Facsimile and static presentation processing – Static presentation processing – Memory
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-28
2002-02-19
Wallerson, Mark (Department: 2622)
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Static presentation processing
Memory
C358S001150, C358S001170, C358S404000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06348974
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus comprising storage devices used for forming an image, some of which has a large access speed, such as an RAM or the like, and some of which has a large capacity, though with a small access speed, such as a hard disk device.
Conventionally, a digital copying machine has come to be widely used as an image forming apparatus. This image forming apparatus has an electronic sort copying function that an input image read by a scanner, which is an image reading device, is compressed and stored as image information in a page memory provided with a file area partitioned in pages each as a unit and thereafter, this image information is expanded and printed (formation of a visual image on a medium) and a predetermined number of copies of each document are produced, and a group or a stack function that the image information thus expanded is printed on the predetermined number of sheets for each page of the document.
In electronic sort copying, as one method, all the images of documents each comprising a plurality of pages are input from a scanner, the image information is compressed in a page memory to create a file and thereafter, the image information is read out for each document to be printed and the process of read and print is repeated to obtain a predetermined number of the same document.
In the course of creation of a file, a file area in a page memory is in excess of its storage capacity and there is a possibility that memory-full occurs. In such a case, conventionally, an input operation of a page image has been stopped half way and at this point some of image information of a page, which is already read in a scanner, but is still before storing in a file has been deleted and printing (image forming) has to be stopped. Moreover, after the memory-full condition is cleared, deleted image information of a page has to be again read after the original page sheet is again set on the scanner.
It has been well known that such an inconvenience as this occurs in the case where sheet jam occurs or in the case where a demand for execution of interrupt of a different job is accepted in an image copying operation and the image copying operation is restarted after the different job is finished.
As a method to solve such inconveniences, it is conceived that, for example, a hard disk device having a large storage capacity is used to increase a quantity of memory resources and thus a phenomenon of memory-full is prevented from occurring. However, there arises another inconvenience that this hard disk device does not have a large access speed and thereby an image forming operation such as electronic sort copying as a first thing of its kind is slowed down.
When inputting and printing of an image are concurrently operated, expansion and printing of the stored image information are operated after scanning of page images, compression and file creation are finished, so that a user has to wait for a while till printing of a first page is printed in a normal condition or after an discontinuance by a job interrupt or jam, but in a general copying operation, it is desirable that a printing result is output immediately after a user starts the operation.
As described above, a conventional image forming apparatus comprising storage devices used for forming an image, some of which has a large access speed, such as an RAM or the like, and some of which has a large capacity, though with a small access speed, such as a hard disk device, has a problem that a processing speed is slowed down, even if a storage capacity is increased by use of the hard disk device; since an input operation is suspended half way and an image information which has been read is deleted when a memory-full phenomenon or sheet jam occurs, or a job interrupt is demanded, there is another problem that operability is degraded; and besides, there are other various problems such as when inputting and printing of an image are concurrently operated, a user has to wait for a while till a first page is printed in a normal condition or after discontinuance by a job interrupt or jam.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which a processing speed is not reduced even when a storage capacity is increased by use of a large capacity storage device such as a hard disk device or the like, image information which has already been read is not deleted even when memory-full or sheet jam occurs or a different job interrupts in the course of image inputting, a user does not have to wait for a start of printing of a first page in a normal condition or after discontinuance by a job interrupt or jam when inputting and printing of images are concurrently operated, and the image forming with a large operating speed and excellent operability can be achieved.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises: read means for reading image information of an original; storage means for storing the image information read in the read means; deciding means for deciding on whether an access speed of the storage means is small or large; setting means for setting a first image forming mode if the access speed of the storage means is small, or setting a second image forming mode if the access speed of the storage means is large, based on decision of the deciding means; selecting means for selecting one of the first and second image forming modes set by the setting means according to the decision made by the deciding means; and image forming means for forming an image on an image forming medium from the image information stored in the storage means in a selected image forming mode according to an output of the selecting means, wherein the image forming means comprises deleting means for deleting page image information from the storage means each time when a page image is formed, if the first image forming mode is selected.
An image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises: read means for reading image information of an original; storage means for storing the image information read by the read means; generating means for generating a signal showing whether the storage means has a large access speed or a small access speed; setting means for setting an image forming condition including a first sort mode if the access speed of the storage means is small, or a second sort mode if the access speed of the storage means is large, as a sort mode in which binding is carried out for each copy of the original in forming an image on an image forming medium from the image information stored in the storage means; selecting means for selecting one of the first and second sort modes set in the setting means according to an output signal of the generating means; and image forming means for forming an image on the image forming medium from the image information stored in the storage means based on the image forming condition including a sort mode selected according to an output of the selecting means.
An image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises: read means for reading image information of an original; storage means for storing the image information read by the read means; generating means for generating a signal showing whether the storage means has a large access speed or a small one; setting means for setting an image forming condition including a first sort mode if the access speed of the storage means is small, or a second sort mode if the access speed of the storage means is large, as a sort mode in which binding is carried out for each copy of the original in forming an image on an image forming medium from the image information stored in the storage means; selecting means for selecting one of the first and second sort modes as a running state of an image forming condition set by the setting means according to an output of the generating means; and image forming means for forming an image on the image forming medium from the image information stored in the storage means based o
Konno Miki
Shibaki Masako
Takahashi Toshiharu
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