Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To reduce the user's effort when selecting an alternative printer. [Solution] The image forming apparatus 1 comprises a first communication unit 22, an image forming unit 12, and a control unit 10. When the printing process is interrupted due to a malfunction such as a paper jam or running out of paper, the control unit 10 detects another image forming apparatus 1 located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1 as a replacement printer, and transmits the image data to the other image forming apparatus 1 via the first communication unit 22.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for executing distributed printing.

Background Art

[0002] A technique for executing distributed printing when printing is interrupted due to an occurrence of a failure such as paper jam or paper out is known.

[0003] For example, when Patent Document 1 detects the occurrence of a failure in the printer at the output destination, it transfers the print data of the pages for which printing has not been completed to the alternative printer with the highest priority among the other printers in the normal state and executes reprinting.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user needs to grasp in advance the position, function, setting contents, etc. of the printers that are candidates for the transfer destination of the print data and register them in advance as alternative printers, which is troublesome.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to save the user's labor when selecting an alternative printer.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] It should be noted that there is an incorrect "第28" in the original text where it should be just "28". This has been maintained in the translation as it is part of the original incorrect format.An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a first communication unit that communicates with an external device via a network, and an image forming unit that performs a printing process to form an image indicated by image data on paper. The image forming apparatus further comprises a control unit that, in the event of an interruption in the printing process due to a malfunction, detects other image forming apparatuses located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming apparatus and transmits the image data to the other image forming apparatuses via the first communication unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, since other image forming machines located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming machine are detected as alternative printers, the user does not need to register alternative printers in advance. Therefore, the user's effort is reduced when selecting an alternative printer. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a diagram of a distributed printing system. [Figure 2] This is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 4A] This is a flowchart showing the distributed printing decision process. [Figure 4B] This is a flowchart showing the distributed printing decision process. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of an error notification screen. [Figure 6] This is a diagram showing an example of a selection screen. [Figure 7] This diagram shows the selection screen when conditions related to print settings are specified. [Figure 8] This is a diagram showing a selection screen that displays the specified conditions. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of a confirmation screen. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of the print page settings screen. [Figure 11]It is a diagram showing an example of a status confirmation screen. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing another example of an error notification screen.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a distributed printing system 3 including an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the distributed printing system 3 includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 and a management server 2.

[0011] The plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 and the management server 2 are connected to each other via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet, and can communicate with each other. Note that the number of image forming apparatuses 1 is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 1.

[0012] When the image forming apparatus 1 receives image data from, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) 4, it executes a printing process for forming an image indicated by the received image data on paper. When the printing process is interrupted due to a failure, the image forming apparatus 1 in which the failure has occurred detects other image forming apparatuses 1 existing within a predetermined range from the image forming apparatus 1, and transmits the image data to the other image forming apparatuses.

[0013] The management server 2 holds and manages device information indicating the name, IP address, content of printing settings, etc. for each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses 1.

[0014] [Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1] FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the image forming apparatus 1 is a color multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a copying function, a transmitting function, a printer function, and a facsimile function.

[0015] The image forming apparatus 1 includes a document conveyance unit 6, an image reading unit 11, an image forming unit 12, a fixing unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, a display unit 15, an operation unit 16, and a conveyance unit 17.

[0016] The document conveyance unit 6 conveys the documents placed on the document table one by one to the reading position of the image reading unit 11. The document conveyance unit 6 is configured to be able to open and close the platen glass 7 by rotating vertically around the support shaft on the back side of the paper surface in FIG. 1. The document conveyance unit 6 also functions as a cover that presses the document on the platen glass 7 from above.

[0017] The image reading unit 11 optically reads a document and generates image data by irradiating the document with a light irradiation unit and receiving the reflected light with a CCD (Charge - Coupled Device) sensor. The image reading unit 11 reads the document conveyed by the document conveyance unit 6 or the document placed on the platen glass 7.

