Image forming apparatus and printing method using a non-decolorable toner and decolorable toner

In accordance with an embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprises a first printing unit configured to execute printing with non-decolorable first toner on an image receiving medium, a second printing unit configured to execute printing with decolorable second toner on the image receiving medium, and a control module configured to print an image according to image information on the image receiving medium with the first printing unit, and execute printing on a cover paper of the image receiving medium with the second printing unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-026128, filed Feb. 15, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image forming apparatus and a printing method.

BACKGROUND

There is an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a multifunction peripheral which is provided with a function of printing a cover paper separately together with a document cover and a drawing. This type of cover paper is used as a front cover positioned on a front surface of a printed matter and a back cover positioned on a back surface thereof.

However, in a case in which the number of print copies in the image forming apparatus is large, the front cover and the back cover are printed each time one printed matter is printed just to facilitate sorting of the printed matters. This type of the cover paper is generally disposed if the sorting of a plurality of the printed matters is terminated. There is also a case in which this type of cover paper is used as a so-called backing paper; however, since functions such as a duplex printing are restricted and appearance is deteriorated, it is a current situation that the effective use cannot be sufficiently utilized.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment, an image forming apparatus comprises a first printing unit configured to execute printing with non-decolorable first toner on an image receiving medium, a second printing unit configured to execute printing with decolorable second toner on the image receiving medium, and a control module configured to print an image according to image information on the image receiving medium with the first printing unit, and execute printing on a cover paper of the image receiving medium with the second printing unit.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings.FIG. 1is a diagram exemplifying the constitution of an image forming apparatus1according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus1is, for example, a color laser printer using yellow toner, magenta toner, cyan toner and black toner. The image forming apparatus1includes a housing4, a first printing unit31, a second printing unit32, a paper feed cassette10, a fixing device35, a control device100and an operation panel101that are housed in the housing4.

The housing4is a rectangular parallelepiped casing made of resin, and a paper discharge section is formed on the upper surface thereof.

The first printing unit31includes four sets of image forming stations, a transfer belt and a laser exposure device. Each of the four image forming stations has a photoconductive drum, a charging device and a developing device. In each of the four image forming stations, a toner image respectively using the yellow toner, the magenta toner, the cyan toner and the black toner is formed on the photoconductive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by the laser exposure device. The toner image formed on the photoconductive drum is transferred onto a paper P conveyed from the paper feed cassette10via the transfer belt. In the first printing unit31, normal toner that is non-decolorable is used.

The second printing unit32is provided with a photoconductive drum, a laser exposure device and the like. In the second printing unit32, a toner image is formed by decolorable toner on the photoconductive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by the laser exposure device. The toner image formed on the photoconductive drum is transferred onto the paper P conveyed from the paper feed cassette10. As the toner used in the second printing unit32, a toner capable of developing color and decoloring is used. As this type of toner, for example, a toner containing a leuco dye having a thermal decoloring property is used.

The paper feed cassette10is detachably arranged with respect to the housing4. The paper feed cassette10houses the paper P as the image receiving medium on which an image is formed.

The paper P housed in the paper feed cassette10is conveyed by a conveying system40composed of a pickup roller41, a register roller42and a paper discharge roller43. The paper P is drawn out from the paper feed cassette10by the pickup roller41. The paper P drawn out from the paper feed cassette10is conveyed by the register roller42to the first printing unit31and the second printing unit32. The paper P passes through the fixing device35and reaches the paper discharge roller43. Then, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge section formed in the housing4by the paper discharge roller43. At the time the paper P passes through the first printing unit31and the second printing unit32, the toner image is transferred onto the paper P.

The fixing device35is composed of a pressure roller and a heating unit. The fixing device35heats and pressurizes the paper P onto which the toner image is transferred to fix the toner image on the paper P. The paper P on which the toner image is fixed is sequentially stacked on the paper discharge section of the housing4by the paper discharge roller43.

The operation panel101is used to receive an instruction from a user. The operation panel101has, for example, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) composed of a liquid crystal display and a touch panel, various operation buttons and the like. The instruction from the user input to the operation panel101is notified to the control device100.

The control device100includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a main storage section acting as a working area of the CPU, and an auxiliary storage section having a nonvolatile memory such as a magnetic disk or a semiconductor memory.

FIG. 2is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the image forming apparatus1. As shown inFIG. 2, the first printing unit31, the second printing unit32, the fixing device35, the conveying system40, the operation panel101and the interface102are connected to the control device100. Each section mentioned above is collectively controlled by the control device100.

The interface102is, for example, a LAN interface, and the image forming apparatus1is connected to a network such as the Internet via the interface102. As a result, communication with a terminal200such as a computer or a smartphone connected to the network is enabled.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus1is described with reference toFIG. 3. The flowchart inFIG. 3shows a series of processing executed by the control device100. If a power source of the image forming apparatus1is turned on, the control device100sequentially executes the processing shown in the flowchart in accordance with a program installed in advance.

