JP2016036932A - Image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clear up a cause why recording paper is discharged in a blank state in such a case when image data is formed in the form of an image without greatly blocking information security.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus (100) comprises: an image formation part (5); an image processing part (4) which converts input image data into image data for image formation execution suitable to image formation; a thumbnail data generation part (7) which generates thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data; a storage part (9); a control part (6) which controls storage of the data in the storage part (9); and a blank paper determination part (8) which determines whether image data of a page discharged as a blank sheet having no image formed on recording paper even when an image is formed is included in the image data for image formation execution. The control part (6) causes the storage part (9) to store the input image data and the thumbnail data corresponding to a page to be blank only when it is determined that the recording paper is discharged as a blank.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically to an image forming apparatus that converts input image data into image data for image formation execution, and forms the converted image data on a recording sheet.

  2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi-Function Peripherals), a copier, or a printer, which is a digital multifunction peripheral, performs a process of converting image data for image formation based on input image data, and a recording medium such as recording paper. Then, image formation (printing) is performed. Some image forming apparatuses manage image data to be formed and image forming jobs, and generate and store thumbnail images of the image data in order to enable display, search, reuse, and the like.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a job monitoring system for the purpose of enabling an administrator to easily visually check an image suspected of information leakage. In this job monitoring system, the multifunction peripheral determines whether there is information on illegal output in the history data or image data of the executed job, and job monitoring data in which the determination result is associated with the history data and the image data. Is sent to the administrator terminal. The administrator terminal stores the job monitoring data transmitted from the multifunction peripheral, searches for the conditions specified by the administrator, and displays the images of the first page of each job as thumbnails. At this time, an image of a job determined to have information on unauthorized output can be identified by surrounding it with a thick line.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a printer for the purpose of accurately grasping an execution history of a print job. This printer system includes a PC, a printer, and a print data management apparatus that are connected to each other via a network. When print data is output from the PC to the printer, the printer stores thumbnail image data created based on the print data in the print data management apparatus, and then prints an image on the printer based on the print data. . The thumbnail image data to be stored has its display mode changed according to the information included in the corresponding page in the print data. The name is changed according to the success or failure of printing.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an image forming apparatus and a thumbnail image creating method for efficiently displaying thumbnails of used job information. The image forming apparatus can create thumbnail images representing execution histories of a plurality of jobs. The log creation unit creates a thumbnail log based on the conditions set by the condition setting unit when any job is executed in the image forming apparatus, and creates a thumbnail image using the thumbnail log and job image To do.

JP 2007-116379 A JP 2010-113508 A JP 2008-5500 A

  In an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral, image data is formed (printed) on recording paper, and the recording paper is discharged onto a discharge tray or the like. At this time, blank paper on which no image is formed may be discharged. The case where the blank paper is discharged includes a case where there is a factor in the original image data itself and a case where the image forming apparatus is defective. The case where there is a factor in the image data itself is a case where the image data of some pages of the image data all indicate white. For example, the value of the image data for one page is all zero. In this case, the state where the original image data is correctly formed is a blank state, which is not a malfunction of the image forming apparatus.

  On the other hand, if there is a problem with the image forming apparatus, no image is formed on the recording paper when the image forming process is performed on the image forming apparatus even though there is no cause for the image data to be blank. For example, when the input image data is converted into raster data to form an image, the conversion process does not work well, and the image data of the entire page becomes white. Or, if no toner or ink for visualizing the image data is supplied on the recording paper, or if the mechanism for transferring or ejecting the toner or ink is defective, the white paper is discharged regardless of the image data. May end up.

  Thus, if there is no factor in the image data and the blank sheet is discharged from the image forming apparatus, the image forming process is performed in a state different from the original target image data, which is not preferable. For example, in an image forming apparatus installed in a place used by an unspecified number of users such as a convenience store, an image forming service such as printing or copying is provided to users for a fee. However, in this case, since the charge amount is calculated for each recording sheet, if a blank sheet is discharged due to a malfunction of the image forming apparatus, an unreasonable charge for the user will be achieved, and the service will be charged. Cause a claim.

