Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce resources related to destruction of a wireless tag.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus has a reader-writer, a fixing unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The reader-writer reads information from a wireless tag. The fixing unit heats and conveys a sheet having the wireless tag. The determination unit determines a defect in the wireless tag based on a result of reading performed by the reader-writer. When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, the control unit controls the fixing unit to increase the amount of heat applied to the wireless tag such that information cannot be read from the wireless tag.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] There is an image forming apparatus capable of writing information to and reading information from a wireless tag of a wireless tag-attached sheet. When writing and reading data to and from the wireless tag fail, the image forming apparatus determines that the wireless tag-attached sheet is defective. When the wireless tag is determined to be defective, the defective wireless tag-attached sheet is processed by printing image information indicating a defect on the wireless tag-attached sheet or physically destroying the wireless tag with a stapler or a shredder.

[0003] However, such processing has problems such as insufficient destruction by a stapler and possible leakage of information in the wireless tag, time-consuming stapler processing when reusing as ordinary paper, and inability to reuse as ordinary paper because it is shredded by a shredder.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing resources related to the destruction of a wireless tag.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a reader / writer, a fixing unit, a determination unit, and a control unit. The reader / writer reads information from the wireless tag. The fixing unit heats and conveys the sheet having the wireless tag. The determination unit determines whether the wireless tag is defective based on the reading result of the reader / writer. When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, the control unit controls the fixing unit to increase the amount of heat applied to the wireless tag so that information cannot be read from the wireless tag. By making the conveyance speed of the sheet by the fixing unit slower than the printing speed When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, the control unit controls the fixing unit to increase the amount of heat applied to the wireless tag so that information cannot be read from the wireless tag.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is a case where an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral) is taken as one aspect of the image forming apparatus. The sheet includes a wireless tag-attached paper which is a paper having a wireless tag.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the MFP 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 1 includes a conveyance unit 2, a control panel 3, a scanner 4, an image forming unit 5, a fixing unit 6, a reversing unit 7, a paper feeding unit 8, and a reader / writer 9.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the MFP 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 1 further includes a control unit 12, a storage unit 11, and a determination unit 10.

[0011] The control unit 12 includes a processor having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and a memory. The memory is, for example, a semiconductor memory, and has a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores various control programs and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that provides a temporary work area for the processor. The control unit 12 controls each part of the MFP 1 based on various programs and the like stored in the ROM.

[0012] The storage unit 11 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). The storage unit 11 acquires, for example, image data acquired or generated by each component of the MFP 1.

[0013] The conveyance unit 2 has a conveyance path 22 that connects the paper feeding unit 8, the image forming unit 5, the fixing unit 6, and the paper discharge port 21. The conveyance unit 2 conveys the sheet fed from the paper feeding unit 8 along the conveyance path 22. The conveyance unit 2 has a plurality of conveyance rollers at various positions of the conveyance path 22 as conveyance means for conveying the sheet. The conveyance direction of the sheet has the paper feeding unit 8 as the upstream side and the paper discharge port 21 as the downstream side. The conveyance unit 2 has a registration roller 23. The registration roller 23 is provided upstream of the image forming unit 5 in the conveyance direction of the sheet. The registration roller 23 temporarily stops the conveyed sheet and operates at an arbitrary timing by the control unit 12 to convey the sheet to the image forming unit 5.

[0014] The control panel 3 includes a plurality of buttons for receiving user operations. The control panel 3 outputs a signal corresponding to the operation performed by the user to the control unit 12 of the MFP 1. Note that the control panel 3 is configured as a touch panel integrated with the display 31. The display 31 displays information regarding the MFP 1. The display 31 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display.

[0015] The scanner 4 reads an image of a document. The scanner 4 includes, for example, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) or a DSDF (Dual Scan Document Feeder). The information of the read image may be transmitted to an external device such as a PC (Personal Computer) via a network. The information of the read image may be stored in the storage unit 11 and printed as an image on a sheet by the image forming unit 5 and the fixing unit 6.