[0018] The image forming unit 12 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, and a transfer device. The image forming unit 12 forms an image composed of a toner image on the paper P based on the image data generated by the image reading unit 11 or the image data received via the first communication unit 22, etc.

[0019] The fixing unit 13 fixes the toner image on the paper P by heating and pressing the paper P on which the toner image is formed. The paper P on which the toner image is fixed and the image is formed is discharged to the discharge tray 8.

[0020] The paper feeding unit 14 includes a manual feed tray and a plurality of paper feed cassettes. The paper feeding unit 14 pulls out the paper P accommodated in any of the plurality of paper feed cassettes or the paper placed on the manual feed tray one by one by a pickup roller and feeds it to the conveyance path T. Note that the paper P is not limited to a paper medium and may be, for example, an OHP (Overhead Projector) sheet.

[0021] The display unit 15 is a liquid crystal display or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, etc. The display unit 15 displays various screens.

[0022] The operation unit 16 includes a number of hard keys, such as a start key 16A, for inputting instructions to start each process that the image forming apparatus 1 can perform. The operation unit 16 also includes a touch panel 16B that is positioned on top of the display unit 15. User instructions are input to the operation unit 16.

[0023] The transport unit 17 includes a transport roller pair 17A and an discharge roller pair 17B, etc., and a transport motor. When the transport roller pair 17A and the discharge roller pair 17B, etc. are rotated by the drive of the transport motor, the paper P fed by the paper feeding unit 14 is transported along the transport path T.

[0024] Referring to Figure 2, the image forming apparatus 1 further comprises a control unit 100, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 18, an image processing unit 19, an image memory 20, a facsimile communication unit 21, a first communication unit 22, and a second communication unit 23.

[0025] The control unit 100 includes a processor, RAM (Random Access Memory), and ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0026] The control unit 100 functions as a control unit 10 when a control program stored in ROM or HDD 18 is executed by the processor. The control unit 10 controls the operation of each part of the image forming apparatus 1. The control unit 10 may also be configured using logic circuits, rather than relying on operation based on a control program.

[0027] The control unit 100 is electrically connected to the document transport unit 6, image reading unit 11, image forming unit 12, fixing unit 13, paper feeding unit 14, display unit 15, operation unit 16, transport unit 17, HDD 18, image processing unit 19, image memory 20, facsimile communication unit 21, first communication unit 22, and second communication unit 23.

[0028] HDD18 is a large-capacity storage device for storing various types of data. HDD18 stores various control programs for realizing the general operation of the image forming apparatus 1. As part of the above-mentioned control programs, HDD18 stores a decision program for executing the distributed printing decision process described later.

[0029] The image processing unit 19 performs image processing on the image data generated by the image reading unit 11 as needed. The image memory 20 temporarily stores the image data generated by the image reading unit 11. The facsimile communication unit 21 transmits and receives image data via a public network.

[0030] The first communication unit 22 includes a communication module such as a LAN board. The first communication unit 22 performs data communication with an external device 24 such as a PC 4 or another image forming apparatus 1 via a network.

[0031] The second communication unit 23 includes a wireless communication module for performing wireless communication, for example, using the Wi-Fi standard. The second communication unit 23 communicates wirelessly with each of the multiple image forming apparatuses 1.

[0032] Each part of the image forming apparatus 1 is connected to a power supply. When the user turns on the power, power is supplied from the power supply to each part of the image forming apparatus 1.

[0033] [Operation] The operation of the image forming apparatus 1, etc., during the execution of the distributed printing decision process will be described below with reference to Figures 4 to 11, etc.

[0034] When the control unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 receives image data from, for example, a PC 4 via the first communication unit 22, it instructs the image forming unit 12, etc., to perform a printing process to form the image indicated by the received image data on paper P. In this case, the received image data is assumed to be images from page 1 to page 32.

