Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To prevent the time required for initial check for cartridge authentication from getting longer.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 100 executes, before cartridge authentication, reading of an image forming condition from a cartridge 9 and verification of the read image forming condition, and determines an image forming condition used for image forming control on the basis of a result of verification. Subsequently, the image forming apparatus 100 executes, in parallel, image forming control using the determined image forming condition and cartridge authentication.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine, that uses an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, image forming apparatuses such as printers using an electrophotographic method may have cartridges that are consumables that can be attached and detached. Typically, a cartridge is a developer container or a developing device that can be attached and detached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, either alone or together with other elements. Since image formation control of the image forming apparatus depends on the toner contained in the cartridge as a developer, it is necessary to check whether a cartridge suitable for the image forming apparatus is attached. Patent Document 1 discloses that an electrical storage device is provided in the cartridge, and the cartridge is authenticated by comparing a private key stored in the electrical storage device with a private key stored in the image forming apparatus.

[0003] In addition, in order to obtain optimal image forming conditions for a cartridge, the image forming conditions may be stored in an electrical storage device of the cartridge. In this case, the image forming apparatus reads out the image forming conditions from the electrical storage device of the cartridge and reflects them in the image formation control.

[0004] In an image forming device that performs cartridge authentication and reading of image forming conditions, after performing cartridge authentication, the image forming conditions are read from the cartridge and image formation control is performed based on the read image forming conditions. This is because by first authenticating the cartridge, it is possible to determine whether the cartridge installed in the image forming device is suitable for the image forming device. Patent Document 2 discloses that after authenticating the cartridge installed in the image forming device, the image forming conditions according to the authentication result are used.

[0005] The above-mentioned cartridge authentication, reading of image formation conditions, and image formation control using the read image formation conditions are performed during an initial check of the image forming apparatus. The initial check is performed when the image forming apparatus is turned on by a user, when the user replaces a cartridge, etc. The initial check is a process for performing a hardware check of the image forming apparatus and for putting the image forming apparatus into a state in which printing is possible. When the image forming apparatus is turned on (at startup) or when a cartridge is replaced (at the opening and closing of the cartridge replacement door), it is desirable to complete the initial check as quickly as possible in order to transition the image forming apparatus into a state in which printing is possible as quickly as possible. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-62780 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2018-28650 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, for example, when a calculation-intensive encryption algorithm is adopted for cartridge authentication, authentication operation may take time. Therefore, when image formation conditions are determined after cartridge authentication is performed as described in Patent Document 2, if the time required for cartridge authentication is long, the time required for the initial check will also be long.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to prevent the time required for the initial check for cartridge authentication from increasing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The above object is achieved by an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention is an image forming apparatus in which a cartridge provided with a device having a storage unit and an authenticated unit can be removably mounted, and which performs image formation using the mounted cartridge, the image forming apparatus having a control unit which executes image formation control using image formation condition information, an acquisition unit which communicates with the device to acquire first condition information, which is the image formation condition information, from the storage unit, a verification unit which verifies the first condition information acquired from the storage unit by the acquisition unit, a second condition information storage unit in which second condition information, which is the image formation condition information, is stored, and an authentication unit which communicates with the device to execute authentication processing for authenticating the cartridge, wherein at least a part of the image formation control by the control unit using the first condition information or the second condition information selected based on the verification result by the verification unit and the authentication processing by the authentication unit are executed in parallel. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the time required for the initial check for cartridge authentication from increasing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an authentication chip and an electrical storage device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a sequence chart of an example of an authentication method. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a timing chart of a conventional initial check. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional initial check. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a timing chart of an initial check in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an initial check in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an electrical storage device according to a second and third embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a cartridge replacement determination process in the second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a timing chart of an initial check in the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an initial check in the second embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a timing chart of an initial check in the third embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an initial check in the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] [Example 1] 1. Overall configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is a tandem laser printer employing an intermediate transfer method, capable of forming a full-color image using an electrophotographic method. The image forming apparatus 100 can form and output an image on a sheet-shaped recording material P based on an image signal (image information) input from an external device (not shown) such as a personal computer.

[0014] The image forming apparatus 100 has a plurality of stations, i.e., first, second, third and fourth stations 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d, which form toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K), respectively. Elements having the same or corresponding functions or configurations provided for each color may be generally described by omitting the suffixes a, b, c and d indicating that the element is provided for any one of the colors. In this embodiment, the station 10 includes a photosensitive drum 1, a charging roller 2, an exposure device 11, a developing device 8, a primary transfer roller 81, a cleaning device 3 and the like, which will be described later.

[0015] (Image forming section) The station 10 is provided with a photosensitive drum 1, which is a rotatable drum-type (cylindrical) photosensitive body (electrophotographic photosensitive body) serving as an image carrier. In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 1 is an OPC (organic photoconductor) photosensitive drum. The OPC photosensitive drum is a metal cylinder on which multiple layers of functional organic materials, such as a carrier generation layer that is photosensitive to light and generates charges, and a charge transport layer that transports the generated charges, are laminated, and the outermost layer has low conductivity and is almost electrically insulating. In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 1 is formed by coating an organic photoconductor layer (OPC) on the outer circumferential surface of an aluminum cylinder. The photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably supported by flanges at both ends in the direction of its rotation axis, and is rotated at a predetermined peripheral speed (process speed) in the direction of the arrow in the figure (counterclockwise direction) by transmitting a driving force from a driving motor (not shown) of a driving unit to one end.

[0016] The surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged to a predetermined potential of a predetermined polarity (negative polarity in this embodiment) by the charging roller 2, which is a roller-shaped charging member serving as a charging means. The charging roller 2 is composed of a conductive roller, and is arranged in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. The charging roller 2 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 while rotating in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1. A charging power source 20, which is a charging voltage application unit serving as a voltage supply means, is connected to the charging roller 2. During charging, a predetermined charging voltage (charging bias), which is a DC voltage or an oscillating voltage in which a DC voltage and an AC voltage are superimposed, is applied to the charging roller 2 by the charging power source 20. Then, the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is charged by generating a discharge in at least one of the minute air gaps formed on the upstream side and downstream side of the contact nip portion between the charging roller 2 and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1.

[0017] The surface of the charged photosensitive drum 1 is scanned and exposed by an exposure device 11 as an exposure means, and an electrostatic latent image (electrostatic image) is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. In this embodiment, the exposure device 11 is configured by a scanner unit that scans a laser beam using a polygon mirror, and irradiates the photosensitive drum 1 with a scanning beam 12 modulated based on an image signal. The polygon mirror is irradiated with image light (laser light) corresponding to the image signal from a laser diode (not shown).

[0018] The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is developed (visualized) by supplying toner as a developer by a developing device (developing unit) 8 as a developing means, and a toner image (toner image, developer image) is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. The developing device 8 is configured to have a developer container 5 in which a non-magnetic one-component developer (toner) as a developer is contained, a developing roller 4 as a developer carrier (developing member), a developer coating blade 7 as a developer regulating member, and the like. The developer containers 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d of the developing devices 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d contain toner of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. The developing roller 4 is disposed adjacent to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1. A developing power source 21, which is a developing voltage application unit as a voltage supplying unit, is connected to the developing roller 4. During development, the developing roller 4 is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 and is rotated by a driving force transmitted from a driving motor (not shown) of a driving unit. During development, a predetermined development voltage (development bias) is applied to the development roller 4 by the development power source 21. This causes toner to be supplied from the development roller 4 to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 to form a toner image. In this embodiment, toner charged with the same polarity as the charge polarity of the photosensitive drum 1 (negative polarity in this embodiment) adheres to the exposed portion of the photosensitive drum 1, the absolute value of the potential of which has been reduced by exposure after being uniformly charged (reverse development method). In this embodiment, the normal charge polarity of the toner, which is the main charge polarity of the toner during development, is negative polarity.

