Image forming apparatus, control method, and program

Abstract

The objective is to provide a mechanism that allows users to easily select a layout. [Solution] An image forming apparatus for printing multiple documents on a roll of paper, characterized by having a receiving means for receiving the number of documents to be laid out, and a display means for creating and displaying a layout list and a default layout corresponding to the number of documents.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Some image forming apparatuses have a layout copy function for outputting a plurality of originals as one original. There is a Nin1 copy function for combining a plurality of originals into one, such as 2in1 for combining two originals into one and 4in1 for combining four originals into one. Thus, a method has been proposed to reduce the paper used for the originals to be copied in order to eliminate waste. For example, in Patent Document 1, a method has been proposed for obtaining the paper size of an original and displaying a layout corresponding to the paper size.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in Patent Document 1, when the paper set in the paper feed tray is roll paper, since there are many paper sizes that can be fed, there may be many candidates for layout patterns. An object of the present disclosure is to provide a mechanism that allows a user to easily select a layout.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] An image forming apparatus for printing a plurality of originals on roll paper, comprising receiving means for receiving the number of originals to be laid out, and display means for creating and displaying a layout list and a default layout corresponding to the number of originals. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] This disclosure can provide a mechanism that allows users to easily select a layout. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Diagram showing the external appearance of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 2] Diagram showing the configuration of the operating section of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 3] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 4] Flowchart showing the display determination process for the layout copy waiting screen. [Figure 5] Diagram showing the layout selection screen for cut sheets. [Figure 6] Flowchart showing the process of displaying a layout list on roll paper. [Figure 7] Diagram showing the layout copy waiting screen for roll paper. [Figure 8] A flowchart illustrating the process of creating a layout list for roll paper. [Figure 9] Table defining layouts corresponding to the number of pages in the manuscript. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. Note that the components described in these embodiments are merely illustrative examples of the present invention and do not limit the scope of this invention to them alone. [Embodiment 1]

[0009] • Configuration of the image forming apparatus Figure 1 shows the external appearance of the image forming apparatus 100. In this embodiment, a Multi Function Peripheral (MFP) with a reading function (scanner) is used as an example. The platen 101 is a glassy transparent table used when placing a document and reading it with a scanner.

[0010] The document cover 102 is a cover for preventing reading light from leaking outside when performing reading with the scanner. The cut-sheet paper feeding unit 103 is an insertion slot for setting cut sheets, and the roll paper feeding unit 104 is an insertion slot for setting roll paper. Each can set papers of various sizes, and it is also possible to set both cut sheets and roll paper. The papers set in the cut-sheet paper feeding unit 103 and the roll paper feeding unit 104 are conveyed to the printing unit, printed, and discharged from the paper discharge tray 105. The memory card slot 110 is an insertion slot for a memory card and is used when reading image data from the inserted removable memory and executing printing. The operation unit 120 receives input of set values and execution of processing from the user and is provided on the outer surface of the apparatus of the image forming apparatus 100.

[0011] (Operation unit) FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the operation unit 120 of the image forming apparatus 100. The operation unit 120 is composed of a display unit 201 on which a graphical user interface (hereinafter referred to as "GUI") is displayed, a touch panel unit 202 for operating the GUI, and operation buttons. The display unit 201 displays the status of the image forming apparatus (ink information, paper information installed), print setting values, image previews read from the memory card, etc.

[0012] The touch panel unit 202 can operate on the information displayed on the display unit 201 and make changes such as print settings. As operation buttons, a power button 210, a stop button 211, and a start button 212 are provided. When the power button 210 is pressed, the power of the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on or off. When the start button 212 is pressed, the operation of the image forming apparatus (copying, printing, etc.) is started. When the stop button 211 is pressed, the operation is cancelled and the operation of the image forming apparatus stops.

[0013] • Configuration of the control system for an image forming apparatus FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. The CPU 301 in the form of a microprocessor operates according to the contents of the program memory 303 in the form of a ROM and the data memory 304 in the form of a RAM connected via an internal bus 302.

