Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To change print settings so as to prevent a reduction in printing quality according to a remaining amount level of a printing agent such as toner or ink.SOLUTION: In an image forming apparatus 1, a toner consumption calculation unit 92 calculates an amount of toner to be used in execution of a print job before the execution of the print job. A control unit 91 determines whether or not a remaining amount of the toner becomes a predetermined amount or less during the execution of the print job, by using the calculated consumption of the toner and the detected remaining amount of the toner, and when the remaining amount of the toner becomes the predetermined amount or less during the execution of the print job, changes a print setting according to any one of an automatic mode for changing the print setting to a predetermined content to suppress the consumption of the toner, and a manual mode for changing the print setting according to a content received from a user by an input receiving unit, and executes the print job.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that prints an image on paper using toner or ink.

Background Art

[0002] In an image forming apparatus that prints an image on paper using toner or ink, many methods for stabilizing print quality have been proposed. Patent Document 1 describes a technique for accurately and stably maintaining the density of an output image over a long period of time.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a method for stabilizing the printing density based on an output image (correction patch image), but does not describe the stabilization of the output image according to the remaining level of a printing agent such as toner or ink.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to change the printing settings so as to prevent a reduction in print quality according to the remaining level of a printing agent such as toner or ink.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An image forming apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an image forming unit that performs printing on a recording sheet, a printing agent consumption amount calculation unit that calculates the consumption amount of the printing agent due to the execution of a printing job, a printing agent amount detection unit that detects the remaining amount of the printing agent stored in a cartridge, a display unit that displays an image, an input reception unit that receives an input from a user, and a control unit that causes the image forming unit to print an image on the recording sheet according to the printing job. The control unit uses the calculated consumption amount of the printing agent and the detected remaining amount of the printing agent to determine whether the remaining amount of the printing agent becomes less than or equal to a predetermined amount during the execution of the printing job. If the remaining amount of the printing agent becomes less than or equal to the predetermined amount during the execution of the printing job, the control unit changes the printing settings to predetermined content that suppresses the consumption of the printing agent, or changes the printing settings according to the content received from the user by the input reception unit, and executes the printing job according to either the automatic mode or the manual mode.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to change the printing settings so as to prevent a reduction in print quality according to the remaining amount level of a printing agent such as toner or ink.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, since an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that prints using toner is used for explanation, the printing agent corresponds to toner. In addition, the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be an inkjet printer, and in this case, the printing agent corresponds to ink.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a multifunction device having a plurality of functions such as a copying function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, or an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, or a facsimile. In addition, in this embodiment, a color image forming apparatus is taken as an example for explanation, but it may also be an image forming apparatus for monochrome printing.

[0011] The image forming apparatus 1 is configured by including an input reception unit 47, an image forming unit 12, a fixing unit 23, a paper feeding unit 24, a document feeding unit 6, an image reading unit 5, etc. in a device main body 11.

[0012] When the image forming apparatus 1 performs a document reading operation, the image reading unit 5 optically reads the document fed by the document feeding unit 6 or the document placed on the document placing glass 161, and generates image data. The image data generated by the image reading unit 5 is stored in a built-in HDD or a computer connected to a network.

[0013] When the image forming apparatus 1 performs an image forming operation, based on the image data generated by the above-described document reading operation, the image forming unit 12 forms a toner image on a sheet P as a recording medium fed from the paper feeding unit 24. When performing color printing, the magenta image forming unit 3M, cyan image forming unit 3C, yellow image forming unit 3Y, and black image forming unit 3Bk of the image forming unit 12 each form a toner image on the photosensitive drum 120 through processes of charging, exposure, and development based on an image composed of respective color components constituting the above-described image data, and transfer the toner image onto the intermediate transfer belt 125 by the primary transfer roller 126.

[0014] Also, the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk each have a toner cartridge for each color. The toner cartridge stores toner, which is a printing agent consumed by image formation on a sheet by the image forming unit 12. The toner cartridge is detachable from the image forming units 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, and when the inside of the toner cartridge becomes empty, it is replaced by the user with a new toner cartridge.

[0015] The toner images of the respective colors transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 125 are overlapped on the intermediate transfer belt 125 by adjusting the transfer timing to form a color toner image. The secondary transfer roller 125b transfers the color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 to the sheet P conveyed through the paper conveyance path from the paper feeding unit 24 at the nip portion N with the driving roller 125a across the intermediate transfer belt 125. After that, the fixing unit 23 fixes the toner image on the sheet P to the sheet P by thermocompression bonding. Then, the sheet P is discharged to the discharge tray 25.