[0019] Opposing the four photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d, an intermediate transfer belt 80 constituted by an endless belt as an intermediate transfer body is disposed. The intermediate transfer belt 80 is supported by three rollers, namely, a secondary transfer opposing roller 86, a driving roller 14, and a tension roller 15 as a plurality of tension rollers (tensioning members), and is stretched so as to maintain an appropriate tension. The intermediate transfer belt 80 rotates (moves orbitally, moves circulatingly) at a peripheral speed (process speed) substantially the same as that of the photosensitive drum 1 in the direction of the arrow (clockwise direction) in the figure, as the driving roller 14 is driven to rotate by a driving force transmitted from a driving motor (not shown) of the driving unit. On the inner peripheral surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 80, primary transfer rollers 81a, 81b, 81c, and 81d, which are roller-shaped primary transfer members as primary transfer means, are disposed, facing the four photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d with the intermediate transfer belt 80 in between. The primary transfer roller 81 is pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 and contacts the photosensitive drum 1 via the intermediate transfer belt 80 to form a primary transfer portion (primary transfer nip portion) N1, which is a contact portion between the photosensitive drum 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 80. Primary transfer power sources 84a, 84b, 84c, and 84d, which are primary transfer voltage application portions as voltage supply means, are connected to the primary transfer rollers 81a, 81b, 81c, and 81d, respectively. The drive roller 14, the tension roller 15, and the secondary transfer counter roller 86 are each connected to a ground potential (electrically grounded). The tension rollers other than the drive roller 14 and each primary transfer roller 81 are rotated following the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 80.

[0020] The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred (primary transfer) onto the rotating intermediate transfer belt 80 as a transfer target by the action of the primary transfer roller 81 at the primary transfer portion N1. During the primary transfer, a predetermined primary transfer voltage (primary transfer bias) which is a DC voltage of the opposite polarity (positive polarity in this embodiment) to the normal charging polarity of the toner is applied to the primary transfer roller 81 by the primary transfer power source 84. As a result, a positive charge is applied from the primary transfer roller 81 to the intermediate transfer belt 80, and a toner image made of negative polarity toner on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 80 in contact with the photosensitive drum 1. For example, when a full-color image is formed, the toner images of the respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black formed on the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d are transferred in sequence so as to be superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 80, and a multi-color image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 80. Toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the primary transfer (primary transfer residual toner) is removed from the photosensitive drum 1 and collected by a cleaning device (cleaning unit) 3 serving as cleaning means.

[0021] A secondary transfer roller 82, which is a roller-shaped secondary transfer member serving as a secondary transfer means, is disposed on the outer peripheral surface side of the intermediate transfer belt 80 at a position facing the secondary transfer opposing roller 86 with the intermediate transfer belt 80 sandwiched therebetween. The secondary transfer roller 82 is pressed toward the secondary transfer opposing roller 86 and contacts the secondary transfer opposing roller 86 via the intermediate transfer belt 80 to form a secondary transfer portion (secondary transfer nip portion) N2, which is a contact portion between the intermediate transfer belt 80 and the secondary transfer roller 82. The secondary transfer roller 82 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 80. The intermediate transfer belt 80 rotates while electrostatically adsorbing toner on the outer peripheral surface facing each of the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d, and conveys the toner to the secondary transfer portion N2. A secondary transfer power source 85, which is a secondary transfer voltage application portion serving as a voltage supply means, is connected to the secondary transfer roller 82.

[0022] The toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 80 is transferred (secondary transfer) onto a recording material P such as paper as a transfer target, which is sandwiched and transported between the intermediate transfer belt 80 and the secondary transfer roller 82, in the secondary transfer section N2. During the secondary transfer, a predetermined secondary transfer voltage (secondary transfer bias), which is a DC voltage of the opposite polarity (positive polarity in this embodiment) to the normal charging polarity of the toner, is applied to the secondary transfer roller 82 by a secondary transfer power source 85. When the secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 82, an electric field is formed between the secondary transfer roller 82 and the secondary transfer counter roller 86, and a dielectric polarization is generated between the intermediate transfer belt 80 and the recording material P, so that an electrostatic adsorption force is generated between the two. The recording material P is transported from a feeding section to the secondary transfer section N2, which will be described later. The toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 80 after the secondary transfer (secondary transfer residual toner) is charged to the opposite polarity (positive polarity in this embodiment) to the normal charging polarity by a toner charging roller 88 as a toner charging means. This toner is transferred onto the photosensitive drum 1 at the primary transfer portion N1 (for example, the primary transfer portion N1a at the most upstream position in the moving direction of the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 80) and is removed and collected from the photosensitive drum 1 by the cleaning device 3. A toner charging voltage (toner charging bias) of a polarity opposite to the normal charging polarity of the toner (positive polarity in this embodiment) is applied to the toner charging roller 88 by a toner charging power source 89.

[0023] In each station 10, the photosensitive drum 1, the charging roller 2, the developing device 8, and the cleaning device 3 constitute an integrated cartridge (process cartridge) 9 that is detachably attached to the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 100. The cartridge 9 is equipped with an electrical storage device 6 in which information related to image formation is recorded. In this embodiment, the main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 is the portion of the image forming apparatus 100 excluding the process cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d.

[0024] (feeding section) The image forming apparatus 100 has a main cassette 16 as a feeding section. When a recording material (recording medium, transfer material, sheet) P is fed from the main cassette 16, a cassette pickup roller 17 as a feeding member is driven to raise a main cassette bottom plate 29, and the recording material P stored in the main cassette 16 is pushed up. The topmost sheet of the pushed-up recording material P comes into contact with the cassette pickup roller 17, and is separated and fed by the rotation of the cassette pickup roller 17. The recording material P sent out from the main cassette 16 is conveyed to a registration roller 18 as a conveying member. In addition, the recording material P is conveyed to the secondary transfer section N2 by the registration roller 18 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 80. In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 is also configured to be able to feed the recording material P from a manual feed tray 30 as a feeding section. When the recording material P is fed from the manual feed tray 30, the recording material P placed on the manual feed tray 30 is transported by manual feed transport rollers 31 and 32 as transport members, and then transported to the registration rollers 18 by the cassette pickup roller 17. This recording material P is then transported to the secondary transfer portion N2 in the same manner as described above. On the transport path of the recording material P, recording material sensors 33, 34, and 35 are arranged as recording material detection means, and the detection results of these sensors are used to control the transport timing of the recording material P by the registration rollers 18, etc.

[0025] (Fixing part) The recording material P to which the toner image has been transferred at the secondary transfer portion N2 is conveyed to a fixing device 19 as a fixing means. The fixing device 19 applies heat and pressure to the toner image transferred onto the recording material P to fix (melt, fix) the toner image onto the recording material P. In this embodiment, the fixing device 19 has a fixing belt and an elastic pressure roller. The elastic pressure roller sandwiches the fixing belt between itself and a belt guide member to form a fixing nip portion of a predetermined width with a predetermined pressure contact force. When the fixing nip portion is heated to a predetermined temperature and is in a temperature controlled state, the recording material P carrying an unfixed toner image conveyed from the image forming portion is introduced between the fixing belt and the elastic pressure roller in the fixing nip portion. At this time, the recording material P is introduced into the fixing nip portion so that the image surface of the recording material P carrying the unfixed toner image faces the surface of the fixing belt. In the fixing nip portion, the image surface of the recording material P is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the fixing belt, and the fixing belt and the recording material P are conveyed together through the fixing nip portion. In this process, the toner image is heated and fixed onto the recording material P by the heating of the fixing belt.

[0026] (Other configurations) The image forming apparatus 100 is provided with a power switch 120 that switches between turning on and off the power to the image forming apparatus 100. When the power switch 120 is turned on, each part of the image forming apparatus 100 can be controlled by an engine control unit 201, which will be described later.

[0027] The image forming apparatus 100 is also provided with a cartridge door 130 which is an opening / closing member for a user to access the cartridge 9 (for cartridge replacement). By opening the cartridge door 130, the user can open the inside of the apparatus main body 110 and can attach / detach the cartridge 9 to / from the apparatus main body 110. The image forming apparatus 100 is also provided with a door sensor 135 as an opening / closing detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the cartridge door 130 (detecting at least one of an open state or a closed state). The door sensor 135 inputs to the engine control unit 201 a signal which changes in response to the change of the cartridge door 130 from a closed state to an open state and from an open state to an open state when the image forming apparatus 100 is powered on.

