JP7690346B2 - Image forming apparatus, control method for image forming apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method for an image forming apparatus, and a program.

In an image forming device, it is desirable to prevent an image from being formed on a sheet that is not intended by the user. Patent Document 1 describes a method of displaying an image that prompts the user to check the sheet when the attributes of the sheet specified in a job do not match the attributes of the sheet held in the sheet holding unit specified in the job.

JP 2019-85207 A

However, when an image forming device has a function that allows the user to reserve the use of a sheet holding unit, the technology described in Patent Document 1 does not allow the user to recognize the state of the sheet holding unit that has been reserved for use unless a job based on the reservation is started. Therefore, it is not possible to improve the convenience for users of an image forming device that has a function that allows the user to reserve the use of a sheet holding unit.

The present invention was made in consideration of these problems, and aims to improve the convenience for users of image forming devices that have a function for reserving the use of a sheet holding unit.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus comprising: at least one sheet holding section for holding sheets to be transported for image formation; an acquisition means for acquiring information identifying the sheet holding section among the sheet holding sections which has been reserved for use , information identifying a user who has reserved the use of the sheet holding section, and information identifying a user using the image forming apparatus ; a display control means for executing control to cause a display device to display different display information when a state of the sheet holding section which has been reserved for use changes and when a state of a sheet holding section which has not been reserved for use changes; and a display setting means for setting whether or not to display the display information when a user using the image forming apparatus is a user who has reserved the use of the sheet holding section, wherein the display control means executes control to cause the display device to display different display information depending on whether a user using the image forming apparatus is a user who has reserved the use of the sheet holding section when a state of the sheet holding section among the sheet holding sections which has been reserved for use changes, and executes control to cause the display device to display the display information depending on the setting by the display setting means.

The present invention can improve the convenience for users of image forming devices that have a function for reserving the use of a sheet holding unit.

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process during image formation. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a printer driver process. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a print setting screen. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a printer process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a page generation process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process of reserving a paper feed stage. FIG. 13 illustrates a login screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a home screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing various setting screens. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a paper setting screen. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a paper setting screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a paper size setting screen. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a paper feed determination process. FIG. 13 illustrates an error screen. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a cassette open detection process. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a reserved cassette warning process. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a paper change process. FIG. 13 illustrates a login prompt screen. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing a cassette close instruction screen and a selection screen for a reserving user; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a paper change instruction screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a reservation deletion screen in the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a selection screen for non-reserved users. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a reservation setting screen in the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a reservation time setting screen. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing reservation information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a reservation status screen. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a reserving user determination process. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a reservation deletion screen in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a reservation setting screen in the second embodiment; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display suppression setting screen. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a reserved cassette warning process according to the third embodiment.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiment does not limit the scope of the present invention, and not all of the combinations of features described in this embodiment are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention.

In the following embodiments, the image forming apparatus is an all-in-one machine that combines the functions of a printer, a copier, and a facsimile. However, the image forming apparatus is not limited to an all-in-one machine, as long as it is an apparatus that has a function of feeding a sheet from a sheet holding unit and forming an image on the sheet (printing function). The image forming apparatus may be, for example, a printer or a copier. In the following embodiments, the words "paper" or "paper feed" are used, including in the drawings. However, the sheet is not limited to paper, as long as it is a recording medium on which an image is printed by the image forming apparatus. For example, the sheet may be paper such as paper and envelopes, plastic film such as an overhead projector (OHP) sheet, or cloth. In this way, the sheet generally refers to sheets including sheets other than paper.

First Embodiment
First, the first embodiment will be described.
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus 100. Fig. 1(a) is a diagram showing an example of the external appearance of the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 shown in Fig. 1(a) is a multifunction peripheral that forms an image on a sheet.
The image forming apparatus 100 includes devices such as a printer unit 101, multiple paper feed cassettes 102 to 105, a manual feed tray 106, a discharge tray 107, and a scanner unit 108. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the multiple paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 and the manual feed tray 106 are an example of a sheet holding unit. Hereinafter, the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 and the manual feed tray 106 will be collectively referred to as a paper feed stage.

The scanner unit 108, which serves as an image reading device, optically scans an original and converts it into electronic image information using a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD (charge-coupled device). The printer unit 101 has a printer engine 109. The printer engine 109 forms an image on paper based on image information input from the scanner unit 108 or an external host computer. Each of the paper feed cassettes 102-105 stores paper. The manual feed tray 106 supports the paper stored on the tray. The paper held in the paper feed cassettes 102-105 and the manual feed tray 106 is fed to the printer engine 109 while being separated one sheet at a time by a paper feed unit (not shown). Both the paper feed cassettes 102-105 and the manual feed tray 106 hold paper to be fed (transported) to the printer engine 109.

In addition, each of the paper feed cassettes 102-105 is provided with an open/close sensor 110-113. The open/close sensors 110-113 are mechanisms for determining whether the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in an open state or a closed state. When the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in an open state, this means that the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are open in order to replace or replenish paper in the paper feed cassettes 102-105. When the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in an open state, the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are unable to feed paper contained therein to the printer engine 109. When the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in a closed state, this means that the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are closed. When the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in a closed state, the paper feed cassettes 102-105 are in a state in which the paper feed cassettes 102-105 can feed the paper contained therein to the printer engine 109. There are various methods for determining the state of the paper feed cassettes 102-105 using the open/close sensors 110-113, such as a method using a mechanical mechanism or a method using software. However, the method of determination itself is realized by known technology. Therefore, a detailed description of the method of determination is omitted. Note that in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the opening and closing of the paper feed cassettes 102-105 is performed based on a user operation.

In addition, this embodiment illustrates an example in which the image forming device 100 has the function of performing both normal office document printing and in-house printing. Therefore, paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 may be loaded with plain paper for normal printing or with special paper for in-house printing.

The software that controls the control unit 211, which will be described later, executes processing that allows the control unit 211 to recognize the status of each paper feed cassette 102-105 through the open/close sensors 110-113. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the control unit 211 directly detects the signals of the open/close sensors 110-113. However, this is not necessarily required. For example, the signals of the open/close sensors 110-113 may be detected by an engine control unit (not shown) that controls the printer engine 109, etc. In this case, the engine control unit notifies the control unit 211 of the status of each paper feed cassette 102-105.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the printer engine 109. As shown in FIG. 1B, the printer engine 109 has an electrophotographic image forming unit PU. The image forming unit PU includes a photosensitive drum 1, which is a drum-shaped photosensitive body, a charging device 2, an exposure device 3, a developing device 4, and a cleaning device 6. When the printer engine 109 is requested to start an image forming operation, the printer engine 109 operates, for example, as follows. The charging device 2 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. The exposure device 3 scans the photosensitive drum 1 with a laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. The developing device 4 supplies the charged toner to the photosensitive drum 1 to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image. The transfer device 5 transfers the toner image carried on the photosensitive drum 1 to a sheet of paper. The cleaning device 6 collects the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. The fixing device 7 fixes the toner image transferred to the sheet of paper to the sheet of paper, for example, by a thermal fixing method.
The paper on which an image has been formed by the printer engine 109 is discharged onto a discharge tray 107 .

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus 100. Note that the configuration of the image forming system is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 2. The image forming system may have a configuration of a known image forming apparatus and a known personal computer (PC) in addition to the configuration shown in Fig. 2.
The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a wired or wireless network 230 via a communication interface (I/F) 217 and communicates with an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) 200 .

The PC 200 has a control unit 201, a storage unit 202, a communication unit 203, a communication interface (I/F) 204, an operation unit 205, and a display unit 206. A printer driver 207 is installed in the PC 200. FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which the printer driver 207 is stored in the storage unit 202. The printer driver 207 is driver software that generates a job (hereinafter, called a print job) that instructs the image forming apparatus 100 to form an image. The control unit 201 generates the print job by executing a program that constitutes the printer driver 207.

The control unit 201 creates document data, for example, using a document creation application 208 stored in the storage unit 202. In this case, the control unit 201 generates a print job described in PDL based on the document data by executing a program that constitutes the printer driver 207. PDL is an abbreviation for Page Description Language, examples of which include PS, PCL, and LIPS (registered trademark).

The communication unit 203 executes communication processing with external devices such as the image forming device 100. For example, the communication unit 203 transmits a print job to the image forming device 100 via the communication interface (I/F) 204 and the network 230. The operation unit 205 functions as a user interface. The display unit 206 displays various information. The hardware of the PC 200 is realized by using, for example, a control device such as a CPU (central processing unit), storage devices such as a ROM (read only memory), a RAM (rewritable memory), and a HDD (hard disk drive), and various interfaces.

The image forming apparatus 100 has control circuits (e.g., communication unit 212, interpreter 213, renderer 214) that realize specific functions, and a control unit 211. The control unit 211 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 100, including the control circuits that realize specific functions. The image forming apparatus 100 also has a storage device (e.g., storage unit 215, image data storage unit 216) that can store data temporarily or permanently, and various interfaces (e.g., communication interface (I/F) 217, UI panel 218). The image forming apparatus 100 also has a printer engine 109 and a device (e.g., feed unit 219) for transporting (feeding) paper from the paper feed stage to the printer engine 109. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 has open/close sensors 110 to 113, etc., which were described with reference to FIG. 1.

As will be described in detail later, image data included in a print job sent from PC 200 is converted to raster-format image data by the control circuit and saved. In addition, image information read from an original by scanner unit 108 is also saved as image data by the control circuit. This image data is sent to printer engine 109 as video data and used in the image formation operation by printer engine 109.

The control unit 211 is configured using a CPU and the like that provides overall control of the image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 211 reads out and executes a control program stored in the memory unit 215. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, each step of the control process of the image forming apparatus 100 is executed by the control unit 211. The memory unit 215 is configured using, for example, a ROM, a RAM, a HDD, and the like. The memory unit 215 temporarily or permanently stores the control program and setting information of the image forming apparatus 100. The memory unit 215 is also used as a working memory when the control unit 211 executes the control program.

The UI panel 218 is an example of a display device capable of displaying information. The UI panel 218 functions as a user interface. The UI panel 218 has a display unit and an operation unit. The display unit has, for example, a display such as a touch panel equipped with a soft key function. The operation unit has, for example, hard keys such as a numeric keypad and a print start button.

