JP2006267282A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a plurality of print engines from being erroneously arranged, and also prevent lowering of printing speed and an increase in the size of a printer main body in a printer where print engines are freely combined by an optional number. <P>SOLUTION: In the printer 10, the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is recognized by a recognition part 38 when the combination of the print engine 12Y to 12S is input on a display panel 36 in changing the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S. The arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S in accordance with the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is stored in a storage part 42, and an arrangement decision part 40 reads the arrangement in accordance with the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S input from the display panel 36 from the storage part 42 and decides the arrangement. Then, the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S decided by the arrangement decision part 40 is displayed on the display panel 36. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention includes an image carrier that carries an image to be transferred to a transfer medium, and a plurality of developing units that develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with different developers, and the number of developing units is arbitrary. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that can be freely combined.

  Among current full-color laser printers, there are those that perform full-color printing by adding special toners such as special toner, foam toner, and security toner to the three primary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow, and normal toner of black. It is not appropriate to permanently install a print engine using special toner in all apparatuses, because it imposes an extra function and cost for a user who does not require special toner. In addition, it is not appropriate to separately manufacture a device that permanently installs a print engine that uses special toner and a device that permanently installs only the above-described normal print engine that uses toner. .

  For this reason, in a full-color laser printer that can use special toner in addition to normal toner, an arbitrary number of print engines can be freely combined with all devices, and a print engine that uses special toner can be added as an option. Thus, it is possible to satisfy the user's needs and reduce the manufacturing cost of the printer.

  By the way, in the full-color laser printer, if the arrangement of the print engine or the developing device is changed and the order in which the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed is changed, the color of the superimposed images changes. The special toner needs to be superimposed on a specific layer. For example, the transparent toner used for giving gloss to the image needs to be superimposed on the uppermost layer on the recording paper and the lowermost layer on the intermediate transfer member. For this reason, conventionally, a method has been devised in which the arrangement of the mounted developing devices is detected and the order in which the toner images are superimposed is changed in accordance with the arrangement of the developing devices (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  Here, the full-color laser printer described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is a method in which the intermediate transfer member is rotated a plurality of times so that the toner images are overlapped by one color every rotation, while the intermediate transfer member rotates once. Unlike the so-called tandem full-color laser printer that sequentially superimposes multiple color toner images on the intermediate transfer member, the printing speed is increased when the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are used in a tandem full-color laser printer. Decreases. For example, the most downstream side of the intermediate transfer position (closest to the final transfer position) is the optimal mounting position, and the print engine that should transfer the toner image to the intermediate transfer body last is mounted at a position other than the optimal mounting position. In the case where the toner image is transferred by the print engine, the intermediate transfer member is usually transferred to the intermediate transfer member when the intermediate transfer member is rotated once. There is a problem that the printing speed is greatly reduced because the rotation has to be performed one more time.

In a tandem full-color laser printer, a print engine that uses normal toner is permanently installed, and a print engine that uses special toner can be added freely between and before and after the permanent print engine. It is possible to optimally combine the print engines. However, since an extra space must be provided between and before and after the permanent print engine, there is a problem that the apparatus becomes large, and the moving distance of the intermediate transfer member becomes longer and the printing time becomes longer.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-215772 JP 2004-77931 A

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and in an image forming apparatus in which an arbitrary number of developing units can be combined, it is possible to prevent a plurality of developing units from being mistakenly arranged and to perform printing speed. The purpose is to prevent the decrease in size and the size of the apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image carrier that carries an image to be transferred to a transfer medium; and a plurality of developers that develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with different developers. An image forming apparatus in which an arbitrary number of the developing units can be combined, a recognition unit for recognizing the combination of the developing units, and the combination according to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognition unit And determining means for determining the arrangement of the developing devices, and notifying means for notifying the operator of the arrangement of the developing devices determined by the determining means.

  The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image carrier and a plurality of developing devices, wherein the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier is developed with a different developer by each developer and the image carrier is provided. An image is formed on the body. Then, this image is carried on an image carrier and transferred to a transfer medium, and images formed with different developers are superimposed on the transfer medium.

  Here, an arbitrary number of developing devices can be combined in any number. However, when the developing device is mounted on the apparatus main body, the recognition unit recognizes the combination of the developing devices, and the determining unit performs the development. The arrangement of the developing units is determined according to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognition unit, and the notifying unit notifies the operator such as a user or a serviceman of the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit. .