[0028] The image forming apparatus 100 is also provided with an operation unit (operation panel) 140. The operation unit 140 has an input unit (such as keys) as an input means for inputting various settings to the engine control unit 201 by a user's operation, and a display unit (such as a liquid crystal panel) as a display means for displaying information to the user under the control of the engine control unit 201. The operation unit 140 may be configured with a touch panel or the like having the functions of an input unit and a display unit.

[0029] 2. Initial check Image forming apparatus 100 performs an initial check when the user turns on the power of image forming apparatus 100 (when image forming apparatus 100 is started) or when the user opens and closes cartridge door 130. The former timing is simply referred to as "when power is turned on" and the latter timing is simply referred to as "when cartridge door is opened and closed." During the initial check, image forming apparatus 100 performs cartridge authentication, reads information from electrical storage device 6 of cartridge 9, and performs a hardware check by controlling the image forming unit, etc., to prepare for printing. When the initial check is normally completed, image forming apparatus 100 transitions to a state where it is ready to print.

[0030] In this embodiment, before cartridge authentication, the image forming apparatus 100 reads image forming conditions from the cartridge 9 and verifies the read image forming conditions, and determines the image forming conditions to be used for image formation control based on the verification results. After that, the image forming apparatus 100 executes image formation control using the determined image forming conditions and cartridge authentication in parallel (concurrently), that is, so that at least a part of the period of the image formation control and the cartridge authentication overlap. This makes it possible to prevent the time required for the initial check from being extended due to the cartridge authentication. This will be explained in more detail below.

[0031] (System Configuration) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment.

[0032] The image forming apparatus 100 has an engine control unit 201, which is a control unit (control circuit) serving as a control means for controlling each unit of the image forming apparatus 100. The engine control unit 201 is configured to have a CPU serving as an arithmetic processing unit, a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile memory serving as a storage unit, and an input / output unit (input / output circuit) serving as an input / output unit. The engine control unit 201 has, as functional blocks, an initial check control unit 210 serving as an initial check control unit, a cartridge authentication unit 220 serving as a cartridge authentication unit, an image forming condition reading unit 221 serving as an image forming condition reading unit, an image forming condition verification unit 222 serving as an image forming condition verification unit, a fixing control unit 230 serving as a fixing control unit, a transfer control unit 231 serving as a transfer control unit, a development control unit 232 serving as a development control unit, a charging control unit 233 serving as a charging control unit, an exposure control unit 234 serving as an exposure control unit, and a drive control unit 235 serving as a drive control unit. Each of these units is realized by the CPU in the engine control unit 201 executing a program stored in the ROM. Moreover, the engine control unit 201 has an authentication chip communication unit 240 and a cartridge communication unit 241 as functional blocks. These units are realized by the CPU in the engine control unit 201 operating the input / output unit according to a program stored in the ROM. The engine control unit 201 also holds basic image formation information 223 and cartridge model information 242. These pieces of information are stored in the ROM in the engine control unit 201 (the storage units for each piece of information are also called the basic image formation condition storage unit 223 and the cartridge model information storage unit 242). The engine control unit 201 can also communicate with an external device (not shown) such as a personal computer via an interface unit (not shown), and can receive image signals and the like from the external device and transmit signals for displaying information on the external device to the external device.

[0033] The image forming apparatus 100 executes an initial check when the power is turned on (when starting up) or when the cartridge door is opened or closed. The engine control unit 201 requests the initial check control unit 210 to perform an initial check. The initial check control unit 210 executes a preparation operation for printing in the cartridge authentication unit 220, the image forming condition reading unit 221, the image forming condition verification unit 222, the fixing control unit 230, the transfer control unit 231, the development control unit 232, the charging control unit 233, the exposure control unit 234, and the drive control unit 235, and transitions the image forming apparatus 100 to a state in which printing is possible. The cartridge authentication unit 220 communicates with the authentication chip 260 via the authentication chip communication unit 240. In addition, the cartridge authentication unit 220 communicates with the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d provided in the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d via the cartridge communication unit 241 to authenticate the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d mounted in the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming condition reading unit 221 communicates with the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d via the cartridge communication unit 241 to read out the image forming conditions of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d. The image forming condition verification unit 222 verifies the image forming conditions read out by the image forming condition reading unit 221. The fixing control unit 230 controls the fixing device 19. The transfer control unit 231 controls the transfer circuit 251 including the primary transfer bias power supplies 84a, 84b, 84c, and 84d and the primary transfer bias power supply 85. The development control unit 232 controls the development circuit 252 including the development bias power supplies 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d. The charging control unit 233 controls the charging circuit 253 including the charging bias power supplies 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d. The exposure control unit 234 controls the exposure device 11. The drive control unit 235 controls one or more drive motors 255 that drive the photosensitive drum 1, the developing roller 4, the intermediate transfer belt 80, etc. The basic image formation information 223 is information (second condition information) of image formation conditions that is used when the information (first condition information) of image formation conditions read from the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d is not used. The cartridge model information 242 is information on the models of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d (for example, composed of model numbers, etc.).Each control unit executes control designated by the initial check control unit 210 .

[0034] Here, the image forming conditions are, for example, information on at least one of the operation settings of the charging means, the exposure means, the development means, the transfer means, and the fixing means. The operation settings of the charging means include the setting of the charging voltage, the operation settings of the exposure means include the setting of the exposure intensity, the operation settings of the development means include the setting of the development voltage, the operation settings of the transfer means include the setting of the transfer voltage, and the setting of the fixing means includes the setting of the fixing temperature.

[0035] (Configuration of authentication chip and electrical storage device) Fig. 3(a) is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the authentication chip 260 in this embodiment, and Fig. 3(b) is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d having an authenticated function in this embodiment.

[0036] First, the authentication chip 260 will be described with reference to FIG. 3(a). When the authentication chip 260 receives a command (command data) from the authentication chip communication unit 240, it returns response data to the authentication chip communication unit 240 as a response to the command. The input / output unit 301 of the authentication chip 260 transmits and receives command / response data to and from the authentication chip communication unit 240. The microcomputer (microcontroller) 302 of the authentication chip 260 executes internal processing according to the command from the authentication chip communication unit 240. At that time, the microcomputer 302 of the authentication chip 260 stores temporary data in the volatile memory 303 of the authentication chip 260. The encryptor 304 of the authentication chip 260 executes encryption calculation in the authentication process according to a command from the microcomputer 302 of the authentication chip 260. The non-volatile memory 305 of the authentication chip 260 holds a key used in the encryption calculation and data necessary for the authentication process. The authentication chip 260 constitutes a calculation unit that calculates an authentication value.

[0037] Next, the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d will be described with reference to FIG. 3(b). The input / output unit 311 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d transmits and receives command / response data to and from the cartridge communication unit 241. The microcomputer 312 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d executes internal processing according to commands from the cartridge communication unit 241. At that time, the microcomputer 312 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d stores temporary data in the volatile memory 313 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. The encryptor 314 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d executes encryption calculations in authentication processing according to commands from the microcomputer 312 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. The encryption device 304 of the authentication chip 260 and the encryption device 314 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d perform encryption calculations using the same algorithm. The non-volatile memories 315 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d hold keys used in encryption calculations and data required for authentication processing. The cartridge authentication unit 220 transmits commands to the authentication chip 260 and the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. The authentication chip 260 and the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d perform processing according to the commands and transmit response data to the authentication chip communication unit 240 and the cartridge communication unit 241. The cartridge authentication unit 220 acquires the data transmitted to the authentication chip communication unit 240 and the cartridge communication unit 241.