[0035] When the printing process starts, the control unit 10 starts executing the distributed printing determination process shown in Figures 4A and 4B, and repeats the process of determining that the printing process has not been interrupted due to a failure (NO in step S10) and the process of determining that the printing process has not been completed (NO in step S11) until the printing process is interrupted due to a failure or the printing process is completed.

[0036] Here, let's assume that the printing process was interrupted due to a paper jam after the image formation for pages 1 through 12 was completed. In this case, the control unit 10 determines that the printing process was interrupted due to a malfunction (YES in step S10) and displays the error notification screen 50 shown in Figure 5 on the display unit 15 (step S12). The error notification screen 50 includes an image 52A showing the nature of the malfunction and a message 52B showing the solution.

[0037] After the processing in step S12, the control unit 10 repeatedly determines that it has not received a command to search for an alternative printer until key 54 on the error notification screen 50 is touched (resulting in NO in step S13).

[0038] When the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on key 54, the control unit 10 determines that it has received a command to search for an alternative printer (YES in step S13) and executes a printer detection process to detect other image forming apparatus 1 located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1 as alternative printer candidates (step S14).

[0039] In step S14, the control unit 10 receives the strength of radio waves emitted by each of the multiple image forming apparatuses 1 other than itself (i.e., the image forming apparatus 1 that has experienced a failure) from the access point included in the second communication unit 23, and detects other image forming apparatuses 1 that can serve as alternative printer candidates based on the distance between each of the multiple image forming apparatuses 1 and itself, as indicated by the strength of each of the multiple radio waves received.

[0040] Specifically, the control unit 10 measures the received signal strength (RSS) of each radio wave. A stronger RSS indicates that the distance between the image forming apparatus 1 experiencing the malfunction and the image forming apparatus 1 emitting the radio wave is short, while a weaker RSS indicates that the distance between the image forming apparatus 1 experiencing the malfunction and the image forming apparatus 1 emitting the radio wave is far.

[0041] The control unit 10 detects image forming apparatus 1 whose measured RSS calibration value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value as other image forming apparatus 1 candidates for alternative printers, and does not detect image forming apparatus 1 whose measured RSSI calibration value is less than a predetermined value as alternative printer candidates. In this case, the control unit 10 is deemed to have detected six other image forming apparatus 1 candidates for alternative printers.

[0042] After the processing in step S14, the control unit 10 determines whether or not an alternative printer candidate can be detected by the printer detection process (step S15). In this case, the control unit 10 determines that an alternative printer candidate can be detected (YES in step S15) and displays the selection screen 60 shown in Figure 6 on the display unit 15 (step S16).

[0043] If the printer detection process fails to detect another image forming apparatus 1 as a candidate for an alternative printer, the control unit 10 determines that it is impossible to detect an alternative printer candidate (NO in step S15) and returns to the process in step S12.

[0044] The selection screen 60 includes a map 62 showing the surrounding environment of the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1. The selection screen 60 also includes an icon 64A on the map 62 indicating the location of the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1, and six icons 64B indicating the locations of other detected image forming apparatuses 1. The control unit 10 determines the direction of the other image forming apparatuses 1 relative to the location of the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1 by, for example, triangulation based on the period during which radio waves reach the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1.

[0045] After the processing in step S16, the control unit 10 repeatedly determines that it has not received a specification instruction to specify conditions related to the print process settings (NO in step S17), and determines that it has not received an instruction to select an alternative printer (NO in step S18), until key 66 or icon 64B on the selection screen 60 is touched.

[0046] Here, as shown in Figure 7, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the button 72A of the selection screen 60, the control unit 10 causes the display unit 15 to display a pull-down list 74A near the button 72A, indicating that the user can select one of the following conditions for the color setting of the print process: "All (none specified)", "Full Color", and "Monochrome".

[0047] Similarly, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the button 72B of the selection screen 60, the control unit 10 causes the display unit 15 to display a pull-down list 74B near the button 72B, indicating that the user can select one of the following conditions for the double-sided printing setting of the print process: "All (not specified)", "Supported", and "Not supported".