In this case, image data on which image formation has been performed is stored in the image forming apparatus, and when blank paper is ejected, the blank image is ejected into the image data itself using the stored image data. It is conceivable that the cause can be determined by checking whether there is a page or whether there is a blank page in the image data itself.
However, the image data temporarily stored for image formation is overwritten with a random bit pattern on the temporarily stored image data from the viewpoint of information security when the image forming process is completed. The image data is generally deleted, and the image data after the blank paper is discharged cannot be confirmed.

  In addition, each of the above patent documents describes a technique for managing image data to be formed and image forming jobs, and generating and storing thumbnail images of the image data in order to enable display, search, reuse, and the like. However, there is no disclosure of a technique that makes it possible to investigate the cause when a recording sheet is discharged as described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. When recording paper is discharged as a blank sheet when forming image data, the cause of the blank sheet discharge without significantly hindering information security. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can investigate the above.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first technical means of the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet based on image data, and an image formation that is suitable for image formation by the image forming unit using input image data. An image processing unit for converting into image data for execution; a thumbnail data generating unit for generating thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data; a storage unit for storing the input image data and the thumbnail image data; A control unit that controls storage of the input image data and the thumbnail image data to the storage unit, and image data for execution of image formation on the recording paper even if image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation A blank sheet determination unit that determines whether or not image data of a page that is discharged without being formed is included, and the control unit includes: The input image data and the thumbnail image data corresponding to at least the blank page only when the paper determination unit determines that the blank page is included in the image data for image formation. Is stored in the storage unit.

  The second technical means includes an image forming unit that forms an image on recording paper based on the image data, and an image processing unit that converts the input image data into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation by the image forming unit. A thumbnail data generation unit that generates thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data, a storage unit that stores the input image data and the thumbnail image data, and the input image data and the thumbnail image for the storage unit A control unit that controls storage of data, and a page that is not formed on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed on the image data for execution of image formation based on the image data for execution of image formation, and is ejected as blank paper A blank sheet determination unit that determines whether or not the image data is included, and the thumbnail data generation unit includes all of the input image data. The thumbnail image data is generated for each of the pages, and the control unit stores the input image data and thumbnail image data corresponding to the input image data for all pages of the input image data, and determines the blank page determination The image data for the page on which the recording paper is blank is included in the image data for image formation execution, the image data for the page on which the blank paper is to be included is the image data for image formation. The storage period of the input image data and thumbnail image data stored in the storage unit is longer than that in the case where it is not included.

  A third technical means is an image forming method including a step of performing image processing on input image data to convert the input image data into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation, and forming the converted image data. Whether the image data for image formation includes image data of a page that is not formed on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation and is ejected as a blank sheet A blank sheet determination step for determining whether or not a blank sheet determination step determines that a page on which a recording sheet is blank is included in the image data for image formation execution. Storing the input image data and thumbnail image data of the input image data corresponding to the blank page in a predetermined storage unit. One in which the.

  The fourth technical means performs image processing on the input image data to convert it into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation, forms the converted image data, and each of the input image data An image forming method comprising: generating thumbnail image data for a page, and storing the input image data and thumbnail image data corresponding to the input image data in a predetermined storage unit for each page of the input image data The image data for execution of image formation includes image data of pages that are not formed on the recording paper even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation and are ejected as blank paper. A blank sheet determination step for determining whether the input image data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the predetermined storage unit. When it is determined in the blank page determination step that the image data of the page on which the recording paper is blank is included in the image data for execution of image formation, the image data of the page that is blank is used for the image formation. The storage period of the input image data and thumbnail image data to be stored in the storage unit is longer than that in the case where it is not included in the image data.

  According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of investigating the cause of the blank paper discharge without greatly hindering information security when the recording paper is discharged as a blank paper when forming image data. can do.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the system configuration which implements the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is an example configured as a multi-function peripheral having a scanner function and a printer function.
The image reading unit 1 of the image forming apparatus 100 includes a light source that irradiates light to a reading document, an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an AD converter, and the like, and a document that is set at a predetermined reading position. An image is formed on an image sensor and converted into an analog electric signal. The obtained analog electric signal is converted into a digital signal by an AD converter, and predetermined correction is performed to generate digital image data.