[0016] The paper feeding unit 24 includes a plurality of paper feeding cassettes 241. The paper feeding cassette 241 stores the sheet P to be conveyed to the image forming unit 12. The control unit 91, which will be described later, rotationally drives the pickup roller 145 of the paper feeding cassette 241 to convey the sheet P stored in each paper feeding cassette 241 toward the image forming unit 12.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. The same components as those described in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 9, an input reception unit 47, an image reading unit 5, an image forming unit 12, a storage unit 13, a communication unit 14, and the like.

[0018] The input reception unit 47 includes hard keys such as a decision key and a start key for performing determination operations for various operations and settings, and a display unit 471. The display unit 471 displays an operation screen, a message, and the like, and may be integrally configured with a touch panel. The input reception unit 47 receives input from the user.

[0019] The toner amount detection unit 121 detects the remaining amount of toner in each toner cartridge of each color. The toner amount detection unit 121 is composed of various sensors, and the description thereof will be omitted as it uses known techniques.

[0020] The storage unit 13 is a large-capacity storage device composed of an SSD or an HDD that stores image data, various programs, data tables, and the like. The communication unit 14 is composed of a communication module and the like, and performs transmission and reception of various data with an external device via a network.

[0021] The control unit 9 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. The processor is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU, or an ASIC, etc. The control unit 9 functions as a control unit 91 and a toner consumption amount calculation unit (an example of a printing agent consumption amount calculation unit) 92 by the processor executing a control program stored in the ROM or the like. Note that each of the above units of the control unit 9 may be configured by a hard circuit without depending on the operations based on the control program.

[0022] The toner consumption calculation unit 92 calculates the amount of toner (toner consumption) consumed by the execution of the print job before the execution of the print job. For example, the toner consumption calculation unit 92 derives the printing rate of the image data to be printed, etc., and calculates the toner consumption required for printing with the image data and the printing rate using the toner consumption per pixel determined in advance. The toner consumption calculation unit 92 calculates the toner consumption for each color in the case of color printing, or the toner consumption for black in the case of monochrome printing. Also, the toner consumption calculation unit 92 calculates the toner consumption per page.

[0023] The control unit 91 is in charge of the overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 1. Further, before starting printing according to the print job, the control unit 91 determines whether the toner remaining amount in the toner cartridge will become equal to or less than a predetermined amount (for example, 10% of the full state) during printing assuming that printing is executed according to the print job. Specifically, the control unit 91 determines whether the value obtained by subtracting the toner consumption calculated by the toner consumption calculation unit 92 from the latest toner remaining amount in each toner cartridge detected by the toner amount detection unit 121 is equal to or less than a value indicating a predetermined amount. If there is a toner cartridge for which the subtracted value is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, the control unit 91 causes the display unit 471 to display a screen proposing a change in the print settings to the user.

[0024] Furthermore, in printing over a plurality of pages of recording paper according to the print job, the control unit 91 calculates the page numbers at which the toner remaining amount becomes equal to or less than the predetermined amount. Specifically, the control unit 91 sequentially subtracts the toner consumption per page calculated by the toner consumption calculation unit 92 from the toner remaining amount in each toner cartridge detected by the toner amount detection unit 121, and calculates the page numbers at which the toner remaining amount after the subtraction becomes equal to or less than the predetermined amount (that is, the page numbers of the pages where the toner remaining amount is insufficient and printing cannot be completed completely).

[0025] If the toner remaining amount becomes less than a predetermined amount during printing, phenomena such as smudging of the image or characters to be printed may occur during printing, and the print quality may deteriorate extremely. Therefore, when the toner remaining amount becomes less than the predetermined amount, the control unit 91 causes the display unit 471 to display a screen proposing a change in the print settings, and further calculates the page number at which a problem occurs in the print quality (the page number at which the toner remaining amount becomes less than the predetermined amount after the above subtraction) and causes the display unit 471 to display it. As a result, the user can determine whether to change the print settings before printing.

[0026] Next, the printing process will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the printing process by the image forming apparatus 1. When the input reception unit 47 receives an instruction to start printing from the user, the toner consumption amount calculation unit 92 calculates the amount of toner to be used by executing the print job before executing the print job (S11).

[0027] Then, the control unit 91 determines whether the toner remaining amount in the toner cartridge becomes less than a predetermined amount during printing assuming that the printing is executed according to the print job (S12). If the toner remaining amount does not become less than the predetermined amount (S12; NO), the control unit 91 starts printing based on the print job (S19).

[0028] Also, when the toner remaining amount becomes less than the predetermined amount (S12; YES), the control unit 91 causes the display unit 471 to display a warning screen 60 including a warning message regarding the toner amount as shown in FIG. 4 (S13). The control unit 91 causes the color of the toner whose remaining amount becomes less than the predetermined amount to be displayed in the warning screen 60 (message 61). The warning screen 60 shown in FIG. 4 notifies that the black toner becomes less than the predetermined amount during printing.

