Patent Application
20110157642
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a method for controlling a printing apparatus, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, some image forming apparatuses (or printing apparatuses) are equipped with the function of printing or transmitting document information stored in a hard disk drive (HDD) of the image forming apparatus in response to an operation of an operation unit of the image forming apparatus. This function is called “box function”. In printing with use of this function, a user can specify, through an operation unit, layout settings including a reduction layout such as the 2-in-1 or 4-in-1 layout, and finishing settings such as stapling and punching according to the capability of the mounted post-processing apparatus (finisher). However, the settable staple position and punch position are limited depending on the capability of the finisher (post-processing apparatus) connected to an image forming apparatus. Especially, there is a plurality of types of finishers, and various limits exist according to the capability of a finisher, the size of a paper to be used, and an image orientation. Therefore, when a user performs print settings merely by selecting one of options such as the upper right, lower right, upper left, or lower left of an image, the finishing processing may be performed in a different way from the user's intention, or sometimes no finishing processing may be applied, depending on the set contents. Further, there is even the print setting for dynamically changing the orientation of an image to be printed according to the number of images to be allocated on one sheet, such as a reduction layout. Therefore, the user should exercise great care to perform print settings, imagining the output result.
Following methods has been discussed to solve these problems. In the first method, an apparatus stores a preview of a finishing layout for each print condition in advance, thereby reading out the preview of the finishing layout corresponding to the print condition specified by a user, and applying a correction to the read-out finishing layout according to a user's specification such as a paper type (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-227849). In the second method, there is a printing apparatus capable of generating and displaying a preview image based on document information according to print settings, and allowing a user to change predetermined items such as finishing settings within the range of the print settings at that moment (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-11847).
On the other hand, aside from the above-mentioned techniques, recently, files in the general-purpose formats such as the Portable Digital Format (PDF) format and the XML Paper Specification (XPS) format has been used. However, when a document information in a general-purpose format such as the PDF format and XPS format is stored in an HDD thereafter the document information is printed, a user cannot recognize the image size and the orientation of the print target document. Therefore, in the above-mentioned techniques a user cannot determine the corresponding finishing layout, and thereby printing apparatus cannot present correct post-processing settings to a user. The Portable Document Format (abbreviated as “PDF”) format is a file format with respect to electronic documents, which was developed and has been proposed by Adobe Systems Incorporated. The XML Paper Specification (XPS) format is a file format for electronic files with a fixed layout, which enables file sharing while maintaining the document format. Both of them are an example of general-purpose file formats.
For example, in the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-227849, it is possible to determine a finishing layout corresponding to a specified print condition since the image size and the image orientation of a print target document is known. Therefore, it is possible to present a finishing preview to a user. In addition, the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-11847 can also determine the image size and image orientation of a print target document since it generates a preview image. However, both of these methods cannot provide a preview for document information in a general-purpose file format. Further, a preview image is regenerated after a user instructs a change in print settings, thereby resulting in deterioration of the performance of print setting change and reduction in the usability.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus, to which a post-processing apparatus for performing post-processing on a printed sheet is connectable, includes a storage unit configured to store document information of which file format is a predetermined file format, a generating unit configured to generate an image corresponding to the document information by analyzing the document information stored in the storage unit, a determining unit configured to determine a size of the sheet on which the image is printed, an obtaining unit configured to obtain a capability of the post-processing apparatus, and a control unit configured to display a settable post-processing position on a display unit according to the size of the sheet determined by the determining unit, and the capability of the post-processing apparatus obtained by the obtaining unit.
Further features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
A random access memory (RAM) 102 is a system work memory for use in an operation of the CPU 101, and is also a memory for temporarily storing image data. The ROM 103 stores, for example, a boot program of the apparatus. The HDD 104 (storage unit) can store system software, image data, and a document file in a general-purpose file format such as the PDF format and the XPS format. An operation unit interface (I/F) 105 is an interface unit for a connection between the system bus 107 and an operation unit 121. The operation unit I/F 105 receives image data to be displayed on the operation unit 121 (which also functions as a display unit) from the system bus 107 and outputs it to the operation unit 121, and also outputs information received via the operation unit 121 to the system bus 107.