  The communication unit 2 can input image data for image formation from an external device such as a PC (Personal Computer) via a communication network. The communication unit 2 provides an interface for communicating with an external terminal such as a smartphone or a mobile phone. Image data for image formation can be input from these external terminals.

  The external interface unit 3 is an interface for connecting an external memory. As the external memory, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory can be applied. However, a semiconductor memory such as an SD card (registered trademark), a compact flash (registered trademark), an SSD (Solid State Drive), an external HDD, or the like. A storage device such as (Hard Disk Drive) may be used. Further, image data may be captured from a digital camera.

The image processing unit 4 converts the input image data into image data for execution of image formation (print execution data) suitable for image formation by the image forming unit 5. Image data output from the image reading unit 1 or image data input from an external device or an external memory via the communication unit 2 or the external interface unit 3 is applied to the input image data.
In the case of the image data output from the image reading unit 1, the image data acquired by the image processing unit 4 is based on the luminance signal output from the image sensor, and therefore processing for converting the data about the luminance into density data is performed. Do. Furthermore, image quality adjustment such as contrast, correction of background density, correction of spatial frequency characteristics, sharp enhancement processing, and the like may be executed.

  Further, when processing image data received through the communication unit 2 or the external interface unit 3, when the image data is created by PDL (Page Description Language), the PDL is interpreted and raster data (bits for image formation) is executed. Map data). Further, when the image data is data generated by an application program such as TIFF data, JPEG data, text data, etc., a process of converting those data into raster data for image formation execution is performed. The image data for image formation executed by the image processing unit 4 is output to the image forming unit 5.

  The image forming unit 5 forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data output from the image processing unit 4. Therefore, the image forming unit 5 includes a charger that charges the photosensitive drum to a predetermined potential, a laser writing device that generates an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum by emitting laser light according to image data, and a photosensitive member. Equipped with a developing device that supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the drum surface to make it visible, a transfer device that transfers the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum onto the paper, etc. An image desired by the user is formed on the recording paper. In addition, the image forming unit 5 may be configured to perform image formation by an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method, a sublimation method, or the like.

The control unit 6 is a functional unit for controlling the entire image forming apparatus 100. For example, the control unit 6 reads and executes various programs stored in the storage unit 9 by a control processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Implement various functions.
The thumbnail data generation unit 7 generates thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data under the control of the control unit 6. The thumbnail image data is obtained by reducing the data amount by reducing the original input image data.

  The blank paper determination unit 8 determines whether or not an image is formed on the recording paper when the recording paper is conveyed to the image forming unit 5 and an image is formed, and the blank paper is discharged as it is. Here, the blank page determination unit 8 checks the image data for each page of the image formation execution image data sent from the image processing unit 4 to the image forming unit 5 and does not form an image on the entire page (for example, It is determined that all the image data of the entire page is “0”), and that page is discharged as a blank sheet.

The storage unit 9 is a storage unit using a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or an HDD, and the thumbnail image data generated by the thumbnail data generation unit 7 and the input corresponding to the thumbnail image data. The image data is stored in association with each other. The storage unit 9 stores a program, data, and the like for the control unit 6 to execute an operation.
The operation display unit 10 includes a display unit that displays various information and the like in the image forming apparatus 100, and an operation unit that allows a user to input various operation instructions and settings to the image forming apparatus 100. The operation display unit 10 can be configured as a touch panel. Further, the thumbnail image data stored in the storage unit 9 can be appropriately displayed on the display unit of the operation display unit 10.

  In the present embodiment, even if the blank page determination unit 8 performs image formation on each page of image formation execution data based on the image formation execution data, there is a page that is not formed on the recording sheet and becomes blank. Only when it is determined that it is included, the control unit 6 causes the storage unit 9 to store the input image data and the thumbnail image data respectively corresponding to at least pages that are blank. The image data to be stored here is only the thumbnail image data corresponding to the blank page and its input image data, but as another example, the thumbnail image data of all pages in the print job including the blank page and The input image data may be saved.