(Overview of image formation process)
FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining an example of processing during image formation. With reference to FIG. 3, an example of the flow of processing during image formation in this embodiment will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 100 executes a paper feed tray reservation process (S301) before executing image formation. The paper feed tray reservation process is a process for setting users who can use each of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 and the manual feed tray 106 in which paper used for image formation is set. The details of the paper feed tray reservation process will be described later. After that, the PC 200 generates a print job by a printer driver process (S302) and outputs it to the image forming apparatus 100. When a print job is input to the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming apparatus 100 executes a printer process (S303) to process the print job.

(Printer driver processing)
Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an example of printer driver processing (S302). An example of printer driver processing will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 4. Each step in the flowchart in Fig. 4 is realized, for example, by the control unit 201 of the PC 200 executing a control program stored in the storage unit 202. The control program stored in the storage unit 202 is, for example, a program constituting the printer driver 207 and a program constituting the document creation application 208.

The control unit 201 uses the document creation application 208 or the like to generate document data indicating the contents to be printed (documents, figures, etc.) in accordance with the user's operation of the operation unit 205 (S401). The user of the PC 200 uses the operation unit 205 to perform an operation to instruct the document creation application 208 to start printing, for example. This causes the processing from S402 onwards to be executed.

A setting process for setting attribute information of a print job is performed based on an operation signal indicating the contents of a user's operation on the PC 200 (S402 to S404). FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting screen 501. The print setting screen 501 is a screen for a user to set print conditions. As shown in FIG. 5, when an operation for instructing the start of printing is performed, the control unit 201 displays the print setting screen 501 for setting print conditions on the display unit 206 (display) of the PC 200. At this time, the print setting screen 501 is in a state in which it is possible to accept user operations. A tab 502 indicates that this is a screen for setting print settings. A paper size setting field 503 displays the setting value of the paper size. A paper type setting field 504 displays the setting value of the paper type. A paper feed stage setting field 505 displays the paper feed stage specified as the paper supply source.

As the size of the paper, the user can select, for example, a standard size such as "A4" or a user-defined size, in addition to the "original size" that specifies the same size as the document data. The user-defined size is a size based on a numerical value that the user inputs as the size of the paper to the PC 200 by operating the operation unit 205. As the type of paper, the user selects, for example, "plain paper 1", "plain paper 2" that has a larger basis weight than "plain paper 1", and "coated paper". As the paper feed stage, the user selects, for example, one of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 and the manual feed tray 106. Note that in FIG. 5, cassette 1 corresponds to the paper feed cassette 102. In addition, for each of the paper type and paper feed stage, there may be provided options such as "automatic selection" that leaves the selection to the image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 201 sets information that specifies the size and type of paper and the paper feed stage from which the paper is fed, based on an operation signal that indicates the user's operation on the print setting screen 501.

The control unit 201 then sets the owner name and document name of the print job (S405, S406). The owner name is information for identifying the user who created the print job. In this embodiment, the ID of the user currently logged in to the PC 200 is used as the owner name. The document name is information for identifying a data file such as a document or drawing to be printed. The control unit 201 acquires the document name obtained, for example, during the execution of a program constituting the document creation application 208 used to generate the document data.

Then, the control unit 201 generates PDL data conforming to the PDL format based on the document data and various setting information (S407). The PDL data includes page data representing the drawing contents of each page and setting information of the print job. The setting information of the print job includes the paper size, paper type, paper feed tray, owner name, document name, etc. The page data is image information generated by the control unit 201 from the document data according to the PDL format. The communication unit 203 transmits the PDL data generated by the control unit 201 as a print job to the image forming apparatus 100 via the communication interface (I/F) 204 and the network 230 (S408). When the process of S408 is completed, the printer driver process of FIG. 4 is completed, and the process of S303 of FIG. 3 is executed.

(Printer processing)
When a signal representing the PDL data reaches the image forming apparatus 100, the control unit 211 of the image forming apparatus 100 starts printer processing (S303). FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the printer processing. As shown in FIG. 6, the printer processing roughly includes a page generation process (S601) and a printing process (S602). The page generation process is a process for generating image data for each page. The printing process is a process for forming an image on a sheet based on the image data. Note that each step of the flowchart in FIG. 6 is realized, for example, by the control unit 211 of the image forming apparatus 100 executing a control program stored in the storage unit 215.

7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the page generation process (S601). An example of the page generation process will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The communication unit 212 receives the print job sent from the PC 200 and temporarily stores it (S701). The print job stored in the communication unit 212 includes page data as image information conforming to the PDL format. The interpreter 213 analyzes the page data (S702) and converts it into intermediate data (S703).

Intermediate data refers collectively to drawing objects and background patterns, and drawing logic for drawing raster-format images from them. Drawing objects and background patterns include, for example, bitmaps, run-lengths, trapezoids, boxes, and high-speed boundary-coded bitmaps. In addition, print job setting information (paper size, etc.) included in the PDL data is extracted by analysis by the interpreter 213, and stored in the memory unit 215 by the control unit 211.

The renderer 214 generates image data by performing RIP processing on the intermediate data, and stores the image data in the image data storage unit 216 (S704). RIP is an abbreviation for Raster Image Processing, and refers to the process of generating raster-format image data from image data such as a vector image.

Figure 8 is a flowchart explaining an example of the printing process (S602). An example of the printing process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 8. When the printing process starts, the control unit 211 initializes a parameter P indicating the page being processed (the paper currently being printed) (S801). The parameter P is an integer value that satisfies P ≥ 1. The control unit 211 determines whether the parameter P exceeds a variable Pmax indicating the total number of pages (the number of papers specified in the print job) (S802). If the result of this determination is P ≤ Pmax (YES in S802), the following processes (S803 to S808) are repeatedly executed. The variable Pmax is extracted by analyzing the print job (PDL data) and stored in the memory unit 215.

First, the control unit 211 obtains the information on the paper feed tray included in the setting information of the print job from the storage unit 215. The setting of the paper feed tray is performed in S404 of FIG. 4 described above. The control unit 211 executes a paper feed determination process (S803). The paper feed determination process is a process for determining whether or not it is possible to feed paper from the paper feed tray identified from the paper feed tray information. An example of the paper feed determination process will be described in detail later. When the paper feed determination process determines that it is possible to feed paper from the paper feed tray identified from the paper feed tray information, the feed unit 219 feeds one sheet of paper to the printer engine 109 (S804). In addition, the control unit 211 reads image data for forming an image on the paper being processed from the image data storage unit 216 (S805). The control unit 211 converts the image data into video data and transfers it to the printer engine 109 (S806). Then, the printer engine 109 executes a printing process (image forming process) on the paper based on the video data (S807). Then, the control unit 211 increments the parameter P (S808). When the formation of images on the total number of pages (Pmax) of sheets is completed, it is determined in the process of S802 that P≦Pmax is not satisfied (NO in S802), and the printing process is terminated. In this embodiment, when terminating the printing process, the control unit 211 determines whether the paper feed tray used in the printing process is a paper feed tray reserved for use. If the paper feed tray used in the printing process is a paper feed tray reserved for use, the control unit 211 deletes the reservation. Also, if the paper feed tray specified in the print job is a paper feed tray reserved for use and the execution of the print job is canceled, the control unit 211 deletes the reservation. In this embodiment, the control unit 211 automatically deletes the reservation for use of the paper feed tray by clearing the information corresponding to the paper feed tray among the information of the reserver 1405 in the paper feed tray information 1400 shown in FIG. 14. The paper feed tray information 1400 will be described in detail later.

(Reserving paper feed tray)
Fig. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the paper feed tray reservation process (S301). An example of the paper feed tray reservation process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 9. Here, a specific example will be explained in which a user (user name: user1) loads the following special paper in the paper feed cassette 102 and executes an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102.
・Paper size: A4
-Paper type: Coated paper

First, user 1 loads special paper in paper feed cassette 102. Next, user 1 performs a predetermined operation on UI panel 218 of image forming apparatus 100 to set the size and type of the paper loaded in paper feed cassette 102.
Then, the control unit 211 of the image forming apparatus 100 displays a login screen 1001 shown in FIG. 10 on the UI panel 218 and accepts a login operation by the user (S901). The login screen 1001 displays an input field 1002 for accepting a user name input by the user and an input field 1003 for accepting a password input by the user. The login screen 1001 also displays a selection field 1004 for accepting a login destination selected by the user. The login screen 1001 also displays a login button 1005 that is pressed by the user when deciding the input to the login screen 1001 and instructing to start authentication processing. In this embodiment, for example, an example of an operation information acquisition process is realized by the process of S901. When the control unit 211 detects the pressing of the login button 1005, it executes authentication processing based on the information input to the login screen 1001. The control unit 211 determines whether the user authentication has been successful by determining whether the user name, password, and login destination entered in the login screen 1001 match the information registered in advance in the image forming apparatus 100 (S902). If the result of this determination is that the user authentication has been successful, the process of S903 is executed. Then, the control unit 211 causes the UI panel 218 to display the home screen 1101 shown in Fig. 11 (S903). On the other hand, if the user authentication has failed, the process of S901 is executed again.

Here, an example is given of a case where authentication processing is executed based on the contents of the user's input operation on the login screen 1001. However, the method of authentication processing is not limited to this method. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may read information about the user stored in a contactless IC card and execute the authentication processing using the read information. In addition, in this embodiment, an example is given of a case where the control unit 211 executes the authentication processing. However, it is not necessarily required that the control unit 211 execute the authentication processing. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may have a dedicated circuit for executing user authentication, and the circuit may execute the authentication processing. In the following description, a user who has been successfully authenticated is referred to as a logged-in user as necessary.

In FIG. 11, buttons 1102 to 1106 are displayed on a home screen 1101. Button 1102 is pressed by the user when using the copy function. Button 1103 is pressed by the user when using the send function. Button 1104 is pressed by the user when using the box function. Button 1105 is pressed by the user to configure various settings for the image forming apparatus 100. When button 1105 is pressed, the image forming apparatus 100 sets the size and type of paper set by the user (user1). The user (user1) also presses button 1105 when reserving the use of a paper feed stage (paper feed cassette 102). Button 1106 is pressed by the user when logging out.

When the control unit 211 detects that the button 1105 has been pressed, it displays the various setting screen 1201 shown in FIG. 12 on the UI panel 218 and accepts the user's selection of various setting items. Buttons 1202 to 1207 are displayed on the various setting screen 1201. The button 1202 is pressed by the user when the user executes settings related to paper. The button 1203 is a button that the user presses when executing settings related to the display on the UI panel 218. The button 1204 is a button that the user presses when executing settings related to the time, power, etc. The button 1205 is a button that the user presses when executing settings related to the network. The button 1206 is a button that the user presses when executing settings related to the external interface. The button 1207 is a button that the user presses when executing settings related to functions to support users who have difficulty seeing the display or who have difficulty performing input operations. The button 1208 is a button that the user presses when returning the display to the home screen 1101. The settings performed by the user are not limited to those shown in FIG. 12. For example, the settings performed by the user may include at least one of settings related to the image quality of the image formed on the paper, settings related to various operations of the image forming device 100, and settings related to maintenance of the image forming device 100.