[0016] The image forming unit 5 forms a toner image on a sheet based on the image information transmitted from an external device such as the scanner 4 or a PC. The image forming unit 5 includes a plurality of toner cartridges 51, a plurality of developing devices 52, a transfer belt 53, and a transfer roller 54. The plurality of toner cartridges 51 each contain toner of a different color, for example. The developing device supplies the toner supplied from the toner cartridge 51 to the transfer belt 53 to form a toner image. The toner image formed on the transfer belt 53 moves so as to approach the transfer roller 54 as the transfer belt 53 rotates in a ring shape. The toner image formed on the transfer belt 53 is transferred onto the conveyed sheet by the transfer roller 54. The control unit 12 controls the registration roller 23 to convey the sheet so that the toner image on the transfer belt 53 is transferred to a predetermined position on the sheet.

[0017] The fixing unit 6 includes a heat roller 61 and a first press roller 62. The fixing unit 6 sandwiches the sheet between the heat roller 61 and the first press roller 62, and conveys the sheet while applying heat and pressure to fix the toner image formed on the sheet. The heat roller 61 includes a fixing belt 611 and an IH (Induction Heating) coil. The heat roller 61 heats the fixing belt 611 by induction heating using the IH coil 612. The heat roller 61 may be of a type that directly heats the fixing belt 611 with a heating heater that generates heat.

[0018] FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are schematic views of the fixing unit 6 included in the MFP 1 shown in FIG. 1. The state in which the heat roller 61 and the first press roller 62 face each other as shown in FIG. 3 is defined as the first posture. The state in which the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63 face each other as shown in FIG. 4 is defined as the second posture.

[0019] The fixing unit 6 includes a second press roller 63. The fixing unit 6 sandwiches the RFID tag-attached paper between the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63, and conveys the paper while applying heat and pressure to destroy the RFID tag. Also, the toner image formed on the sheet is fixed.

[0020] The temperature for destroying the RFID tag is higher than the temperature suitable for fixing the toner on the sheet in normal printing. When destroying the RFID tag by heat, the control unit 12 controls the temperature of the fixing unit 6 so that the amount of heat applied to the RFID tag-attached paper is greater than the amount of heat in the case of normal printing. When destroying the RFID tag by heat, the control unit 12 controls the temperature of the fixing unit 6 so that the amount of heat applied to the RFID tag-attached paper is higher than the heat-resistant temperature of the RFID tag and lower than the temperature at which the paper burns. Fixing in normal printing means that the MFP 1 fixes the image on the sheet with an amount of heat that does not destroy the RFID tag of the RFID tag-attached paper.

[0021] The fixing unit 6 has an arm 64. The arm is a member that connects the first press roller 62 and the second press roller 63. By rotating the arm 64, the first posture and the second posture are switched.

[0022] The second press roller 63 has a smaller diameter than the first press roller 62. Since the second press roller 63 has a smaller diameter than the first press roller 62, heat is difficult to disperse, and heat can be efficiently applied to the radio tag-attached paper. The diameter of the second press roller 63 is not limited as long as it can apply predetermined heat to the radio tag by sandwiching the radio tag-attached paper between the heat roller 61.

[0023] The second press roller 63 has a higher thermal conductivity than the first press roller 62. Since the second press roller 63 has a higher thermal conductivity than the first press roller 62, its temperature rises easily, and heat can be efficiently applied to the radio tag-attached paper. The thermal conductivity and the material used for the second press roller 63 are not limited as long as it can apply predetermined heat to the radio tag by sandwiching the radio tag-attached paper between the heat roller 61.

[0024] The fixing unit 6 has a fixing unit motor 65 and a nip pressure motor 66. The fixing unit motor 65 rotates the heat roller 61. The control unit 12 controls the fixing unit motor 65. The control unit 12 adjusts the conveyance speed of the sheet conveyed by the fixing unit 6 by controlling the rotation speed of the fixing unit motor 65. The nip pressure motor 66 moves the first press roller 62 or the second press roller 63 facing the heat roller 61 in conjunction with the rotation of the nip pressure motor 66. The first press roller 62 or the second press roller 63 facing the heat roller 61 moves in the direction of contacting or separating from the heat roller 61. The control unit 12 adjusts the nip pressure by controlling the nip pressure motor 66.

