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US 9,316,981 B2Granted
Image forming system, image forming system control method, and image forming apparatus having tandem-activation function and independent-activation function
AssigneeKonica Minolta, Inc.
InventorMasayuki Ito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image forming system includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses which are each equipped with an image forming section and a control section, and which are connected such that each image forming apparatus can form an image on the same recording sheet. The control section has a function to perform a first activation control to in tandem activate the plurality of image forming apparatuses and a second activation control to independently activate each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. With this configuration, activation and stopping are managed appropriately with respect to each operating state, and wasteful power consumption is reduced.
Claims15
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses, each of the image forming apparatuses including:
- an image forming section configured to form an image on a recording sheet;
- and
- a control section configured to control sections of the image forming apparatus,
- wherein:
- the plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected so that each image forming apparatus is able to perform image formation on a same recording sheet;
- the control section included in any one of the image forming apparatuses has a function to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- the control section has a function to perform either of the first activation control and the second activation control, depending on a type of a provided instruction;
- each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses comprises a communication section configured to communicate with an external device outside of the image forming system;
- any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses comprises an operation section to which various types of instructions are input;
- the control section performs the first activation control when the input instruction is an activation instruction through the operation section, and performs the second activation control when the input instruction is an activation instruction from the external device through the communication section;
- and
- the communication section has a function to communicate with another control section in the image forming system in addition to the external device, and the control section performs the first activation control when the input instruction is an activation instruction from the another control section through the communication section.
10 more elements
An image forming system comprising:
- a plurality of image forming apparatuses, each of the image forming apparatuses including:
- an image forming section configured to form an image on a recording sheet;
- and
- a control section configured to control sections of the image forming apparatus,
- wherein:
- the plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected so that each image forming apparatus is able to perform image formation on a same recording sheet;
- wherein the control section included in any one of the image forming apparatuses has a function to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- and
- the control section has a function to perform a first stop control to put the plurality of image forming apparatuses in tandem in the stopped state, and to perform a second stop control to put each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses independently in the stopped state.
6 more elements
A method for controlling an image forming system, in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected so that each of the image forming apparatuses is able to form an image on a same recording sheet, the method comprising:
- causing a control section of any one of the image forming apparatuses to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state, and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- causing the control section to perform either of the first activation control and the second activation control, depending on a type of a provided instruction;
- wherein:
- each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses comprises a communication section configured to communicate with an external device outside of the image forming system;
- any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses comprises an operation section to which various types of instructions are input;
- the method further comprises:
- causing, when the provided instruction is an activation instruction through the operation section, the control section to perform the first activation control, and
- causing, when the provided instruction is an activation instruction from the external device through the communication section, the control section to perform the second activation control;
- the communication section has a function to communicate with another control section in the image forming system in addition to the external device;
- and
- the method further comprises:
- causing the control section to perform the first activation control when the provided instruction is an activation instruction from the another control section through the communication section.
9 more elements
A method for controlling an image forming system, in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected so that each of the image forming apparatuses is able to form an image on a same recording sheet, the method comprising:
- causing a control section of any one of the image forming apparatuses to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state, and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- and
- causing the control section to perform either of a first stop control to put the plurality of image forming apparatuses in in tandem in a stopped state and a second stop control to put each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses independently in the stopped state.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming section configured to form an image on a recording sheet;
- and
- a control section configured to control sections of the image forming apparatus, wherein:
- the image forming apparatus is usable in an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected with each other so that the image forming apparatuses are able to form images on a same recording sheet;
- the control section has a function to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- the control section has a function to control either of the first activation control and the second activation control, depending on a type of a provided instruction;
- the image forming apparatus further comprises:
- a communication section configured to communicate with an external device outside of the image forming system;
- and
- an operation section to which various types of instructions are input;
- the control section performs the first activation control when the input instruction is an activation instruction through the operation section, and performs the second activation control when the input instruction is an activation instruction from the external device through the communication section;
- and
- the communication section has a function to communicate with another control section in the image forming system in addition to the external device, and the control section provides an activation instruction of the first activation control to the another control section through the communication section.
10 more elements
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- an image forming section configured to form an image on a recording sheet;
- and
- a control section configured to control sections of the image forming apparatus,
- wherein:
- the image forming apparatus is usable in an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected with each other so that the image forming apparatuses are able to form images on a same recording sheet;
- the control section has a function to perform a first activation control in which the plurality of image forming apparatuses are in tandem activated from a stopped state and a second activation control in which each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is independently activated from the stopped state;
- and
- the control section has a function to perform a first stop control to put the plurality of image forming apparatuses in in tandem in a stopped state, and to perform a second stop control to put each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses independently in a stopped state.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.