The control unit 211 determines whether or not button 1202 for setting the paper has been pressed (S904). If this determination detects that any of buttons 1203 to 1208 other than button 1202 has been pressed, the control unit 211 executes various settings according to the button that was pressed (S905). When the processing of S905 ends, the processing according to the flowchart in FIG. 9 ends. Note that the various settings in S905 are realized using known technology. Therefore, a detailed description of these settings will be omitted here.

On the other hand, when it is detected that the button 1202 for setting the paper has been pressed, the control unit 211 executes processing for setting the paper (S906). A specific example of the processing of S906 will be described below. Note that here, a case will be described in which the paper type and paper size are set as the paper settings in S906. However, paper settings other than the paper type and paper size may also be set in S906. Also, as described above, here is an example in which user1 places A4 size coated paper in the paper feed cassette 102 and executes an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102.

First, the control unit 211 displays the paper setting screen 1301 shown in FIG. 13A on the UI panel 218. FIG. 13A is a diagram showing an example of the paper setting screen 1301 before the paper setting is changed. FIG. 13B is a diagram showing an example of the paper setting screen 1301 after the paper setting is changed. The paper setting screen 1301 displays paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306. The paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306 each display the setting status of each paper feed tray. An example of the display contents of the paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306 will be described later. The paper setting screen 1301 also displays a paper type setting button 1307, a paper size setting button 1308, an envelope button 1309, and a postcard button 1310. The paper type setting button 1307 is a button that the user presses when changing the type of paper. The paper size setting button 1308 is a button that the user presses when changing the paper size. The envelope button 1309 is a button that the user presses when setting the paper size to the envelope size (special size). The postcard button 1310 is a button that the user presses when setting the paper size to the postcard size (special size). Furthermore, in this embodiment, a reservation button 1311 is displayed on the paper setting screen 1301. The paper type setting button 1307, paper size setting button 1308, envelope button 1309, postcard button 1310, and reservation button 1311 are buttons that are operated after any of the paper feed stage selection buttons 1302 to 1306 is selected. The OK button 1312 is a button that the user presses after the settings on the paper setting screen 1301 are completed.

Here, an example of the display content of the paper feed stage selection buttons 1302 to 1306 will be described. The setting status of each paper feed stage is stored as paper feed stage information in the storage unit 215 of the image forming apparatus 100. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of paper feed stage information. In the example shown in FIG. 14(a) and FIG. 14(b), paper feed stage information 1400 is information including paper feed stage 1401, paper size 1402, paper type 1403, remaining paper amount 1404, and reservation party 1405. FIG. 14(a) shows an example of paper feed stage information 1400 when reservation party 1405 has not been set. FIG. 14(b) shows an example of paper feed stage information 1400 when user1 is set as the reservation party for FIG. 14(a).

In FIG. 14(a) and FIG. 14(b), paper feed tray 1401 is information that identifies the paper feed tray. Paper size 1402 is information that identifies the size of paper set in each paper feed tray. As the information on paper size 1402, for example, information on the size of paper automatically detected by a sensor in each paper feed tray when the paper is set, or information on the size of paper set by the user is set. As the information on paper size 1402, for example, information set by pressing the paper size setting button 1308 shown in FIG. 13(a) and FIG. 13(b) is set.

The paper type 1403 is information that specifies the type of paper set in each paper feed tray. For example, the information set by pressing the paper type setting button 1307 shown in FIG. 13(a) and FIG. 13(b) is set as the information of the paper type 1403. The paper remaining amount 1404 is information that specifies the remaining amount of paper set in each paper feed tray. In FIG. 14(a) and FIG. 14(b), the remaining amount is set to 100% when a specified capacity of paper is set in each paper feed tray, and the remaining amount is set to 0% when no paper is set, and the remaining amount of paper is expressed in five stages. For example, when the remaining amount is 0%, 0%<remaining amount≦25%, 25%<remaining amount<75%, 75%≦remaining amount<100%, and the remaining amount is 100%, the paper remaining amount 1404 may be 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, respectively. Note that the way in which the remaining paper amount 1404 is expressed is not limited to this. For example, the remaining paper amount 1404 may be expressed as remaining amount ÷ specified capacity × 100 (%).

The reservation user 1405 is information that identifies a user who can occupy a paper feed tray by reserving its use. The reservation user 1405 is set when the reservation button 1311 shown in FIG. 13(a) and FIG. 13(b) is pressed. As described above, in FIG. 14(a), the reservation user 1405 columns for all paper feed trays are blank, indicating that anyone can use all paper feed trays. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which only one reservation is possible for one paper feed tray.

In Fig. 14(a) and Fig. 14(b), paper feed cassettes 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively refer to paper feed cassettes 102, 103, 104, and 105 shown in Fig. 1(a). Also, in Fig. 14(a) and Fig. 14(b), manual feed tray refers to manual feed tray 106 shown in Fig. 1(a). Also, in Fig. 13(a) and Fig. 13(b), paper feed stage selection buttons 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, and 1306 respectively correspond to paper feed cassettes 102, 103, 104, and 105 and manual feed tray 106 shown in Fig. 1(a).

Next, an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when the user presses the paper feed tray selection button 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, or 1306 for a certain paper feed tray and then presses the paper type setting button 1307 will be described. As described above, here, an example is shown in which user1 loads A4 size coated paper into the paper feed cassette 102 and performs an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102. Therefore, here, user1 presses the paper feed tray selection button 1302 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102, and then presses the paper type setting button 1307. As shown in FIG. 13A, the control unit 211 makes the display mode of the paper feed tray selection button 1302 pressed by the user out of the paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306 different from the display modes of the other paper feed tray selection buttons 1303 to 1306.

When the control unit 211 detects that the paper type setting button 1307 has been pressed, the control unit 211 displays the paper type setting screen 1501 shown in FIG. 15A on the UI panel 218. Then, the control unit 211 acquires information on the paper type set for the paper feed tray (here, the paper feed cassette 102) selected on the paper setting screen 1301 from the paper feed tray information 1400 stored in the storage unit 215, and displays it on the paper type setting screen 1501. As shown in FIG. 14A, the paper type 1403 of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 is plain paper 1. FIG. 15A is a diagram showing an example of the paper type setting screen 1501 before the paper type is changed. FIG. 15A illustrates an example of a case in which the display mode of the selection button 1502 for selecting plain paper 1 is made different from the other selection buttons 1503 to 1507 to display that the information on the paper type set for the paper feed cassette 102 is plain paper 1. FIG. 15A illustrates an example in which selection buttons 1503, 1504, 1505, 1506, and 1507 for selecting plain paper 2, thick paper 1, thick paper 2, coated paper, and OHP are displayed on the paper type setting screen 1501, in addition to selection button 1502 for selecting plain paper 1. As described above, this illustrates an example in which user 1 loads A4 size coated paper into paper feed cassette 102 and performs an operation to reserve the use of paper feed cassette 102. Therefore, user 1 presses selection button 1506 for selecting coated paper.

When the control unit 211 detects the pressing of the selection button 1506, it changes the paper type setting screen 1501 from the state shown in FIG. 15(a) to the state shown in FIG. 15(b). FIG. 15(b) is a diagram showing an example of the paper type setting screen 1501 after the paper type has been changed. As shown in FIG. 15(b), the control unit 211 sets the display mode of the selection button 1502 for selecting plain paper 1 to the same display mode as the other selection buttons 1503 to 1505 and 1507, thereby setting the selection button 1502 in a state where it is not selected. In addition, the control unit 211 sets the display mode of the selection button 1506 for selecting coated paper to a display mode different from the other selection buttons 1502 to 1505 and 1507, thereby setting the selection button 1506 in a state where it is selected. The user (user1) then presses the OK button 1508. When the control unit 211 detects the pressing of the OK button 1508, it updates the paper feed stage information 1400 based on the results of the operation of the selection buttons 1502 to 1507 of the paper type setting screen 1501. Here, in FIG. 14A, the plain paper 1 indicating the paper type of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 is changed to coated paper as shown in FIG. 14B. Also, as shown in FIG. 13B, the control unit 211 changes the display content of the paper feed stage selection button 1302 shown in FIG. 13A according to the updated content of the paper feed stage information 1400. FIG. 13B illustrates an example in which the plain paper 1 displayed on the paper feed stage selection button 1302 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 is changed to coated paper. When the control unit 211 updates the paper feed stage information 1400 in the above manner, the setting of the paper type in S906 is completed. If it is not necessary to change the paper type, the user does not need to press the paper type setting button 1307.

Next, an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a user presses the paper feed tray selection button 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, or 1306 for a certain paper feed tray and then presses the paper size setting button 1308 will be described. Here, an example is shown in which user1 loads A4 coated paper into the paper feed cassette 102 and performs an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102. Therefore, in this example, user1 presses the paper feed tray selection button 1302 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 and then presses the paper size setting button 1308.

When the control unit 211 detects that the paper size setting button 1308 has been pressed, the control unit 211 displays the paper size setting screen 1601 shown in FIG. 16 on the UI panel 218. Then, the control unit 211 acquires information on the paper size set for the paper feed tray (here, the paper feed cassette 102) selected on the paper setting screen 1301 from the paper feed tray information 1400 stored in the storage unit 215, and displays it on the paper size setting screen 1601. As shown in FIG. 14A, the paper size 1402 of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 is A4. FIG. 16A is a diagram showing an example of the paper size setting screen 1601 before the paper size is changed. FIG. 16A illustrates an example of a case in which the display mode of the selection button 1603 for selecting A4 is made different from the other selection buttons 1602, 1604 to 1607, thereby displaying that the paper size information set for the paper feed cassette 102 is A4. FIG. 16A illustrates an example in which selection buttons 1602, 1604 to 1607 for selecting A3, A5, B4, B5, and B6 are displayed on the paper size setting screen 1601 in addition to a selection button 1603 for selecting A4. As described above, this illustrates an example in which user1 loads A4-sized coated paper into the paper feed cassette 102 and executes an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102. Therefore, there is no need to change the paper size. Therefore, user1 presses the OK button 1608 without operating the selection buttons 1602 to 1607. In this case, the paper feed stage information 1400 is not updated. For convenience of explanation, here, an example is shown in which the paper size setting button 1308 is pressed by user1. However, if there is no need to change the paper size, the user does not need to press the paper size setting button 1308.