[0048] Similarly, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the button 72C on the selection screen 60, the control unit 10 causes the display unit 15 to display a pull-down list 74C near the button 72C, indicating that the user can select one of the following conditions for stapling settings in the printing process: "All (not specified)", "Supported", and "Not supported".

[0049] When the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on each of the pull-down lists 74A, 74B, and 74C, the control unit 10 receives an instruction to select a condition corresponding to the detected touch operation and displays a string indicating the selected condition in each of the boxes 82A, 82B, and 82C, as shown in Figure 8.

[0050] In this case, as shown in Figure 8, the control unit 10 accepts "full color" as the condition for color setting, "not supported" as the condition for double-sided printing setting, and "not supported" as the condition for staple setting.

[0051] Next, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on key 66, the control unit 10 determines that it has received an instruction to specify conditions related to the printing process settings (YES in step S17), obtains device information of other image forming apparatus 1 detected as alternative printer candidates from the management server 2, and based on the obtained device information, extracts other image forming apparatus 1 that satisfy the accepted conditions from among the other detected image forming apparatus 1 (step S19).

[0052] In this case, the control unit 10 extracts four other image forming apparatuses 1 from the six other image forming apparatuses 1 detected as alternative printer candidates that satisfy the conditions of "being capable of full-color printing and not having a double-sided printing function or a stapling function."

[0053] After the processing in step S19, the control unit 10 instructs the display unit 15 to update the selection screen 60 so that the icons 64B indicate the locations of other image forming apparatus 1 that satisfy the specified conditions (step S20). In this case, as shown in Figure 8, the selection screen 60 is updated to include four icons 64B, each indicating the location of the four extracted other image forming apparatus 1. After the processing in step S20, the control unit 10 returns to the processing in step S17.

[0054] In this situation, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on one of the four icons 64B, the control unit 10 determines that it has received a request to select an alternative printer (YES in step S18), obtains device information of the other image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to the selected icon 64B from the printer management server 2, and displays a confirmation screen 90 showing the obtained device information on the display unit 15, as shown in Figure 9 (step S21).

[0055] After the processing in step S21, the control unit 10 repeatedly determines that it has not received a confirmation instruction for the alternative printer until the key 92 on the confirmation screen 90 is touched (NO in step S22). In this situation, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the key 92, the control unit 10 determines that it has received a confirmation instruction for the alternative printer (YES in step S22) and displays the print page setting screen 101 shown in Figure 10 on the display unit 15 (step S23).

[0056] The print page setting screen 101 includes boxes 102 and 104 that indicate the page numbers for which printing has not been completed. In this case, of the images from page 1 to page 32 indicated by the image data to be printed, the images from page 1 to page 12 have been printed. The control unit 10 instructs the display unit 15 to display "13", the first page number for which printing has not been completed, in box 102, and to display "32", the last page number for which printing has not been completed, in box 104.

[0057] The print page setting screen 101 also includes a message 105 indicating the number of pages for which printing has not yet been completed. When the touch panel 16B detects a user touch on the minus key 106A, the control unit 10 decreases the number displayed in box 102 by "1". When the touch panel 16B detects a user touch on the plus key 106B, the control unit 10 increases the number displayed in box 104 by "1".

[0058] After the processing in step S23, the control unit 10 repeatedly determines (NO in step S24) that it has not received a specification instruction to specify the page number to be printed until the key 108 on the page setting screen 101 is touched. In this situation, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the key 108, the control unit 10 determines that it has received a specification instruction to specify the page number (YES in step S24) and transmits the image data to be printed and page information indicating the page number specified by boxes 102 and 104 to the other image forming apparatus 1 which has been confirmed as the alternative printer via the first communication unit 22 (step S25).

