JP7835064B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus and a program.

Patent Document 1 describes an image forming apparatus having a volatile first storage means and a non-volatile second storage means with a limited number of write cycles, wherein the apparatus switches between a first operating mode in which image data is stored in the second storage means and a second operating mode in which image data is stored in the first storage means but not in the second storage means, based on information regarding the number of write cycles.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-026319

In image forming devices such as multifunction printers, when printing based on print data, it is necessary to convert print data described in a page description language format into raster data. During this conversion, the image forming device stores the print data transmitted from an external device in a storage unit such as an SSD, performs a conversion process to convert the stored print data into raster data, stores it in the storage unit, and then executes the printing process.

However, if a conversion error occurs during the conversion process to convert acquired print data into raster format, the image forming apparatus will re-receive the print data from the external device that sent the data with the conversion error and repeat the data conversion process. Furthermore, even if the image forming apparatus terminates processing due to a conversion error in the print data, the external device that sent the print data may continue to retransmit the print data until the printing process is completed successfully. In this way, repeatedly converting print data with conversion errors increases the number of write operations to the storage unit, as the data writing process is repeated with each conversion.

When using a storage device such as an SSD, which degrades with increasing write cycles and effectively has a limited number of write cycles, to perform conversion processing on print data, repeated conversion errors in print data received from an external device can shorten the lifespan of the storage device.

The purpose of this disclosure is to provide an image forming apparatus and program that can prevent the writing process to a storage unit with a limited number of write cycles from continuing even when the writing process is repeated due to conversion errors during the conversion of print data to raster format data.

The image forming apparatus in the first embodiment of this disclosure includes a processor, which stores print data transmitted from an external device capable of performing a conversion process to convert print data into raster format data in a storage unit with a limited number of write cycles. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process to convert the stored print data into raster format data, and the number or frequency of such errors is less than a preset threshold, the processor receives the print data again from the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error and stores it in the storage unit. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process and the number or frequency of such errors reaches the threshold, the processor instructs the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

In the image forming apparatus of the second embodiment of this disclosure, the processor checks, for each external device, whether the number or frequency of conversion errors in the received print data has reached the threshold.

In the third embodiment of this disclosure, the image forming apparatus, in the second embodiment, further checks whether the number or frequency of conversion errors for each print data has reached the threshold.

In the fourth embodiment of this disclosure, in an image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third embodiments, the processor acquires information regarding the state of the storage unit, and if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, and the state of the storage unit satisfies a preset condition, it issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred, to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

In the image forming apparatus of the fifth embodiment of this disclosure, in the image forming apparatus of the fourth embodiment, the processor acquires information regarding the amount of data written to the storage unit as information regarding the state of the storage unit. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, and if more than a predetermined amount of data has been written to the storage unit within a predetermined period, the processor issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred, to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

In the sixth embodiment of this disclosure, the image forming apparatus, in the fourth or fifth embodiment, includes a processor that acquires information regarding the lifespan of the storage unit as information regarding the state of the storage unit. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of such errors reaches a threshold, and the remaining lifespan of the storage unit has decreased by a predetermined amount or more within a predetermined period, the processor issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred, to transmit the raster-format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

The program of the seventh aspect of this disclosure causes a computer to perform the following steps: storing print data transmitted from an external device capable of performing a conversion process to convert print data into raster format data in a storage unit with a limited number of write cycles; if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process to convert the stored print data into raster format data, and the number or frequency of such errors is less than a preset threshold, the computer receives the print data again from the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error and stores it in the storage unit; and if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process, and the number or frequency of such errors reaches the threshold, the computer instructs the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

According to the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment of this disclosure, even if the writing process is repeated due to a conversion error when converting print data to raster format data, it is possible to prevent the writing process to the storage unit, which has a limited number of write cycles, from continuing.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect of this disclosure, it is possible to prevent the need to change the equipment performing the conversion process, except in cases where conversion errors are repeatedly encountered in the conversion process for print data transmitted from the same external device.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect of this disclosure, it is possible to prevent the need to change the equipment performing the conversion process, except in cases where conversion errors are repeatedly encountered in the conversion process for print data with the same content transmitted from the same external device.

According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect of this disclosure, it is possible to prevent changes in the equipment that performs the conversion process based on the state of the storage unit.

According to the image forming apparatus of the fifth aspect of this disclosure, it is possible to determine whether or not it is necessary to change the equipment that performs the conversion process based on the amount of data written to the storage unit.

According to the image forming apparatus of the sixth aspect of this disclosure, it is possible to determine whether or not it is necessary to change the equipment that performs the conversion process based on the lifespan of the storage unit.

