Image Forming System Including Finisher with Stapler for Binding Printed Papers

A finisher comprising:

• a stacker which receives printed papers discharged from an image forming device to hold a bundle of the printed papers, the image forming device being a device which prints, on a paper, an image formed based on image data processed in a unit of page;
• a stapler which staples the bundle held on said stacker;
• a conveyor which discharges the bundle held on said stacker;
• a storage unit which stores an upper limit number of printed papers that said stapler is capable of stapling and also stores a set number having a value smaller than a value of the upper limit number;
• and
• a controller which counts the number of the printed papers received by said stacker to hold a value of the counted number as a post-stage count value and which controls said stapler and said conveyor in such a manner that:
• if the post-stage count value exceeds the set number, the bundle held on said stacker is discharged without being stapled;
• and
• if the post-stage count value does not exceed the set number, the bundle held on said stacker is discharged without being stapled after the post-stage count value reaches the set number.

An image forming system comprising:

• an image forming device which processes image data in a unit of page, and prints, on a paper, an image formed by a print engine based on the processed image data, to discharge the printed paper;
• a finisher which, in a case where stapling of a plurality of printed papers is requested in a print job given to said image forming device, holds the printed papers, which are discharged from said image forming device, on a stacker and staples a bundle of the printed papers held on the stacker to discharge the stapled bundle to a tray;
• a storage unit which stores a value of an upper limit number of printed papers that are staplable in said finisher, and also stores the processed image data;
• and
• a controller which, in a case where the stapling in said finisher is requested in the print job given to said image forming device, stores processed image data in said storage unit and counts the number of pages of the processed image data, and when determining that a count value of the number of pages exceeds the upper limit number, performs control in which, in a state where the request is cancelled, supply of the image data stored in said storage unit is started so as to enable the print engine to form an image, thereby avoiding sending of the discharged printed papers to the stacker in said finisher.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a print engine which forms an image based on image data processed in a unit of page and prints the image on a paper:
• a storage unit which stores an upper limit number of printed papers and the processed image data, the upper limit number being the number of printed papers staplable in a case where the papers printed in said print engine and sent to a finisher should be stacked into a bundle to be stapled in the finisher;
• and
• a controller which, in a case where it is requested in a given print job that printed papers be sent to the finisher to be stapled in the finisher, stores, in said storage unit, image data processed for said print engine and counts the number of pages of the processed image data, and when determining that a count value of the number of pages exceeds the upper limit number, executes control in which, in a state where the request is cancelled, supply of the image data stored in said storage unit is started so as to enable said print engine to form an image, thereby avoiding that the discharged printed papers are bundled in said finisher.

An image forming system comprising:

• an image forming device which processes image data in a unit of page, and prints, on a paper, an image formed by a print engine based on the processed image data, to discharge the printed paper;
• a finisher which, in a case where stapling of a plurality of printed papers is requested in a print job given to said image forming device, holds the printed papers, which are discharged from said image forming device, on a stacker and staples a bundle of the printed papers held on the stacker to discharge the stapled bundle to a tray;
• a storage unit which stores an upper limit number NS0 of printed papers that are staplable in said finisher and also stores a set number NS1 having a value smaller than a value of the upper limit number NS0;
• and
• a controller which, in a case where the stapling in said finisher is requested in the print job given to said image forming device, counts the number of pages N of processed image data and the number of pages M of images formed by the print engine regarding the job, and at the same time, executes control in which:
• (a) when it is determined that the number of pages M becomes equal to the set number NS1, further image formation by the print engine is suspended;
• and
• (b) when it is determined that the number of pages N exceeds the upper limit number NS0, said finisher is caused to discharge the bundle held on the stacker to the tray without stapling, and next, the image formation suspended in (a) is resumed.

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a print engine which forms an image based on image data processed in a unit of page and prints the image on a paper;
• a storage unit which stores an upper limit number NS0 of printed papers and a set number NS1 having a smaller value than a value of NS0, the upper limit number being the number of printed papers staplable in a case where the papers printed in said print engine and delivered to a finisher should be stacked into a bundle to be stapled in the finisher;
• and
• a controller which, in a case where it is requested in a given print job that printed papers be sent to the finisher to be stapled in the finisher, counts the number of pages N of image data processed for said print engine and the number of pages M of images formed by said print engine, and at the same time, executes control in which:
• (a) when it is determined that the number of pages M becomes equal to the set number NS1, further image formation by said print engine is suspended;
• (b) when it is determined that the number of pages N exceeds the upper limit number NS0, the finisher is caused to discharge a bundle of the printed papers without stapling, and next, the image formation suspended in (a) is resumed;
• and
• (c) when it is determined that the number of pages N does not exceed the upper limit number NS0 after the image formation is suspended in (a), the suspended image formation is resumed, printed papers are delivered to the finisher, and after the delivery of the printed papers is finished, the finisher is caused to execute the stapling of a bundle of the received printed papers and then to discharge the stapled bundle.