing method for the print data of the previous paper is This is set as a halftone processing method to be executed by the PDL unit 4 for the print data.

  Therefore, once a low set fixing temperature is set, the halftone processing method corresponding to the low set fixing temperature can be applied to the print data of the subsequent paper, and the power consumption can be further reduced. At the same time, the image forming performance can be improved while maintaining the image quality.

  Further, the halftone processing method determination unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment corresponds to the halftone processing method for the print data of the current paper corresponding to the halftone processing method set for the print data of the previous paper. If the halftone processing method has a set fixing temperature higher than the set fixing temperature, the obtained halftone processing method is used to perform the halftone processing method to be executed by the PDL unit 4 on the print data of the current paper. If the halftone processing method is set as the processing method and the fixing temperature is lower than the setting fixing temperature for the print data of the previous paper, the halftone processing method for the print data of the previous paper is changed to the current paper. Is set as a halftone processing method to be executed by the PDL unit 4.

  Therefore, once set to a high set fixing temperature, the halftone processing method corresponding to the high set fixing temperature can be applied to the print data of the subsequent paper, and power consumption can be reduced. Image formation processing performance can be improved while further improving image quality.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment acquires print modes such as a power saving print mode and an image quality priority print mode in print data print processing, and the halftone processing method determination unit 5 executes the PDL unit 4. As the power halftone processing method, a halftone processing method corresponding to the print mode is set while suppressing a change in the set fixing temperature in the fixing unit.

  Therefore, it is possible to set the halftone processing method while suppressing the change of the set fixing temperature according to the printing mode set by the user, and to reduce power consumption while maintaining the image quality intended by the user. At the same time, the image forming performance can be improved.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the print mode is acquired from the print data by the PJL unit 3 or from an input operation by the input / output unit 6.

  Therefore, it is possible to appropriately acquire the print mode and set a halftone processing method according to the print mode.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

  The present invention can be used in an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an image forming program, and a recording medium that fix a printing agent image such as a toner image on an image forming medium such as paper at a predetermined fixing temperature.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Data receiving part 3 PJL part 4 PDL part 5 Halftone processing method judgment part 6 Input / output part 6a Display 6b, 6c Selection button 6c OK button 7 Printing part

JP 2005-321549 A

Claims (7)

Halftone processing means for performing halftone processing on the print data by a predetermined halftone processing method;
Halftone processing method acquisition means for acquiring a halftone processing method corresponding to the print data;
An image forming means for forming a recording agent image on an image forming medium based on the halftone processed print data by the halftone processing means;
Fixing means for fixing the recording agent image to the image forming medium by heating the image forming medium on which the recording agent image is formed by the image forming means at a predetermined fixing temperature;
Fixing temperature setting means for setting the set fixing temperature of the fixing means to a temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method applied by the halftone processing means to the print data image-formed by the image forming means; ,
When the image forming unit continuously forms an image on a plurality of image forming media, the halftone processing method acquired by the halftone processing method acquisition unit for the print data of the current image forming medium and the previous image formation The halftone processing method for comparing the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method set for the print data of the medium and suppressing the change of the set fixing temperature is compared with the print data of the current image forming medium. Halftone processing method determination means for setting as a halftone processing method to be executed by the tone processing means;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The halftone processing method determination unit is a halftone processing method that the halftone processing method for the print data of the current image forming medium acquired by the halftone processing method acquisition unit is set for the print data of the previous image forming medium. If the halftone processing method has a set fixing temperature lower than the set fixing temperature corresponding to the method, the obtained halftone processing method is used as the halftone processing method for the print data of the current image forming medium. If the halftone processing method is set as a halftone processing method to be executed by the unit, and the halftone processing method has a set fixing temperature higher than the set fixing temperature for the print data of the previous image forming medium, the print data of the previous image forming medium The halftone processing method is set as a halftone processing method to be executed by the halftone processing means for the print data of the current image forming medium. The image forming apparatus according. The image forming apparatus includes:
A print mode acquisition means for acquiring a print mode such as a power saving print mode and an image quality priority print mode in the print processing of the print data;
The halftone processing method determining means, as said halftone processing means halftone processing method to be executed by the halftone processing method corresponding to the print mode while suppressing the change of setting the fixing temperature in the fixing unit setting image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the print mode acquisition unit acquires the print mode from the print data, or acquires the print mode from an input operation by a predetermined input unit . A halftone processing step for performing halftone processing on the print data by a predetermined halftone processing method;
A halftone processing method acquisition processing step for acquiring a halftone processing method corresponding to the print data;
An image forming process step of forming a recording agent image on an image forming medium based on the print data subjected to the halftone process in the halftone process step;
A fixing processing step of fixing the recording agent image on the image forming medium by heating the image forming medium on which the recording agent image has been formed in the image forming processing step at a predetermined set fixing temperature;
Fixing temperature setting for setting the set fixing temperature in the fixing processing step to a temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method applied by the halftone processing step to the print data image-formed in the image forming processing step Processing steps;
In the case where images are continuously formed on a plurality of image forming media in the image forming processing step, the halftone processing method acquired for the print data of the current image forming medium and the previous halftone processing method acquisition processing step The halftone processing method for comparing the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method set for the print data of the image forming medium and suppressing the change of the set fixing temperature is applied to the print data of the current image forming medium. A halftone processing method determination processing step to set as a halftone processing method to be executed in the halftone processing step;
Images formed how to and further comprising a. On the computer,
Halftone processing applied to print data by a predetermined halftone processing method;
A halftone processing method obtaining process for obtaining a halftone processing method corresponding to the print data;
An image forming process for forming a recording agent image on an image forming medium based on the halftone processed print data in the halftone process;
A fixing process for fixing the recording agent image on the image forming medium by heating the image forming medium on which the recording agent image is formed in the image forming process at a predetermined fixing temperature;
A fixing temperature setting process for setting the set fixing temperature in the fixing process to a temperature corresponding to the halftone processing method applied by the halftone process to the print data image-formed in the image forming process;
In the case where images are continuously formed on a plurality of image forming media in the image forming process, the halftone processing method acquisition process acquires the halftone processing method acquired for the print data of the current image forming medium and the previous image formation. The halftone processing method for comparing the set fixing temperature of the halftone processing method set for the print data of the medium and suppressing the change of the set fixing temperature is compared with the print data of the current image forming medium. Halftone processing method determination processing to be set as a halftone processing method to be executed in the tone processing;
An image forming program for executing A computer-readable recording medium on which the image forming program according to claim 6 is recorded .

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