According to the program of the seventh aspect of this disclosure, even if the write process is repeated due to a conversion error when converting print data to raster format data, it is possible to prevent the write process to a storage unit with a limited number of write cycles from continuing.

This figure shows the system configuration of an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This block diagram shows the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This block diagram shows the functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. This diagram shows the data recording status on the SSD during printing. This figure shows an example of SMART information. This is a flowchart illustrating the processing flow when performing conversion processing on print data in an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The following describes in detail examples of embodiments for implementing this disclosure with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an image forming system according to one embodiment.

As shown in Figure 1, the image forming system of this embodiment consists of image forming apparatuses 10 and terminal devices 20 that are interconnected by a network 30.

The terminal device 20 generates print data and transmits the generated print data to the image forming apparatus 10 via the network 30. The terminal device 20 can also perform a conversion process to convert the print data into raster format data. The terminal device 20 is an example of an external device in the technology of this disclosure.

The image forming apparatus 10 receives print data transmitted from the terminal device 20 and outputs an image on the paper corresponding to the print data. The image forming apparatus 10 is a so-called multifunction device having multiple functions such as printing, scanning, copying, and facsimile. The image forming apparatus 10 is an example of an image forming apparatus in the technology of this disclosure.

Next, Figure 2 shows the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 in the data processing system of this embodiment.

As shown in Figure 2, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, SSD (Solid State Drive) 13, a communication interface (IF) 14, a user interface (UI) device 15 including a touch panel or liquid crystal display and keyboard, a scanner 16, and a print engine 17. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 18.

SSD13 is an example of a memory unit with a limited number of write cycles. The memory unit may be composed of non-volatile memory. Note that "a memory unit with a limited number of write cycles" refers to a memory unit that deteriorates with increasing write cycles, effectively limiting the number of write cycles.

The communication interface (IF) 14 transmits and receives data to and from external devices via the network 30. The UI device 15 receives user input. The scanner 16 reads the original document loaded into the image forming apparatus 10 as image data. The print engine 17 prints the image onto a recording medium such as printing paper through processes such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing.

The CPU 11 is a processor that controls the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 by executing predetermined processes based on a control program stored in the RAM 12 or SSD 13. In this embodiment, the CPU 11 is described as reading and executing the control program stored in the RAM 12 or SSD 13, but it is not limited to this. This control program may be provided in a form recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. For example, this program may be provided in a form recorded on an optical disc such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, or on a semiconductor memory such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or memory card. Furthermore, this control program may be acquired from an external device via a communication line connected to the communication interface 14.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 realized by the execution of the control program described above.

As shown in Figure 3, the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an authentication unit 31, an operation input unit 32, a display unit 33, a data transmission/reception unit 34, a control unit 35, an image reading unit 36, an image output unit 37, a RAM 12, and an SSD 13.

The authentication unit 31 performs authentication processing for users attempting to use the image forming apparatus 10. The operation input unit 32 inputs information about various operations performed by the user. The display unit 33, controlled by the control unit 35, displays various information to the user. The data transmission/reception unit 34 transmits and receives data with external devices such as the terminal device 20.

The control unit 35 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 10, and based on user input, it controls the image reading unit 36 to read the original image, and controls the output of print data from the image output unit 37, etc.

The image reading unit 36 reads the image from the loaded document based on the control unit 35. The image output unit 37 outputs the image onto a recording medium such as printing paper, based on the control unit 35.

The image forming apparatus 10 performs a conversion process when printing print data transmitted from the terminal device 20, converting the print data, which is written in page description language format, into raster format data (hereinafter referred to as raster data).

Furthermore, due to reasons such as a time delay between receiving the print data and printing it, the print data is usually stored in the SSD 13 rather than the RAM 12. Figure 4 shows the data recording state in the SSD 13 during printing.

As shown in Figure 4(A), when the control unit 35 receives print data from the terminal device 20, it stores this print data in the SSD 13.

Next, the control unit 35 performs a conversion process from print data to raster data. At this point, as shown in Figure 4(B), the SSD 13 stores not only the print data but also the raster data converted sequentially from the beginning of the print data—in other words, raster data in the process of conversion.

Once the conversion process is complete, the SSD 13 will be in a state where it has stored the print data and raster data, as shown in Figure 4(C).

When printing of the print data transmitted from the terminal device 20 using raster data is completed, the control unit 35 deletes the print data and raster data from the SSD 13, as shown in Figure 4(D).