[0014] The data memory 304 is used for purposes such as a work memory 305 that the CPU 301 uses when executing a control program, and an image memory 306 that stores image data to be formed on a recording sheet. The interface control circuit 307 receives job data to be printed from the host computer 308 connected via an external interface under the control of the CPU 301, and notifies the host computer 308 of the status of the recording apparatus. The motor control circuit 309 controls various motors that drive the mechanism of the recording apparatus 100 under the control of the CPU 301. The conveyance motor 310 drives the paper feed roller, conveyance roller, and paper discharge roller, and conveys the recording paper from the paper feed unit 103 to the paper discharge tray 105.

[0015] The carriage motor 311 (described as "CR motor" in this figure) drives the carriage back and forth. The recovery motor 312 drives the head recovery mechanism, and executes a recovery operation to appropriately maintain the state of the printing head 214 by controlling it in synchronization with the drive of the carriage. The head control circuit 313 controls the printing head 214 under the control of the CPU 301, and forms an image on the recording paper by controlling the printing head 214 in synchronization with the reciprocating movement of the carriage. ]The sensor control circuit 314, under the control of the CPU 301, detects from the paper sensor 218 and the cassette sensors 1 and 2 (326 and 327) for the paper feed unit that the user has placed or removed paper from the paper feed unit, and acquires this detection. The paper sensor 218 consists of an optical sensor 316 and a sensor light source 315, while the cassette sensors 1 and 2 (326 and 327) consist of a photo interrupter, a mechanical switch, and the like.

[0016] The panel control circuit 317 controls the operation panel 318 located on the exterior surface of the recording device 100, under the control of the CPU 301. The CPU 301 displays desired information on the display device 320 located on the operation panel 318 and monitors user operations on the hard key group 319. The scanner control circuit 324, under the control of the CPU 301, can control the scanner 325 (not shown in Figure 1) and read the image of the document placed on the document glass of the scanner 325. The memory card control circuit 321, under the control of the CPU 301, reads and writes various files on the memory card 323 that is inserted into the memory card slot 110 located on the outside of the recording device 100.

[0017] The CPU 301 stores the image scanned by the scanner 325 in the image memory 306 in the data memory 304, and then sends it to the host computer 308 or saves it as an image file on the memory card 323. The CPU 301 can also use the scanned image directly as a copy by controlling the printing mechanism to print it.

[0018] • Display determination process for the layout copy waiting screen Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the display determination process for the layout copy standby screen corresponding to the paper feed status. The process in this flowchart starts when the user selects layout copy from the copy menu. The paper feed status refers to whether the paper is loaded into the cut paper feed unit 103 or the roll paper feed unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 100. This process is realized when the CPU 301 loads the data stored in the program memory 303 onto the data memory 304 and executes it. In S401, the paper sensor 218 acquires the paper feed status.

[0019] In S402, the CPU 301 determines whether roll paper or cut paper is loaded in the image forming apparatus 100. If it determines that roll paper is loaded, the CPU 301 proceeds to S403; if it determines that cut paper is loaded, the CPU 301 proceeds to S404. (If a roll of paper is loaded) In step S403, CPU301 creates a layout list for the roll paper and terminates the process. The layout list is a list of layouts corresponding to the number of original documents, and its details will be described later with reference to Figure 8. (If cut paper is included) In S404, CPU301 displays a cut-sheet layout selection screen 500 (Figure 5) without a document count selection, and then terminates the process. On the cut-sheet layout selection screen 500, the user selects a layout from menu items 501, 502, and 503.

[0020] <Layout Selection Screen> Figure 5 shows the layout selection screen 500 for cut sheets displayed on the control panel. There are two layouts that can be selected for cut sheet layout copying: "2-in-1 copy" and "4-in-1 copy". Menu item 501, "None," is a menu item for which layout copy is not selected. If the user does not perform a layout copy, menu item 501, "None," is selected by the user. Menu items 502 and 503 indicate layout patterns for cut sheets. Selecting menu item 502, "2-in-1 copy," sets the layout to 2-in-1 copy. Selecting menu item 503, "4-in-1 copy," sets the layout to 4-in-1 copy.