  Accordingly, when the operator mounts the developing device on the apparatus main body, the arrangement of the developing device according to the combination of the developing devices can be confirmed, so that the developing device can be prevented from being mistakenly arranged. In addition, since the developing devices can be accurately arranged, development and transfer can be executed sequentially in the order in which the developing devices are arranged, so that a reduction in printing speed can be prevented. In addition, since it is possible to arrange the developing devices accurately, it becomes possible to freely combine a plurality of developing devices, and there is no need to provide an extra space between and before and after each developing device. Extension of the moving distance of the medium can be prevented, and a decrease in printing speed can be prevented. Moreover, the enlargement of the apparatus can be prevented.

  An image forming apparatus according to a second aspect is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising combination input means for inputting a combination of the developing devices, and the recognition means is input by the combination input means. The combination of the developing devices is recognized.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, when the combination of the developing devices is input by the combination input device, the input combination of the developing devices is recognized by the recognition device. Then, the determining unit determines the arrangement of the developing units mounted on the apparatus main body according to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognizing unit, and the notifying unit determines the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit. Notify operators such as users and service personnel.

  As a result, the operator can confirm the arrangement of the developing devices according to the combination of the developing devices inputted by the combination input means, so that the developing devices can be prevented from being arranged by mistake, and the image can be optimally arranged on the transfer medium. Can be superimposed.

  An image forming apparatus according to a third aspect is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a type detecting unit that detects a type of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body and the type mounted on the apparatus main body. A type input unit for inputting a type of the developing device, and the recognition unit is configured to determine the type of the developing unit detected by the type detecting unit and the type of the developing unit input by the type input unit. It is characterized by recognizing a combination of developing devices.

  In the image forming apparatus according to claim 3, the type of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body is detected by the type detecting unit, the type of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body is input by the type input unit, and the recognition unit is The combination of the developing units is recognized from the type of the developing unit detected by the type detecting unit and the type of the developing unit input by the type inputting unit. As a result, even when the operator does not accurately grasp the combination of the developing devices mounted on the apparatus main body, the recognition unit can accurately recognize the new developing device combination.

  An image forming apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the storage unit stores the arrangement of the developing devices according to the combination of the developing devices. And the determining means reads out and determines the arrangement of the developing units according to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognizing unit from the storage unit.

  5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the arrangement of the developing units corresponding to the combination of the developing units is stored in the storage unit, and the determining unit is a developing unit corresponding to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognition unit. Is determined by reading from the storage means.

  Thereby, the operator can be notified of the arrangement of the developing devices according to the combination of the developing devices by the notifying means.

  An image forming apparatus according to a fifth aspect is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising an arrangement detecting unit that detects an arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body. The notifying unit notifies that the arrangement of the developing units detected by the arrangement detecting unit is changed to the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit.

  In the image forming apparatus according to claim 5, the arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body is detected by the arrangement detecting unit, and the notifying unit is determined by the determining unit from the arrangement of the developing unit detected by the arrangement detecting unit. The operator is notified of the change to the arrangement of the developed developer. As a result, the operator can easily confirm to which position the developing device mounted at the mounting position of the developing device to be added should be moved, so that the developing device is misplaced. Can be prevented.

  The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 is the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the notification unit displays the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determination unit. It is the display means to do.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the sixth aspect, when the arrangement of the developing units according to the combination of the developing units is determined by the determining unit, the display unit displays the display. Thereby, the operator can easily confirm how to arrange the developing devices.

  An image forming apparatus according to a seventh aspect is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the arrangement detecting unit detects the arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body. Warning means for warning an operator of an error in the arrangement of the developing devices, and warning means if the arrangement of the developing devices detected by the arrangement detecting means does not match the arrangement of the developing devices determined by the determining means And a first determination means for actuating.

  In the image forming apparatus according to claim 7, the arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body is detected by the arrangement detecting unit, and the first determination unit is determined by the arrangement and determining unit of the developing unit detected by the arrangement detecting unit. If the determined arrangement of the developing devices does not match, a warning means is activated to warn the operator of an error in the arrangement of the developing devices. That is, when the operator does not arrange the developing device as notified by the notifying device, the warning device is activated to notify the operator of an error in arranging the developing device. As a result, it is possible to prevent development and transfer from being performed while the developing device is incorrectly arranged.

