Image forming apparatus and control method

Abstract

To facilitate setting appropriate parameters in a wireless communication device for communicating with a wireless tag attached to a sheet subject to image formation.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus of an embodiment includes a forming device, a wireless tag communication device, an external communication interface, and a processor. The forming device forms an image on a sheet including a wireless tag. The wireless tag communication device performs wireless communication with the wireless tag included in the sheet. The external communication interface acquires an image forming data file from another device through communication. The processor forms the image on the sheet by controlling the forming device based on information included in the image forming data file if the image forming data file includes an instruction for image formation, and sets parameters of the wireless tag communication device based on the information included in the image forming data file if the image forming data file includes an instruction for wireless tag communication setting.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus and a control method.

Background Art

[0002] There is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet with a wireless tag using a wireless communication technology such as RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification). By providing a wireless tag communication device in such an image forming apparatus, a technology for writing data to and reading data from the wireless tag of the sheet to be processed by the image forming apparatus has been proposed. In such a technology, it is necessary to appropriately set parameters so that data is not erroneously read from or written to the wireless tags of sheets that are not the processing targets. For example, it is desirable that the intensity of the signal transmitted when a wireless tag is detected and the threshold value used for determining the wireless tag to be processed are appropriately set as parameters. However, it has not been easy to appropriately set such parameters.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a control method that enable easier setting of appropriate parameters in a wireless communication device that communicates with a wireless tag attached to a sheet to be an image formation target.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The image forming apparatus of the embodiment comprises a forming apparatus, a wireless tag communication device, an external communication interface, and a processor. The forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet equipped with a wireless tag. The wireless tag communication device communicates wirelessly with the wireless tag provided on the sheet. The external communication interface obtains an image forming data file from another device via communication. If the image forming data file contains instructions for image formation, the processor controls the forming apparatus based on the information contained in the image forming data file to form an image on the sheet. If the image forming data file contains instructions for setting the communication settings of the wireless tag, the processor sets the parameters of the wireless tag communication device based on the information contained in the image forming data file. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1] This is an external view showing an example of the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 of the embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] This diagram shows the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. [Figure 4] This figure shows a specific example of an image formation data file. [Figure 5] This figure shows a specific example of wireless tag control data. [Figure 6] This figure shows a specific example of wireless tag control data in a configuration data file. [Figure 7] This flowchart shows a specific example of the processing flow of the image forming apparatus 100 when calibration is performed. [Figure 8] This flowchart shows a concrete example of the calibration process flow. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0007] Figure 1 is an external view showing an example of the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a multifunction printer. The image forming apparatus 100 comprises a display 110, a control panel 120, a forming apparatus 130, a sheet storage device 140, and an image reading device 200. The forming apparatus 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 may be an electrophotographic apparatus for fixing toner images, an inkjet apparatus, or an apparatus of another form.

[0008] The image forming apparatus 100 may be connected to other information processing devices via a network 90 for communication. The image forming apparatus 100 may communicate with a user terminal 300 or a server 400 via the network 90, for example, as shown in Figure 1. The network 90 may be a wireless communication network or a wired communication network. The network 90 may be configured by combining multiple networks.

[0009] The user terminal 300 is an information processing device such as a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet. The user terminal 300 is operated by a user and operates in response to that operation. In response to the user's operation, the user terminal 300 transmits, for example, an image forming data file to the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming data file is data in a predetermined format used to instruct the image forming apparatus 100 to perform image forming and write data to a wireless tag. The image forming data file may be configured, for example, as a so-called print data file.

[0010] The user terminal 300 stores a configuration data file configured in the format of an image forming data file. The configuration data file is used to configure the image forming apparatus 100 so that data can be read and written to the appropriate wireless tag. Hereinafter, the configuration process for reading and writing data to the appropriate wireless tag in the image forming apparatus 100 will be referred to as calibration. The configuration data file includes parameters used to enable reading and writing data to the appropriate wireless tag. Details of the configuration data file will be described later. When the user performs an operation to instruct the user terminal 300 to perform a configuration process, the terminal 300 transmits the configuration data file to the image forming apparatus 100 in response to the operation.