[0038] In addition, the non-volatile memory 315 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d also holds image forming conditions 320 corresponding to the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d. The image forming condition reading unit 221 transmits a data read command to the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. The electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d read the image forming conditions 320 from the non-volatile memory 315 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d, and transmit the read image forming conditions 320 to the cartridge communication unit 241 as response data. The image forming condition reading unit 221 acquires the image forming conditions 320 transmitted to the cartridge communication unit 241. The image forming conditions 320 include model information 321 for verifying the image forming conditions. The model information 321 is for verifying whether the image forming conditions 320 are appropriate when the image forming apparatus 100 acquires the image forming conditions 320. The non-volatile memory 315 of the electrical storage device 6 constitutes a storage unit in which the first condition information, which is image formation condition information, the model information, etc. are stored. The microcomputer 312, the encryptor 314, etc. of the electrical storage device 6 constitute an authenticated unit that realizes an authenticated function.

[0039] (Authentication process) Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram of the authentication process. In Fig. 4, a signal beginning with the letter C indicates a command, and a signal beginning with the letter R indicates a response to the command. Furthermore, the letter OP indicates a process performed by a corresponding device or chip.

[0040] In OP401, the cartridge authentication unit 220 generates random number data as challenge data.

[0041] In C401, the cartridge authentication unit 220 requests the authentication chip 260 to generate authentication data, which is random number data.

[0042] In OP402, the authentication chip 260 uses the encryptor 304 and the common key to generate authentication data from the random number data.

[0043] In R401, the authentication chip 260 returns authentication data.

[0044] In C402, the cartridge authentication unit 220 transmits the random number data and authentication data to the electrical storage device 6 with which it is to communicate.

[0045] In OP403, the electrical storage device 6 generates cartridge verification data from the random number data using the encryptor 314 and the common key. Because the common key is used and the encryptor 304 of the authentication chip 260 and the encryptor 314 of the electrical storage device 6 perform the same calculation, the authentication data and the cartridge verification data match. Next, the electrical storage device 6 generates data to be authenticated from the random number data using the encryptor 314 and the common key.

[0046] In R402, the electrical storage device 6 returns the authenticated data.

[0047] In C403, the cartridge authenticator 220 transmits the random number data and the data to be authenticated to the authentication chip 260.

[0048] In OP404, the authentication chip 260 generates authentication chip verification data from the random number data using the encryption device 304 and the authentication key. Since a common key is used and the encryption device 304 of the authentication chip 260 and the encryption device 314 of the electrical storage device 6 perform the same calculation, the data to be authenticated and the authentication chip verification data match.

[0049] In R403, the authentication chip 260 returns the verification result indicating whether or not the authenticated data and the authentication chip verification data match.

[0050] In OP405, the cartridge authentication unit 220 determines that the authentication is successful if the verification result from the authentication chip 260 is a match, and determines that the authentication is unsuccessful if the verification result is a mismatch.

[0051] The order of the authentication process sequence shown in FIG. 4 is an example. For example, it is possible to repeatedly execute the same process as this sequence. The present invention does not limit the order of the authentication process sequence to the order of the sequence shown in FIG.

[0052] (Conventional initial check) For comparison with this embodiment, a conventional initial check will be described first. Note that, in the conventional image forming apparatus, elements having the same or corresponding functions or configurations as those in this embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals as those in this embodiment.

[0053] FIG. 5 is a timing chart of a conventional initial check.

[0054] Before the start of the initial check (T501), the cartridge authentication unit 220 is in an unauthenticated state. Moreover, before the start of the initial check (T501), the image formation condition reading unit 221 is in a pre-read state. The initial check control unit 210 instructs the cartridge authentication unit 220 to perform authentication at the start timing of the initial check (T501). The cartridge authentication unit 220 executes cartridge authentication using the method described with reference to FIG. 4 or the like. After the completion of cartridge authentication (T502), the initial check control unit 210 instructs the image formation condition reading unit 221 to read the image formation conditions 320. After the completion of reading the image formation conditions 320 (T503), the initial check control unit 210 executes the initial check image formation control 500. In the initial check image formation control 500, the following is executed. First, the initial check control unit 210 instructs the drive control unit 235 to start driving. Furthermore, at a timing when the operation of the drive motor 255 is stabilized by the drive control unit 235 (T510), the initial check control unit 210 instructs the charging control unit 233, the developing control unit 232, the exposure control unit 234, the fixing control unit 230, and the transfer control unit 231 to start control. After the drive control unit 235, the charging control unit 233, the developing control unit 232, the exposure control unit 234, the fixing control unit 230, and the transfer control unit 231 have completed preparations for printing, the initial check control unit 210 instructs each control unit to stop control (T504).

[0055] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a conventional initial check.

[0056] The image forming apparatus 100 performs an initial check when triggered by, for example, the power switch 120 of the image forming apparatus 100 being turned on or the cartridge door 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 being opened or closed.

[0057] After starting the initial check, the initial check control unit 210 executes cartridge authentication by the cartridge authentication unit 220 (S601). The cartridge authentication unit 220 executes cartridge authentication by the method described with reference to FIG. 4 or the like. The initial check control unit 210 waits for the authentication of all the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d to be completed (S602). After the authentication of all the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d is completed, the initial check control unit 210 executes reading of the image formation conditions (S603). As described with reference to FIG. 3(b), the image formation condition reading unit 221 transmits a data reading command to the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d through the cartridge communication unit 241. The image formation condition reading unit 221 receives response data from the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d from the cartridge communication unit 241. The image formation condition reading unit 221 repeats this to acquire the image formation conditions 320. The initial check control unit 210 waits until reading of the image forming conditions 320 for all the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d is completed (S604).

[0058] After completing the reading of the image forming conditions, the initial check control unit 210 determines the image forming conditions (S605). The determined image forming conditions are stored in the RAM of the engine control unit 201. Here, based on the authentication result and the model information 321 included in the image forming conditions 320, it is determined whether to use the image forming conditions 320 or the basic image forming information 223, and the image forming conditions are determined. For example, if the cartridge authentication is successful, the image forming conditions received from the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d are used, and if the cartridge authentication is unsuccessful, the basic image forming information 223 is used.

[0059] After the image formation conditions are determined (S605), the initial check control unit 210 notifies the user of the cartridge authentication result (S606). Next, the initial check control unit 210 executes the initial check image formation control 500 (S607), and when the initial check image formation control 500 is completed, the initial check is completed.

[0060] (Initial check in this embodiment) Fig. 7 is a timing chart of the initial check in this embodiment. Unlike the conventional initial check shown in Fig. 5, this embodiment performs cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control in parallel after reading out the image formation conditions of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d.

[0061] Before the start of the initial check (T701), the cartridge authentication unit 220 is in an unauthenticated state. Moreover, before the start of the initial check (T701), the image formation condition reading unit 221 is in a pre-read state. The initial check control unit 210 instructs the image formation condition reading unit 221 to read the image formation conditions 320 at the start timing of the initial check (T701). When the initial check control unit 210 has completed reading the image formation conditions 320 (T702), it starts the initial check image formation control 500 and starts cartridge authentication in the cartridge authentication unit 220. The cartridge authentication by the cartridge authentication unit 220 typically ends during the execution of the initial check image formation control 500 (T703). When the initial check control unit 210 has completed the initial check image formation control 500 and cartridge authentication, it instructs each control unit to stop control (T704). Incidentally, the initial check image formation control 500 in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG.

[0062] The sequence order shown in FIG. 7 is an example. There may be cases where the initial check image formation control 500 cannot start immediately after the image formation conditions are acquired. For example, there may be cases where the start conditions of the initial check image formation control 500 are other than the acquisition of the image formation conditions. In that case, the initial check image formation control 500 starts after the start conditions are satisfied. There may also be cases where the cartridge authentication cannot start immediately after the image formation conditions are acquired. For example, there may be cases where a preparation process for the cartridge authentication is required, or where the communication path with the authentication chip 260 is used by another control means. In this case, the cartridge authentication unit 220 cannot start cartridge authentication immediately after the image formation conditions are acquired, so it starts cartridge authentication as soon as it becomes possible to start cartridge authentication. In addition, the timing at which the cartridge authentication ends and the timing at which the initial check image formation control 500 ends depend on the time required for the cartridge authentication and the time required for the drive unit to stabilize, respectively, and therefore the timing may vary.

