# US 11,077,683 B2 · Image forming apparatus and storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,077,683 B2 - Document ID: US11077683B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/802,751 - Filed: 2020-02-27 - Published: 2020-09-03 - Granted: 2021-08-03 - Earliest claimed: 2019-02-28 - Assignees: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi; Hirotaka Aoki; Masao Mimoto - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11077683B2 ## CPC - B41J 3/01: for special character, e.g. for Chinese characters or barcodes - B41J 13/0009: {control of the transport of the copy material} - B41J 13/0027: {in the printing section of automatic paper handling systems} - B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS ## Abstract An image forming apparatus configured to: decide a conveying distance for a conveying processing based on image data stored in a memory; and shorten, in a case where it is determined that a code image is to be formed by a plurality of scanning processing including a first scanning processing and a second scanning processing, the decided conveying distance for: (i) one conveying processing which is executed immediately before the first scanning processing; or (ii) at least one of a plurality of conveying processing which are respectively executed immediately before each of a plurality of scanning processing which includes the first scanning processing and at least one scanning processing executed before the first scanning processing, so that the code image is not to be formed in the first scanning processing and the code image is started to be formed from the second scanning processing. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An image forming apparatus comprising: a memory; a recording head configured to record an image on a recording medium based on image data stored in the memory; a conveyor unit configured to convey the recording medium in a conveying direction; a carriage having the recording head mounted thereto and capable of reciprocally moving in a scanning direction perpendicular to the conveying direction; and a controller configured to: execute a conveying processing in which the recording medium is conveyed in the conveying direction by the conveyor unit; execute a scanning processing in which the image is recorded on the recording medium by the recording head with moving the carriage in the scanning direction when the conveying processing is not executed; decide a conveying distance for the conveying processing based on the image data stored in the memory; determine whether an image including a code image having a plurality of printing regions and a plurality of non-printing regions is to be formed on the recording medium based on the image data stored in the memory; determine, in a case where it is determined that the image including the code image is to be formed on the recording medium, whether the code image is to be formed by a plurality of the scanning processing including a first scanning processing and a second scanning processing if the conveying processing is executed over the decided conveying distance; and shorten, in a case where it is determined that the code image is to be formed by the plurality of scanning processing, the decided conveying distance for: (i) one conveying processing which is executed immediately before the first scanning processing; or (ii) at least one of a plurality of conveying processing which are respectively executed immediately before each of a plurality of scanning processing which includes the first scanning processing and at least one scanning processing executed before the first scanning processing, so that the code image is not to be formed in the first scanning processing and the code image is started to be formed from the second scanning processing, wherein a length of the code image in the conveying direction, which is formed in the first scanning processing when the decided conveying distance is not shortened, is shorter than a length of the code image in the conveying direction, which is formed in the second scanning processing when the decided conveying distance is shortened. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where a length of the code image in the conveying direction is equal to or smaller than a length of an image formation range in the conveying direction by the recording head mounted to the carriage, the decided conveying distance is shortened so that the code image is to be formed by one scanning processing. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where a length of the code image in the conveying direction is greater than a length of an image formation range in the conveying direction by the recording head mounted to the carriage, the decided conveying distance is shortened so that the code image is to be formed over an entire length of the image formation range in the second scanning processing. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to: reduce, in a case where a length of the code image in the conveying direction is greater than a length of an image formation range in the conveying direction by the recording head mounted to the carriage, a size of the code image in the image data stored in the memory so that the code image is to be formed only by the second scanning processing. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the code image is one-dimensional code image having a pattern in which the plurality of printing regions and the plurality of non-printing regions are alternately formed in a predetermined direction, and is formed on the recording medium so that the conveying direction and the predetermined direction coincide with each other. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the code image is a two-dimensional code image having a pattern in which the plurality of printing regions and the plurality of non-printing regions are alternately formed both in a first predetermined direction and in a second predetermined direction perpendicular to the first predetermined direction. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the decided conveying distance is shortened so that a Finder pattern in the two-dimensional code image is to be formed by one scanning processing. ### Claim 8 A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program used for an electronic device configured to control an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus including: a memory; a recording head configured to record an image on a recording medium based on image data stored in the memory; a conveyor unit configured to convey the recording medium in a conveying direction; a carriage having the recording head mounted thereto and capable of reciprocally moving in a scanning direction perpendicular to the conveying direction; and a controller configured to: execute a conveying processing in which the recording medium is conveyed in the conveying direction by the conveyor unit, and execute a scanning processing in which the image is recorded on the recording medium by the recording head with moving the carriage in the scanning direction when the conveying processing is not executed, the program, when executed by a processor of the electronic device, causes the electronic device to: store image data in the memory; decide a conveying distance for the conveying processing based on the image data stored in the memory; determine whether an image including a code image having a plurality of printing regions and a plurality of non-printing regions is to be formed on the recording medium based on the image data stored in the memory; determine, in a case where it is determined that the image including the code image is to be formed on the recording medium, whether the code image is to be formed by a plurality of the scanning processing including a first scanning processing and a second scanning processing if the conveying processing is executed over the decided conveying distance; and shorten, in a case where it is determined that the code image is to be formed by the plurality of scanning processing, the decided conveying distance for: (i) one conveying processing which is executed immediately before the first scanning processing; or (ii) at least one of a plurality of conveying processing which are respectively executed immediately before each of a plurality of scanning processing which includes the first scanning processing and at least one scanning processing executed before the first scanning processing, so that the code image is not to be formed in the first scanning processing and the code image is started to be formed from the second scanning processing, and wherein a length of the code image in the conveying direction, which is formed in the first scanning processing when the decided conveying distance is not shortened, is shorter than a length of the code image in the conveying direction, which is formed in the second scanning processing when the decided conveying distance is shortened.