Patent Application
20130321517
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed material inspection system including a post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on a printed material and an inspection apparatus that inspects the printed material, and to a control method for such a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have thus far been on-demand printing systems that process a series of print jobs by printing using an electrophotographic- or inkjet-type printing apparatus and providing a post-processing apparatus that supplies paper, discharges paper, performs post-processing on printed paper, and so on in a stage previous to or following the printing apparatus. A variety of accessory devices are attached to the printing apparatus. Such accessory devices include, for example, sheet feeding decks for supplying various types of paper that are set therein, punchers for punching holes in paper, inserters for inserting printed paper, folders for folding paper, trimmers for cutting paper, stackers for arranging paper, and so on. Although whether or not each type of accessory device will be attached can be determined as desired, the position (order) in which the devices are attached is set in advance in the system, and a printing system is configured by attaching the devices according to that order. This is because respective accessory devices handle the post-processing that is performed on the printed paper, and because the order in which the accessory devices are disposed is set based on the final state of the printed material (for example, whether or not the printed material will be bound).
A printed material inspection apparatus that automatically inspects whether or not a printed material is soiled or the like by reading an image on the printed material using a camera, a line scanner, or the like has been proposed as one such accessory device. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 4470500) discloses making it possible to set a quality determination standard for images for each of different types of print media, in the case where a printed material in which various types of print media, such as copy paper, Japanese paper, and pre-print paper that is ruled, are intermixed is to be inspected.
However, the invention disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Document 1 does not consider adding an inspection apparatus that inspects images on printed materials to a printing system to which various accessory devices are attached. Unlike the aforementioned accessory devices, it is necessary to change the details of the processing performed by the inspection apparatus depending on where the inspection apparatus is connected. It is generally necessary for the inspection apparatus to be located after the final accessory device and inspect the printed material when the printed material is close to the final product stage. However, depending on the processing performed by an accessory device, there are cases where the printed material cannot be inspected after that processing. For example, if a binding process that folds the printed material or staples the printed material is carried out, images on that printed material cannot be read and inspected. In addition, in the case where holes are punched in the printed material using a puncher, it is necessary to change the details of the inspection depending on whether the inspection apparatus is in a stage previous to or following the puncher.
An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems.
A feature of the present invention is to increase the freedom with which an inspection apparatus can be disposed and thus increase the convenience for a user by setting an inspection item based on a post-processing apparatus used in a job and on information of a connection between the post-processing apparatus and the inspection apparatus, and carry out inspection in accordance with the stated setting.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printed material inspection system including a plurality of post-processing apparatuses that perform post-processing on a printed sheet, at least one inspection apparatus connected between the plurality of post-processing apparatuses that inspects the printed sheet, and a control apparatus that performs control for receiving a job and executing processing according to the job, the system comprising: a setting unit configured to set an inspection item to be inspected by the inspection apparatus based on configuration information indicating an anteroposterior relationship between the inspection apparatus and the post-processing apparatuses in the job relative to a conveyance direction of the printed sheet, and based on the post-processing apparatuses to be used in the job; and an instruction unit configured to instruct the inspection apparatus to perform inspection in accordance with the inspection item set by the setting unit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method that controls a printed material inspection system including a plurality of post-processing apparatuses that perform post-processing on a printed sheet, at least one inspection apparatus connected between the plurality of post-processing apparatuses that inspects the printed sheet, and a control apparatus that performs control for receiving a job and executing processing according to the job, the method comprising: a setting step of setting an inspection item to be inspected by the inspection apparatus based on configuration information indicating an anteroposterior relationship between the inspection apparatus and the post-processing apparatuses in the job relative to a conveyance direction of the printed sheet, and based on the post-processing apparatuses to be used in the job; and an instruction step of instructing the inspection apparatus to perform inspection in accordance with the inspection item set in the setting step.
According to the present invention, the freedom of a position in which an inspection apparatus is disposed can be increased, and thus the convenience for user can be increased as well.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinafter in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims, and that not all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solving means of the present invention.