On the other hand, for example, when loading coated paper of A3 size instead of A4 size in the paper feed cassette 102, the user presses the selection button 1602 to select A3. When the control unit 211 detects the pressing of the selection button 1602, it changes the paper size setting screen 1601 from the state shown in FIG. 16(a) to the state shown in FIG. 16(b). FIG. 16(b) is a diagram showing an example of the paper size setting screen 1601 after the paper type has been changed. As shown in FIG. 16(b), the control unit 211 sets the display mode of the selection button 1603 for selecting A4 to the same display mode as the other selection buttons 1604 to 1607, thereby setting the selection button 1603 to a state where it is not selected. In addition, the control unit 211 sets the display mode of the selection button 1602 for selecting A3 to a state where it is selected, by setting the display mode of the selection button 1602 to a different display mode from the other selection buttons 1503 to 1507. Thereafter, the user (user1) presses the OK button 1608. When the control unit 211 detects the pressing of the OK button 1608, it updates the paper feed stage information 1400 based on the results of the operation of the selection buttons 1602 to 1607 on the paper size setting screen 1601. Here, A4 indicating the paper size of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 in FIG. 14A is changed to A3. Also, as shown in FIG. 13B, the control unit 211 changes the display content of the paper feed stage selection button 1302 shown in FIG. 13A on the paper setting screen 1301 according to the updated content of the paper feed stage information 1400. When the paper feed stage information 1400 is updated in the above manner, the setting of the paper size in S906 is completed. As mentioned above, the paper size 1402 in the paper feed stage information 1400 may be updated to information about the paper size automatically detected by a sensor in each paper feed stage without using the paper size setting screen 1601.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 9, when the process of S906 ends, the control unit 211 executes a process for reserving the use of the paper feed tray (S907). A specific example of the process of S907 will be explained below. As mentioned above, the example shows a case where a user (user1) places A4 size coated paper in the paper feed cassette 102 and executes an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102.

When the control unit 211 detects that the reservation button 1311 is pressed while the paper feed stage selection button 1302 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102 is selected, the control unit 211 records the login user name in the reservation 1405 field of the paper feed stage information 1400 stored in the storage unit 215. Here, as shown in FIG. 14B, information identifying user1 is recorded in the reservation 1405 field of the paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to the paper feed cassette 102. This allows user1 to occupy the paper feed cassette 102. Note that, to make it easier to compare the differences between FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B, the parts of the paper feed stage information 1400 shown in FIG. 14B that have been changed by the processes of S906 and S907 with respect to the paper feed stage information 1400 shown in FIG. 14A are shown in inverted colors.

Deleting a reservation for use is performed, for example, as follows. The user presses the reservation button 1311 again. When the control unit 211 detects that the reservation button 1311 has been pressed again, it clears the information corresponding to the relevant paper feed stage from the information of the reservation user 1405 in the paper feed stage information 1400 stored in the memory unit 215. An example of a specific paper feed operation in response to the occupancy of a paper feed stage will be described in detail in the paper feed determination process below.

(Paper feed determination process)
17 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the paper feed determination process (S803). An example of the paper feed determination process will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, the control unit 211 acquires the setting information of the print job stored in the storage unit 215 in S703 of Fig. 7 (S1701). The setting information of the print job includes the job owner name and information necessary for printing (e.g., paper size, paper type, and paper feed tray setting information).

Next, the control unit 211 acquires the paper feed stage information 1400 stored in the memory unit 215 (S1702). Note that the latest paper feed stage information 1400 is acquired here. In the example shown in FIG. 14(a) and FIG. 14(b), the paper feed stage information 1400 shown in FIG. 14(b) is the latest paper feed stage information 1400. As shown in FIG. 14(b), the paper feed stage information 1400 is a compilation of setting information for each paper feed stage.

Next, the control unit 211 copies the paper feed stage information 1400 acquired in S1702 as a paper feed stage candidate list (S1703). The paper feed stage candidate list is used to determine the paper feed stages that will be paper feed candidates in subsequent processes. Next, the control unit 211 compares the information of the reserver 1405 stored in each paper feed stage in the paper feed stage candidate list with the job owner name acquired in S1701. Then, based on the result of the comparison, if there is a paper feed stage reserved by a reserver other than the job owner name, the control unit 211 deletes the information of the paper feed stage from the paper feed stage candidate list (S1704). For example, if the job owner name is user1 and the paper feed stage candidate list is like the paper feed stage information 1400 shown in FIG. 14B, no paper feed stage is deleted from the paper feed stage candidate list. On the other hand, if the job owner name is other than user1, the control unit 211 deletes the information about paper feed cassette 1, which corresponds to paper feed cassette 102, from the paper feed stage candidate list.

Next, the control unit 211 references the paper feed stage setting information from the setting information of the print job acquired in S1701, and deletes information of paper feed stages other than the paper feed stage specified in the paper feed stage setting information from the paper feed stage candidate list (S1705). The paper feed stage setting information is information specified in the paper feed stage setting field 505 shown in FIG. 5. If a specific paper feed stage is specified in the paper feed stage setting field 505, the control unit 211 deletes information of paper feed stages other than the specified paper feed stage from the paper feed stage candidate list. On the other hand, if a specific paper feed stage is not specified in the paper feed stage setting field 505 and automatic selection is specified, the control unit 211 does not delete information of any paper feed stages from the paper feed stage candidate list.

Next, the control unit 211 searches for the paper feed tray that is optimal for printing from the paper feed trays remaining in the paper feed tray candidate list (S1706). Specifically, the control unit 211 searches the paper feed tray candidate list for a paper feed tray that holds paper that matches the information (paper size and type) included in the setting information of the print job. Then, the control unit 211 determines whether or not there is a paper feed tray that is optimal for printing based on the paper feed tray search result in S1706 (S1707). If there is a paper feed tray that is optimal for printing as a result of this determination, the control unit 211 determines the paper feed tray as the optimal paper feed tray for printing (S1708). Then, the control unit 211 notifies the feeding unit 219 and the like that executes the processing from S804 onward in FIG. 8 of the information on the paper feed tray that is optimal for printing. When the processing of step S1708 is completed, the paper feed determination processing of FIG. 17 is completed, and the processing of S804 in FIG. 8 is executed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1707 that there is no paper feed tray optimal for printing, the control unit 211 causes the UI panel 218 to display the error screen 1801 shown in FIG. 18 (S1709). The error screen 1801 displays, for example, paper size and type information as paper information 1809 required to continue the print job. The error screen 1801 also displays paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806, a stop button 1807, and an OK button 1808. The paper feed tray selection buttons 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806 correspond to the paper feed cassettes 102, 103, 104, and 105 and the manual feed tray 106 shown in FIG. 1A, respectively. The paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806 also display the setting status of each paper feed tray, similar to the paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306. The user can perform any of the following actions on the error screen 1801:

The user loads the paper displayed as paper information 1809 in one of the paper feed trays, and then presses the OK button 1808. If the user wants to forcefully continue processing with the paper loaded in a certain paper feed tray, the user presses the paper feed tray selection button corresponding to that paper feed tray, among the paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806, and then presses the OK button 1808. If the user wants to stop the print job, the user presses the stop button 1807.

The control unit 211 determines whether or not there has been any change in the state of the paper feed tray (S1710). If the result of this determination is that there has been a change in the state of the paper feed tray, it is assumed that the user may have set paper, and the process of S1702 is executed again. The control unit 211 then executes the above-mentioned processes of S1702 to S1707 to search for the optimal paper feed tray again.
On the other hand, if there is no change in the state of the paper feed tray, the control unit 211 judges whether or not an operation on the error screen 1801 has been detected (S1711). Here, the control unit 211 judges whether or not an operation including pressing any one of the paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806 or the stop button 1807 by the user has been detected. If the result of this judgment is that an operation including pressing any one of the paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806 or the stop button 1807 has not been detected, the process of S1712 is executed. Then, the control unit 211 switches the process to be performed next depending on the content of the operation on the error screen 1801 (S1712). If an operation including pressing any one of the paper feed tray selection buttons 1802 to 1806 has been detected, the control unit 211 determines the paper feed tray corresponding to the pressed paper feed tray selection button as the paper feed tray to be used for printing (S1708). Then, the control unit 211 notifies the feed unit 219, which executes the process from S804 in Fig. 8, of the information on the determined paper feed stage. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S1712 is that an operation including pressing the stop button 1807 is detected, the control unit 211 ends the print process itself. In this case, the process from S804 onwards is not executed, and the flowchart in Fig. 8 ends.

(Cassette open detection process)
Next, an example of the cassette open detection process will be described. The cassette open detection process is a process executed by the image forming apparatus 100 when any of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 is in an open state. However, when a paper feed cassette designated for use in a print job being executed is in an open state, the print job is interrupted. In this case, an error screen caused by the inability to feed paper is displayed on the UI panel 218 in priority to the cassette open detection process. Therefore, in this embodiment, a case where the cassette open detection process is a process for a paper feed cassette not designated for use in a print job being executed is illustrated. FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the cassette open detection process. FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the reserved cassette warning process in S1903 in FIG. 19. FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the paper change process in S2013 in FIG. 20. An example of the cassette open detection process will be described along the flowcharts of FIG. 19 to FIG. 21. Each step in the flowcharts of FIGS. 19 to 21 is realized, for example, by the control unit 211 of the image forming apparatus 100 executing a control program stored in the storage unit 215.

The control unit 211 detects whether each of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 is in an open state or a closed state. When the control unit 211 detects that any of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 is in an open state, the control unit 211 starts processing according to the flowchart in FIG. 19. When any of the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 is opened by a user and enters an open state, the control unit 211 acquires the paper feed stage information 1400 stored in the storage unit 215 (S1901). The paper feed stage information 1400 includes reservation information. In the example shown in FIG. 14B, the reservation information is a set of information on the paper feed stage 1401 and the reservation user 1405 in each record of the paper feed stage information 1400. In this embodiment, for example, an example of a reservation information acquisition process is realized by the process of S1901.