[0011] Server 400 is an information processing device such as a server device. Server 400 stores the configuration data file described above. Server 400 transmits the configuration data file to a device that accesses a predetermined address via the network 90. ​​For example, if Server 400 receives information from the image forming apparatus 100 requesting a configuration data file along with type information indicating the type of sheet to which a wireless tag is attached, Server 400 may read the configuration data file corresponding to the type information and transmit it to the image forming apparatus 100.

[0012] The external storage device 500 is a storage device such as a magnetic storage device or a semiconductor storage device. The external storage device 500 is configured to be detachable from other information processing devices. For example, the external storage device 500 is configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus 100. The external storage device 500 may be configured using, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The external storage device 500 stores the configuration data file described above.

[0013] Thus, the image forming apparatus 100 can obtain a configuration data file from at least one of the following devices: the user terminal 300, the server 400, and the external storage device 500. Next, the image forming apparatus 100 will be described.

[0014] The image forming apparatus 100 forms an image on a sheet using toner or ink. The sheet is, for example, paper or label paper. The sheet may also be a sheet with a wireless tag attached. The sheet can be anything as long as the image forming apparatus 100 can form an image on its surface. Note that a sheet with a wireless tag attached may have the wireless tag affixed to the surface of the sheet, or it may have the wireless tag embedded inside the sheet. The wireless tag in this embodiment is a wireless tag using RFID technology, and is also called an RF tag.

[0015] The display 110 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display 110 displays various information related to the image forming apparatus 100.

[0016] The control panel 120 has multiple buttons. The control panel 120 accepts user input. The control panel 120 outputs signals corresponding to the user's input to the processor 153 of the image forming apparatus 100. The display 110 and the control panel 120 may be configured as a single touch panel.

[0017] The forming device 130 forms an image on a sheet based on the image information generated by the image reading device 200 or the image information received via a communication path (e.g., network 90). The forming device 130 forms an image by, for example, the following processes. The forming device 130 forms an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor drum based on the image information. The forming device 130 forms a visible image by attaching a developer to the electrostatic latent image. As a specific example of the developer, there is one using toner. The forming device 130 transfers the visible image onto the sheet. The forming device 130 fixes the visible image on the sheet by heating and pressing the sheet. Note that the sheet on which the image is formed may be a sheet stored in the sheet storage device 140 or a manually inserted sheet. The sheet on which the image is formed is discharged to the paper discharge area 210. Note that the image formation on the sheet does not necessarily have to be limited to the one using the toner described above. For example, image formation on the sheet may be performed by an inkjet method.

[0018] The sheet storage device 140 stores sheets used for image formation in the forming device 130. In the sheet storage device 140 of one image forming device 100, one paper feed cassette may be provided, or a plurality of paper feed cassettes may be provided. In the present embodiment, four paper feed cassettes are provided in the sheet storage device 140.

[0019] The image reading device 200 reads the image information of the reading target as the brightness and darkness of light. The image reading device 200 records the read image information. The recorded image information may be transmitted to another information processing device (e.g., user terminal 300) via the network 90. The recorded image information may be formed into an image on a sheet by the forming device 130.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a display 110, a control panel 120, a forming apparatus 130, a paper feeding apparatus 205, an auxiliary storage device 151, a memory 152, a processor 153, a wireless tag communication device 154, an external communication interface 155, and an image reading device 200. Each of these devices is connected so as to be capable of data communication via a system bus 160. Note that descriptions of the display 110, the control panel 120, the forming apparatus 130, and the image reading device 200 are omitted because they have been described above.

[0021] The paper feeding apparatus 205 is a mechanism that feeds the sheets placed on the sheet storage device 140 and the manual feed tray, which will be described later, to the forming apparatus 130. Hereinafter, the auxiliary storage device 151, the memory 152, the processor 153, the wireless tag communication device 154, and the external communication interface will be described.

[0022] The auxiliary storage device 151 is, for example, a hard disk or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores various data. The auxiliary storage device 151 may store, for example, a software program for controlling the operations of the respective devices provided in the image forming apparatus 100.