If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, the control unit 35 deletes the data in the state shown in Figure 4(B), i.e., the print data with the conversion error and the raster data in the process of converting this print data, from the SSD 13. Then, the control unit 35 re-receives the print data from the terminal device 20 that sent the print data with the conversion error, stores it in the SSD 13, and performs the conversion process again on the re-received print data. Therefore, if conversion errors occur repeatedly during the conversion process, the number of writes to the SSD 13 will increase.

Therefore, the control unit 35 stores the print data transmitted from the terminal device 20 capable of performing the conversion process in the SSD 13. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process of the stored print data, and the number or frequency of such errors is below a preset threshold, the control unit 35 receives the print data again from the terminal device 20 that transmitted the print data with the conversion error and stores it in the SSD 13. If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of such errors reaches a preset threshold, the control unit 35 instructs the terminal device 20 that transmitted the print data with the conversion error to transmit the raster data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

Here, "the number or frequency of conversion errors" refers not to the number or frequency of conversion errors that occurred in specific print data, but to the number or frequency of conversion errors that occurred in all print data processed by the image forming apparatus 10.

The number of times a conversion error occurs can be set to any number depending on the number of write cycles of the SSD 13, for example, from 1,000 to 100,000,000. For example, if the threshold for the number of conversion errors is set to 1,000, the following process is performed: If the image forming apparatus 10 has accumulated 1,000 or more conversion errors in the past, including newly occurring errors, the control unit 35 instructs the terminal device 20 that transmitted the print data with the conversion error to transmit the raster data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

The frequency of conversion errors can be set arbitrarily according to the number of write cycles available on the SSD 13, for example, 10 times per day or 100 times per week. For example, if the threshold for the frequency of conversion errors is set to 10 times per day, the following process is performed: If the image forming apparatus 10 accumulates 10 or more conversion errors on a given day, including newly occurring errors, the control unit 35 instructs the terminal device 20 that transmitted the print data with the conversion error to transmit the raster data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data.

Furthermore, if the conversion process is performed by the terminal device 20 instead of the image forming apparatus 10, it will place a load on the terminal device 20. Therefore, it is preferable to minimize the number of times the device performing the conversion process is changed.

Therefore, the control unit 35 may check whether the number or frequency of conversion errors in received print data has reached a threshold for each external device. That is, if the number or frequency of conversion errors in print data received from the same external device reaches a threshold, the control unit may change the device performing the conversion process.

Furthermore, the control unit 35 may also check whether the number or frequency of conversion errors has reached a threshold for each print data set. That is, if the number or frequency of conversion errors for the same print data received from the same external device reaches a threshold, the control unit may change the device performing the conversion process. Note that "the same print data received from the same external device" may refer to print data under the same print instruction, or, even if the print instructions are different, if the file name of the print data is the same, this print data may be considered the relevant print data.

Furthermore, the control unit 35 may acquire information regarding the state of the SSD 13, and if a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches a threshold, and the state of the SSD 13 satisfies a preset condition, it may issue an instruction to the terminal device 20 to transmit the raster data after the conversion process.

Regarding the acquisition of information regarding the status of the SSD 13, for example, the control unit 35 acquires SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis Reporting-Technology) information from the SSD 13.

Figure 5 shows an example of SMART information. As shown in Figure 5, SMART information includes items such as "error rate during data reading," "number of startups," "startup time," "current internal temperature," "number of writes," "amount of data written," "number of writeables remaining," "amount of data that can be written remaining," and "remaining lifespan." For each item in the SMART information, the current value, worst-case value, and threshold value are shown. The control unit 35 can acquire any of this information as information regarding the status of the SSD 13.

For example, the control unit 35 may acquire information regarding the amount of data written to the SSD 13, and if a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches a preset threshold, and if more than a preset amount of data has been written to the SSD 13 within a preset period, it may issue an instruction to the terminal device 20 to transmit the raster data after the conversion process.

Here, "information regarding the amount of data written to SSD 13" may refer to the amount of data written to SSD 13 itself (the "amount of data written" in SMART information). Alternatively, it may refer to information regarding the number of times data has been written to SSD 13, which is proportional to the amount of data written to SSD 13 (the "number of writes" in SMART information).

Furthermore, the control unit 35 may acquire information regarding the lifespan of the SSD 13, and if a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches a preset threshold, and the remaining lifespan of the SSD 13 has decreased by a preset amount or more within a preset period, it may issue an instruction to the terminal device 20 to transmit the raster data after the conversion process.

Here, "information regarding the lifespan of SSD 13" may refer to the remaining lifespan of SSD 13 itself (the "remaining lifespan" in SMART information). Alternatively, the current write count of SSD 13 may be obtained and the result obtained by dividing the current write count by the number of writeable SSD 13 in a new state. Similarly, the current amount of data written to SSD 13 may be obtained and the result obtained by dividing the current write count by the amount of writeable SSD 13 in a new state.