Next, the control unit 211 determines whether the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use based on the paper feed stage information 1400 (reservation information) (S1902). In the example shown in FIG. 14B, the control unit 211 searches for reservation information in which information identifying the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is indicated as the information on the paper feed stage 1401, and information identifying the logged-in user is indicated as the information on the reservation party 1405. If such reservation information is present, the control unit 211 determines that the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use. On the other hand, if such reservation information is not present, the control unit 211 determines that the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is not a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use.

At the time of S1902, the warning display for each user is not changed, and only a judgment is made as to whether or not the cassette is reserved. If the result of the judgment in S1902 is that the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is not a paper feed cassette reserved for use, the control unit 211 executes a normal cassette warning process as an example of a display control process (S1904). The normal cassette warning process is a process in which, when the paper feed cassette is opened, the status of the image forming apparatus 100 is displayed on the UI panel 218 as the state of the image forming apparatus 100 that the paper feed cassette is open. The printing process in the image forming apparatus 100 is not affected by the user's operation on the image forming apparatus 100 (closing the paper feed cassette) caused by the information displayed by the normal cassette warning process. The information displayed by the normal cassette warning process is different from the information displayed by the reserved cassette warning process described later. Different information is not limited to cases where the contents of the information are different. For example, the information is different when the contents are the same but the display form is different. For example, the information displayed by the normal cassette warning process is displayed on the status line. On the other hand, the information displayed by the reserved cassette warning process is displayed, for example, as a pop-up. Furthermore, the information displayed by the normal cassette warning process does not include information related to the reservation of the paper feed cassette. On the other hand, the information displayed by the reserved cassette warning process may include information related to the reservation of the paper feed cassette. The normal cassette warning process is a common operation in the control of an image forming device, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

If the result of the determination in S1902 is that the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use, the control unit 211 executes a reserved cassette warning process (S1903). The reserved cassette warning process follows the flowchart in FIG. 20.

First, in S2001, the control unit 211 acquires the paper feed stage information 1400, similar to S1901. The process of S2001 is executed because it is necessary to acquire the paper feed stage information 1400 including reservation information in advance for the determination in S2009 described below. However, if the control unit 211 has stored the paper feed stage information 1400 acquired in the process of S1901 in FIG. 19 in the memory unit 215, the process of S2001 may be omitted.

Next, in S2002, the control unit 211 acquires a login context. The login context is information that identifies a login user, including a user name. The login context is stored in the storage unit 215 when a user performs a login operation on the login screen 1001 while using the image forming apparatus 100. In this embodiment, the login context information is used only to check the login user name, so a detailed description of the configuration of the login context is omitted. In addition to the login user name, the login context includes, for example, password information and access authority information. Furthermore, the login context information is erased when the user finishes use and logs out. When the control unit 211 acquires the login context in a logged-out state, it detects that no one is logged in because the user name attribute is not set. In S2003, the control unit 211 determines whether a login user exists based on whether the login user name attribute is not set.

If the result of this determination is that there is no logged-in user, the process of S2004 is executed as an example of the display control process. In S2004, the control unit 211 urges the user to log in. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a login urging screen 2201. In this embodiment, the control unit 211 urges the user to log in by displaying the login urging screen 2201 on the UI panel 218. The login urging screen 2201 displays information indicating that a paper feed cassette reserved for use has been opened, and information indicating an operation that the user should perform on the image forming device 100. FIG. 22 illustrates an example in which the information indicating an operation that the user should perform on the image forming device 100 includes logging in to the image forming device 100 and closing the paper feed cassette. In this way, the login urging screen 2201 is a screen displayed to urge a user who has opened a paper feed cassette reserved for use to perform a login operation or close the paper feed cassette.

The login prompt screen 2201 also displays a login button 2202 and a cancel button 2203. If the user wishes to log in to the image forming device 100, the user presses the login button 2202. On the other hand, if the user does not wish to log in to the image forming device 100, the user presses the cancel button 2203.

In S2004, the control unit 211 displays the login prompt screen 2201 on the UI panel 218, and then determines whether or not the user has logged in (S2005). If it is determined in S2005 that the user has logged in, the login button 2202 is pressed and the user authentication is successful. When the login button 2202 is pressed, the control unit 211 displays the login screen 1001 on the UI panel 218 and waits until the user performs a login operation. This process is the same as the process of S901 in FIG. 9. After the user performs a login operation on the login screen 1001, the control unit 211 executes an authentication process and determines whether or not the user authentication is successful. This process is the same as the process of S902 in FIG. 9. If the result of this determination is that the user authentication is successful, the control unit 211 stores the login context information for the user in the storage unit 215. Then, the process of S2003 is executed again. On the other hand, if user authentication fails, it is determined in S2005 that the user has not logged in.

For example, if the act of opening the paper feed cassette is an operational mistake, the user presses the cancel button 2203. Even if the user presses the cancel button 2203 in this way, it is determined in S2005 that the user has not logged in. If it is determined in S2005 that the user has not logged in, the process of S2006 is executed as an example of a display control process.

In S2006, the control unit 211 displays the cassette close instruction screen 2301 shown in FIG. 23A on the UI panel 218. The cassette close instruction screen 2301 is a screen displayed to prompt a user who is not a logged-in user to close an open paper feed cassette. When the OK button 2302 displayed on the cassette close instruction screen 2301 is pressed by the user, in S2018, the control unit 211 determines whether the paper feed cassette detected to be open has been closed. If the result of this determination is that the paper feed cassette has been closed, the control unit 211 ends the display of the screen displayed on the UI panel 218 in the reserved cassette warning process (S2019). For example, if the cassette close instruction screen 2301 is displayed on the UI panel 218, in S2019, the control unit 211 ends the display of the cassette close instruction screen 2301. When the process of S2019 ends, the process according to the flowchart of FIG. 20 ends.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S2018 is that the paper feed cassette detected to be open is not closed, even if the user presses the OK button 2302, the process of S2006 is executed again and the cassette close instruction screen 2301 is displayed.

When it is determined in S2003 that a logged-in user exists, the process of changing the warning display for each logged-in user is realized in the process from S2007 onwards. First, in S2007, the control unit 211 determines whether the logged-in user is a user who has reserved the use of the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state. In the following description, a user who has reserved the use of the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is called a reserved user as necessary. Also, a user other than the reserved user is called a non-reserved user as necessary. The determination of whether the logged-in user is a reserved user is performed, for example, as follows. That is, the control unit 211 determines whether the user name in the reserver 1405 field of the reservation information included in the paper feed stage information 1400 acquired in S2001 matches the login user name included in the login context information acquired in S2002. When it is determined in step S2007 that the logged-in user is a reserved user, the process of S2008 is performed as an example of a display control process. An example of the process from S2008 onwards is described below.

(Cassette open warning process for reserved users)
There are three possible cases in which a reserved user opens a paper feed cassette. The first case is when the paper set in the paper feed cassette is replaced. When the paper is replaced, the size of the paper or the type of the paper is changed. The second case is when the paper feed cassette is reserved for use, but the required amount of print output is completed and the paper set in the paper feed cassette (for example, paper for in-house printing) is collected. The third case is the following two cases. The first case is when it is necessary to visually check the inside of the paper feed cassette, such as to check the remaining amount of paper. The other case is when the user tries to set paper in another paper feed cassette for the reason of reserving a new paper feed cassette, but accidentally opens a paper feed cassette that has already been reserved for use. The following steps S2008 to S2012 are processes for having the reserved user perform appropriate operations for these three cases.

In S2008, the control unit 211 displays the reservation user selection screen 2303 shown in FIG. 23B on the UI panel 218. The reservation user selection screen 2303 displays a paper change button 2304, a reservation change button 2305, and a cancel button 2306. The paper change button 2304 is a button that the user presses when changing the paper set in the paper feed cassette reserved for use. The reservation change button 2305 is a button that the user presses when terminating the reservation for use of the paper feed cassette. The cancel button 2306 is a button that the user presses when executing only the closing of the opened paper feed cassette. In this way, the reservation user selection screen 2303 is a screen that is displayed to prompt the reservation user to perform the operation corresponding to the three cases described above. Next, in S2009, the control unit 211 determines which button of the paper change button 2304, the reservation change button 2305, and the cancel button 2306 has been pressed by the user.

If the result of the determination in S2009 is that the user has pressed the paper change button 2304, paper change processing in S2013 is executed. The paper change processing is processing for changing the settings for the paper set in the paper feed cassette. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a paper change instruction screen 2401 displayed in the paper change processing. An example of the paper change processing will be further explained using the flowchart in FIG. 21 and FIG. 24.

First, in S2101, the control unit 211 displays the paper change instruction screen 2401 on the UI panel 218. The paper change instruction screen 2401 displays the paper feed tray selection buttons 2402 to 2406, the paper type setting button 2407, the paper size setting button 2408, the envelope button 2409, the postcard button 2410, and the OK button 2411. The paper change instruction screen 2401 is essentially the same screen as the paper setting screen 1301 shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b). The operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a button on the paper change instruction screen 2401 is pressed is basically the same as the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a button on the paper setting screen 1301 is pressed. The difference between the paper setting screen 1301 and the paper change instruction screen 2401 is the presence or absence of the reservation button 1311 for reserving the use of a paper feed cassette. This difference comes from the difference in purpose: the paper settings screen 1301 is used to reserve the use of a paper feed cassette, whereas the paper change instruction screen 2401 is used to delete a reservation for the use of a paper feed cassette.

Therefore, FIG. 21 shows an example of only the processing executed using the paper change instruction screen 2401 when the paper feed stage selection buttons 2402 to 2406 are pressed, and then the paper type setting button 2407 or the paper size setting button 2408 is pressed.
In S2102, the control unit 211 determines whether the paper feed stage selection button 2402 to 2406 was pressed, and then the paper type setting button 2407 or the paper size setting button 2408 was pressed. If the result of this determination is that the paper size setting button 2408 was pressed, the process of S2103 is executed as an example of a display control process.
In S2103, the control unit 211 causes the UI panel 218 to display a paper size setting screen 1601 shown in FIG.
Next, in S2104, the control unit 211 sets the size of the paper by changing the information of the paper size 1402 included in the paper feed stage information 1400 based on the content of the user's operation on the paper size setting screen 1601. Note that the content of the operation on the paper size setting screen 1601 and the processing of the control unit 211 according to the content of the operation on the paper size setting screen 1601 have been described above, so detailed description thereof will be omitted here. When the processing of S2104 ends, the paper change processing ends, and the processing of S2018 in FIG. 20 is executed.