[0025] When the fixing unit 6 sandwiches the radio - tag - attached paper between the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63, the nip pressure may be increased. By increasing the nip pressure, the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63 are further pressed against each other, and the contact area between the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63 increases. As a result, in the sheet conveyance direction, the distance for the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63 to apply heat to the radio - tag - attached paper can be lengthened. That is, heat can be efficiently applied to the radio - tag - attached paper.

[0026] The reversing unit 7 reverses the sheet when printing on both sides of the sheet. Specifically, the paper discharge path branches into a conveyance path to the paper discharge port 21 and a conveyance path to the reversing unit 7, and the sheet to be double - sided printed is guided to the conveyance path to the reversing unit 7. The sheet conveyed to the reversing unit 7 is conveyed upstream of the registration roller 23 in the sheet conveyance direction. The front and back of the sheet that has passed through the reversing unit 7 is reversed compared to when the sheet is fed from the paper feeding unit 8. The reversing unit 7 is an Automatic Duplexing Unit (ADU).

[0027] The paper feeding unit 8 accommodates the sheets on which images are printed. The paper feeding unit 8 includes a plurality of paper feeding cassettes 81 and a manual tray 82. The sheet on which the image is printed may be the sheet accommodated in the paper feeding unit 8 or the sheet manually inserted into the manual tray 82. The sheet is conveyed along the conveyance path 22 from the paper feeding unit 8 or the manual tray 82, passes through the image forming unit 5 and the fixing unit 6, and is conveyed to the paper discharge port 21. In the embodiment, the radio - tag - attached paper is accommodated in the lowermost paper feeding cassette 81.

[0028] The reader / writer 9 writes information to the wireless tag. The reader / writer 9 reads the information written to the wireless tag. The reader / writer 9 temporarily stores the information written to the wireless tag and the information read from the wireless tag in the storage unit 11. While the reader / writer 9 writes information to the wireless tag and reads information from the wireless tag, it is desirable to reduce or stop the speed at which the paper with the wireless tag is conveyed. In the embodiment, the reader / writer 9 is installed near the entrance to the conveyance path 22 in the lowermost paper feed cassette 81. The reader / writer 9 may be installed, for example, near the manual feed tray 82, near the registration roller 23, or near the conveyance path 22 related to the inversion unit 7.

[0029] The determination unit 10 determines whether the wireless tag of the paper with the wireless tag is defective. The determination unit 10 compares the information written by the reader / writer 9 to the wireless tag and the information read by the reader / writer 9 from the wireless tag. If the written information and the read information do not match, the determination unit 10 determines that the wireless tag is defective.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the operation of the MFP1 in the embodiment. With reference to FIG. 5, the operation when the MFP1 prints an image and writes information to the paper with the wireless tag will be described.

[0031] The MFP1 receives a print job. The MFP1 feeds one sheet of paper with the wireless tag from the lowermost paper feed cassette 81 and moves the paper with the wireless tag to a position where the reader / writer 9 can write information to and read information from the wireless tag. The reader / writer 9 writes information to the wireless tag of the paper with the wireless tag (ACT001). The reader / writer 9 reads the information to confirm whether the information has been normally written to the wireless tag. That is, verification is performed (ACT002).

[0032] When the information written to the wireless tag by the reader / writer 9 does not match the information read from the wireless tag (ACT003, NO), the reader / writer 9 writes information to the wireless tag again (ACT004). The reader / writer 9 reads the information again to confirm whether the information has been successfully written to the wireless tag. That is, verification is performed (ACT005). When the information written to the wireless tag by the reader / writer 9 does not match the information read from the wireless tag (ACT006, NO), the determination unit 10 determines that the wireless tag is defective. Performing the writing and reading of information to the wireless tag twice in this way is to reduce the discard of normal wireless tag - attached papers due to misjudgment.

[0033] When it is determined that the wireless tag is defective, the fixing unit 6 switches the press roller from the first press roller 62 to the second press roller 63 (ACT007). That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fixing unit 6 is switched from the first posture to the second posture. The image forming unit 5 does not form a toner image of the image originally to be transferred to the wireless - tag - attached paper, but forms a toner image of an image (defect mark) indicating that the wireless tag is defective and transfers it to the wireless - tag - attached paper being conveyed (ACT008). For example, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a defect mark printed on a wireless - tag - attached paper. FIG. 6 shows a wireless - tag - attached paper S, a wireless tag T, and a defect mark D.

