JPH08295455A - Image forming apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an image forming apparatus and a control method thereof for selecting a sheet having an optimal stapling position based on an image direction or a printing format and performing stapling. [Structure] During single-sided printing, if the image is a vertically long image, a sheet that is short in the transport direction is selected (S1
03), and if the image is horizontally long, the paper that is long in the transport direction is selected (S104). Then, printing is performed and the output paper is stapled (S105).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a stapling function and its control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus having a stapling function, since there is only one position where stapling is possible, stapling is performed without considering the printing direction of an image and the sheet direction.

[0003]

Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is a problem that the desired sheet position may not be stapled without considering the sheet direction selected for the image and the front and back sides of the sheet. It was

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an image forming apparatus and a sheet forming apparatus that perform stapling by selecting a sheet having an optimum stapling position based on the image direction or printing format. The purpose is to provide a control method.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the control method of the image forming apparatus of the present invention has the following steps.

That is, in a control method of an image forming apparatus having a stapling function, a selection step of selecting a paper orientation in which a staple position is optimum based on a direction of a developed image, and a paper selected in the selection step are selected. And a control step of controlling to form an image and perform stapling.

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has the following structure.

That is, in the image forming apparatus having the stapling function, the selecting means for selecting the orientation of the paper having the optimum stapling position based on the direction of the developed image, and the image is formed on the paper selected by the selecting means. And a control unit that controls to perform stapling.

[0009]

In such a construction, the image is formed on the sheet of which the stapling position is optimal based on the direction of the developed image, and the stapling is performed.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image forming system according to this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image input device (hereinafter referred to as a reader unit) that optically reads a document, converts it into image data, and outputs the image data. An image output device (hereinafter, referred to as a printer unit) that outputs a visible image on a recording sheet. The reader unit 1
The configuration and operation of the printer unit 2 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an extended function box connected to the reader unit 1. A core unit 4 for comprehensively controlling the extended function box 3 and a computer interface unit 5 for transmitting / receiving data between an external computer (not shown). And a format unit 6 for converting page description data sent from an external computer into image data.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the construction of the reader unit 1 and the printer unit 2 described above. The configuration and operation will be described below with reference to FIG.

When the originals stacked on the original feeding device 101 are successively conveyed one by one to a predetermined position on the original glass platen 102, the lamp 103 of the scanner unit is turned on and the scanner unit 104 is moved. The document is illuminated. The reflected light of the document is reflected by the mirrors 105, 106, 107 and the lens 10.
CCD image sensor unit 109 (hereinafter,
(Called CDD). The reflected light of the document applied to the CDD 109 is photoelectrically converted here, and the converted electric signal is sent to the image processing unit 110, subjected to various kinds of image processing, and transferred to the printer unit 2.

The electric signal transferred to the printer section 2 is modulated into an optical signal by the exposure control section 201 and illuminates the photoconductor 202. The latent image formed on the photoconductor 202 by the irradiation light is developed by the developing device 203. The transfer paper is conveyed from the transfer paper stacking unit 204 or 205 at the same time as the leading edge of the developed image, and is transferred at the transfer unit 206.
The developed image described above is transferred. Then, the transferred image is fixed on the transfer paper by the fixing unit 207, and then the paper discharge unit 2
It is discharged to outside the device from 08.

When the sorting function of the transfer paper output from the paper output unit 208 is working in the sorting device 220 having a plurality of sorting bins, each of the bins or when the sorting function is not working, It is discharged to the top bin of the sorting device. With this sorting device, it is possible to sort a maximum of 20 copies. This sorting device has a stapling function and can staple the output paper output to each bin after the sorting is completed.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the sorting apparatus according to this embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 230 denotes an output paper, which is conveyed from the printer unit 2 and when the image “A” of the output paper 230 is output to the sorting device 220 in the orientation as shown in the figure, the stapling device moves the upper right corner of the image. Stapled.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the operation panel section provided in the reader section 1. In the figure, reference numeral 300 denotes a stapling operation selection key. By pressing this key, options 319 such as Auto and bin designation are displayed on the display unit 301.
Is displayed. In addition, the status of the device 3 is displayed on the display unit 301.
02, auto 303, enlargement / reduction ratio 312, selected paper size 304, number of copies 305, and the like are displayed. An OK key 306 is pressed when the setting is acceptable. 307
Is a guide key, which is used when you want to know each function. Reference numeral 308 denotes an arrow key, which is used when selecting from options on the display. 309 is a numeric keypad,
Used to input the number of copies, output sorter bin number, etc. Three
A paper selection key 10 is used to select the size of paper to be copied. Reference numeral 311 denotes a standard size reduction key, a normal size copy, and a standard size expansion key, which are used when reducing, scaling or expanding. Three
An AE key 13 automatically adjusts the copy density with respect to the original density. A reset key 314 is used to reset various settings. A start key 315 starts a copying operation in the currently set mode. A stop key 316 is a key used when the copying operation is interrupted or stopped. An interrupt key 317 is pressed when an interrupt copy is desired during copying. A preheat key 318 is used to turn on / off the preheat mode.