If it is determined in S2102 that the paper type setting button 2407 has been pressed, the process of S2105 is executed as an example of a display control process. In S2105, the control unit 211 causes the UI panel 218 to display a paper type setting screen 1501 shown in FIG.
Next, in S2106, the control unit 211 changes the information on the paper type 1403 included in the paper feed stage information 1400 and sets the paper size based on the content of the user's operation on the paper type setting screen 1501. Note that the content of the operation on the paper type setting screen 1501 and the processing of the control unit 211 according to the content of the operation on the paper type setting screen 1501 have been described above, so detailed description thereof will be omitted here. When the processing of S2106 ends, the paper change processing ends, and the processing of S2018 in FIG. 20 is executed.

In this embodiment, the paper setting change process is described by taking as an example a case where only the paper size and paper type are changed. However, this is for the sake of simplicity. In addition to these changes, various settings for paper may be changed using the paper change instruction screen 2401. For example, parameters related to paper transport, parameters related to the quality of the printed image that can be set for each type of paper, etc. may be changed using the paper change instruction screen 2401.

As mentioned above, the paper change instruction screen 2401 does not display the reservation button 1311 that is displayed on the paper setting screen 1301 due to the difference in the purpose of the screen. However, the paper change instruction screen 2401 and the paper setting screen 1301 may be the same, and the reservation for the use of the paper feed cassette may be changed and registered from the screen for changing the paper settings.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 20, if it is determined in S2009 that the reservation change button 2305 has been pressed by the user, the process of S2010 is executed as an example of display control processing. In S2010, the control unit 211 causes the reservation deletion screen 2501 shown in FIG. 25 to be displayed on the UI panel 218. The reservation deletion screen 2501 is a screen displayed to prompt the user to delete a reservation for a paper feed tray (paper feed cassette) that has been reserved for use. If the user wishes to delete the reservation, the user presses the reservation deletion button 2502. On the other hand, if the user does not wish to delete the reservation, the user presses the cancel button 2503.

In S2011, the control unit 211 determines whether the button pressed by the user is the reservation deletion button 2502. If the result of this determination is that the button pressed by the user is the reservation deletion button 2502, the process of S2012 is executed. In S2012, the control unit 211 deletes the corresponding reservation. The reservation is deleted by clearing the information of the reserving party 1405 in the corresponding paper feed stage (paper feed cassette) from the information of the reserving party 1405 included in the paper feed stage information 1400 recorded in the storage unit 215. Here, the corresponding paper feed stage (paper feed cassette) is a paper feed stage that is reserved for use and is detected to be in an open state. After the process of S2012, the process of S2018 described above is executed. On the other hand, in S2109, if the button pressed by the user is not the reservation deletion button 2502 but the cancel button 2503, the process of S2018 described above is executed. Also, in S2009, if the user presses the cancel button 2306 on the reservation user selection screen 2303, the processing of S2018 described above is executed.

(Cassette open warning process for non-reserved users)
In S2007, if it is determined that the logged-in user is not a reserved user but a non-reserved user, this is the case when the non-reserved user opens a paper feed cassette reserved for use. The main reason why a non-reserved user opens a paper feed cassette reserved for use is that the non-reserved user is unaware that the paper feed cassette has been reserved for use. Therefore, it is necessary to urge the user to quickly return the paper feed cassette to its original state (close it). Also, it is possible that the non-reserved user has attempted to replace the paper set in the paper feed cassette reserved for use in order to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette. In that case, it is desirable to urge the non-reserved user to reserve the use of a different paper feed cassette.

Therefore, if it is determined in S2007 that the logged-in user is not a reserving user but a non-reserving user, in S2014 the control unit 211 causes the UI panel 218 to display a non-reserving user selection screen 2601 shown in FIG. 26. A new reservation button 2602 and a cancel button 2603 are displayed on the non-reserving user selection screen 2601. The new reservation button 2602 is a button that the user presses when making a new reservation for a paper feed cassette. The cancel button 2603 is a button that the user presses when not making a new reservation for a paper feed cassette.

Next, in S2015, the control unit 211 determines whether the button pressed by the user is the new reservation button 2602. If the result of this determination is that the button pressed by the user is the new reservation button 2602, the process of S2016 is executed as an example of display control processing. In S2016, the control unit 211 causes the reservation setting screen 2701 shown in FIG. 27 to be displayed on the UI panel 218. Then, in S2017, the control unit 211 updates the reservation information (reserved by 1405) included in the paper feed stage information 1400 based on the content of the user's operation on the reservation setting screen 2701. When the process of S2017 ends, the process of S2018 described above is executed.

The reservation setting screen 2701 displays paper feed tray selection buttons 2702 to 2706, paper type setting button 2707, paper size setting button 2708, envelope button 2709, postcard button 2710, reservation button 2711, and OK button 2712.

Reservation setting screen 2701 is essentially the same as paper setting screen 1301 shown in FIG. 13(a) and FIG. 13(b). The operation of image forming apparatus 100 when a button on reservation setting screen 2701 is pressed is basically the same as the operation of image forming apparatus 100 when a button on paper setting screen 1301 is pressed. However, in this embodiment, a case where only one reservation is possible for one paper feed stage (paper feed cassette) is illustrated. Therefore, among paper feed stage selection buttons 2702 to 2706, the paper feed stage selection button corresponding to the paper feed stage reserved for use is prevented from being selected by the user. In the example shown in FIG. 14(b), the use of paper feed cassette 1 corresponding to paper feed cassette 102 is reserved. Therefore, the paper feed stage selection button 2702 corresponding to paper feed cassette 102 is prevented from being selected by the user. In FIG. 27, the paper feed stage selection button 2702 is displayed in gray to indicate that the user cannot select the paper feed stage selection button 2702. Note that FIG. 27 illustrates an example in which the paper feed tray selection button 2703 has been selected by the user. Also, here, an example is shown in which the reservation registration process is executed using the reservation setting screen 2701 shown in FIG. 27. However, the reservation registration screen does not necessarily have to be the reservation setting screen 2701 shown in FIG. 27. The reservation registration screen may be, for example, a screen in which at least one of the paper type setting button 2707, the paper size setting button 2708, the envelope button 2709, and the postcard button 2710 have been removed from the reservation setting screen 2701.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 20, if it is determined in S2015 that the button pressed by the user is not the new reservation button 2602 but the cancel button 2603, the processing of S2006 described above is executed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 displays different display information on the UI panel 218 depending on whether the paper feed cassette detected to be open is a paper feed cassette that is reserved for use or not. Therefore, before a print job is input to the image forming apparatus 100, the user can be notified that the paper feed cassette that the user has opened is a paper feed cassette that is reserved for use. This improves the user's convenience regarding image forming apparatuses that have a function that allows the user to reserve the use of a sheet holding unit.

In addition, even if a paper feed tray that has been reserved for use by a certain user is operated (opened) by another user, if the same warning display is executed for all users in that case, it may become cumbersome for the user who made the reservation.
For example, when a user wants the image forming apparatus 100 to perform in-house printing, the user may set special paper for in-house printing in a paper feed cassette, leave the image forming apparatus 100, and submit a PDL print job from the PC 200. In other words, a case may inevitably occur where the user who performs in-house printing sets paper, returns to the PC 200, and submits a print job. In this case, after the user who performs in-house printing reserves the use of a paper feed cassette, another user may mistakenly open the reserved paper feed cassette and replace the paper before returning to the PC 200 and instructing the submission of a print job. In this case, the user who performs in-house printing must set paper and reprint again. On the other hand, another user who wants to perform normal office printing cannot execute a print job using the replaced paper even if he or she replaces the paper. As described above, this is an undesirable situation for both the user who performs in-house printing and the user who performs normal office printing. To address this issue, it is possible to inform a user who opens a paper feed cassette that the paper feed cassette is a reserved paper feed cassette. However, for a user who has reserved the use of the paper feed cassette, the fact that the paper feed cassette is a reserved paper feed cassette is unnecessary information and is troublesome. Note that this issue can also occur, for example, between users who perform in-house printing and between users who perform normal office printing.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when a paper feed cassette reserved for use is opened, the image forming apparatus 100 displays different display information on the UI panel 218 depending on whether the logged-in user is the user who reserved the use of the paper feed cassette. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 100 can display an appropriate warning depending on the type of user who opened the paper feed cassette reserved for use. The appropriate warning display allows the reserving user to smoothly delete the reservation, change the paper settings, and so on. In addition, a non-reserving user can reserve the use of the paper feed cassette or execute a print job using a different paper feed cassette without interfering with the execution of the reserving user's print job. Therefore, the convenience of the user can be improved for an image forming apparatus having a function that allows the use of a sheet holding unit to be reserved.

In addition, in this embodiment, when a paper feed cassette that is reserved for use is opened, the image forming device 100 displays information on the UI panel 218 indicating possible operations that the user may perform as subsequent operations on the image forming device 100. Therefore, the user can be guided through operations on the image forming device 100 depending on the type of user who opened the paper feed cassette that is reserved for use.

In this embodiment, the control unit 211 of the image forming apparatus 100 is used to register and delete reservation information for each paper feed stage. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, a reservation management server connected to the network 230 may register and delete reservation information. In this case, the image forming apparatus 100 may be configured to use the reservation information registered in the reservation management server. In other words, the registration, deletion, and management of reservation information may be performed by the image forming apparatus 100 or outside the image forming apparatus 100.

In addition, in this embodiment, a case has been exemplified in which the reservation information is managed as part of the paper feed stage information 1400. However, the reservation information does not have to be part of the paper feed stage information, and may be separate information independent of the paper feed stage information.

In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the reserved cassette warning process (S1903) is executed when the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 that are reserved for use become open has been exemplified. However, this is not necessarily the case. A reserved user and a non-reserved user may replace the paper set in the manual feed tray 106 for the same reason as when replacing the paper set in the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105. Therefore, for example, in addition to when the paper feed cassettes 102 to 105 become open, the reserved cassette warning process may also be executed when there is a change in the state of the manual feed tray 106. In this case, the reserved cassette warning process may also be executed when a sensor (not shown) provided for the manual feed tray 106 detects that there is no paper set in the manual feed tray 106.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, a case where only one reservation is possible for one paper feed tray is described. In contrast, in the present embodiment, a case where a reservation period is included in the reservation information when reserving the use of a paper feed tray, and multiple reservations are possible for one paper feed tray in different time periods is described. Thus, the present embodiment and the first embodiment differ mainly in the configuration and processing due to the inclusion of a reservation period. Therefore, in the description of this embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 27, and detailed descriptions are omitted. Also, in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, a case where user1 sets A4 size coated paper in the paper feed cassette 102 and performs an operation to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette 102 is described as a specific example.