[0023] The memory 152 temporarily stores data used by the respective devices included in the image forming apparatus 100. The memory 152 is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 152 may store digital data generated by the image reading device 200. The memory 152 may temporarily store an image formation data file being printed by the forming apparatus 130 or write information to be written to a wireless tag.

[0024] The processor 153 controls the operations of the respective devices included in the image forming apparatus 100. The processor 153 may load the software program stored in the auxiliary storage device 151 onto the memory 152 and execute processing by executing the software program. A specific example of the processing of the processor 153 will be described.

[0025] When the processor 153 receives an image formation data file from an external information processing device (e.g., a user terminal 300 or a server 400) or reads an image formation data file from an external storage device 500 in response to an operation on the control panel 120, it controls image formation on the wirelessly tagged sheet based on the read image formation data file.

[0026] The wireless tag communication device 154 reads and writes data to the wireless tag by performing wireless communication.

[0027] The external communication interface 155 performs data communication with an external device (a device different from the image forming apparatus 100). The external communication interface 155 may be configured as a physical interface to which other devices, such as an external storage device 500, can be attached and detached, or as a communication device that communicates data with an external device via a network. The external communication interface 155 may be configured according to the USB protocol, for example. The external communication interface 155 may also communicate data with other information processing devices (for example, a user terminal 300 or a server 400) via the network 90. ​​The external communication interface 155 transmits data, for example, in response to the control of the processor 153. When the external communication interface 155 receives data, for example, it transmits the received data to the processor 153.

[0028] Figure 3 shows the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. A new manual feed tray 220 is shown in Figure 3. Sheets are taken into the transport path 250 from the sheet receiving device 140 or the manual feed tray 220. The transport path 250 is equipped with multiple transport rollers. The transport rollers rotate according to the control of the processor 153 and transport the sheets located on the transport path. The sheets are transported along the transport path 250, an image is formed in the forming apparatus 130, and the sheets are ejected into the paper ejection area 210 by the paper ejection roller 156. The wireless tag communication device 154 communicates with the wireless tags on the sheets being transported along the transport path 250.

[0029] Figure 4 shows a specific example of an image formation data file. The image formation data file includes, for example, image formation data and wireless tag control data. The image formation data is data used to cause the image forming apparatus 100 to perform image formation on a sheet. The image formation data includes, for example, data indicating the image or characters to be formed on the sheet, and various parameters for image formation (information such as resolution and paper size). The wireless tag control data is data indicating the processing to be performed on the wireless tag. A specific example of wireless tag control data is data used to cause the processing to write information to the wireless tag.

[0030] Figure 5 shows a specific example of wireless tag control data. The wireless tag control data shown in Figure 5 is data used to execute the process of writing information to the wireless tag. The string shown as a wireless tag write command in Figure 5 indicates that the wireless tag communication device 154 should execute the process of writing data to the wireless tag. The setting data in Figure 5 shows the content of the data to be written to the wireless tag.

[0031] Figure 6 shows a specific example of wireless tag control data in a configuration data file. Since the configuration data file has the same file format as the image formation data file, it includes image formation data and wireless tag control data, as shown in Figure 4. Thus, the format of the configuration data file shown in Figure 6 is the same as the format of the image formation data file used to execute the data writing process to the wireless tag, as shown in Figure 5.

[0032] As shown in Figure 6, the wireless tag control data in the configuration data file includes a calibration command string instead of a wireless tag write command. The wireless tag control data in the configuration data file includes parameters used for calibration (configuration) following the calibration command string. Specific examples of such parameters include information indicating the paper feed cassette from which the sheets are supplied, the minimum and maximum output of the transmission power of the wireless signal transmitted from the wireless tag communication device 154 to the wireless tag, and thresholds used to determine which wireless tag is to be processed.

[0033] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the processing flow of the image forming apparatus 100 when calibration is performed. The processor 153 acquires an image forming data file (ACT101). When the processor 153 acquires the image forming data file, the acquisition may be achieved by the following process, for example.