As a result, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper, the thumbnail image data and the input image data thereof are stored in the storage unit 9. Therefore, whether the cause of blank paper discharge later is in the input image data or image formation. It is possible to confirm whether there is a factor in the processing and operation of the device. Here, the thumbnail image data can be confirmed on the spot by displaying the thumbnail image data on the operation display unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 100. Also, by saving the input image data, the saved input image data can be reused by forming an image again.
According to the present embodiment, the thumbnail image data and the input image data are stored only when the recording paper is discharged as blank when the image data is formed, so that the information security is not greatly hindered. The cause of the blank paper discharge can be investigated later.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the flow of processing will be described with reference to the configuration of FIG.
When an image forming process is instructed to the image forming apparatus 100 by a user operation on the operation display unit 10 or an operation of an external apparatus such as a PC (step S1), the image processing unit 4 converts the input image data. Image processing for generating image data for image formation is performed (step S2). Then, the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines whether or not the recording sheet is discharged based on the image formation execution image data converted from the input image data (step S3). Here, the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines whether or not the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet without forming an image on the entire page when the image forming process is performed based on the image data for image formation execution. Judge every time.

  Here, in the first page, when the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines that the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet (step S <b> 3 -Yes), the control unit 6 determines the thumbnail data generation unit 7 based on the determination result. Control is performed to generate thumbnail image data of input image data to be blank (step S4). Then, the control unit 6 associates the thumbnail image data generated by the thumbnail data generation unit 7 with the input image data that is the source of the thumbnail image data, and stores it in the storage unit 9 (step S5). Then, the control unit 6 controls the image forming unit 5 to execute image formation of the input image data (step S6).

  If it is determined that the image data of the page on which the image is to be formed is not blank (step S3-NO), the control unit 6 performs the thumbnail image data generation process as described above, and the thumbnail image data and the input image. The image forming process by the image forming unit 5 is executed without performing the data storing process (step S6). If there is further image data for image formation on the next page (step S7-Yes), the process returns to step S2 to determine whether the image data for image formation on the next page is blank. If there is no image data to be formed in step S7, the process is terminated.

  Note that the thumbnail image data and the input image data stored in step S5 can be appropriately deleted from the storage unit 9. Here, for example, thumbnail image data stored in the storage unit 9 can be displayed on the operation display unit 10, and arbitrary thumbnail image data and input image data can be deleted from the storage unit 9 by a user operation. Alternatively, the thumbnail image data and the input image data may be automatically deleted when a predetermined period elapses after the thumbnail image data and the input image data are stored. Here, it is assumed that the predetermined period can be appropriately changed by user setting. Alternatively, the old data may be automatically deleted when the predetermined storage capacity of the storage unit 9 becomes full.

  With the above processing, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper, the input image data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the storage unit 9, so that the cause of blank paper discharge later is not greatly hindered in information security. It can be confirmed whether it is in the input image data or if there is a factor in the processing or operation of the image forming apparatus.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the thumbnail image data is generated and stored together with the input image data only when the image data for image formation execution is blank when the image is formed. On the other hand, in the second embodiment of the present invention, thumbnail image data is generated for all pages of input image data to be imaged and stored together with the input image data. In this case, the storage period is set to be longer than the storage period of the image data in the case where the sheet is not blank.

The second embodiment can be executed by the configuration shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the thumbnail data generation unit 7 in FIG. 1 generates thumbnail image data for all pages of input image data to be imaged.
The control unit 6 stores all the thumbnail image data generated by the thumbnail data generation unit 7 in the storage unit 9 in association with the input image data corresponding to the thumbnail image data.

  Based on the image data for image formation execution related to all input image data, the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines whether or not the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet when the image data is formed on the recording sheet. Then, the control unit 6 makes the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data discharged with blank paper longer than the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data that does not become blank paper.