[0063] Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the initial check in this embodiment. Fig. 8(a) is a flowchart of the entire initial check. Fig. 8(b) is a flowchart of the process of S803 (determination of image forming conditions) in Fig. 8(a).

[0064] In this embodiment, as described with reference to Fig. 7, after reading out the image forming conditions of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d, cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control are executed in parallel. In addition, in this embodiment, after reading out the image forming conditions, verification of the image forming conditions is executed to confirm that the read out image forming conditions are appropriate. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the authentication result of the cartridge authentication is notified.

[0065] The image forming apparatus 100 performs an initial check when triggered by, for example, the power switch 120 of the image forming apparatus 100 being turned on or the cartridge door 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 being opened or closed.

[0066] As shown in Fig. 8(a), the initial check control unit 210 executes reading of the image forming conditions after starting the initial check (S801). Reading of the image forming conditions is executed by the method described with reference to Fig. 3(b) or Fig. 6. The initial check control unit 210 waits until reading of the image forming conditions 320 of all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d is completed (S802). After completing reading of the image forming conditions, the initial check control unit 210 determines the image forming conditions (S803).

[0067] As shown in FIG. 8B, in the process of S803 (determination of image forming conditions) in FIG. 8A, the initial check control unit 210 executes verification of the read image forming conditions 320 by the image forming condition verification unit 222. The image forming condition verification unit 222 compares the cartridge model information 242 held by the engine control unit 201 with the model information 321 included in the image forming conditions 320 read from the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d (S810), and if they are identical, it determines that the verification is successful (the read image forming conditions can be used), and if they are not identical, it determines that the verification is unsuccessful (the read image forming conditions cannot be used). Then, if the verification is successful by the image forming condition verification unit 222, the initial check control unit 210 selects to use the image forming conditions 320 read from the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d (S811), and if the verification is unsuccessful, it selects to use the basic image forming conditions 223 held by the engine control unit 201 (S812). The determined image forming conditions are stored in the RAM of the engine control unit 201.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 8A, after the initial check control unit 210 determines the image forming conditions (S803), the cartridge authentication unit 220 executes cartridge authentication (S804). The cartridge authentication unit 220 executes cartridge authentication by the method described with reference to FIG. 4 or the like. The initial check control unit 210 waits until authentication is completed for all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d (S805). After authentication is completed for all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d, the initial check control unit 210 notifies the user of the readout result of the image forming conditions and the authentication result (S806). In this embodiment, if the image forming condition verification unit 222 fails to verify when reading the image forming conditions, the user is notified that the verification of the image forming conditions has failed. Also, in this embodiment, if the cartridge authentication has failed, the user is notified that the cartridge authentication has failed. This allows the user to confirm whether or not the cartridge 9 is mounted in the image forming apparatus 100 as expected. This notification is performed, for example, by displaying a message on the operation unit 140. This notification may simply be information indicating that the image forming conditions could not be properly read out or that the cartridge 9 could not be authenticated, or may include information urging the user to check the cartridge 9 or information notifying that the image quality may be degraded. This notification is not limited to being performed on the operation unit 140, but may be performed on an external device by transmitting information (signal) for performing a similar notification to the external device. This notification is not limited to being performed by display, but may be performed by sound generation (message or alarm) by a sound generation unit, light generation (lighting or blinking) by a light emission unit, or the like.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 8A, the initial check control unit 210 executes initial check image formation control (S808) in parallel with the cartridge authentication (S804).

[0070] Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the initial check control unit 210 waits (S807) for the cartridge authentication (S804) and the initial check image formation control (S808) to be completed, and then completes the initial check.

[0071] It should be noted that the sequence order shown in FIG. 8 is an example. For example, the result of reading the image forming conditions can be notified as soon as the reading of the image forming conditions is completed. Furthermore, the method of determining the image forming conditions is not limited to the method shown in this embodiment. Any method can be applied as long as it verifies the read image forming conditions (determines whether or not they are suitable for the image forming apparatus 100 and the cartridge 9).

[0072] Thus, in this embodiment, the image forming device 100 is capable of removably mounting a cartridge 9 having a device (electrical memory device) 6 equipped with a memory unit (non-volatile memory) 315 and an authenticated unit (microcomputer 312, encryptor 314, etc.), and performs image formation using the mounted cartridge 9. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 has a control unit (initial check control unit) 210 that executes image formation control using image formation condition information, an acquisition unit (image formation condition reading unit) 221 that communicates with the device 6 to acquire first condition information 320, which is image formation condition information, from a memory unit 315, a verification unit (image formation condition verification unit) 222 that verifies the first condition information acquired from the memory unit 315 by the acquisition unit 221, a second condition information memory unit (basic image formation condition memory unit) 223 in which second condition information, which is image formation condition information, is stored, and an authentication unit (cartridge authentication unit) 220 that communicates with the device 6 to execute authentication processing to authenticate the cartridge 9, and at least a part of each of the image formation control by the control unit 210 using the first condition information or the second condition information selected based on the verification result by the verification unit 222 and the authentication processing by the authentication unit 220 is executed in parallel. In this embodiment, when the verification unit 220 determines that the first condition information is usable, the control unit 210 executes image formation control using the first condition information, and when the verification unit 220 determines that the first condition information is unusable, the control unit 210 executes image formation control using the second condition information. Also, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 has a model information storage unit (cartridge model information storage unit) 242 in which model information is stored, and when the model information acquired from the storage unit 315 matches the model information stored in the model information storage unit 242, the verification unit 220 determines that the first condition information is usable, and when they do not match, determines that the first condition information is unusable.In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 has a calculation unit (authentication chip) 260 that calculates an authentication value using a common key, and the authentication unit 220 authenticates the cartridge 9 when the authentication value acquired from the authenticated units 312, 314 is correct based on the authentication value calculated by the calculation unit 260 and the authentication value acquired from the authenticated units 312, 314 that is calculated by the authenticated units 312, 314 using the common key. In this embodiment, the image formation control is a control for making the image forming apparatus 100 in a state in which it is possible to perform image formation based on image information. In this embodiment, the image formation condition is information on the operation settings of at least one of the charging means, the exposure means, the developing means, the transfer means, and the fixing means. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is detachably mounted with the cartridge 9 including at least a part of the developing means.

[0073] As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 acquires image forming conditions before cartridge authentication during the initial check. Then, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 verifies the acquired image forming conditions, judges whether the image forming conditions are appropriate, and determines the image forming conditions based on the judgment. After that, the image forming apparatus 100 executes cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control in parallel. As a result, according to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the time required for the initial check compared to the conventional method.

[0074] As described with reference to FIG. 7, cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control do not necessarily need to be started at the same time. For example, if only the cartridge 9a is a new cartridge, it is possible to wait for the start of the initial check image formation control until the authentication of the cartridge 9a is completed, and to execute cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control in parallel for the other cartridges 9b, 9c, and 9d. In addition, application of this embodiment is not limited to only the initial check. When executing a job (a series of operations for forming and outputting an image on a single or multiple recording materials in response to one start instruction), there is a control in which image formation conditions are obtained after cartridge authentication and image formation control (pre-rotation process, etc.) is performed using the image formation conditions. In contrast to this type of control, it is possible to read out the image formation conditions when executing a job, and then execute image formation control (pre-rotation process, etc.) and cartridge authentication in parallel in accordance with this embodiment. In addition, the authentication method is not limited to the one described in this embodiment, and any authentication method can be applied.

[0075] [Example 2] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The basic configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment are the same as those of the image forming apparatus of embodiment 1. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, elements having the same or corresponding functions or configurations as those of the image forming apparatus of embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals as those of embodiment 1, and detailed explanations are omitted.