Next, the processing flow for performing conversion processing on print data in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 6.

In step S11, the control unit 35 performs a conversion process to convert the print data transmitted from the terminal device 20 into raster data.

Next, in step S12, the control unit 35 determines whether the conversion process has been completed successfully.

In step S12, if it is determined that the conversion process has completed successfully, the control unit 35 terminates the conversion process.

If, in step S12, it is determined that the conversion process has not completed successfully, i.e., that a conversion error has occurred, the control unit 35, in step S13, determines whether the number or frequency of conversion errors in the image forming apparatus 10 is equal to or greater than a threshold.

If, in step S13, it is determined that the number or frequency of conversion errors is not above a threshold, the control unit 35 deletes the print data and raster data in the process of conversion that had conversion errors in step S14.

Next, in step S15, the control unit 35 retrieves the print data again from the terminal device 20 that transmitted the print data where the conversion error occurred, performs a conversion process on the re-acquired print data, and then proceeds to step S12.

If, in step S13, it is determined that the number or frequency of conversion errors is equal to or greater than a threshold, the control unit 35 determines in step S16 whether the SMART information of the SSD 13 meets the conditions.

Here, "conditions" refer to, for example, situations where more than a predetermined amount of data has been written to SSD 13 within a predetermined period, or where the remaining lifespan of SSD 13 has decreased by more than a predetermined amount within a predetermined period.

If, in step S16, it is determined that the SMART information of SSD 13 does not meet the conditions, the control unit 35 executes steps S14 and S15 and proceeds to step S12.

In step S16, if it is determined that the SMART information of the SSD 13 meets the conditions, the control unit 35, in step S17, issues an instruction to the terminal device 20, which is the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error, to transmit the raster data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data. In step S18, the control unit 35 retrieves the raster data from the terminal device 20 and terminates the conversion process.

After the above conversion process is completed, the control unit 35 uses the raster data acquired through the conversion process to execute the printing process for the print data transmitted from the terminal device 20.

[Differentiation]
Although an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the technology of the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate.

In the embodiments described above, "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.).

Furthermore, the processor operations in each of the above embodiments may not be performed by a single processor, but may also be performed by multiple processors located in physically separate locations working together. Also, the order of the processor operations is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate.

10 Image forming device 11 CPU
12 RAM
13 SSD
14 Communication interface 15 User interface device 16 Scanner 17 Print engine 18 Control bus 20 Terminal device 30 Network 31 Authentication unit 32 Operation input unit 33 Display unit 34 Data transmission/reception unit 35 Control unit 36 Image reading unit 37 Image output unit

Claims (7)

Equipped with a processor,
The aforementioned processor,
Print data transmitted from an external device capable of performing a conversion process to convert print data into raster format data is stored in a memory unit with a limited number of write cycles.
If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process to convert stored print data into raster format data, and the number or frequency of such errors is less than a preset threshold, the system will re-receive the print data from the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error and store it in the storage unit.
If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, the image forming apparatus issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred, to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data. The aforementioned processor,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, which checks whether the number or frequency of conversion errors in received print data has reached the threshold for each external device. The aforementioned processor,
Furthermore, the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, which checks whether the number or frequency of conversion errors that occurred for each print data has reached the threshold. The aforementioned processor,
Information regarding the state of the memory unit is obtained,
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, and the state of the storage unit satisfies a preset condition, the apparatus issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred to transmit raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data. The aforementioned processor,
As information regarding the state of the storage unit, information regarding the amount of data written to the storage unit is obtained.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, and if more than a preset amount of data has been written to the storage unit within a preset period, the apparatus issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data. The aforementioned processor,
As information regarding the state of the memory unit, information regarding the lifespan of the memory unit is obtained.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein if a conversion error occurs in the conversion process, and the number or frequency of conversion errors reaches the threshold, and the remaining lifespan of the storage unit has decreased by a predetermined amount or more within a predetermined period, the apparatus issues an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred, to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data. The process involves storing print data transmitted from an external device capable of performing a conversion process to convert print data into raster format data in a memory unit with a limited number of write cycles.
If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process to convert stored print data into raster format data, and the number or frequency of such errors is less than a preset threshold, the process includes the step of receiving the print data again from the external device that transmitted the print data with the conversion error and storing it in the storage unit.
If a conversion error occurs during the conversion process, and the number or frequency of such errors reaches the threshold, the step of issuing an instruction to the external device that transmitted the print data in which the conversion error occurred to transmit the raster format data after the conversion process has been applied to the print data,
A program that causes a computer to execute something.