[0059] After processing in step S25, the control unit 10 displays the status confirmation screen 110 shown in Figure 11 on the display unit 15 (step S26). The status confirmation screen 110 includes a map 112 showing the surrounding environment of the image forming apparatus 1 where the malfunction occurred. The selection screen 11 also includes an icon 114A on the map 112 indicating the location of the image forming apparatus 1 where the malfunction occurred, and an icon 114B indicating the location of other image forming apparatuses 1 to which the image data is to be sent. By checking the status confirmation screen 110, the user can easily confirm the location of other image forming apparatuses 1 performing distributed printing.

[0060] Furthermore, when the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the key 116 of the status confirmation screen 110, the control unit 10 displays a screen on the display unit 15 showing how to resolve the problem. This allows the user to resolve the problem even after the image data has been transmitted to another image forming apparatus 1. After the processing in step S26, the control unit 10 terminates the distributed printing decision processing.

[0061] If the printing process is completed without any problems occurring, the control unit 10 determines that the printing process is complete (YES in step S11) and terminates the distributed printing determination process.

[0062] When the control unit 10 of the other image forming apparatus 1 receives image data to be printed and page information via the first communication unit 22, it instructs the image forming unit 12 to form images on the paper P from the first page number to the last page number indicated by the page information (in this case, from page 13 to page 32) based on the image data to be printed.

[0063] According to the above embodiment, when the printing process is interrupted due to a malfunction, the control unit 10 detects other image forming apparatuses 1 located within a predetermined range from the image forming apparatus 1 where the malfunction occurred, and transmits image data to the other image forming apparatuses 1 via the first communication unit 22.

[0064] In this way, since other image forming apparatuses 1 located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming apparatus 1 are detected as alternative printers, the user does not need to register alternative printers in advance. Therefore, the user's effort is reduced when selecting an alternative printer. Furthermore, even if the printing process is interrupted, the printing process can be continued using another image forming apparatus 1, thus eliminating the need to reprint all images represented by the image data.

[0065] Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, the control unit 10 acquires the strength of the radio waves output by each of the multiple image forming apparatuses 1 excluding itself via the second communication unit 23, and detects other image forming apparatuses 1 based on the distance between each of the multiple image forming apparatuses 1 and itself (the image forming apparatus 1 where the malfunction occurred), as indicated by the strength of each of the acquired radio waves.

[0066] This allows for the rapid and accurate detection of other image forming apparatuses 1 located within a predetermined range from the image forming apparatus 1 that has experienced a malfunction.

[0067] Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, the control unit 10 displays a selection screen 60 on the display unit 15, which includes a map 62 showing the surrounding environment of the image forming apparatus 1 where a malfunction has occurred, an icon 64A showing the location of the image forming apparatus 1 on the map 62, and an icon 64B showing the location of another image forming apparatus 1. When the control unit 16 receives an instruction to select icon 64B, it transmits image data to the other image forming apparatus 1 corresponding to the selected icon 64B via the first communication unit 22.

[0068] This allows the user to easily identify and select other image forming apparatus 1 located in the optimal position by checking the positions of icons 64A and 64B on map 62. As a result, user convenience is improved.

[0069] Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, when the control unit 10 receives an instruction via the operation unit 16 to specify conditions related to the printing process settings (color settings, double-sided printing settings, and staple settings), it causes the display unit 15 to update the selection screen 60 so that the icon 64B indicates the location of another image forming apparatus 1 that satisfies the specified conditions.

[0070] This allows users to easily select other image forming apparatus 1 that meet the optimal conditions for printing process settings. As a result, user convenience is further improved.

[0071] Furthermore, according to the above embodiment, when the control unit 10 receives an instruction to specify the page number to be printed via the operation unit 16, it transmits page information indicating the specified page number, along with the image data, to another image forming apparatus 1 via the first communication unit 22.