For example, when the storage period of thumbnail image data and input image data related to image data that does not become blank paper is one day, the storage period of thumbnail image data and input image data related to image data discharged as blank paper is set to one week. To do.
Thus, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper, the input image data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the storage unit 9 for a longer period of time. A period for confirming whether there is a factor in processing or operation of the image forming apparatus can be secured for a long period of time. The thumbnail image data can be confirmed on the spot by displaying it on the operation display unit 10 of the image forming apparatus 100, and the stored input image data can be reused by forming an image again. it can.
In this embodiment, when the recording paper is discharged as blank when forming the image data, in order to lengthen the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data, the image data that is not discharged is deleted early, In addition, the storage period of the image data to be blanked out can be set as long as appropriate, and the cause of blank blanking can be investigated later without significantly hindering information security.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing example of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the flow of processing will be described with reference to the configuration of FIG.
When an image forming process is instructed to the image forming apparatus 100 by a user operation on the operation display unit 10 or an operation of an external apparatus such as a PC (step S11), the image processing unit 4 converts the input image data. Image processing for generating image data for image formation is performed (step S12). Then, the control unit 6 stores the generated thumbnail image data and the input image data that is the source of the thumbnail image data in the storage unit 9 (step S13). Then, the storage period of the thumbnail image data and input image data to be stored is set (step S14). The storage period is a period in which thumbnail image data and input image data are automatically deleted from the storage unit 9 after the set period has elapsed. Here, a predetermined storage period when blank paper is not discharged is set as the initial storage period.

Then, the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines whether or not a blank sheet is discharged based on the image data for image formation execution converted from the input image data (step S15). Here, the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines whether or not the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet without forming an image on the entire page when image forming processing is performed based on image data for image formation execution. Determine for each page.
Here, in the first page, when the blank sheet determination unit 8 determines that the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet, the control unit 6 changes the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data based on the determination result. Then, the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data discharged from the blank sheet is set to be longer than the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data not discharged from the blank sheet ( Step S16).

Next, the control unit 6 controls the image forming unit 5 to execute image formation of input image data (step S17). If there is further image data for image formation on the next page (step S18-Yes), the process returns to step S15 to determine whether the image data for image formation on the next page is blank. If there is no image data to be imaged in step S18, the process is terminated.
With the above processing, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper, the input image data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the storage unit 9 for a longer period of time, so that the blank paper is discharged later without greatly impairing information security. It is possible to check whether there is a factor in the input image data or whether there is a factor in the processing and operation of the image forming apparatus.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a system configuration for carrying out the third embodiment of the present invention. In the system of this example, an image forming apparatus 100 ′ for forming an image of input image data, a print server 200 connected to the image forming apparatus 100 ′, and an information processing apparatus 300 such as a PC (Personal Computer) are connected to a network. Connected through. The print server 200 is a control computer used when the image forming apparatus 100 ′ arranged on the network is used from a plurality of information processing apparatuses 300.

  The information processing apparatus 300 includes a control unit 31 including a control processor such as a CPU, a storage unit 32 such as an HDD and various memories, an operation display unit 33 that enables an operation input by a user, and the like, which are stored in the storage unit 32. The software is executed to perform various processes. For example, the information processing apparatus 300 generates a print job and transmits the print job to the print server 200 via the network. The print server 200 transmits the print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus 300 to the image forming apparatus 100 ′. The print job includes image data for image formation. The operation display unit 33 can be configured as a touch panel, and the thumbnail image data stored in the storage unit 15 of the print server 200 can be appropriately displayed on the display screen.

  The image forming apparatus 100 ′ includes an image forming unit 22 that receives a print job transmitted from the print server 200 and forms an image of image data included in the print job. The image forming apparatus 100 ′ includes an image processing unit 21 that converts input image data into image data for execution of image formation (print execution data) suitable for image formation by the image forming unit 22. The image processing unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 100 ′ interprets the PDL and generates raster data (bitmap data) for executing image formation when the image data is created by PDL. Further, when the image data is data generated by an application program such as TIFF data, JPEG data, text data, etc., a process of converting those data into raster data for image formation execution is performed. The image forming execution image data processed by the image processing unit 21 is formed by the image forming unit 22.