[0021] • Layout list creation • Display processing (roll paper) Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the process of creating and displaying a layout list corresponding to the number of original documents on a roll of paper. This flowchart shows the details of step S403 in the flowchart of Figure 4, and the process in this flowchart starts based on the user selecting "Layout Copy" from the copy menu with the roll of paper loaded. In S601, the CPU301 accepts the number of documents on the roll paper selected by the user. Since the image forming apparatus 100 can handle a maximum of 4 documents, the selectable number of documents is either 2, 3, or 4.

[0022] In S602, CPU301 creates a layout list corresponding to the number of documents selected and received in S601. The creation of the layout list will be described later in Figure 8. In S603, the CPU 301 sets the default layout to be displayed on the layout copy standby screen 700 for roll paper (Figure 7(a)). The default layout is the layout that is displayed when the layout copy standby screen 700 for roll paper is first displayed after the image forming apparatus 100 is started up. The determination of the default layout will be described later with reference to Figure 9. After setting the default layout, the layout copy standby screen 700 for roll paper is displayed.

[0023] In S604, the CPU 301 determines whether the user has instructed a layout change by pressing button 704. If the user has instructed a layout change (Yes in S604), the CPU 301 proceeds to S605; otherwise (No in S604), the process terminates. In S605, the layout list created in S602 is displayed, the user is prompted to select a layout, and the process ends. In this way, with layout copying on roll paper, a layout list can be created based on the number of original documents, making it easy for the user to select their desired layout.

[0024] <Layout copy waiting screen> Now, let's explain the layout copy waiting screen 700. Figure 7(a) shows the layout copy standby screen 700 for roll paper displayed on the control panel. The layout copy standby screen 700 is displayed immediately before executing a layout copy and is the screen where the layout and print settings are determined. Button 701 displays the paper size and paper type set in the print settings. Since this is the layout copy standby screen for roll paper, the displayed paper size is the size of the roll paper. Button 702 is a button that displays the number of copies to print. When button 702 is pressed, a numeric keypad screen is displayed, and the number of copies to print is set by the user.

[0025] Icon 703 is a layout icon. When the image forming apparatus 100 is started and the layout copy waiting screen 700 on the roll paper is displayed for the first time, icon 703 displays the default layout icon. Displaying the icon allows for a visual understanding of the output layout. Button 704 is a layout selection button. When button 704 is pressed, the system transitions to the layout list display screen 710 (Figure 7(b)). The layout selected on the layout list display screen 710 is displayed on button 704 and an icon is displayed on icon 703. When the image forming apparatus 100 is started and the layout copy waiting screen 700 on the roll paper is displayed for the first time, the default layout is displayed on button 704. Button 705 is a print settings button. When button 705 is pressed, the user can set the print area, roll paper type, print quality, and ink density.

[0026] <Layout list display screen> Figure 7(b) shows an example of the layout list display screen 710 for roll paper displayed on the control panel. The figure shows the layout list when there are 4 original sheets. Buttons 711, 712, and 713 are buttons that display the layouts included in the layout list. When the user selects any of buttons 711, 712, or 713, the corresponding layout and layout icon are displayed on the layout copy standby screen 700 for roll paper. In the layout selection screen 500 for cut paper, the layouts displayed on the control panel do not change depending on the number of original sheets, but in the layout list display screen 710, the layouts displayed on the control panel change depending on the number of original sheets.

[0027] • Layout list creation process Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the creation of a layout list corresponding to the number of original documents on a roll of paper. This process provides a detailed explanation of step S602 in Figure 6. In S801, CPU301 obtains the number of documents selected and accepted by S601. In S802, CPU301 refers to layout table 901 (Figure 9). Layout table 901 is a table that defines the layout corresponding to the number of documents and the default layout. In S803, a layout list corresponding to the number of documents obtained in S801 is created from the layout table 901 referenced in S802, and this process is terminated.