  An image forming apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the arrangement detecting unit detects the arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body. And a second determination unit that enables a printing operation when the arrangement of the developing units detected by the arrangement detecting unit coincides with the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit.

  The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the arrangement of the developing unit mounted on the apparatus main body is detected by the arrangement detecting unit, and the second determining unit is detected by the arrangement and determining unit of the developing unit detected by the arrangement detecting unit. If the determined arrangements of the developing devices coincide with each other, a printing operation such as development or transfer is enabled. That is, when the operator does not arrange the developing device as notified by the notification means, the printing operation is not executed. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent development and transfer from being performed while the developing unit is incorrectly arranged.

  An image forming apparatus according to a ninth aspect is the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein each of the developing units determines the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit. Control means for controlling printing conditions for each image to be developed is provided.

  10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein when the arrangement of the developing device is determined by the determining unit, the control unit prints each image developed by each developing device according to the determined arrangement of the developing device. Control the conditions (development bias, transfer bias, exposure conditions, etc.). As a result, when the combination of the developing devices is changed, not only the images formed by the respective developers are superimposed in the optimum order, but also the images formed by the respective developers can be formed under the optimum conditions. It becomes possible.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, in an image forming apparatus in which an arbitrary number of developing devices can be combined, it is possible to prevent a plurality of developing devices from being mistakenly arranged, and to reduce the printing speed and increase the size of the device. Can be prevented.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the printer 10 has three primary colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C), and normal toner of black (K), special color, foaming toner, and security. This is a full-color laser beam printer that can perform full-color printing by adding special (S) toner such as toner for use. The printer 10 includes print engines 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K, and 12S (hereinafter referred to as 12Y to S) that use toners of Y, M, C, K, and S, which are flat on the lower side of the intermediate transfer belt 14. In a so-called tandem printer arranged along the surface 14 </ b> A, the print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S sequentially transfer and superimpose Y to S toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 14 while the intermediate transfer belt 14 makes one round. Together, a full-color toner image is formed.

  The intermediate transfer belt 14 is stretched in the horizontal direction by rolls 16 and 18 and rotated in the direction of arrow A (clockwise direction in the figure). The roll 16 is disposed downstream of the print engines 12Y to 12S in the direction of arrow A, and the secondary transfer roll 17 provided on the outer peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is connected to the roll 16 by the intermediate transfer belt 14. The secondary transfer nip N <b> 2 is formed by the roll 16 and the secondary transfer roll 17. A recording paper P is fed from a paper path (not shown) to the secondary transfer nip N2, and at the same time, a transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer roll 17, whereby a full-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 14 is obtained. Is transferred to the recording paper P. Note that the print engines 12Y to 12S are arranged close to the downstream side in the direction of arrow A, and the first print time is shortened.

  The roll 18 is disposed upstream of the print engines 12Y to 12S in the direction of the arrow A. The roll 18 has a cleaner blade 19A of a cleaner unit 19 provided on the outer peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 14. However, the intermediate transfer belt 14 is in contact therewith. The cleaner blade 19A cleans the intermediate transfer belt 14 by scraping off toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 14 without being transferred onto the recording paper P.

  A fixing device 20 is disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction of the secondary transfer nip N2. When the recording paper P passes through the fixing device 20, the toner on the recording paper P is heated and pressed to perform recording. It is fixed on the paper P. Then, the recording paper P is discharged from the printer main body 11.

  Next, the print engines 12Y to 12S will be described. The print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S include a photoreceptor 22, a cleaner unit 24, a charging roll 26, an exposure head 28, and a developer arranged around the photoreceptor 22 in order in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor 22 (arrow B direction in the drawing). A container 30 is provided. The photosensitive member 22 abuts on the outer peripheral side of the flat surface 14A of the intermediate transfer belt 14, and a primary transfer roll 32 provided on the inner peripheral side of the intermediate transfer belt 14 is interposed between the photosensitive member 22 and the intermediate transfer belt 14. The primary transfer nip N1 is formed by the photoconductor 22 and the primary transfer roll 32.