[0034] The user may transmit image forming data from the user terminal 300 to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network 90 by operating the user terminal 300. In this case, the image forming data file may be stored in the user terminal 300, or the user terminal 300 may obtain the image forming data file from another information storage device or medium. In particular, the configuration data file may be transmitted from the user terminal 300 to the image forming apparatus 100 in this manner.

[0035] The user may connect to the server 400 by operating the image forming apparatus 100 and download image forming data from the server 400 to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network 90. ​​In this case, the image forming data file may be stored in the server 400, or the server 400 may obtain the image forming data file from another information storage device or medium. In particular, the configuration data file may be transmitted from the server 400 to the image forming apparatus 100 in this manner. The address of the server 400 used when operating the image forming apparatus 100 to connect to the server 400 may, for example, be stored in the image forming apparatus 100 in advance. The image forming apparatus 100 may, for example, send request information to the address of the server 400 requesting the configuration data file. This request information may include type information indicating the type of wireless tag sheet to be used.

[0036] The address of server 400 may be recorded on another medium. For example, the address of server 400, which stores the configuration data file for communicating with the wireless tag on the wireless tag sheet, may be recorded on the packaging of the wireless tag sheet. The address may be recorded by printing a string representing a URL, or by printing an encoded image representing a URL (for example, a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode). The encoded image may include type information indicating the type of wireless tag sheet that was wrapped in the packaging. The user may enter the URL by operating the control panel 120 of the image forming apparatus 100. Alternatively, the user may input the encoded image into the image forming apparatus 100 using the image reader 200, and the address may be obtained by the processor 153 of the image forming apparatus 100 decoding the encoded image.

[0037] The user may connect the external storage device 500, which records the image forming data file, to the external communication interface 155 and operate the image forming apparatus 100 to read the image forming data from the external storage device 500 to the image forming apparatus 100. In particular, the setting data file may be read from the external storage device 500 to the image forming apparatus 100 in this manner.

[0038] The processor 153 determines whether the wireless tag control data included in the acquired image formation data file includes a wireless tag write command (ACT102). If the wireless tag control data includes a wireless tag write command (ACT102-YES), the processor 153 starts feeding a sheet containing a wireless tag (hereinafter referred to as the "wireless tag sheet") (ACT103). The processor 153 transports the wireless tag sheet along the transport path 250 and writes information to the wireless tag on the wireless tag sheet by transmitting a wireless signal (ACT104). The processor 153 controls the forming apparatus 130 to form an image on the sheet according to the image formation data included in the image formation data file (ACT105).

[0039] If the wireless tag control data does not contain a wireless tag write command (ACT102-NO), the processor 153 determines whether the wireless tag control data included in the acquired image formation data file contains a calibration command (ACT106). If the wireless tag control data contains a calibration command (ACT106-YES), the processor 153 controls the wireless tag communication device 154 to perform the calibration process (ACT107). Details of the calibration process will be described later with reference to Figure 8.

[0040] If the calibration process is successful (ACT108-YES), the processor 153 displays on the display 110 that the calibration was successful (ACT109). On the other hand, if ACT106 does not contain a calibration command (ACT106-NO), or if the calibration process is unsuccessful (ACT108-NO), the processor 153 displays an error on the display 110 (ACT110). This completes the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 7.

[0041] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating a specific example of the calibration process flow. The processor 153 starts feeding wireless tag sheets by controlling the paper feeder 205 according to the cassette containing the wireless tag sheets (ACT201). The processor 153 controls the rotation of the transport rollers to transport the wireless tag sheets to the vicinity of the antenna of the wireless tag communication device 154 and stops there (ACT202). The processor 153 controls the wireless tag communication device 154 and sets the maximum output of the parameters included in the calibration command to the output of the wireless tag communication device 154 (ACT203). The processor 153 causes the wireless tag communication device 154 to perform the wireless tag detection process (ACT204). If the wireless tag detection is successful in the wireless tag communication device 154 (ACT205-YES), the processor 153 lowers the output of the wireless tag communication device 154 and returns to the process of ACT204 to repeat.

