Image forming apparatus and method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorRyuichi Yoshizawa
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Abstract
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit which forms an image on a medium for each page, and a notification unit which, when image formation start instructions cannot be successively issued to the image forming unit for successive pages to be formed on media, notifies the image forming unit of the interval between the instructions. The image forming unit shifts to a stop state when the notified interval exceeds a predetermined time.
Claims39
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming unit which forms an image on a recording medium;
- a determination unit which determines whether or not a time required to start image formation of a second page subsequent to a first page after an end of image formation of the first page is longer than a predetermined time;
- and
- a control unit which controls said image forming unit,
- wherein when said determination means determines that the required time is longer than the predetermined time, said control unit shifts said image forming unit from an operating state to a stop state in accordance with the end of image formation of the first page, and
- when said determination means determines that the required time is not longer than the predetermined time, said control unit keeps said image forming portion in the operating state until a start of image formation of the second page after the end of image formation of the first page.
An image forming method comprising:
- a step of starting image formation of a first page by an image forming unit which forms an image on a recording medium;
- a first determination step of determining whether or not a time required to start image formation of a second page subsequent to the first page after an end of image formation of the first page is longer than a predetermined time;
- a step of, when the required time is determined in the first determination step to be longer than the predetermined time, shifting the image forming unit from an operating state to a stop state in accordance with the end of image formation of the first page;
- and
- a step of, when the required time is determined in the first determination step to be not longer than the predetermined time, keeping the image forming unit in the operating state until a start of image formation of the second page after the end of image formation of the first page.
A method of controlling an image forming apparatus having an engine control unit for executing a printing operation for printing on a transfer medium, said method comprising:
- a print operation reserving step of reserving the printing operation in the engine control unit;
- a print-start instructing step of commanding the engine control unit to start the printing operation that has been reserved at said print operation reserving step;
- a print-start advance-notice step of notifying the engine control unit of information relating to time till start of the printing operation will be commanded, after the printing operation has been reserved;
- and
- an engine control unit control step of controlling the engine control unit in such a manner that the engine control unit will execute pre-processing for performing the printing operation based upon the notification information.
An image forming apparatus having an engine control unit for executing a printing operation for printing on a transfer medium, said apparatus comprising:
- a print operation reserving unit adapted so as to reserve the printing operation in the engine control unit;
- a print-start instructing unit adapted so as to command the engine control unit to start the printing operation that has been reserved by said print operation reserving unit;
- and
- a print-start advance-notice unit adapted in such a manner that after the printing operation has been reserved, the engine control unit is notified of information relating to time till start of the printing operation will be commanded;
- wherein the engine control unit executes pre-processing for performing the printing operation based upon the notification information.
A method of controlling an image signal output unit that outputs an image signal to an image forming unit, said method comprising:
- a time notification step of notifying the image forming unit of time information relating to time till output of the image signal becomes possible;
- and
- an image signal output step of outputting the image signal to the image forming unit so that said image forming unit will be able to start pre-processing at a timing that is based upon the time information.
An image forming unit for forming an image that conforms to an image signal supplied from an image signal output unit, comprising:
- a receiving unit for receiving notification of time information, which relates to time till output of the image signal becomes possible, from the image signal output unit;
- and
- a controller for starting pre-processing, which is for performing a printing operation, at a timing that is based upon the time information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.