Figure 28 is an example of a reservation time setting screen 2801. When the control unit 211 detects that the user has pressed the reservation button 1311 while any of the feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306 shown in Figures 13(a) and 13(b) is selected, the control unit 211 displays the reservation time setting screen 2801 on the UI panel 218. User 1 loads A4 size coated paper into the feed tray 102 to reserve the use of the feed tray 102. Therefore, user 1 presses the feed tray selection button 1302 corresponding to the feed tray 102, and then presses the reservation button 1311.

The reservation time setting screen 2801 displays input fields 2802 to 2806 for the reservation period for the paper feed stage. Figure 28 shows an example in which the period from 10:00 to 12:00 on May 10, 2021 has been input as the reservation period for paper feed cassette 1 (paper feed cassette 102).

Accordingly, the reservation information (reserved by 1405 column) included in the paper feed stage information 1400 shown in Figs. 14(a) and 14(b) is expanded as follows. Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of reservation information 2900 for one paper feed stage. Fig. 29(a) shows an example of reservation information 2900 before the change, and Fig. 29(b) shows an example of reservation information 2900 after the change. Here, Figs. 29(a) and 29(b) are assumed to be reservation information 2900 included in paper feed stage information 1400 for paper feed cassette 1, which corresponds to paper feed cassette 102 in Figs. 14(a) and 14(b). For the other paper feed stages, the reservation information shown in Figs. 29(a) and 29(b) is created.

In the first embodiment, as described with reference to Figures 14(a) and 14(b), reservation information is a set of information on the paper feed stage 1401 and the reserving party 1405 in each record of the paper feed stage information 1400. In contrast, in the present embodiment, in addition to the reserving party 2907, the reservation information 2900 includes a reservation number (No. 2901), the reservation date (year 2902, month 2903, day 2904), start time 2905, and end time 2906. Furthermore, No. (reservation number) 2901 is information indicating which reservation information is the newest.

29(a) shows that two reservations have already been made for the paper feed cassette 102 (paper feed cassette 1). Here, when the control unit 211 detects that the user has pressed the OK button 2809 on the reservation time setting screen 2801, it confirms the reservation based on the contents input on the reservation time setting screen 2801 at that time, and updates the paper feed stage information 1400. Then, the control unit 211 displays the original screen (paper setting screen 1301) on the UI panel 218. FIG. 29(b) shows an example of the result of updating the reservation information 2900 for the paper feed cassette 102 (paper feed cassette 1). Note that, in order to easily compare the difference between FIG. 29(a) and FIG. 29(b), the parts added to the reservation information 2900 shown in FIG. 29(a) are shown in inverted colors in the reservation information 2900 shown in FIG. 29(b).

On the other hand, when the control unit 211 detects that the user has pressed the cancel button 2808, the control unit 211 displays the original screen (paper setting screen 1301) on the UI panel 218 without reserving the use of the paper feed tray. In addition, the reservation time setting screen 2801 displays the confirm/cancel button 2807. When the control unit 211 detects that the user has pressed the confirm/cancel button 2807, the control unit 211 displays the reservation status screen 3001 shown in FIG. 30 on the UI panel 218. The reservation status screen 3001 displays a timeline 3002 for four days from the date to which the current time belongs. The timeline 3002 shows the reservation status of the paper feed tray corresponding to the paper feed tray selection button pressed by the user, among the paper feed tray selection buttons 1302 to 1306. The control unit 211 creates such a timeline 3002 based on the reservation information 2900 shown in FIG. 29A, and displays it on the UI panel 218. Note that the number of days for which the paper feed tray is reserved, as shown in the timeline 3002, is not limited to four days.

In the timeline 3002, a newly reserved period in the reservation time setting screen 2801 is displayed in a different display mode from other periods (see the area 3003 shown by a grid). In addition, in the timeline 3002, a period that has already been reserved is displayed in a different display mode from other periods (see the areas 3004a and 3004b filled with black). In FIG. 30, periods other than the areas 3003, 3004a, and 3004b (areas shown by horizontal lines) are periods that have not yet been reserved for use. In addition, the reservation status screen 3001 displays a cancel button 3005. The user selects a reserved area in the timeline 3002 and then presses the cancel button 3005. In conjunction with the pressing of the cancel button 3005, the control unit 211 deletes the corresponding reservation information 2900 from the paper feed stage information 1400. However, the period in which a reservation can be canceled in the reservation status screen 3001 is only the period reserved by the logged-in user. Therefore, the control unit 211 prevents the user from selecting any reserved areas on the timeline 3002 other than the period reserved by the logged-in user. In the example shown in FIG. 29(a) and FIG. 29(b), the areas 3004a to 3004b are periods reserved by a user (user2) other than the logged-in user (user1). Therefore, the logged-in user (user1) cannot select the areas 3004a to 3004b. In this embodiment, in the process of S1901, the reservation information 2900 included in the paper feed stage information 1400 is acquired in the above manner. In this embodiment, for example, an example of the reservation information acquisition process is realized by the process of S1901.

In this embodiment, in S1902 of FIG. 19, the control unit 211 may determine whether the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use as follows. That is, the control unit 211 compares the year, month, day, start time, and end time of the reservation information 2900 corresponding to the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state with the current time. Then, if the reservation information 2900 of the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state contains a record that includes the current time in the reservation period, the control unit 211 determines that the paper feed cassette detected to be in an open state is a paper feed cassette that has been reserved for use.

In addition, in S2007 in FIG. 20, the control unit 211 may execute the reservation user determination process shown in the flowchart in FIG. 31 to determine whether the logged-in user is the user who reserved the use of the paper feed cassette that was detected to be in an open state. An example of the reservation user determination process is described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 31.

First, in S3101, the control unit 211 acquires the reservation information 2900.
Next, in S3102, the control unit 211 acquires the current time.
Next, in S3103, the control unit 211 acquires the information (year, month, date, start time, end time, and reserver) of the first record (element No. 1=1) of the reservation information 2900.

Next, in S3104, the control unit 211 determines whether the login user name acquired from the login context matches the user name stored in the reservation user 2907 field in the record of the acquired reservation information 2900. If the result of this determination is that the login user name matches the user name stored in the reservation user 2907 field, the process of S3105 is executed. In S3105, the control unit 211 determines whether the current time is within the reservation period specified by the information in the record of the acquired reservation information 2900. If the result of this determination is that the current time is within the reservation period, in S3106, the control unit 211 determines that the reservation user is the login user, and executes the process of S2008 in FIG. 20.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S3104 that the login user name does not match the user name stored in the reservation user 2907 field, or if it is determined in S3105 that the current time is not within the reservation period, the process of S3107 is executed. In S3107, the control unit 211 determines whether the information of the last record in the reservation information 2900 has been acquired. If the result of this determination is that the information of the last record in the reservation information 2900 has been acquired, the determinations of S3104 to S3105 have been executed for all records in the reservation information 2900. In this case, there is no record in the reservation information 2900 that matches the reservation period for which the login user made a reservation. Therefore, in S3108, the control unit 211 determines that the reserving user is not the login user, and executes the process of S2014 in FIG. 10.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S3107 that the information of the last record in the reservation information 2900 has not been acquired, the process of S3109 is executed. In S3109, the control unit 211 acquires the information of the next record in the reservation information 2900 (year, month, date, start time, end time, and reservation holder). Then, the process of S3104 is executed again. Note that the next record in the reservation information 2900 is the first record among the records not acquired in S3103 and S3109.

In the first embodiment, in S2010 of FIG. 20, the control unit 211 displays the reservation deletion screen 2501 shown in FIG. 25 on the UI panel 218. In contrast to this, in the present embodiment, in S2010 of FIG. 20, the control unit 211 displays the reservation deletion screen 3201 shown in FIG. 32 on the UI panel 218. In addition to the reservation deletion button 3202 and the cancel button 3203, the reservation deletion screen 3201 displays a timeline 3204 for the day to which the current time belongs. The timeline 3204 shows the reservation status of the paper feed tray that is detected to be in an open state and is reserved for use. The reservation period of the reservation that can be deleted is displayed in a different display mode from other periods on the timeline 3204 (see the area 3205 shown by the lattice). When the user wants to delete the corresponding reservation, he or she presses the reservation deletion button 3202. The reservation that can be deleted is a reservation whose reservation period includes the current time. On the other hand, if the user does not want to delete the corresponding reservation, the user presses the cancel button 3203. The functions of the delete reservation button 3202 and the cancel button 3203 are the same as those of the delete reservation button 2502 and the cancel button 2503 shown in FIG. 25.

As described in the first embodiment, if the result of the determination in S2011 is that the button pressed by the user is the reservation deletion button 3202, the process of S2012 is executed. In this embodiment, too, in S2012, the control unit 211 deletes the corresponding reservation. In the first embodiment, the reservation is deleted by clearing the information of the reservation user 1405. In contrast, in this embodiment, the reservation is deleted by deleting the corresponding record from among the records of the reservation information 2900, which is part of the paper feed stage information 1400 recorded in the memory unit 215. Note that the corresponding record is a record that includes a login user that matches the reservation user as information of the reservation user 2907, and that includes the current time in the reservation period.

The first embodiment also illustrates a case where only one reservation is possible for one paper feed tray. Therefore, in the first embodiment, when a non-reserved user attempts to replace the paper set in a paper feed cassette that is reserved for use in order to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette, the non-reserved user can be prompted to reserve the use of another paper feed cassette. In contrast, in the present embodiment, multiple reservations are possible for one paper feed tray. Therefore, it is desirable to prompt a non-reserved user to reserve the use of the paper feed cassette that is reserved for use, in addition to another paper feed cassette.

Therefore, in this embodiment, if it is determined in S2007 that the logged-in user is not a reserving user but a non-reserving user, the control unit 211 executes the following process.
First, in S2014, the control unit 211 displays the non-reservation user selection screen 2601 shown in FIG. 26 on the UI panel 218, as in the first embodiment. Next, in S2015, if the control unit 211 determines that the button pressed by the user is the new reservation button 2602, the control unit 211 executes the process of S2016. In the first embodiment, in S2016, the control unit 211 displays the reservation setting screen 2701 shown in FIG. 27 on the UI panel 218. In contrast, in this embodiment, in S2016, the control unit 211 displays the reservation setting screen 3301 shown in FIG. 33 on the UI panel 218. In the reservation setting screen 2701 shown in FIG. 27, among the paper feed tray selection buttons 2702 to 2706, the paper feed tray selection button corresponding to the paper feed tray reserved for use is prevented from being selected by the user. In contrast, the reservation setting screen 3301 shown in Fig. 33 allows the user to select the paper feed stage selection button corresponding to the paper feed stage reserved for use. In the example shown in Fig. 33, all of the paper feed stage selection buttons 3302 to 3306 can be selected by the user. Note that Fig. 33 illustrates an example in which the paper feed stage selection button 2702 is selected by the user.

The operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a button on the reservation setting screen 3301 is pressed is basically the same as the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when a button on the paper setting screen 1301 is pressed. As described above, in this embodiment, when the user presses the reservation button 1311, the reservation time setting screen 2801 shown in FIG. 28 is displayed on the UI panel 218. Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the user presses the reservation button 3311 on the reservation setting screen 3301, the reservation time setting screen 2801 shown in FIG. 28 is displayed on the UI panel 218. In addition, when the user presses the confirmation/cancel button 2807 on the reservation time setting screen 2801, the reservation status screen 3001 shown in FIG. 30 is displayed on the UI panel 218. The process of registering a reservation for the use of a paper feed cassette through the display of the reservation time setting screen 2801 and the reservation status screen 3001 has already been described, so a detailed description of the process will be omitted here.

Here, an example is shown of a case where the reservation registration process is executed using the reservation setting screen 3301 shown in FIG. 33. However, the reservation registration screen does not necessarily have to be the reservation setting screen 3301 shown in FIG. 33. The reservation registration screen may be, for example, a screen obtained by removing at least one of the paper type setting button 3307, the paper size setting button 3308, the envelope button 3309, and the postcard button 3310 from the reservation setting screen 3301.

In addition, in this embodiment, a reservation period is set when reserving the use of a paper feed tray. In this case, it may happen that the reserving user does not execute a print job based on the reservation even after the reservation period has elapsed. Therefore, the control unit 211 automatically clears records in the reservation information 2900 where the current time has passed the reservation period (end time of use).

As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 sets a reservation period when reserving the use of a paper feed tray. Therefore, it is possible to limit the period during which another user cannot use a paper feed tray due to the reservation of the use of the paper feed tray. In addition, multiple reservations can be made for one paper feed tray. In addition, reservations can be managed for each reservation period. This makes it possible to further improve user convenience.
Incidentally, in this embodiment as well, the various modified examples described in the first embodiment may be adopted.

Third Embodiment
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the first and second embodiments, a case where a warning display is executed according to the login state of the user and the reservation state of the paper feed tray is exemplified. However, for example, even if the reserving user intentionally opens the paper feed cassette, a warning display such as the reserving user selection screen 2303 may be displayed, which may cause the user to feel annoyed. Therefore, in this embodiment, a case where whether or not to execute a warning display is switched when it is detected that the reserving user has opened the paper feed tray will be described. Thus, the main difference between this embodiment and the first and second embodiments is the configuration and processing by switching whether or not to execute such a warning display. Therefore, in the description of this embodiment, the same parts as those in the first and second embodiments will be given the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 33, and detailed description will be omitted.

Figure 34 is a diagram showing an example of a display suppression setting screen 3401. The display suppression setting screen 3401 is a screen for registering settings for suppressing warning display. In this embodiment, the display suppression setting screen 3401 is illustrated as being operated by a reservation user. Note that there are no particular limitations on the screen transitions leading up to the registration of this setting. However, it is preferable that the display suppression setting screen 3401 is displayed after successful user authentication and can be operated only by the logged-in user. For example, between S906 and S907 in Figure 9, the control unit 211 may cause the display suppression setting screen 3401 to be displayed on the UI panel 218.

The display suppression setting screen 3401 displays a suppression button 3402 and a non-suppression button 3403. If the user wants to suppress the image forming apparatus 100 from displaying a screen (warning display) that is displayed when the login user is a reservation user in the reservation cassette warning process (YES in S2007), the user presses the suppression button 3402. When the control unit 211 detects the user's pressing of the suppression button 3402, it sets not to display a screen (warning display) that is displayed when the user is a reservation user in the reservation cassette warning process. On the other hand, if the user does not want to suppress the image forming apparatus 100 from displaying a screen (warning display) that is displayed when the login user is a reservation user in the reservation cassette warning process, the user presses the non-suppression button 3403. When the control unit 211 detects the user's pressing of the non-suppression button 3403, it sets to execute a screen (warning display) that is displayed when the user is a reservation user in the reservation cassette warning process. Information indicating the content of the setting for whether or not to display a warning is stored in the storage unit 215 for each user. For example, the paper feed stage information 1400 may include information indicating whether or not to display a warning. In this embodiment, for example, the control unit 211 stores information indicating the content of the setting for whether or not to display a warning in the storage unit 215, thereby realizing an example of a display setting process.

Figure 35 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the reserved cassette warning process (the process of S1903 in Figure 19) of this embodiment. The basic operation of the flowchart in Figure 35 is the same as that of the flowchart in Figure 20. The flowchart in Figure 35 differs from the flowchart in Figure 20 in the following respects. That is, if it is determined in step S2007 that the logged-in user is a reserved user, the process of S3501 is executed before the process of S2008. In S3501, the control unit 211 determines whether or not to suppress the warning display for the reserved user. This determination is executed based on information indicating the contents of the setting for whether or not to execute the warning display, which is stored in the memory unit 215 for each user based on the user's operation on the display suppression setting screen 3401.

If the result of this determination is that the warning display is not to be suppressed for the booking user, the processing from S2008 onwards is executed (i.e., the same processing as in the flowchart of FIG. 20 is executed). On the other hand, if the warning display is to be suppressed for the booking user, the warning display is not executed. In this case, the processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 35 ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 switches whether or not to suppress a warning display for the reserving user. Therefore, depending on the intention of the reserving user, it is possible to either navigate the operation or reduce the UI operation for the reserving user who has changed the state of the reserved paper feed tray for use. This makes it possible to further improve user convenience.

In this embodiment, an example has been given of a case in which information indicating the setting contents of whether or not to execute a warning display is set for each reserving user. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, an administrator of the image forming device 100 may set information indicating the setting contents of whether or not to execute a warning display for all users at once. Furthermore, in this embodiment as well, the various modified examples described in the first and second embodiments may be adopted.

Other Examples
The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.
Furthermore, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely examples of the implementation of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by these. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its technical concept or main features.

100: Image forming device, 102-105: Paper feed cassette, 211: Control unit, 218: UI panel

Claims (16)

An image forming apparatus,
At least one sheet holding section for holding a sheet to be transported for image formation;
an acquisition unit that acquires information identifying a sheet holding unit that has been reserved for use among the sheet holding units, information identifying a user who has reserved the use of the sheet holding unit, and information identifying a user who is using the image forming apparatus ;
a display control means for controlling a display device to display different display information when a state of the sheet holding unit for which use has been reserved has changed and when a state of the sheet holding unit for which use has not been reserved has changed;
a display setting unit that sets whether or not to display the display information when a user using the image forming apparatus has reserved use of the sheet holding unit;
having
The display control means controls the display device to display different display information depending on whether the user using the image forming apparatus is the user who reserved use of the sheet holding unit when the state of the sheet holding unit that is reserved for use among the sheet holding units changes, and also controls the display information to be displayed on the display device depending on the setting made by the display setting means . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a user determination means for determining, when a state of one of the sheet holding units that has been reserved for use changes, whether or not the user using the image forming apparatus is the user who has reserved the use of that sheet holding unit, based on the information acquired by the acquisition means . The acquisition means includes a reservation information acquisition means for acquiring information including information for identifying a user who has reserved use of a sheet holding unit and information for identifying the sheet holding unit for which the reservation for use has been made;
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising : an operation information acquiring unit that acquires information including information for identifying a user who is operating the image forming apparatus. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the reservation information acquiring unit further acquires information regarding a reservation period for the sheet holding unit for which the reservation for use has been made. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the display control means executes control to cause a display device to display display information including information for prompting input of information identifying a user operating the image forming apparatus when a change in the state of the sheet holding unit for which use has been reserved occurs in a state in which information identifying a user using the image forming apparatus has not been obtained. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires information identifying a user operating the image forming apparatus, the information identifying a user who has been determined to be authorized to use the image forming apparatus based on the results of user authentication . The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , characterized in that the display information includes information indicating candidate operations that a user may perform on the image forming apparatus after a change in the state of the sheet holding unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , characterized in that the display information includes information for allowing a user to select one of a plurality of operations to be performed on the image forming apparatus after a change in the state of the sheet holding unit. An image forming apparatus as described in claim 7 or 8, characterized in that operations on the image forming apparatus after a change in the state of the sheet holding unit include at least one of an operation related to changing the sheet in the sheet holding unit, an operation related to the reservation, and an operation to return the sheet holding unit to its original state. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, when a user using the image forming apparatus is a user who has reserved use of the sheet holding unit, the display control means executes control to cause a display device to display display information including information other than information that use of the sheet holding unit has been reserved. The image forming apparatus described in any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the display control means executes control to cause a display device to display display information including the fact that use of the sheet holding unit has been reserved by another user when a user using the image forming apparatus is not the user who has reserved use of the sheet holding unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the display control means terminates the display of the display information after the state of the sheet holding portion changes and the state of the sheet holding portion returns to the state before the change . The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the display control means controls the display device to display different display information depending on whether or not the user using the image forming apparatus is a user who has made a reservation for use of the sheet holding unit, the reservation period of which includes the period when the image forming apparatus is being used. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the state of the sheet holding portion is caused by an operation of the sheet holding portion by a user. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus having at least one sheet holding unit that holds a sheet to be conveyed for image formation, comprising the steps of:
an acquiring step of acquiring information for identifying a sheet holding unit that has been reserved for use among the sheet holding units, information for identifying a user who has reserved the use of the sheet holding unit, and information for identifying a user who is using the image forming apparatus ;
a display control step of controlling a display device to display different display information when a state of the reserved sheet holding unit has changed and when a state of the unreserved sheet holding unit has changed;
a display setting step of setting whether or not to display the display information when a user using the image forming apparatus is a user who has reserved use of the sheet holding unit;
having
The control method for an image forming apparatus is characterized in that, in the display control process, when the state of a sheet holding unit that has been reserved for use among the sheet holding units changes, control is performed to display different display information on a display device depending on whether the user using the image forming apparatus is the user who has reserved use of the sheet holding unit, and control is performed to display the display information on a display device depending on the setting made in the display setting process . A program for causing a computer to function as each of the means of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14 .

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