[0076] In the first embodiment, the image forming conditions are always read from the cartridge 9 during the initial check. However, if the image forming conditions have already been read from the cartridge 9 and it is determined that the cartridge 9 has not been replaced, there is no need to newly read the image forming conditions from the cartridge 9. Also, in the first embodiment, it has been described that the power can be turned on arbitrarily to the multiple electrical storage devices 6. However, in an image forming apparatus 100 that can mount multiple cartridges 9, it is possible that the power cannot be turned on simultaneously to the multiple electrical storage devices 6 due to cost reduction or the like. In this embodiment, a case will be described where it is determined whether the cartridge 9 has been replaced (cartridge replacement determination) and communication is required with each of the multiple electrical storage devices 6.

[0077] 9 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the engine control unit 201 has, as functional blocks, a cartridge replacement determination unit 900 serving as a cartridge replacement determination unit, and a power supply switching control unit 910 serving as a power supply switching control unit. These units are realized by the CPU of the engine control unit 201 executing a program stored in the ROM. In this embodiment, the engine control unit 201 also has a storage unit 911 serving as a storage unit for storing information necessary for cartridge replacement determination. This is realized by the non-volatile memory of the engine control unit 201.

[0078] The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines whether any of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d has been replaced when the cartridge door 130 is opened and closed after the image forming apparatus 100 is powered on (after the image forming apparatus 100 is started). The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 accesses the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d via the cartridge communication unit 241 and acquires information required for cartridge replacement determination. The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 stores information required for cartridge replacement determination in a storage unit 911. When the electrical storage device 6 to be started among the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d is instructed, the power supply switching control unit 910 operates a power supply switching signal 920, which is an electrical signal serving as a power supply switching means, to start the target electrical storage device 6. Other points of the system configuration shown in FIG. 9 are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0079] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d having the authenticated function in this embodiment.

[0080] In this embodiment, the image forming conditions 320 include ID information (individual identification information) 1000 unique to the cartridge. When the microcomputer 312 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d receives an ID acquisition command from the input / output unit 311 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d, the microcomputer 312 reads out the ID information 1000 from the non-volatile memory 315 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. The microcomputer 312 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d transmits the read out ID information 1000 to the input / output unit 311 of the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d as response data to the ID acquisition command. The electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d transmit the ID information 100 transmitted to the input / output unit 311 to the cartridge communication unit 241. The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 acquires the ID information 1000 transmitted to the cartridge communication unit 241.

[0081] 11 is a flow chart showing the cartridge replacement determination in this embodiment. Here, the cartridge 9a is taken as an example. The other cartridges 9b, 9c, and 9d can also be determined to need cartridge replacement in the same manner.

[0082] The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 reads the ID information 1000 of the electrical storage device 6a (S1101). After completing the reading of the ID information of the electrical storage device 6a, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines whether the ID information is the same as the previous ID information 1000 (S1102). The previous ID information 1000 is stored in the storage unit 910. If the previous ID information 1000 and the currently acquired ID information 1000 are different, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge 9a has been replaced (S1103) and stores the currently acquired ID information 1000 in the storage unit 910 (S1104). If the previous ID information 1000 and the currently acquired ID information 1000 are the same, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge 9a has not been replaced (S1105). Furthermore, when the previous ID information 1000 is not stored in the storage unit 910, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 also determines that the cartridge 9a has been replaced.

[0083] FIG. 12 is a timing chart of the initial check in this embodiment. The sequence shown in FIG. 12 differs from the sequence shown in FIG. 7 in that a cartridge replacement determination is added and that the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d are accessed one by one. FIG. 12 also shows an example in which the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c are replaced and the cartridge 9d is not replaced when the cartridge door 130 is opened after the execution of the initial check preceding the current initial check. Therefore, for the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c, the image formation information 320 has not yet been read out at the start of the current initial check. On the other hand, for the cartridge 9d, the image formation information 320 has already been read out at the start of the current initial check.

[0084] When the cartridge door 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 is closed, the initial check control unit 210 starts an initial check. After starting the initial check, the initial check control unit 210 executes a cartridge replacement determination in the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 (T1201). In this embodiment, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 executes the cartridge replacement determination in the order of cartridge 9a, cartridge 9b, cartridge 9c, and cartridge 9d. The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 issues an instruction to the power source switching control unit 910 to turn on the power source of the electrical storage device 6a. When the start-up of the electrical storage device 6a by the power source switching control unit 910 is completed, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 executes a cartridge replacement determination. When the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge has been replaced, the initial check control unit 210 executes reading of the image formation conditions in the image formation reading unit 221 (T1202). When the initial check control unit 210 finishes reading the image forming conditions from the electrical storage device 6a (T1203), it executes a cartridge replacement determination for the cartridge 9b. Here, the same processing as for the cartridge 9a is performed for the cartridges 9b and 9c (T1203 to T1207). When the initial check control unit 210 finishes reading the image forming conditions for the cartridge 9c (T1207), it executes a cartridge replacement determination for the cartridge 9d. That is, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 turns on the power to the electrical storage device 6d and executes a cartridge replacement determination. Here, the initial check control unit 210 determines that the cartridge 9d has not been replaced by the cartridge replacement determination unit 900. Therefore, the initial check control unit 210 omits the image forming conditions reading unit 221 from reading the image forming conditions (T1208).

[0085] Thereafter, the initial check control unit 210 determines the image forming conditions to be used in the initial check image formation control 500, and executes cartridge authentication by the cartridge authentication unit 220 and the initial check image formation control 500 in parallel. In this embodiment, the cartridge authentication 220 executes cartridge authentication in the order of cartridge 9a, cartridge 9b, cartridge 9c, and cartridge 9d (T1208 to T1212). At that time, the cartridge authentication 220 issues an instruction to the power switching control unit 910 to start up the electrical storage device 6 of the target cartridge 9, and executes authentication after the start-up of the electrical storage device 6 is completed. When the authentication and the initial check image formation control 500 for all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d are completed (T1213), the initial check control unit 210 ends the initial check.

[0086] Fig. 13 is a flow chart of the initial check in this embodiment. In Fig. 13, the same processes as in Fig. 8 are given the same step numbers as in Fig. 8, and the explanation is omitted as appropriate. Note that, as in the case of Fig. 12, an example will be described in which, when the cartridge door 130 is opened after the execution of the initial check preceding this initial check, the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c are replaced, but the cartridge 9d is not replaced.

[0087] First, the initial check control unit 210 selects a cartridge 9 (S1301). In this embodiment, the cartridges 9 are selected in the order of cartridge 9a, cartridge 9b, cartridge 9c, and cartridge 9d. The initial check control unit 210 executes cartridge replacement determination for the selected cartridge 9 in the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 (S1302). As described with reference to FIG. 12, the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 accesses the target cartridge 9 after turning on the power of the target electrical storage device 6. When the cartridge replacement determination is completed, the initial check control unit 210 determines whether the cartridge 9 has been replaced based on the result of the cartridge replacement determination (S1303). If the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge 9 has been replaced, the initial check control unit 210 executes reading of the image forming conditions (S1304). The cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge 9 has been replaced even if the image forming conditions 320 have never been read from the cartridge 9 (if the ID information 1000 has not been stored in the storage unit 910). Moreover, if the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 determines that the cartridge 9 has not been replaced, the initial check control unit 210 determines the image forming conditions without reading out new image forming conditions (S803). Here, since the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c have been replaced, the initial check control unit 210 executes reading out of the image forming conditions from the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c. On the other hand, since the cartridge 9d has not been replaced, the initial check control unit 210 does not execute reading out of the image forming conditions from the cartridge 9d. The image forming condition determination process (S803) is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 8.