[0028] <Layout Table> Figure 9 shows an example of a layout table 901 that defines layouts corresponding to the number of pages in the document and a default layout. Layouts are represented by rows and columns, where rows represent the short side of the roll paper and columns represent the long side. For 2 pages of documents, the layout list consists of 5 layouts: 2x1, 1x2, 2x2, 3x2, and 4x2. For 3 pages of documents, the layout list consists of 1 layout: 3x1. For 4 pages of documents, the layout list consists of 3 layouts: 4x1, 2x2, and 1x4. In addition, a default layout is defined for each number of pages of documents. In layout table 901, the default layout is set to Nx1 for N pages of documents. By referring to layout table 901, a layout list is created, and the default layout is determined from the default column.

[0029] In summary, when an image forming apparatus lays out and copies multiple originals onto a roll of paper, presenting a layout corresponding to the number of originals allows the user to easily select their desired layout pattern. Furthermore, although the above embodiment was described using layout copying as an example, it may also be applied when requesting printing from a PC or the like to an image forming apparatus with roll paper loaded. In addition, the above process may be applied not only to small image forming apparatuses but also to large printing apparatuses with roll paper loaded.

[0030] (Other examples) The embodiments described above can also be realized by performing the following process: supplying software (programs) that realize the functions of the embodiments described above to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and having the computer (CPU, MPU, etc.) of that system or device read and execute the program. The program may be executed on a single computer or executed in conjunction with multiple computers. Furthermore, it is not necessary to realize all of the above processes in software; some or all of the processes may be realized in hardware such as ASICs. Also, the CPU is not limited to one CPU that performs all the processing; multiple CPUs may perform the processing in coordination as appropriate. Furthermore, the functionality of the aforementioned embodiment is not only realized by the execution of program code read by the computer. It also includes cases where the operating system running on the computer performs some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of that program code, and the functionality of the aforementioned embodiment is realized through that processing. This embodiment includes the following configurations, methods, and programs. (Composition 1) An image forming apparatus for printing multiple originals on a roll of paper, A means of receiving the number of pages of the manuscript to be laid out, Display means for creating and displaying a layout list and default layout corresponding to the number of original documents. An image forming apparatus characterized by having the following features. (Configuration 2) The layout corresponding to the number of pages of the document and the default layout are created by referring to a table that defines the layout corresponding to the number of pages of the document and the default layout. The image forming apparatus according to configuration 1, characterized in that it is a picture forming apparatus. (Composition 3) The aforementioned layout list is displayed when the user requests a change from the default layout. An image forming apparatus according to configuration 1 or 2, characterized by the above. (Method 1) A control method for an image forming apparatus that prints multiple originals on a roll of paper, The process involves receiving the number of pages of the manuscript to be laid out, A display step that creates and displays a layout list and a default layout corresponding to the aforementioned number of documents. A control method for an image forming apparatus, characterized by having the following features. (Program 1) A program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the image forming apparatus described in Method 1. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0031] 100 Image forming apparatus 103 Cut-sheet paper feed unit 104 Roll paper feed unit 120 Operation section 700 Roll paper copy standby screen 710 Roll paper layout selection screen

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus for printing multiple originals on a roll of paper, A means of receiving the number of pages of the manuscript to be laid out, Display means for creating and displaying a layout list and default layout corresponding to the number of original documents. An image forming apparatus characterized by having the following features.

2. The layout corresponding to the number of pages of the document and the default layout are created by referring to a table that defines the layout corresponding to the number of pages of the document and the default layout. The image forming apparatus according to feature 1.

3. The aforementioned layout list is displayed when the user requests a change from the default layout. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

4. A control method for an image forming apparatus that prints multiple originals on a roll of paper, The process involves receiving the number of pages of the manuscript to be laid out, A display step that creates and displays a layout list and a default layout corresponding to the aforementioned number of documents. A control method for an image forming apparatus, characterized by having the following features.

5. A program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the image forming apparatus described in claim 4.

Images