A network I/F 106 is connected to a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) 124 and the system bus 107, and handles bidirectional exchanges of data between the MFP 100 and another apparatus. An image bus 120 is a transmission path for exchanging image data, and is constituted by a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394. A scanner image processing unit 112 performs correction, processing, and edit on image data received from a scanner unit 122 through a scanner I/F 111. An embedded information extracting unit 110 detects a pattern and extracts additional information embedded in a background image from image data. A compression unit 113 receives image data and compresses the image data. A decompression unit 115 rasterizes data after decompressing it, and transmits the rasterized data to a printer image processing unit 117. The printer image processing unit 117 receives the image data transmitted from the decompression unit 115, and applies image processing on the image data by referring to attribute data accompanying the image data.
Further, code image data generated by a code image generation unit 116 is combined with image data if an instruction therefor is issued. The code image generation unit 116 generates code image data such as a two-dimensional code image, a barcode image, and an image generated by the information embedding technique. Generation of a code image is realized by execution of a program stored in the RAM 102. After the image processing is performed, image data is output to a printer unit 123 via a printer I/F 118. An image conversion unit 114 applies predetermined conversion processing such as rotation, color space conversion, binary-to-multivalued conversion, image combining, and thinning to image data. A raster image processor (RIP) unit 108 receives intermediate data generated based on page description language (PDL) code data, and generates bitmap data (multivalued data). The generated bitmap data is compressed by a compression unit 109 and then is transmitted to the image bus 120. An authentication processing unit 119 authenticates a user and a workgroup using user information input at the operation unit 121, and in addition, performs print job authentication. Further, the authentication processing unit 119 manages information of authenticated users and workgroups. A finisher unit 126 can be connected to the image forming apparatus, and performs various kinds of post-processing such as stapling processing, punching processing, and sorting processing on a sheet bundle formed by stacking a plurality of sheets discharged from the printer unit 123.
Each of the documents conveyed to the predetermined position on the platen glass 202 is scanned by the scanner unit 203 from the left to the right thereof so that the image on the document is readout. When the scanner unit 203 scans a document, a surface of the document to be read out is irradiated with the light of a lamp of the scanner unit 203, and the reflected light from the document is guided to a lens through a mirror. The light, which has passed through this lens, forms an optical image on an imaging plane of an image sensor 204. This optical image is converted by the image sensor 204 into image data, and is output. The image data output from the image sensor 204 is input into an exposure control unit 205 of the printer unit 123 as a video signal, after predetermined processing is applied to the image data by the scanner image processing unit 112.
Next, image formation on one side of a sheet will be described. The exposure control unit 205 of the printer unit 123 modulates and outputs laser light based on the input video signal. Irradiation of the laser light is applied onto a photosensitive drum 206 while a polygonal mirror (not-shown) for example is scanning with the laser light. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 206 according to the scanning laser light. This electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 206 is converted into a visible image as a developed image by a developer supplied from a development unit 207. Further, a sheet is fed from cassettes 208 and 209 or a manual feeding tray 210. This fed sheet stops after the leading edge thereof abuts on a registration roller 211, and the sheet is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 206 and a transfer unit 212 in synchronization with a start of the laser light radiation. The skew state of the sheet can be corrected owing to the stop of the sheet after the leading edge thereof abuts on the registration roller 211.
Then, the developed image formed on the photosensitive drum 206 is transferred onto the fed sheet by the transfer unit 212. The sheet with the developed image transferred thereon is conveyed to a fixing unit 213. The fixing unit 213 causes the developed image to be fixed on the sheet by hot-pressing the sheet. The sheet, which has passed through the fixing unit 213, is conveyed toward a flapper 215 by a conveyance roller 214, and is then conveyed toward a discharge roller 216 by the flapper 215. After that, the sheet is discharged from the printer unit 123 to the finisher unit 126 via the discharge roller 216. At this time, the sheet is discharged face up.
Alternatively, it is possible to discharge the sheet face down to the finisher unit 126. When the sheet is discharged face down, the flapper 215 is switched so that the sheet, which has passed through the fixing unit 213, is guided to an inverse conveyance path 217, and therefore the sheet is conveyed into the inverse conveyance path 217 via the flapper 215 with the aid of conveyance rollers 218 and 219. Then, the sheet conveyed to the inverse conveyance path 217 is switched back, whereby the front side and back side of the sheet are reversed. The sheet, the front and back of which have been reversed, is discharged from the printer unit 123 to the finisher unit 126 via the discharge roller 216.
The finisher unit 126 includes a first punch unit 220 and a staple stacker unit 221, and can perform various kinds of post-processing such as stapling processing, punching processing, and sorting processing on a sheet bundle formed by stacking a plurality of sheets with use of the units 220 and 221. The first punch unit 220 is a unit for performing multi-holes punch processing. The first punch unit 220 includes an inlet conveyance roller 222 for receiving the sheet discharged from the printer unit 123 into the first punch unit 220. The sheet conveyed into the first punch unit 220 is conveyed toward a discharge roller 224 or a conveyance roller 225 according to a switching operation of a flapper 223.