[0072] This allows the user to have the image of the desired page printed on another image forming apparatus 1. As a result, if there are any defects such as damage or stains on the paper P after the printing process is complete and the image has been formed, the image can also be printed on another image forming apparatus 1, further improving user convenience.

[0073] (First variation) In the above embodiment, the case in which the printing process is interrupted due to a paper jam has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. For example, if the printing process is interrupted due to running out of paper, in step S12, the control unit 10 displays the error notification screen 120 shown in Figure 12 on the display unit 15 instead of the error notification screen 50 shown in Figure 5 (step S12).

[0074] The error notification screen 120 includes an image 122A showing the nature of the problem and a message 122B showing the solution. After the processing in step S12, the control unit 10 repeatedly determines that it has not received a command to search for an alternative printer until the key 124 on the error notification screen 120 is touched (NO in step S13).

[0075] When the touch panel 16B detects a user touch operation on the key 124, the control unit 10 determines that it has received a request to search for an alternative printer (YES in step S13) and executes the processing from step S14 onwards in the same manner as described above.

[0076] (Other variations) In the above embodiment, the control unit 10 received instructions specifying conditions for color settings, double-sided printing settings, and stapling settings as conditions for setting the printing process, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. For example, the control unit 10 may receive instructions specifying conditions for paper size settings or layout settings as conditions for setting the printing process, or it may receive instructions specifying that the image forming apparatus 1 that experienced a malfunction has the same specifications as the image forming apparatus 1.

[0077] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the control unit 10 acquired the position of other image forming apparatus 1 using radio waves, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the position information of multiple image forming apparatus 1 may be stored in advance in the management server 2, and the control unit 10 may acquire the position of other image forming apparatus 1 based on the position information acquired from the management server 2.

[0078] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the control unit 10 transmits page information indicating the specified page number via the operation unit 16 to another image forming apparatus 1, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the control unit 10 may transmit page information indicating the page number for which printing has not been completed, along with the image data, via the first communication unit 22, without receiving a page number specification via the operation unit 16.

[0079] The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, a color multifunction printer is used as the image forming apparatus 1, but this is merely one example, and other image forming apparatuses such as a monochrome multifunction printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine may be used.

[0080] The configuration and processing of the above embodiment shown with reference to Figures 1 to 12 are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not intended to be limited to such configuration and processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0081] 1. Image forming apparatus 10 Control Unit 12 Image forming unit 22. First Communications Department 15 Display 16 Control section 23 Second Communications Department

Claims

1. A first communication unit that communicates with external devices via a network, An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that performs a printing process to form an image on paper indicated by image data, The image forming apparatus further includes a control unit that, when the printing process is interrupted due to a malfunction, detects other image forming apparatuses located within a predetermined range from the malfunctioning image forming apparatus, and transmits the image data to the other image forming apparatuses via the first communication unit.

2. It further includes a second communication unit that communicates wirelessly with each of the multiple image forming apparatuses, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit acquires the strength of radio waves output by each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses via the second communication unit, and detects the other image forming apparatus based on the distance between each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses and the image forming apparatus where a malfunction has occurred, as indicated by each of the acquired strengths of the plurality of radio waves.

3. Display unit and It further includes an operating section into which user instructions are input, The control unit, The display unit displays a screen including a map showing the surrounding environment of the image forming apparatus where the malfunction occurred, a first image showing the location of the image forming apparatus where the malfunction occurred on the map, and a second image showing the location of the other image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an instruction to select the second image is received via the operation unit, the image data is transmitted via the first communication unit to the other image forming apparatus corresponding to the selected second image.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the control unit receives an instruction via the operation unit to specify conditions for setting the printing process, it causes the display unit to update the screen so that the second image shows the location of the other image forming apparatus that satisfies the specified conditions.

5. It further includes an operating section into which user instructions are input, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the control unit receives an instruction via the operation unit to specify a page number to be printed, it transmits page information indicating the specified page number, along with the image data, to the other image forming apparatus via the first communication unit.

Images