[0088] When the initial check control unit 210 completes reading of the image forming conditions of all cartridges 9 (S1305), it executes cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control 500 (S808) in parallel as described with reference to FIG. 8. For cartridge authentication, it selects the target cartridges 9 in the order of cartridge 9a, cartridge 9b, cartridge 9c, and cartridge 9d (S1306), and executes authentication for the selected cartridges 9 (S1307). The cartridge authentication unit 220 starts the electrical storage device 6 of the cartridge 9 to be authenticated by the cartridge exchange determination unit 900, and then performs authentication. When the initial check control unit 210 executes cartridge authentication for all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d (S1308), it notifies the user of the image forming conditions reading result and the authentication result (S806). The notification of the image forming conditions reading result and the authentication result is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 8. Thereafter, the initial check control unit 210 waits until the authentication and the initial check image formation control for all the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d are completed (S807), and then completes the initial check.

[0089] Thus, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 has an exchange judgment unit (cartridge exchange judgment unit) 900 that judges whether the cartridge 9 has been replaced, and if first condition information has been acquired from the memory unit 315 prior to the current judgment by the exchange judgment unit 900 and if the current judgment by the exchange judgment unit 900 judges that the cartridge 9 has not been replaced, at least a part of each of the image formation control by the control unit 210 using the first condition information acquired from the memory unit 315 prior to the current judgment by the exchange judgment unit 900 and the authentication process by the authentication unit 220 is executed in parallel. In this embodiment, the image forming device 100 has an identification information memory unit 911 that stores cartridge identification information (ID information) 1000 for identifying the cartridge 9 obtained from the memory unit 315, and the replacement judgment unit 900 judges that the cartridge 9 has not been replaced if the cartridge identification information 1000 obtained from the memory unit 315 of the cartridge 9 installed in the image forming device 100 matches the cartridge identification information stored in the identification information memory unit 911, and judges that the cartridge 9 has been replaced if they differ.

[0090] As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 determines whether or not to acquire image formation conditions during the initial check, and acquires the image formation conditions only for cartridges 9 for which acquisition of image formation conditions is required. If the image formation conditions have already been acquired for a cartridge 9 that has not been replaced, acquisition of the image formation conditions is omitted. Thereafter, cartridge authentication and initial check image formation control are executed in parallel. As a result, according to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the time required for the initial check compared to the conventional method.

[0091] The determination of whether to acquire image forming conditions and the determination of cartridge replacement are not limited to the method of this embodiment, and any method may be used. The determination of cartridge replacement may be, for example, the following method. The image forming apparatus 100 is provided with a storage unit that stores unique information (individual identification information) of the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the unique information of the image forming apparatus 100 is stored by a writing unit in the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d of the cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d mounted in the image forming apparatus 100. When determining whether a cartridge should be replaced, the unique information of the image forming apparatus 100 stored in the electrical storage devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d is acquired and compared with the unique information stored in the storage unit of the image forming apparatus 100. This makes it possible to determine whether the cartridge 9 has been replaced or not depending on whether the two match. Both this determination method and the determination method of this embodiment may be used, and in that case, for example, if it is determined that the cartridge has been replaced by either method, it may be determined that the cartridge has been replaced, and if it is determined that the cartridge has not been replaced by either method, it may be determined that the cartridge has not been replaced. In this way, the image forming apparatus 100 may have a device identification information storage unit in which device identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus 100 is stored, and a writing unit that stores the device identification information in the storage unit 315 of the cartridge 9 mounted in the image forming apparatus 100. In this case, the replacement determination unit 900 can determine that the cartridge 9 has not been replaced if the device identification information acquired from the storage unit 315 of the cartridge 9 mounted in the image forming apparatus 100 matches the device identification information stored in the device identification information storage unit, and can determine that the cartridge 9 has been replaced if they differ.

[0092] In addition, the order of accessing the cartridges 9 is not limited to the order in this embodiment. If it takes time to switch the electrical storage device 6 to be accessed, it is desirable to access in the order that takes the least time. For example, when the image forming conditions are read out in the order of the electrical storage device 6a, the electrical storage device 6b, the electrical storage device 6c, and the electrical storage device 6d, the cartridge authentication is started from the electrical storage device 6d. This can reduce the number of times the electrical storage device 6 is switched. In this way, the image forming apparatus 100 may be one in which a plurality of cartridges 9 are mounted, and may be capable of communicating with only one device 6 at a time. In this case, the authentication unit 220 can start the authentication process from the cartridge 9 having the device 6 with which the acquisition unit 221 last communicated, among the plurality of cartridges 9.

[0093] [Example 3] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The basic configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment are the same as those of the image forming apparatus of embodiment 1. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, elements having the same or corresponding functions or configurations as those of the image forming apparatus of embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals as those of embodiment 1, and detailed explanations are omitted.

[0094] In the first and second embodiments, cartridge authentication was always performed regardless of the verification results of the image formation conditions. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which it is determined whether or not to perform cartridge authentication depending on the verification results of the image formation conditions. If the time required for cartridge authentication is long, it may take longer to perform cartridge authentication than the time required for initial check image formation control. Therefore, by determining whether or not to perform cartridge authentication based on the verification results of the image formation conditions, it may be possible to shorten the time required for the initial check.

[0095] Fig. 14 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the engine control unit 201 has, as a functional block, a cartridge authentication execution determination unit 1400 as a cartridge authentication execution determination means. This is realized by the CPU of the engine control unit 201 executing a program stored in the ROM. The cartridge authentication execution determination unit 1400 determines whether or not to execute cartridge authentication based on the verification result of the image formation condition verification unit 222. The initial check control unit 210 does not execute cartridge authentication for cartridge 9 that has failed to be verified by the image formation condition verification unit 222. Other points of the system configuration shown in Fig. 14 are the same as those described with reference to Fig. 9.

[0096] FIG. 15 is a timing chart of the initial check in this embodiment. FIG. 15 shows an example in which cartridge authentication is not performed for the cartridge 9a. Here, the model information 321 held by the electrical storage device 6a of the cartridge 9a is different from the cartridge model information 242 held in the engine control unit 201. Therefore, the image forming condition verification unit 222 judges that the verification has failed when verifying the image forming conditions 320 acquired from the cartridge 9a. Therefore, the cartridge authentication unit 220 does not perform cartridge authentication for the cartridge 9a. Also, FIG. 15 shows an example in which the time required for authentication of each cartridge 9 is longer than the example shown in FIG. 12. Other points are the same as the initial check in the embodiment 2 described with reference to FIG. 12, and therefore the description will be omitted as appropriate. Note that, like FIG. 12, FIG. 15 shows an example in which the cartridges 9a, 9b, and 9c are replaced and the cartridge 9d is not replaced.

[0097] When the cartridge door 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 is closed, the initial check control unit 210 starts an initial check. After starting the initial check, the initial check control unit 210 executes a cartridge replacement determination in the cartridge replacement determination unit 900 (T1201). After executing the cartridge replacement determination, the image formation condition reading unit 221 reads out the image formation conditions 320 from the electrical storage device 6a of the cartridge 9a. The image formation condition verification unit 222 verifies the read out image formation conditions 320 and determines that the verification has failed.

[0098] After the initial check control unit 210 determines the image formation conditions for all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d (T1501), the cartridge authentication unit 220 performs cartridge authentication in parallel with the initial check image formation control 500. Since the initial check control unit 210 has failed to verify the image formation conditions for cartridge 9a, the initial check control unit 210 performs authentication for cartridges 9b, 9c, and 9d without performing cartridge authentication for cartridge 9a (T1501 to T1503). After that, the initial check image formation control unit 210 completes the processing of the initial check image formation control unit 500 (T1504). After that, when the cartridge authentication for cartridge 9d is completed (T1505), the initial check control unit 210 completes the initial check.

[0099] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the initial check in this embodiment. In FIG. 16, the same processes as those in FIG. 8 and FIG. 13 are assigned the same step numbers as those in FIG. 8 and FIG. 13, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In the flowchart in FIG. 16, the processes of judging whether the cartridge 9 is the one to be authenticated (S1601), judging whether all cartridges 9 have been selected (S1602), and notifying the image forming condition reading result and the authentication result (S1603) are different from those in the flowchart in FIG. 13. Note that here, as in the case of FIG. 15, a case where the verification of the image forming conditions of the cartridge 9a fails will be described as an example. Therefore, the initial check control unit 210 selects the basic image forming conditions 223 as the image forming conditions of the cartridge 9a.