The sheet is conveyed toward the discharge roller 224 by the flapper 223 when the sheet is directly conveyed to the staple stacker unit 221 without being processed by the first punch unit 220. On the other hand, the sheet is conveyed toward the conveyance roller 225 by the flapper 223 when multi-holes punching processing is applied to the sheet. A conveyance roller 226, a sensor 227, a punch unit 228, and an abutting plate 229 are disposed at the downstream side of the conveyance roller 225. The sensor 227 is a sensor for detecting the leading edge of the sheet. The punch unit 228 performs multi-holes punching processing to form a large number of holes, for example, 30 holes at the leading edge of the sheet (the part of the sheet which becomes the head in the sheet conveyance direction). The abutting plate 229 is normally disposed at such a position that the sheet conveyance path is opened. The abutting plate 229 is rotated by π/2 (rad) degrees at predetermined timing so as to protrude into the sheet conveyance path for enabling the leading edge of the sheet to abut against the abutting plate 229.
This abutment of the leading edge of the sheet against the abutting plate 229 enables the sheet to be positioned relative to the punch unit 228 with predetermined accuracy. Conveyance rollers 230 to 233 are disposed at the downstream side of the abutting plate 229, and the conveyance path for guiding the sheet to the discharge roller 224 is formed by the conveyance rollers 230 to 233. The staple stacker unit 221 includes an inlet roller 234 for receiving the sheet discharged from the first punch unit 220 into the staple stacker unit 221. The sheet conveyed into the staple stacker unit 221 via the inlet roller 234 is guided into a second punch unit 235.
The second punch unit 235 performs several-holes punching processing for forming a small number of holes, such as 2 to 4 holes at the trailing edge of the sheet (the part of the sheet which becomes the trailing edge in the sheet conveyance direction) when the several-holes punching processing is set. On the other hand, the second punch unit 235 operates to convey the sheet to the downstream side without applying any processing to the sheet when the several-holes punching processing is not set. The second punch unit 235 contains a sensor 236 for detecting the trailing edge of the sheet, and an abutting plate 237 on which the trailing edge of the sheet abuts. When the second punch unit 235 performs the several-holes punching processing, a conveyance roller in the second punch unit 235 is rotated in the reverse direction at predetermined timing after the sensor 236 detects the trailing edge of the sheet.
Further, the abutting plate 237 is rotated by π/2 (rad) degrees so as to protrude into the sheet conveyance path. The sheet is switched back toward the abutting plate 237, and is stopped with the trailing edge thereof abutting on the abutting plate 237. While the sheet is positioned based on the trailing edge of the sheet in this way, a small number of holes are formed through the trailing edge of the sheet. After that, the sheet is conveyed toward a flapper 238 by the above-mentioned conveyance roller. The flapper 238 functions to switch the conveyance path to guide the sheet toward a non-sort path 239 or a conveyance roller 240. When post-processing such as sorting processing, punching processing and stapling processing is not set and the sheet is discharged without any post-processing applied thereto, the sheet is guided to the non-sort path 239 by the flapper 238.
The sheet guided to the non-sort path 239 is discharged onto a stack tray 242 by a conveyance roller 241. When post-processing such as sorting processing and stapling processing is set to the sheet, the printer unit 123 discharges the sheet face down to the finisher unit 126. Then, the sheet conveyed to the finisher unit 126 is conveyed to the staple stacker unit 221 through the first punch unit 220, and after that, is guided to the conveyance roller 240 by the flapper 238. Subsequently, the sheet is discharged onto a sheet bundle discharge belt 243 by the conveyance roller 240. A not-shown low frictional intermediate processing tray is disposed several millimeters above the sheet bundle discharge belt 243 in a manner extending in parallel with the sheet stack discharge belt 243, and actually, sheets are discharged onto the intermediate processing tray. The discharged sheets are moved downward to the right along the intermediate processing tray (sheet bundle discharge belt 243) under their own weight.