The control device100waits for reception of print information (Act S101). For example, the print information is transmitted from a terminal such as the terminal200connected to the image forming apparatus1via the network. The print information includes, for example, image information indicating a text or an image to be printed, information relating to the number of copies indicating the number of copies to be printed, cover paper information indicating whether or not a cover paper is added to a printed matter, and the like.

The information relating to the number of copies and the cover paper information included in the print information can be set via the terminal200, for example. In the terminal200, a driver for printing by using the image forming apparatus1is installed. In the terminal200, at the time the image forming apparatus1executes the printing, an input screen for making various setting of the image forming apparatus1is displayed.

FIG. 4is a diagram illustrating a window W1displayed on the terminal200as an example. The window W1shown inFIG. 4is an input screen for setting the cover paper added to the printed matter. The window W1includes a check box CB1for setting whether to add the cover paper (cover letter) to the printed matter, and a pull-down menu PD1for setting the type of the toner for printing the cover paper.

By entering check to the check box CB1, the user can instruct the control device100to add the cover paper to the printed matter. By removing the check of the check box CB1, it is possible to instruct the control device100not to add the cover paper to the printed matter. The user can instruct the type of toner used for printing the cover paper to the control device100by selecting an item shown in the pull-down menu PD1. For example, the user can issue an instruction to print the cover paper with the decolorable toner by selecting an item “print with erasable toner” from the pull-down menu PD1.

If receiving the print information transmitted from the terminal200(Yes in Act S101), the control device100determines whether or not there is a print instruction for the cover paper (Act S102). On the basis of the cover paper information included in the print information, if it is determined that there is no print instruction for the cover paper (No in Act S102), the control device drives the first printing unit31and the conveyance system40to execute the printing on the paper P based on the image information without printing the cover paper (Act S106). For example, if the check is not entered to the check box CB1of the window W1, it is determined that the print instruction for the cover paper is not given by the control device100.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is the print instruction for the cover paper based on the cover paper information included in the print information (Yes in Act S102), the control device100determines whether or not there is an instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (Act S103). For example, if the check is entered to the check box CB1of the window W1, it is determined by the control device100that there is the print instruction for the cover paper.

If it is determined that there is no instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (No in Act S103), the control device100drives the first printing unit31and the conveyance system40to carry out the printing of the cover paper on the paper P (Act S104). The printing of the cover paper herein is carried out with the non-decolorable toner.

FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating an example of a cover paper CP. As shown inFIG. 5, for example, a user name, a total number of pages of the printed matter, the number of print copies, an output date and time and a paper size for executing the printing are printed on the cover paper CP. Regarding the cover paper CP, a fixed form stored in the image forming apparatus1in advance may be printed, or the cover paper created by the user may be printed.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is the instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (Yes in Act S103), the control device100drives the second printing unit32and the conveying system40to execute the printing of the cover paper on the paper P (Act S105). The printing of the cover paper herein is carried out with the decolorable toner.

Following the printing of the cover paper, the control device100drives the first printing unit31and the conveying system40to carry out printing on the paper P based on the image information (Act S106). Thus, the printing of the printed matter to which the cover paper is added is completed.

Next, the control device100adds 1 to a counter value N of a counter built in the control device100(Act S107). The control device100compares the instructed number of the printed matters with the counter value N (Act S108). As described above, the print information includes the information relating to the number of copies. The control device100calculates the number of copies to be printed based on the information relating to the number of copies, and compares the obtained number with the counter value N. If it is determined that the counter value N is equal to or greater than the number of print copies (Yes in Act S108), the counter value N is initialized and the printing processing is terminated. Thus, the printing of an original document such as a document is completed.

If it is determined that the counter value N is not equal to or greater than the number of print copies (No in Act S108), the processing in Act S103˜Act S108is repeatedly executed. As a result, only a designated number of the printed matters to which the cover papers are added are printed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to execute the printing using the decolorable toner only on the cover paper. For this reason, it is possible to erase an image printed on the cover paper used for sorting a plurality of documents or on the cover paper which is unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to effectively reuse the unnecessary cover paper.

In the present embodiment, the case in which the image forming apparatus1is the laser printer is described. However, the present invention is not limited to that. The image forming apparatus1may be a multifunction peripheral or a FAX machine.

Next, the second embodiment is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the same or equivalent components as those in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are donated thereto, and the description thereof is omitted or simplified.FIG. 6is a diagram exemplifying the constitution of an image forming apparatus1A according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus1A is different from the image forming apparatus1according to the first embodiment in that the image forming apparatus1A has a scanner unit103used for copying of the original document.

The scanner unit103includes a scanner that scans an original document to generate image information and a feeder that feeds the original documents one by one to the scanner if a plurality of original documents is set. As shown inFIG. 7, the scanner unit103is connected to the control device100. The scanner unit103transmits the image information generated by scanning the original document to the control device100.