[0042] If the wireless tag communication device 154 fails to detect the wireless tag (ACT205-NO), the processor 153 determines whether the output of the wireless tag communication device 154 is less than the maximum output of the parameters included in the calibration command (ACT207). If the output of the wireless tag communication device 154 is greater than or equal to the maximum output (ACT207-NO), the processor 153 outputs that the calibration process has failed and terminates the calibration process (ACT210).

[0043] If the output of the wireless tag communication device 154 is less than the maximum output (ACT207-YES), the processor 153 sets the output for wireless tag detection to the current output setting value plus a predetermined margin (ACT208). Then, the processor 153 outputs that the calibration process was successful and terminates the calibration process (ACT209).

[0044] In the image forming apparatus 100 configured as described above, it becomes easier to set appropriate parameters in the wireless communication device that communicates with the wireless tag attached to the sheet to be image formed. Specifically, these parameters are as follows.

[0045] In the image forming apparatus 100, when setting appropriate parameters for the wireless tag communication device 154, the user does not set the appropriate parameters individually, but rather retrieves a setting data file recorded on another device. Such a setting data file may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 from a user terminal 300, downloaded (received) from a server 400 by operating the image forming apparatus 100, or read by connecting an external storage device 500 (e.g., a USB memory) to the image forming apparatus 100. The setting data file may be input to the image forming apparatus 100 in other ways. In this way, the user can easily obtain a setting data file containing the appropriate parameters.

[0046] When the image forming apparatus 100 obtains a configuration data file, it sets appropriate parameters in its wireless tag communication device 154 based on the information contained in the configuration data file. For example, the processor 153 of the image forming apparatus 100 sets parameters in the wireless tag communication device 154 based on the contents of the wireless tag control data in the configuration data file. More specifically, the following occurs: If the wireless tag control data in the configuration data file contains a string indicating a calibration command, the processor 153 reads the calibration parameters recorded thereafter and sets them in the wireless tag communication device 154 accordingly. This makes it easier for the user to set parameters.

[0047] While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be carried out in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 100…Image forming apparatus, 110…Display, 120…Control panel, 130…Forming apparatus, 140…Sheet storage device, 151…Auxiliary storage device, 152…Memory, 153…Processor, 154…Wireless tag communication device, 155…External communication interface, 160…System bus, 200…Image reader, 205…Paper feeder, 210…Paper output area, 220…Manual feed tray, 250…Transport path, 300…User terminal, 400…Server, 500…External storage device, 90…Network

Claims

1. A forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet equipped with a wireless tag, A wireless tag communication device that performs wireless communication with the wireless tag provided on the sheet, An external communication interface for acquiring image formation data files from other devices via communication, A processor that, if the image forming data file includes instructions for image formation, controls the forming apparatus based on the information contained in the image forming data file to form an image on a sheet, and if the image forming data file includes instructions for setting up wireless tag communication, sets the parameters of the wireless tag communication device based on the information contained in the image forming data file. An image forming apparatus equipped with the following features.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor obtains an image forming data file including instructions for the communication settings of the wireless tag from the other information processing device by transmitting type information indicating the type of the sheet via the external communication interface.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor acquires the image forming data file by receiving the image forming data file, which includes instructions for the communication settings of the wireless tag transmitted by another information processing device in response to user operation, via the external communication interface.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming data file includes wireless tag control data which is data for controlling a wireless tag, and the communication setting instructions are recorded in the area of ​​the wireless tag control data.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the communication setting instruction is recorded in the wireless tag control data area in the same format as the instruction to record data on the wireless tag.

6. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet equipped with a wireless tag; a wireless tag communication device that performs wireless communication with the wireless tag provided on the sheet; and an external communication interface that acquires image forming data files from other devices by communication, The image formation data file is acquired via communication from another device. If the image forming data file includes instructions for image formation, the forming apparatus is controlled based on the information contained in the image forming data file to form an image on the sheet. A control method for setting the parameters of a wireless tag communication device based on the information contained in the image forming data file, if the image forming data file contains instructions for setting the communication settings of the wireless tag.

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