Next, the stapling operation in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a vertically long image in single-sided printing, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a horizontally long image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a vertically long image during double-sided printing, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a horizontally long image.

First, in step S101, it is checked whether single-sided printing or double-sided printing, and if it is single-sided printing, step S1.
In step 02, it is determined whether the image converted by the formatter unit 6 is a vertically long image as shown in FIG. If the image is vertically long, the process proceeds to step S103,
As shown in FIG. 6B, a sheet that is short in the transport direction is selected. If the determination result in step S102 is a horizontally long image as shown in FIG. 7A, the process proceeds to step S104, and as shown in FIG.
Select a sheet that is long in the transport direction. Next, in step S105, the printer unit 2 is activated to perform printing, and the output paper is stapled.

On the other hand, in step S101 described above,
If it is double-sided printing, the process advances to step S106 to determine whether the image to be printed is a portrait image. Here, if the image is a portrait image, the process proceeds to step S107, and it is checked whether to print in order from the first page or the last page. Here, when printing is performed from the first page, the last page is at the top as shown in FIG. 8B, and therefore the process proceeds to step S104, and a sheet that is long in the transport direction is selected. Further, when printing from the last page, the first page is at the top of the sorter as shown in FIG. 8A, and therefore the process proceeds to step S103, and a sheet that is short in the transport direction is selected. .

In step S106, if the image is horizontally long, the process proceeds to step S108, and as shown in FIG. 9, the reverse process to that of the vertically long image is performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a vertically long image is output and stapled at the time of single-sided printing, as shown in FIG. By printing the image with the staple position facing up, the staple position can be at the upper left of the image. Further, when outputting an image in the landscape direction and stapling, as shown in FIG. 7, by selecting a sheet that is long in the transport direction and printing the image so that the staple position is at the top, In contrast, it can be printed on the upper left.

On the other hand, in double-sided printing, when printing from the last page in order, the first page is the top on the sorter, and when printing from the first page, the first page is the bottom. By outputting as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, it becomes possible to staple at the upper left of the image.

In the present embodiment, the orientation of the paper for which the staple position is optimum has been described as the upper left with respect to the image. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be set to the upper right by a key on the operation panel unit. . In that case, the processes of steps S103 and S104 shown in FIG. 5 may be exchanged.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device.

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to improve the convenience for the user by selecting the paper having the optimal stapling position based on the direction of the image or the printing format and performing the stapling at the optimum position.

[0031]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a reader unit 1 and a printer unit 2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing a sorting device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an operation panel unit provided in the reader unit 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a vertically long image during single-sided printing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of stapling a horizontally long image during single-sided printing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of stapling a vertically long image during double-sided printing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of stapling a horizontally long image during duplex printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 reader unit 2 printer unit 3 extended function box 4 core unit 5 computer interface unit 6 formatter unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a stapling function, comprising: selecting means for selecting an orientation of a paper sheet having an optimal staple position based on a direction of a developed image; and an image formed on the paper sheet selected by the selecting means. Then, the image forming apparatus is provided with a control unit that controls to perform stapling. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit further selects a paper orientation having an optimal staple position according to single-sided or double-sided printing. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the orientation of the paper for which the stapling position is optimum is a case where stapling is performed at the upper left of the image. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the orientation of the paper for which the staple position is optimum can be set by the user in advance. 5. A method of controlling an image forming apparatus having a stapling function, comprising: a selecting step of selecting a paper orientation having an optimal staple position based on a direction of a developed image; and a step of selecting a sheet selected by the selecting step. And a control step of controlling so as to form an image and perform stapling. 6. The method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the selecting step further selects the orientation of the paper for which the staple position is optimum according to single-sided or double-sided printing. 7. The method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the orientation of the paper for which the stapling position is optimum is a case where stapling is performed at the upper left of the image. 8. The image forming method according to claim 5, wherein the orientation of the paper for which the staple position is optimum can be set in advance by the user.