The operation of the image forming apparatus1A is described with reference toFIG. 8. The flowchart inFIG. 8shows a series of processing executed by the control device100. If the power source of the image forming apparatus1A is turned on, the control device100sequentially executes the processing shown in the flowchart in accordance with a preinstalled program.

First, the control device100waits for reception of the image information (Act S201). If the image information transmitted from the scanner unit103is received (Yes in Act S201), the control device100determines whether or not there is the print instruction for the cover paper (Act S102).

The print instruction of the cover paper from the user is input via the operation panel101.FIG. 9is a diagram illustrating a window W2displayed on the operation panel101as an example. The window W2shown inFIG. 9is an input screen for setting the cover paper added to the printed matter. The window W2includes icons IC1and IC2for setting whether to add the cover paper (cover letter) to the printed matter, and a button PB1for setting the toner for printing the cover paper.

By touching the icon IC2or the text thereof, the user can instruct the control device100to add the cover paper to the printed matter. By touching the icon IC1or the text thereof, the user can instruct the control device100not to add the cover paper to the printed matter. The state of the button PB1is switched from an active state to an inactive state or from the inactive state to the active state every time the button PB1is touched. By touching the button PB1, the user can select the type of toner used for printing the cover paper. At the time the button P1is active, the printing using the decolorable toner is instructed to the control device100. At the time the button P1is inactive, the printing using the non-decolorable toner is instructed to the control device100.

If it is determined that there is no print instruction for the cover paper (No in Act S102) based on the instruction of the user input to the operation panel101, the control device100executes the printing based on the image information with the non-decolorable toner without printing the cover paper (Act S106).

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is the print instruction for the cover paper (Yes in Act S102), the control device100determines whether or not there is the instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (Act S103). If it is determined that there is no instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (No in Act S103), the control device100prints the cover paper with the non-decolorable toner (Act S104). If it is determined that there is the instruction of the printing with the decolorable toner (Yes in Act S103), the control device100prints the cover paper with the decolorable toner (Act S105).

Following the printing of the cover paper, the control device100executes the printing based on the image information (Act S106). Thus, the printing of the printed matter to which the cover paper is added is completed.

The control device100adds 1 to the counter value N of the counter built in the control device100(Act S107). Then, the instructed number of the printed matters is compared with the counter value N (Act S108). The number of print copies is set through the operation panel101. If it is determined that the counter value N is equal to or greater than the number of print copies (Yes in Act S108), the control device100initializes the counter value N and ends the printing processing. Thus, the copying of the original document is completed.

If it is determined that the counter value N is not equal to or greater than the number of print copies (No in Act S108), the processing in Act S103˜Act S108is repeatedly executed. Thus, only a designated number of the printed matters to which the cover papers are added are printed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to execute the printing using the decolorable toner only on the cover paper. Thus, for example, it is possible to erase an image printed on the cover paper used for sorting a plurality of documents or on the cover paper which is unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to effectively reuse the unnecessary cover paper.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are described above, the present invention is not limited by the above embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, as shown inFIG. 5, a case in which the printing is executed only on one side of the paper P serving as the cover paper is described, but a paper P to which duplex printing is executed may be used as the cover paper.

In the above embodiment, a case in which the front cover is added to the printed matter is described. The present invention is not limited to this, and a back cover may be added to the printed matter. In this case, the above modification is realized as long as an execution order of the processing in Act S106and the processing in Act S105inFIG. 3andFIG. 8is changed. The cover paper maybe inserted into the printed matter for each predetermined page. In this case, the above modification is realized as long as the processing in Act S105is interruptedly executed in the processing in Act S106. In this case, as shown inFIG. 10andFIG. 11, icons, buttons, check boxes, pull-down menus and the like for setting the printing of the front cover and the back cover are displayed on the windows W1and W2.

In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus is the laser printer or the multifunction peripheral, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The image forming apparatus may have a function of sending and receiving FAX.

As the terminal200according to the above-described embodiments, a general computer, a smartphone, or a tablet can be used as long as it is a computer on which a program such as a driver can be installed.

For example,FIG. 12is a block diagram of the terminal200. As shown inFIG. 12, the terminal200includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit)200a, a main storage section200b, an auxiliary storage section200c, an input section200d, a display section200e, an interface section200fand a system bus line200g.

The CPU200areads out a program stored in the auxiliary storage section200cto execute it.

The main storage section200bhas a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). The main storage section200bis used as a working area of the CPU200a.

The auxiliary storage section200chas a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory and the like. The auxiliary storage section200cstores the programs executed by the CPU200aand various parameters.

The input section200dhas a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse. The instruction of the user is input via the input section200dand notified to the CPU200avia the system bus line200g.

The display section200ehas a display such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The display section200edisplays the window W1as an input screen and information relating to the status of the image forming apparatus1.

The interface section200fincludes a LAN interface, a serial interface, a parallel interface, an analog interface, and the like. The terminal200is connected to the image forming apparatus1via the interface section200f.