[0029] Furthermore, the control unit 91 calculates the page number at which the toner remaining amount becomes less than the predetermined amount, and causes the page number to be displayed on the warning screen 60 (message 62). The warning screen 60 notifies that the print quality will be affected from the 8th page.

[0030] When the user operates the button 64 indicating "Continue Printing" and the input reception unit 47 receives a continue printing instruction (S14: No print setting change), the control unit 91 continues to execute the print job without changing the print settings (S19).

[0031] When the user operates the button 63 indicating "Change Print Settings" and the input reception unit 47 receives a print setting change instruction (S14: Print setting change exists), the control unit 91 causes the display unit 471 to display a print setting screen 70 as shown in FIG. 5 (S15).

[0032] As methods for changing print settings, there are an automatic mode and a manual mode. The automatic mode is a mode in which, under the control of the control unit 91, the print settings are changed to predetermined contents that suppress toner consumption, and the manual mode is a mode in which the user can change the print settings to arbitrary contents.

[0033] When setting to the automatic mode, the user operates the switch 71. Thereby, the input reception unit 47 receives a setting instruction to the automatic mode. The control unit 91 causes the print setting screen 70 showing that it has been set to the automatic mode to be displayed as shown in FIG. 5. On the print setting screen 70, images for receiving specifications of the photo - priority mode or the text - priority mode, text color, and from which page number to apply the print settings are displayed. The photo - priority mode is a mode that enhances the image quality of photos and reduces the image quality of text compared to this, and the text - priority mode is a mode that enhances the image quality of text and reduces the image quality of photos compared to this. By reducing the image quality of photos or text, the toner consumption is suppressed.

[0034] In the present embodiment, the control unit 91 sets to the photo - priority mode in the automatic mode. Or, the control unit 91 may set to the photo - priority mode or the text - priority mode each time according to the print content.

[0035] The control unit 91 determines a toner cartridge among the toner cartridges of each color in which the remaining toner amount has become equal to or less than a predetermined amount. The control unit 91 uses the toner stored in each toner cartridge other than the determined toner cartridge to replace the color of the toner stored in the determined toner cartridge, and causes the display unit 471 to display, as an alternative candidate color, an image indicating a predetermined color close to the color of the toner stored in the determined toner cartridge by an image indicating the character color 73. In the case of the automatic mode, the control unit 91 determines the alternative candidate color. The character color 73 shown in FIG. 5 indicates the alternative candidate color determined by the control unit 91. For example, when the color of the toner stored in the determined toner cartridge is black, the control unit 91 determines a predetermined color to replace black as the alternative candidate color.

[0036] Further, the control unit 91 causes the print setting screen 70 to display the page number (page 8 in the case of FIG. 5) at which the remaining toner amount has become equal to or less than a predetermined amount. The control unit 91 applies the content of the print settings changed on the print setting screen 70 to all pages or applies it from the page number (page 8 in the case of FIG. 5) at which the remaining toner amount has become equal to or less than a predetermined amount according to the instruction received by the input reception unit 47. The control unit 91 sets, in the automatic mode, to apply the print settings set as described above from the page number at which the remaining toner amount has become equal to or less than a predetermined amount. However, the control unit 91 may be set to apply the print settings set as described above to all pages in the automatic mode.

[0037] Returning to the description along FIG. 3. When the user sets the automatic mode (S16; YES), the control unit 91 changes the print settings to the predetermined content as described above (S17), and the control unit 91 executes a print job with the changed print settings (S19).

[0038] When the user operates the switch 71 during the display on the print settings screen 70, the input reception unit 47 receives an instruction to set the manual mode or the automatic mode. The control unit 91 switches and sets the automatic mode and the manual mode according to the instruction received by the input reception unit 47. FIG. 6 is a print settings screen when set to the manual mode. In the manual mode, an instruction to select either the photo priority mode or the character priority mode is received by the touch panel (input reception unit 47) according to the operation of the radio button 72 by the user.

[0039] When changing the character color, according to the operation of the image indicating the character color 73 by the user, a color selection instruction to select the color to be used instead of the color of the toner stored in the above-determined toner cartridge is received by the touch panel (input reception unit 47). The control unit 91 sets the color of the character to the color of the toner stored in the above-determined toner cartridge (black in FIG. 6) as the initial value of the manual mode. When the color selection instruction is received, the control unit 91 causes the display unit 471 to display a color selection screen 80 as shown in FIG. 7.