A communication line 100 is used to carry out communication between a main body of the system (that is, the printing unit 101) and the accessory devices. The printing unit 101 prints onto paper supplied from a sheet feeding unit 104. A printing control unit 102 creates image data by analyzing print data received from a host computer 121, and also controls the printing unit 101 and communicates with the respective accessory devices via the communication line 100. An operation (UI) unit 103 displays information regarding the printing system in a display unit, and also includes various types of keys and the like used by a user to make printing settings. The sheet feeding unit 104 supplies paper for printing to the printing unit 101. A multi-inserter unit 105 is used to insert paper printed by another printing apparatus, divider sheets, and so on. A puncher unit 106 punches holes used for filing in printed paper that has been printed onto by the printing unit 101. A stacker unit 107 aligns, stacks, and holds the printed paper. A case-binding unit 108 inserts a sheet that serves as a cover into the paper printed by the printing unit 101 from the multi-inserter unit 105, and performs saddle stitching, case-binding, and so on. A folding unit 109 performs folding processes, such as Z folds, on the printed paper. A trimmer unit (cutting unit) 110 cuts off excess areas of the printed paper. A stapler/tray unit 111 aligns and holds the printed paper, and also performs a stapling process using staples. The host computer 121 outputs print data and the like to the printing unit 101. A LAN 122 connects the host computer 121 to the printing control unit 102 of the printing unit 101.
In a system configuration 1 shown in
A CPU 401 controls operations performed by the printing control unit 102. An ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 402 is a custom IC for controlling connections between respective functional blocks within the printing control unit 102. A ROM 403 holds operating programs of the CPU 401. A RAM 404 provides a work area during control operations performed by the CPU 401, and is also used to temporarily hold various types of data. An HDD 405 is a hard disk drive serving as an external storage device (storage unit). A network interface (NW I/F) unit 406 performs interfacing control for connecting to the LAN 122. An accessory interface (ACC I/F) unit 407 performs interfacing control for connecting to the communication line 100. A printer interface unit 408 communicates with the printing unit 101 that performs printing. A UI I/F unit 409 is a user interface unit for communicating with the operation unit 103.
Next, operations performed by the accessory devices used for post-processing in the system illustrated in
The multi-inserter unit 105 can insert multiple types of paper, such as heavy paper used as front and back cover paper, divider sheets, and so on, into the printed material printed by the printing unit 101. The puncher unit 106 can punch two holes, 26 holes, or the like in the end areas of the printed paper. The stacker unit 107 can stack and hold large amounts of the printed paper. The case-binding unit 108 can bind the paper printed onto by the printing unit 101 through saddle stitching, gluing, or the like, using a sheet that encloses the printed paper as a cover. The folding unit 109 can perform various types of folding processes on the printed paper. The trimmer unit 110 can perform cutting processes. The stapler/tray unit 111 can staple respective sets of the printed paper and stack those sets in an offset manner. A final printed product can be created by selecting these functions as desired and performing processes on the printed paper and on the sheets inserted from the multi-inserter unit 105.
Next, operations performed in the system configuration 1 shown in
This processing is started by the printing system being turned on; first, in 5501, the CPU 401 of the printing control unit 102 initializes the printing unit 101 and the accessory devices, and then initializes the system as a whole. The processing then advances to S502, where the CPU 401 confirms the system configuration through communication based on addresses allocated to the respective accessory devices from pre-stored config information, in order to confirm the connection states of all of the connected accessory devices. A method that allocates unique addresses using DIP switches when the accessory devices are installed, a method that sets the addresses in connection order through daisy chaining, and so on can be considered for addressing the respective accessory devices. For example, in the case of the system configuration 1 shown in
Meanwhile, in the case of the system configuration 2 shown in
Comparing Table 1 with Table 2, although the order in which the accessory devices are disposed is the same, the addresses of the accessory devices that follow the inspection unit change depending on the position at which the inspection unit is inserted.