[0100] The cartridge authentication in this embodiment will be described below. First, the initial check control unit 210 selects the cartridge 9 when performing cartridge authentication (S1306). Next, the initial check control unit 210 judges whether the cartridge 9 is a cartridge to be authenticated (S1601). At this time, the cartridge authentication execution judgment unit 1400 checks whether the selected cartridge 9 uses the basic image forming condition 223. If the image forming condition of the selected cartridge 9 is the basic image forming condition 223, the cartridge authentication execution judgment unit 1400 judges that the selected cartridge 9 is not a cartridge to be authenticated. Next, the initial check control unit 210 judges whether all cartridges 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d have been selected (S1602). On the other hand, if the image forming condition of the selected cartridge is not the basic information image forming condition 223, the cartridge authentication execution judgment unit 1400 judges that the selected cartridge 9 is a cartridge to be authenticated and executes cartridge authentication (S1307). Here, since the cartridge 9a uses the basic image forming information 223, cartridge authentication is not executed. On the other hand, cartridge authentication is performed for cartridges 9b, 9c, and 9d. When authentication is completed up to cartridge 9d (S1602), the initial check control unit 210 notifies the user of the image formation condition readout result and authentication result (S1603). At this time, since authentication has not been performed for cartridge 9a in this embodiment, the image formation condition readout result is notified to the user. This allows the user to check whether or not the intended cartridge 9 has been installed in the image forming apparatus 100. The process thereafter is the same as in FIG. 12.

[0101] Thus, in this embodiment, image forming apparatus 100 has a plurality of cartridges 9 mounted thereon, has authentication execution determination section (cartridge authentication execution determination section) 1400 that determines whether or not to execute authentication processing by authentication section 220, and at least a part of image formation control by control section 210 and authentication processing by authentication section 220 for cartridges 9 determined by authentication execution determination section 1400 to execute authentication processing are executed in parallel. In this embodiment, authentication execution determination section 1400 determines not to execute authentication processing for cartridges 9 determined by verification section 222 to be unusable based on the first condition information.

[0102] As described above, in this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 determines whether or not to perform cartridge authentication at the time of the initial check, and does not perform cartridge authentication for the cartridge 9 that uses the basic image formation information 223. In this way, by determining whether or not to perform cartridge authentication based on the verification result of the image formation conditions, it may be possible to shorten the time required for the initial check.

[0103] In this embodiment, cartridge authentication is not performed when the basic image forming conditions are used, but the present invention is not limited to this. Any process can be applied as long as it determines whether or not cartridge authentication is required depending on the verification result of the image forming conditions read from the cartridge 9.

[0104] [others] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0105] In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus is a color image forming apparatus having multiple stations, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the image forming apparatus may be a monochrome image forming apparatus.

[0106] In the above embodiment, the cartridge is configured such that the photosensitive member and the charging means, developing means, and cleaning means acting on the photosensitive member as process means are detachably mounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus as a whole, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the cartridge may be configured such that the developer container, developing device, etc. are each detachably mounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus separately. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d Electrical storage devices 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d cartridges 100 Image forming device 201 Engine control unit 210 Initial check control section 220 Cartridge Authentication Unit 221 Image formation condition reading unit 222 Image formation condition verification unit 260 Authentication Chip

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus capable of removably mounting a cartridge having a device including a storage unit and an authenticated unit, and performing image formation using the mounted cartridge, a control unit that executes image formation control using the image formation condition information; an acquisition unit that communicates with the device and acquires first condition information, which is the image forming condition information, from the storage unit; a verification unit that verifies the first condition information acquired from the storage unit by the acquisition unit; a second condition information storage unit in which second condition information, which is the image forming condition information, is stored; an authentication unit that communicates with the device and executes an authentication process for authenticating the cartridge; having An image forming apparatus characterized in that at least a portion of each of the image forming control by the control unit using the first condition information or the second condition information selected based on the verification result by the verification unit and the authentication processing by the authentication unit is executed in parallel.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that when the verification unit determines that the first condition information is usable, the control unit executes the image formation control using the first condition information, and when the verification unit determines that the first condition information is unusable, the control unit executes the image formation control using the second condition information.

3. A model information storage unit is provided in which model information is stored, 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the verification unit determines that the first condition information is usable when the model information acquired from the memory unit matches the model information stored in the model information memory unit, and determines that the first condition information is unusable when they do not match.

4. a replacement determination unit that determines whether the cartridge has been replaced; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the first condition information has been obtained from the memory unit prior to the current judgment by the replacement judgment unit and the current judgment by the replacement judgment unit determines that the cartridge has not been replaced, at least a portion of the image forming control by the control unit using the first condition information obtained from the memory unit prior to the current judgment by the replacement judgment unit and the authentication processing by the authentication unit are each executed in parallel.

5. an identification information storage unit that stores cartridge identification information for identifying the cartridge acquired from the storage unit; The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the replacement determination unit determines that the cartridge has not been replaced when the cartridge identification information obtained from the memory unit of the cartridge installed in the image forming apparatus matches the cartridge identification information stored in the identification information memory unit, and determines that the cartridge has been replaced when they differ.

6. an apparatus identification information storage unit in which apparatus identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus is stored; a writing unit for storing the device identification information in the storage unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus; having The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the replacement determination unit determines that the cartridge has not been replaced when the device identification information obtained from the memory unit of the cartridge attached to the image forming apparatus matches the device identification information stored in the device identification information memory unit, and determines that the cartridge has been replaced when they differ.

7. an identification information storage unit that stores cartridge identification information for identifying the cartridge acquired from the storage unit; an apparatus identification information storage unit in which apparatus identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus is stored; a writing unit for storing the device identification information in the storage unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus; having The exchange determination unit is determining that the cartridge has been replaced when the cartridge identification information acquired from the storage unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus matches the cartridge identification information stored in the identification information storage unit, or when the device identification information acquired from the storage unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus matches the device identification information stored in the device identification information storage unit; 5. An image forming apparatus as described in claim 4, characterized in that it determines that the cartridge has been replaced when the cartridge identification information obtained from the memory unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus differs from the cartridge identification information stored in the identification information memory unit, or when the device identification information obtained from the memory unit of the cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus differs from the device identification information stored in the device identification information memory unit.

8. a calculation unit for calculating an authentication value using the common key; 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication unit authenticates the cartridge if the authentication value obtained from the authenticated unit is correct based on the authentication value calculated by the calculation unit and the authentication value obtained from the authenticated unit and calculated by the authenticated unit using the common key.

9. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image formation control is a control for bringing the image forming apparatus into a state in which the image forming apparatus can perform image formation based on image information.

10. The image forming apparatus forms an image using an image carrier, a charging means for charging the image carrier, an exposure means for exposing the image carrier to light to form an electrostatic latent image on the image carrier, a developing means for supplying a developer to the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier to form a developer image, a transfer means for transferring the developer image from the image carrier to a transfer receiving body, and a fixing means for fixing the developer image transferred to a recording material, 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming conditions are information about operation settings of at least one of the charging unit, the exposing unit, the developing unit, the transferring unit, and the fixing unit.

11. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the cartridge including at least a part of the developing means is detachable.

12. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the cartridges are mounted in the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus is capable of communicating with only one of the devices at a time.

13. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the authentication section starts the authentication process from the cartridge having the device with which the acquisition section last communicated, among the plurality of cartridges.

14. the image forming apparatus is one in which a plurality of the cartridges are mounted, and has an authentication execution determination unit that determines whether or not to execute the authentication process by the authentication unit; An image forming apparatus as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least a part of each of the image forming control by the control unit using the first condition information or the second condition information selected based on the verification result by the verification unit and the authentication process by the authentication unit for the cartridge determined by the authentication execution judgment unit to perform the authentication process is executed in parallel.

15. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the authentication execution determination section determines not to execute the authentication process for the cartridge for which the verification section has determined that the first condition information is unusable.

Images