The print server 200 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, a thumbnail data generation unit 13, a blank page determination unit 14, and a storage unit 15. The communication unit 12 communicates with the information processing apparatus 300 and the image forming apparatus 100 ′ via a network.
The control unit 12 is a functional unit for controlling the entire print server 200, and implements various functions by, for example, reading and executing various programs stored in the storage unit 15 by a control processor such as a CPU.
The thumbnail data generation unit 13 generates thumbnail image data for each page of image data included in the print job, under the control of the control unit 12. The thumbnail image data is obtained by reducing the data amount by reducing the original input image data. The thumbnail image data can be created from an image that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 100 ′.

  When the image data is sent to the image forming apparatus 100 ′ and image forming processing is performed by the image forming apparatus 100 ′, the blank sheet determining unit 14 does not form any image on the recording sheet, and is discharged as a blank sheet. It is determined whether or not. Here, the blank page determination unit 14 confirms image data for each page of image data for image formation that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 100 ′ and sent to the image forming unit 22. When image formation is not performed on the entire page (for example, all the image data of the entire page is “0”), it is determined that the blank page is discharged for the page.

  The storage unit 15 is a storage unit using a ROM, a RAM, or an HDD, and stores the thumbnail image data generated by the thumbnail data generation unit 13 in association with the image data corresponding to the thumbnail image data. In addition, the storage unit 15 stores programs, data, and the like for the control unit 12 to execute operations.

  In this embodiment, even if the blank page determination unit 14 provided in the print server 200 forms an image on each page of image formation execution data based on the image formation execution data, an image is formed on the recording paper. Only when it is determined that a blank page is included, the control unit 12 of the print server 200 stores in the storage unit 15 at least input image data and thumbnail image data corresponding to each blank page. Let The image data to be stored here is only the thumbnail image data corresponding to the blank page and its input image data, but as another example, the thumbnail image data of all pages in the print job including the blank page and The input image data may be saved.

As a result, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper, the thumbnail image data and the input image data are stored in the storage unit 15 of the print server 200, so whether the input image data causes a blank paper discharge later. Alternatively, it can be confirmed whether there is a factor in processing or operation of the image forming apparatus 100 ′. Here, the thumbnail image data is displayed on the operation display unit 23 of the image forming apparatus 100 ′ so that the user can confirm the thumbnail image data on the spot. The thumbnail image data may be displayed on the operation display unit 33 of the information processing apparatus 300. Also, by saving the input image data, the saved input image data can be reused by forming an image again.
According to the present embodiment, the thumbnail image data and the input image data are stored only when the recording paper is discharged as blank when the image data is formed, so that the information security is not greatly hindered. The cause of the blank paper discharge can be investigated later.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the third embodiment, thumbnail image data is generated and stored in the storage unit 15 of the print server together with input image data only when image formation execution image data is blank when image formation is performed. On the other hand, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, thumbnail image data is generated for all pages of input image data to be imaged and stored together with the input image data. In this case, the storage period is set to be longer than the storage period of the image data in the case where the sheet is not blank.

The fourth embodiment can be executed by the configuration shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the thumbnail data generation unit 13 of the print server 200 in FIG. 4 generates thumbnail image data for all pages of input image data to be imaged. The thumbnail image data can be created from an image that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 100 ′.
The control unit 12 of the print server 200 stores all the thumbnail image data generated by the thumbnail data generation unit 13 in the storage unit 15 in association with the input image data corresponding to the thumbnail image data.

  Based on the image data for image formation execution related to all input image data, the blank sheet determination unit 14 determines whether or not the recording sheet is discharged as a blank sheet when the image data is formed on the recording sheet. Then, the control unit 12 makes the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data discharged with blank paper longer than the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data related to the image data that does not become blank paper.

For example, when the storage period of thumbnail image data and input image data related to image data that does not become blank paper is one day, the storage period of thumbnail image data and input image data related to image data discharged as blank paper is set to one week. To do.
As a result, when the recording paper is discharged as blank paper in the image forming apparatus 100 ′, the input image data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the storage unit 15 for a longer period of time, and the cause of blank paper discharge is input later. It is possible to secure a long period for confirming whether the image data is present or whether there is a factor in processing or operation of the image forming apparatus 100 ′. The thumbnail image data can be confirmed on the spot by displaying the thumbnail image data on the operation display unit 23 of the image forming apparatus 100 ', and the stored input image data can be reused by forming an image again. Can do. The thumbnail image data may be displayed on the operation display unit 33 of the information processing apparatus 300.