The print data 130, which has been allocated to pages using application software in the host computer 121, is converted into print image data by a printer driver and is then sent to the printing control unit 102 via the LAN 122. Meanwhile, the inspection data 131 is output to the inspection unit 201. When the CPU 401 of the printing control unit 102 receives a job in S504, the processing advances to S505. In S505, the CPU 401 inputs the printing settings made by the user, after which the processing advances to S506, where the CPU 401 inputs inspection setting information (Table 5). When the user then sets divider sheets designated in that job (the job 1) in the multi-inserter unit 105 and instructs the printing to start, the CPU 401 starts printing using the printing unit 101 in S507. When all of the pages have been printed in S508, the processing returns to S503; if a shutdown request has been made, shutdown operations are performed. However, if there is no shutdown request, the processing advances to S504, where the system stands by for the next print job.
This processing is started when the printing system is turned on; first, in S601, the CPU 401 initializes the respective blocks in the printing control unit 102, after which the processing advances to S602. In S602, the CPU 401 reads out an operation program from the ROM 403, and commences operations while using the RAM 404 as a work memory. The processing then advances to S603, where the CPU 401 first causes the UI I/F unit 409 to display an initial screen during startup in the display unit of the operation unit 103, and then change the display details in accordance with the status of the system and the operation details. The processing then advances to S604, where the CPU 401 sets the NW I/F unit 406 to be capable of sending and receiving data. Next, in 5605, the CPU 401 initializes the printer I/F unit 408, and then sets the printer I/F unit 408 to be capable of printing operations. The processing then advances to S606, where the CPU 401 initializes the ACC I/F unit 407, reads out system configuration information stored in the HDD 405, and confirms the connection configuration of the accessory devices. Here, in the case where there is a change to the system configuration, the processing advances from S607 to S608, where the CPU 401 displays a confirmation screen to the user. Then, in S609, when the user inputs “OK” indicating that s/he has confirmed the change, the CPU 401 stores the details of the change in the HDD 405. On the other hand, in the case where “OK” is not specified in S609, or in other words, if there is an instruction to retry, the processing returns to S606, where communication is carried out and the connections are confirmed.
In this manner, the printing control unit 102 can confirm the connection configuration of the accessory devices at startup, and can allow the user to confirm the connection configuration if a change has been made from a previous configuration.
Next, processing performed when the printing control unit 102 receives a job and carries out printing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in
When the CPU 401 determines that the NW I/F unit 406 has received a job in S701, the processing advances to S702, where the CPU 401 stores the received data in the RAM 404. When all of the data of that job has been received in S703, the processing advances to S704, where the CPU 401 causes the operation unit 103 to display a print standby screen via the UI I/F unit 409.
Then, when the CPU 401 determines in S705 that the user has selected a job, the processing advances to S706, where the CPU 401 displays a printing setting screen of that job in the display unit of the operation unit 103. Here, if the job is, for example, the job 1, the display instructs the user to set divider sheets in the multi-inserter unit 105, indicates that a hole-punching process has been specified, indicates that the holding destination is the stacker unit 107, and so on. Through this, the user confirms the printing settings, and then sets the divider sheets in the multi-inserter unit 105 in accordance with those settings; then, when the printing settings are completed, the processing advances from S707 to S708, where the CPU 401 displays a setting screen for setting inspection items in the display unit of the operation unit 103. When the user makes inspection settings using this setting screen, the inspection items therein are communicated to the inspection unit, and the inspection unit inspects the paper in accordance therewith. The processing then advances from S709 to S710, where the CPU 401 displays a job start screen. When the job is then instructed to be started, the processing advances to S711, where the CPU 401 starts the processing of the job.
In S711, the CPU 401 extracts print data and page control data from the received print job, and creates video data from the print data. The processing then advances to S712, where, based on the page control data, the related accessory devices are instructed of the details of the processing and the pages to be processed. For example, if the job is the job 1, a sheet feeding tray holding paper to be inserted and the pages where the paper is to be inserted are specified to the multi-inserter unit 105, the puncher unit 106 is instructed to punch holes in all of the pages, and the stacker unit 107 is instructed to stack all of the pages. The processing then advances to S713, where the CPU 401 sends the created video data to the printing unit 101 via the printer I/F unit 408, after which the printing is performed. Then, in S714, the CPU 401 outputs the video data until all of the pages have been printed; when all of the pages are held in the stacker unit 107, the processing advances to S715, where the user is notified that the job has ended by a display made in the display unit of the operation unit 103.