Further, a fan-shaped return roller 244 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, causing a frictional member disposed on the outer edge of the roller 244 to abut on the sheets. This abutment of the frictional member results in application of a force onto the sheets so as to drop the sheets downward to the right, thereby making the ends of the sheets abut on a stopper plate 245. This mechanism can align the sheets in the vertical direction (conveyance direction) of the sheets. Further, alignment plates 246 are disposed on the intermediate processing tray so as to be positioned at the front side and the rear side of the intermediate processing tray, respectively. The alignment plates 246 are driven each time a sheet is discharged onto the intermediate processing tray. Due to the alignment plates 246, the sheets can be aligned in the lateral direction (the width direction) of the sheets on the intermediate processing tray.
Then, when a predetermined number of sheets are discharged and stacked on the intermediate processing tray, the paper bundle discharge belt 243 is driven so that the sheets are discharged onto the stack tray 242 or 247. If the stapling mode is set, sheets of the number corresponding to one bundle for stapling are discharged onto the intermediate processing tray, and the sheets are aligned in the lateral direction of the sheets with the aid of the alignment plates 246. After that, the stapling unit 248 is driven to staple the sheet bundle, and the stapled sheet bundle is discharged onto the stack tray 242 or 247 by the paper stack discharge belt 243. The stack trays 242 and 247 are configured to be vertically movable. Further, sensors 248 and 249 for detecting presence of a sheet are disposed on the stack trays 242 and 247, respectively. Further, the stapling unit 248 can apply “corner staple”, i.e., stapling the rear-side position at the trailing edge of the sheets, and “double staple”, i.e., stapling two positions at the trailing edge of the sheets. A user sets at which position(s) of the sheets stapling is applied. The image forming apparatus may be embodied by a color image forming apparatus or a monochrome image forming apparatus. The present exemplary embodiment is described, assuming that the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, but the image forming apparatus may be embodied by an ink-jet printing image forming apparatus.
Then, in step S304, the printer image processing unit 117 generates, on the RAM 102, a thumbnail image of the document information obtained by the CPU 101 from the HDD 104. More specifically, the printer image processing unit 117 interprets the obtained document information with use of a not-shown interpreter, and rasterizes it on the RAM 102, thereby generating the thumbnail image. At this time, the interpreter analyzes the page header and the file header, whereby the printer image processing unit 117 can obtain page information including, for example, the number of pages, the page size of the image, the image orientation, and the sheet size contained in the document information.
After the thumbnail image generation is completed in this way, the processing proceeds to step S305 in which the CPU 101 obtains the thumbnail image information and the page information of the document information from the printer image processing unit 117. Then, the CPU 101 registers the generated thumbnail image information in an image data management table 400 in
In the present exemplary embodiment, the stapling unit 248 included in the finisher unit 126 can apply “corner staple”, i.e., stapling the rear-side position or the front-side position at the trailing edge of sheets, and “double staple”, i.e., stapling two positions at the trailing edge of sheets, as mentioned above.
First, in step S501, the CPU 101 receives, through the operation unit I/F 105, a document list display request which a user inputs with use of the operation unit 121. After that, in step S502, the CPU 101 displays a stored document list in
Then, in step S505, the CPU 101 receives, through the operation unit I/F 105, a request which the user inputs with use of the operation unit 121, and determines whether the received request is a print request or a print setting change request. If the CPU 101 determines in step S505 that the request received from the user is a print request (PRINT REQUEST in step S505), then the processing proceeds to step S511. On the other hand, if the CPU 101 determines in step S505 that the request received from the user is a print setting change request (PRINT SETTING CHANGE in step S505), then the processing proceeds to step S506 in which the CPU 101 further determines whether the received print setting change request is a request for changing the staple setting. If the CPU 101 determines in step S506 that the received request is not a request for changing the staple setting (NO in step S506), the processing proceeds to step S510.
On the other hand, if the CPU 101 determines in step S506 that the received request is a request for changing the staple setting (YES in step S506), the processing proceeds to step S507 in which the CPU 101 obtains the set print setting information. Then, in step S508, the CPU 101 determines whether the setting based on the obtained print setting information is feasible by referring to, for example, the information regarding the capability of the finisher in
Therefore, the staple setting screen as illustrated in
Further, since an output image preview in which the print settings are reflected can be displayed along with an image to be actually printed, a user can visually confirm the print settings. Further, since the processing of generating an image for a preview is not carried out when a print setting is changed, an output preview can be quickly displayed, and a setting change made by a user can be quickly reflected into the output preview.
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 storage medium). In such a case, the system or apparatus, and the recording medium where the program is stored, are included as being within the scope of the present invention
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 modifications, equivalent structures, and functions.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-296515 filed Dec. 26, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-296515 | Dec 2009 | JP | national |