  In this embodiment, when the recording paper is discharged as blank when forming the image data, in order to lengthen the storage period of the thumbnail image data and the input image data, the image data that is not discharged is deleted early, In addition, the storage period of the image data to be blanked out can be set as long as appropriate, and the cause of blank blanking can be investigated later without significantly hindering information security.

  The technical features described in each of the above embodiments can be combined with each other, and new technical features can be formed by combining them.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image reading part, 2 ... Communication part, 3 ... External interface part, 4 ... Image processing part, 5 ... Image formation part, 6 ... Control part, 7 ... Thumbnail data generation part, 8 ... Blank paper determination part, 9 ... Memory | storage , 10 ... Operation display part, 11 ... Communication part, 12 ... Control part, 13 ... Thumbnail data generation part, 14 ... Blank paper determination part, 15 ... Storage part, 21 ... Image processing part, 22 ... Image formation part, 23 ... Operation display unit 31... Control unit 32. Storage unit 33. Operation display unit 100, 100 ′ Image forming device 200 Print server 300 Information processing device

Claims (4)

An image forming unit that forms an image on recording paper based on the image data;
An image processing unit that converts input image data into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation by the image forming unit;
A thumbnail data generation unit that generates thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data;
A storage unit for storing the input image data and the thumbnail image data;
A control unit that controls storage of the input image data and the thumbnail image data to the storage unit;
Whether or not the image data for image formation includes image data of a page that is ejected as a blank sheet without forming an image on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation A blank sheet determination unit for determining,
The control unit determines at least the input image corresponding to the blank page only when the blank page determination unit determines that the page on which the recording sheet is blank is included in the image data for image formation. An image forming apparatus, wherein the data and the thumbnail image data are stored in the storage unit. An image forming unit that forms an image on recording paper based on the image data;
An image processing unit that converts input image data into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation by the image forming unit;
A thumbnail data generation unit that generates thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data;
A storage unit for storing the input image data and the thumbnail image data;
A control unit that controls storage of the input image data and the thumbnail image data to the storage unit;
Whether or not the image data for image formation includes image data of a page that is ejected as a blank sheet without forming an image on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation A blank sheet determination unit for determining,
The thumbnail data generation unit generates the thumbnail image data for all pages of the input image data, and the control unit converts the input image data and the input image data for all pages of the input image data. Memorize the corresponding thumbnail image data,
When it is determined by the blank page determination unit that the image data of the page on which the recording sheet is blank is included in the image data for execution of image formation, the image data of the page to be blank is used for the image formation. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a storage period of the input image data and thumbnail image data stored in the storage unit is made longer than a case where it is not included in image data. An image forming method comprising the steps of performing image processing on input image data to convert it into image data for image formation execution suitable for image formation, and forming the image of the converted image data,
Whether or not the image data for image formation includes image data of a page that is ejected as a blank sheet without forming an image on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation A blank sheet determination step for determining;
The input image data corresponding to at least the blank page and the blank sheet only when it is determined in the blank page determination step that the page on which the recording sheet is blank is included in the image data for image formation. Storing the thumbnail image data of the input image data corresponding to the page to be stored in a predetermined storage unit. Performing image processing on the input image data to convert it into image data for execution of image formation suitable for image formation, and forming the converted image data into an image; and
Generating thumbnail image data for each page of the input image data, and storing the input image data and thumbnail image data corresponding to the input image data in a predetermined storage unit for each page of the input image data; An image forming method comprising:
Whether or not the image data for image formation includes image data of a page that is ejected as a blank sheet without forming an image on a recording sheet even when image formation is performed based on the image data for execution of image formation A blank sheet determination step for determining,
In the step of storing the input image data and the thumbnail image data in the predetermined storage unit, the image data for the page on which the recording paper becomes blank is included in the image data for image formation execution by the blank page determination step. If the image data of the page to be blank is not included in the image forming image data, the storage period of the input image data and thumbnail image data to be stored in the storage unit is determined. An image forming method characterized by lengthening.

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