When the “details” for the multi-inserter unit in
Furthermore, when “details” for the inspection unit as shown in
Here, a job in which divider sheets are inserted from the multi-inserter unit 105, punch holes used for filing are provided in the ends of the paper by the puncher unit 106, and the paper is held in the stacker unit 107 is taken as the job 1. Meanwhile, a job in which the printed paper is folded by the folding unit 109 is taken as a job 2, and a job that is cut by the trimmer unit 110 and output to the stapler/tray unit 111 is taken as a job 3. In the case where the respective jobs are to be processed by the system configuration 1 shown in
Table 3 indicates whether or not the respective accessory devices will be used for the jobs 1 to 3 in the case of the system configuration 1 (
Meanwhile, Table 4 indicates whether or not the respective accessory devices will be used for the jobs 1 to 3 in the case of the system configuration 2 (
As is clear from Table 3 and Table 4, with the system configuration 2, the inspection unit 301 is not used in the job 1, and is used only in the job 2 and the job 3.
Meanwhile, Table 5 indicates the inspection setting information set through the operation unit 103 in the system configuration 1, whereas Table 6 indicates the inspection setting information set through the operation unit 103 in the system configuration 2. Note that in Table 5 and Table 6, “−” indicates that it is not necessary for an accessory device to operate in the print job, grayed-out areas indicate items that cannot be inspected, and “A” and “B” indicate inspection levels.
In Table 5, the settings are such that in the case where the job 1 is processed by the system configuration 1 (
In the case where the job 2, in which folding is carried out by the folding unit 109, is processed by the system configuration 1, “slanting”, “blurring”, “soiling”, “front/back identification”, and so on can be inspected, but scanning, and consequently inspection, cannot be carried out after the processing by the folding unit 109; as a result, the settings are as shown in Table 5. Meanwhile, when the job 2 is processed by the system configuration 2, the inspection cannot be performed by the inspection unit 301 after the folding process performed by the folding unit 109, and thus the settings are the same as those in Table 5.
Although the setting items and the like differ from those in the job 1, the operations of the printing control unit 102 when the job 2 is processed are basically the same as the job 1, and thus descriptions thereof will be omitted.
In the case where the job 3, in which the paper is cut and is then output to the stapler/tray unit 111, is processed by the system configuration 1, “slanting”, “blurring”, “soiling”, “front/back identification”, and so on can be inspected, but because the inspection unit 201 is located before the trimmer unit 110, the result of the trimming cannot be inspected. Accordingly, the settings are as shown in Table 5. Meanwhile, when the job 3 is processed by the system configuration 2, the inspection unit 301 follows the trimmer unit 110, and it is thus possible to inspect the cut paper; accordingly, the settings are as shown in Table 6.
Although the above describes a configuration in which various types of accessory devices are connected in the system configuration 1, in the case where accessory devices aside from the inspection unit are removed, the post-processing of those accessory devices cannot be carried out.
The system configuration 3 in
Meanwhile, Table 8 indicates whether or not the respective accessory devices are used in the job 1, the job 2, and the job 3, in the case of the system configuration 3 shown in
In the system configuration 3 shown in
In this manner, when the presence/absence of the various types of accessory devices that configure the printing system is changed, it is necessary to change the job settings and the inspection settings in accordance therewith. Furthermore, because the details that can be inspected change depending on where the inspection unit is connected, it is also necessary to change the inspection items, details, and so on in accordance with the connection location, inspecting the printed material in accordance with those changes.
In this manner, depending on the connection position of the inspection unit, there are cases where the inspection details are changed, the inspection cannot be carried out, and so on. However, it is possible to address the situation by providing inspection units in two locations and using the operation unit 103 to designate which inspection unit is to inspect an image depending on the job to be printed. In this case, the inspection may be carried out using the designated inspection unit, and the other inspection unit may be used only to convey the paper to a later-stage accessory device.