[0034] The fixing unit 6 conveys the wireless - tag - attached paper along the conveyance path 22 while applying heat to the wireless - tag - attached paper conveyed from the image forming unit 5. The conveyance speed at this time is made slower than the normal printing speed (ACT009). Thereby, the fixing unit 6 applies heat to the wireless - tag - attached paper so that the temperature exceeds the heat - resistant temperature of the wireless tag, and destroys the wireless tag. Further, the defect mark is fixed on the wireless - tag - attached paper. The defect mark only needs to be fixed on the wireless - tag - attached paper having a wireless tag determined to be defective to a degree recognizable by the user, and high fixing accuracy is not required.

[0035] When the radio - tagged paper is conveyed by the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63, the fixing unit 6 switches the press roller from the second press roller 63 to the first press roller 62 (ACT010). That is, the fixing unit 6 is switched from the second posture to the first posture. The radio - tagged paper that has passed through the fixing unit 6 is discharged from the discharge port 21 by the conveying unit 2.

[0036] When the information written to the radio tag by the reader - writer 9 matches the information read from the radio tag (ACT003, YES), the determination unit 10 determines that the radio tag is not defective.

[0037] When the determination unit 10 determines that the radio tag is not defective, the MFP1 performs normal printing based on the print job (ACT011).

[0038] In the embodiment, the amount of heat applied to the radio tag is increased by reducing the speed at which the fixing unit conveys the sheet, but the amount of heat applied to the radio tag may also be increased by raising the temperature of the heat roller 61.

[0039] In the embodiment, the radio - tagged paper determined to be defective is conveyed by the fixing unit 6 at a speed slower than the normal printing speed, but the conveyance speed may be reduced only when the area where the radio tag determined to be defective is attached is sandwiched between the heat roller 61 and the second press roller 63. The area where the radio tag is attached is based on a predetermined position of the radio tag attached to the conveyed radio - tagged paper. The conveyed radio - tagged paper is defined by the settings of the control panel 3 and the paper feed cassette 81. The timing for reducing the conveyance speed is based on the timing when the reader - writer 9 reads and writes information to the radio tag and the timing for driving the registration roller 23.

[0040] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0041] 1 ··· MFP 5 ··· Image Forming Unit 6 ··· Fixing Unit 61 ··· Heat Roller 62 ··· First Press Roller 63 ··· Second Press Roller 9 ··· Reader / Writer 10 ··· Determination Unit 12 ··· Control Unit S ··· Radio Tag Attached Paper T ··· Radio Tag D ··· Defect Mark

Claims

1. A reader / writer that reads information from a wireless tag, A fixing unit that heats and conveys a sheet having the wireless tag, A determination unit that determines a defect of the wireless tag based on a reading result of the reader / writer, When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, a control unit that controls the fixing unit to increase the amount of heat applied to the wireless tag by making the conveyance speed of the sheet by the fixing unit slower than the printing speed so as to make it impossible to read information from the wireless tag, An image forming apparatus having the above components.

2. The reader / writer writes information to the wireless tag, The determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective when the information written to the wireless tag by the reader / writer and the information read from the wireless tag do not match, or when the reader / writer cannot read information from the wireless tag. The image forming apparatus according to Claim 1.

3. The fixing unit includes a heat roller that heats an object, a first press roller, and a second press roller, When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, the control unit switches from a first posture in which the heat roller and the first press roller face each other to a second posture in which the heat roller and the second press roller face each other. The image forming apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2.

4. In the second posture, the amount of heat applied to the wireless tag is more likely to increase than in the first posture. The image forming apparatus according to Claim 3.

5. The second press roller has a smaller diameter than the first press roller. The image forming apparatus according to Claim 3 or Claim 4.

6. Having an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, When the determination unit determines that the wireless tag is defective, the control unit controls the image forming unit to form an image indicating that the wireless tag is defective on the sheet having the wireless tag. The image forming apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 5.

Images