[0040] The user selects the desired color from the color chart 81. The color 82 indicates the currently set color or the selected color. Further, the control unit 91 causes the color bar 83 to display the color that uses more of the color of the toner cartridge whose toner remaining amount is below the above-predetermined amount. By displaying the color bar 83, the user can select the character color while avoiding the color to be avoided, that is, the color that uses more of the color of the cartridge with less toner remaining.

[0041] When the user performs an operation to select the desired color for the color chart 81 and the input reception unit receives a color selection instruction to select the desired color, the control unit 91 causes the color indicated by the color selection instruction to be displayed as the color 82a (FIG. 8). At this time, when the OK button 84 is operated and the setting confirmation instruction is received by the input reception unit 47, the control unit 91 sets the selected color indicated by the color 82a as the character color and causes the print settings screen 70 to be displayed on the display unit 471.

[0042] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the print settings screen 70 after the character color is changed on the color selection screen 80 in the manual mode. Further, when the user operates the radio button 74a to select the changed print settings for all pages, the input reception unit 47 receives an instruction to apply to all pages. On the other hand, when the input reception unit 47 receives a setting instruction for arbitrary pages by the user's operation of the radio button 74b, the control unit 91 displays the pull-down list 76 as shown in FIG. 10. A selection instruction for a desired page number is received by the input reception unit 47 by the user's operation of the pull-down list 76. By the user's operation of the print key 75, an instruction to execute printing with the print setting contents received at the time of this operation is received by the input reception unit 47.

[0043] Returning to the description along FIG. 3. The control unit 91 sets to the manual mode according to the instruction by the user (S16; NO), changes the print settings according to each instruction received when the print settings screen 70 is displayed by the user as described above, and when the instruction to execute the above printing is received by the input reception unit 47 (S18), the control unit 91 executes a print job with the changed print settings (S19).

[0044] As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the toner remaining amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount during the execution of the print job, by prompting the user to change the print settings, it is possible to prevent the print quality from extremely deteriorating during printing. Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to change the print settings so as to prevent a reduction in print quality according to the remaining amount level of a printing agent such as toner or ink.

Explanation of Signs

[0045] 1 Image forming apparatus 5 Image reading unit 9 Control unit 91 Control section 92 Toner consumption calculation unit 12 Image forming section 121 Toner amount detection unit 13 Storage unit 14 Communication Unit 47 Input Reception Unit 471 Display Unit

Claims

1. An image forming unit that performs printing on a recording paper, An ink consumption amount calculation unit that calculates the consumption amount of ink due to the execution of a printing job, An ink amount detection unit that detects the remaining amount of the ink stored in a cartridge, A display unit that displays an image, An input reception unit that receives an input from a user, A control unit that causes the image forming unit to print an image on the recording paper according to a printing job, and is provided with, The control unit, Using the calculated consumption amount of the ink and the detected remaining amount of the ink, determines whether the remaining amount of the ink becomes less than or equal to a predetermined amount during the execution of the printing job, When the remaining amount of the ink becomes less than or equal to the predetermined amount during the execution of the printing job, the printing setting is changed according to either an automatic mode in which the printing setting is changed to a predetermined content that suppresses the consumption of the ink, or a manual mode in which the printing setting is changed according to the content received from the user by the input reception unit, and the printing job is executed. An image forming apparatus.

2. When the remaining amount of the ink becomes less than or equal to the predetermined amount during the execution of the printing job, the control unit calculates the page number at which the remaining amount of the ink becomes less than or equal to the predetermined amount when the image forming unit performs printing with the initial printing setting, and causes the display unit to display the calculated page number. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

3. In the manual mode, the input reception unit receives a selection input of either a photo priority mode in which the image quality of characters is lowered compared to the image quality of a photo or a character priority mode in which the image quality of a photo is lowered compared to the image quality of characters, and the control unit changes the printing setting according to the mode received by the input reception unit, In the automatic mode, the control unit determines to either the photo priority mode or the character priority mode and changes the printing setting. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

4. In the manual mode, the control unit causes the display unit to display a color chart, the input reception unit receives a selection input of a character color from the colors displayed on the color chart, and in the automatic mode, the control unit determines the color with a small usage amount of the color whose remaining amount of the ink becomes less than or equal to the predetermined amount as the character color. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the input reception unit receives a selection input of a character color, the control unit causes the display unit to display, together with a warning message and the color chart, a color that uses a large amount of a color in which the remaining amount of the printing agent becomes equal to or less than the predetermined amount.

6. The control unit in the automatic mode, applies printing according to the changed printing settings from the calculated page number, in the manual mode, according to an instruction from the user input to the input reception unit, applies printing according to the changed printing settings to (1) all pages or (2) from the page number received by the input reception unit, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The printing agent is toner or ink, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

Images