Operations performed at this time will be described hereinafter.
This processing is started by the printing system being turned on; first, in S1201, the CPU 401 of the printing control unit 102 initializes the printing unit 101 and the accessory devices, and then initializes the system as a whole. The processing then advances to S1202, where the CPU 401 confirms the system configuration through communication based on addresses allocated to the respective accessory devices from pre-stored config information, in order to confirm the connection configuration of all of the connected accessory devices. After this, the print data 130, which has been allocated to pages using application software in the host computer 121, is converted into print image data by a printer driver and is then sent to the printing control unit 102 via the LAN 122. Meanwhile, the inspection data 131 is output to inspection units 401 and 402. In S1203, the CPU 401 performs shutdown operations if a shutdown request has been made; the processing advances to S1204 if no shutdown request has been made, and the system stands by to receive the next print job.
A job is received in S1204, and when the CPU 401 determines that all of the print data 130 of that received job has been received, the processing advances from S1204 to S1205, where the user makes printing settings. The processing then advances to S1206, where the inspection unit to be used is switched in accordance with the received job; the processing then advances to S1207, where inspection settings inputted by the user are accepted. At this time, for example, the user sets divider sheets designated in the received job in the multi-inserter unit 105. The CPU 401 then commences the printing in S1208. The processing then advances to S1209, and when the CPU 401 determines that all of the pages specified in that job have been printed, the processing advances to S1203.
Meanwhile, in the case where a plurality of inspection units are connected as shown in
In the configuration shown in
The above describes connecting two inspection units in separate locations, inspecting the printed material using only one of the inspection units, and using the other inspection unit only to convey the paper. However, it is of course possible to inspect the printed material using two inspection units.
The above has described the necessity to change inspection settings depending on the connection positions of the inspection units in the printing system. Next, a process for obtaining the inspection data from print data allocated to pages by application software in the host computer 121 will be described.
The areas of the two holes shown in
Meanwhile, in the case of inspection using the system configuration 2 shown in
The inspection data is created by the host computer 121 based on the post-processing settings and the inspection settings for the inspection unit in the print data as well as the connection position of the inspection unit, and is then output to the inspection unit. Meanwhile, it is also possible for the inspection unit to create the inspection data from the print data output from the host computer 121, based on the post-processing settings and the inspection settings for the inspection unit as well as the connection position of the inspection unit.
Last, an inspection process in the case where paper is inserted using the multi-inserter unit 105 will be described.
In the case where divider sheets are inserted, the paper type thereof is registered in advance in the host computer 121 and the inspection unit, and that paper type is designated when inputting the printing setting information and the inspection setting information. Through this, inspection can be performed by linking paper information of the inserted paper designated in the job with the paper that is inserted. Meanwhile, in the case where printed paper is inserted, a printed image is saved in the host computer 121 in the case where the inserted paper has been printed, or a printed image is transferred from another device and is designated as an inserted page in printing allocation information for the job. In this manner, the print job is created from the print data, image data of the inserted pages, and the page allocation information, and the printing and inspection are carried out based on the data of the print job.
As described above, in a printing system in which various accessory devices are connected and used, image data obtained by reading printed paper will differ depending on post-processing performed by the accessory devices. Accordingly, as described in the present embodiment, in the case where an inspection unit is connected as an accessory device, it is necessary to change the details that are inspected depending on where the inspection unit is disposed. According to the present embodiment, in a printing system in which various accessory devices are connected, the freedom of the position where an inspection apparatus is disposed can be increased, and the convenience can be increased for a user as a result.
Aspects of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus (or devices such as a CPU or MPU) that reads out and executes a program recorded on a memory device to perform the functions of the above-described embodiments, and by a method, the steps of which are performed by a computer of a system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing a program recorded on a memory device to perform the functions of the above-described embodiments. For this purpose, the program is provided to the computer for example via a network or from a recording medium of various types serving as the memory device (e.g., computer-readable medium).
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-128401, filed Jun. 5, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-128401 | Jun 2012 | JP | national |