  Here, the printing operation of the print engines 12Y to 12S will be described. First, a charging bias is applied to a charging roll 26 that rotates in contact with the photosensitive member 22 to uniformly charge the photosensitive member 22. Next, an exposure head 28 such as an LED array exposes the charged surface of the photosensitive member 22 to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data.

  Next, a developing bias is applied to the developing roll 30 </ b> A of the developing device 30, and the toner attached to the developing roll 30 </ b> A moves onto the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 22, whereby the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 22 is moved. Is developed. Then, a transfer bias is applied to the primary transfer roll 32, and the toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor 22 to the intermediate transfer belt 14 at the primary transfer nip N1. Finally, the cleaner blade 24 </ b> A of the cleaner unit 24 cleans the surface of the photoconductor 22 by scraping off toner remaining on the photoconductor 22 without being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14.

  As described above, the printing conditions such as the transfer bias of the primary transfer roll 32, the development bias of the developing roll 30A, the exposure conditions of the exposure head 28, and the charging bias of the charging roll 26 in the printing operation of the print engines 12Y to 12S described above are controlled. It is controlled by the unit 34 (see FIG. 4).

  Here, in the printer 10, the print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S can be freely attached to and detached from the printer main body 11, and any number of print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S can be combined according to user needs. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a combination of only print engines 12Y-K using YMCK normal toner is selected, or as shown in FIG. 2, print engines 12Y-K using normal YMCK toner are selected. A combination for adding a print engine 12S using a transparent toner as a special toner is selected, or, as shown in FIG. 3, a special color such as a group blue is used as a special toner in the print engines 12Y to 12K using a normal YMCK toner. For example, it is possible to select a combination of additional print engines 12S using the toner.

  The transparent toner is used to give gloss to the image and must be superimposed on the uppermost layer of the recording paper P. For this purpose, the transparent toner must be transferred to the lowermost layer of the intermediate transfer belt 14. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the print engine 12S using the transparent toner must be arranged upstream of the print engines 12Y to 12K in the arrow A direction. In addition, when a color close to black, such as group blue, is selected as a special color, S toner is mixed in the YMC developing device 30 as in the case of K toner, and the YMC toner and S toner are mixed to form YMC toner. There is a problem because the color changes. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the print engine 12S must be arranged on the downstream side in the direction of arrow A of the print engines 12Y to 12C.

  As described above, the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S is determined according to the combination of the print engine 12S to be added and the permanently installed print engines 12Y to 12K, and the user observes this rule and the print engine 12Y. ~ S must be placed.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of control of the printer 10 when changing the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the mode for changing the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is selected on the display panel 36 (see FIGS. 4 and 6), the processing routine is started and the routine proceeds to step 100. In step 100, as shown in FIG. 6A, the control unit 34 repeats the negative determination until the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is input on the display panel 36. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 101. Here, on the display panel 36, the button 36A adjacent to the numbers 1 to 5 on the left side of the screen is pressed, and the toner type button 36B on the right side is pressed to select the toner to be used.

  As a method of inputting the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S, other methods such as selecting with a dial can be applied in addition to inputting with the display panel 36.

  In step 101, the recognition unit 38 (see FIG. 4) recognizes the combination of the print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S input from the display panel 36, and proceeds to step 102. In step 102, the arrangement determining unit 40 (see FIG. 4) displays the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to S according to the combination of the print engines 12Y to S recognized by the recognition unit 38 from the storage unit 42 (see FIG. 4). Read and decide. Here, all the combinations of the print engines 12Y to 12S that can be supported by the printer 10 of the present embodiment are stored in the storage unit 42, and the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S corresponding to each combination is stored. For example, if the print engines 12Y-S use YMCK normal colors and transparent toner, the arrangement of the print engines 12Y-S is stored in the direction of arrow A in the order of S → Y → M → C → K. ing. If the print engines 12Y-S use YMCK normal color and ultra-blue toner, the arrangement of the print engines 12Y-S is stored in the direction of arrow A in the order of Y → M → C → S → K. Has been.

  In step 103, as shown in FIG. 6B, the display 36C of the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S determined by the arrangement determining unit 40 is displayed on the display panel 36, and a user, a serviceman, etc. The operator is notified. Thus, when the operator mounts the print engines 12Y to 12S on the printer main body 11, the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S according to the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S can be easily confirmed.

  Here, in the installation space of the print engines 12Y to 12S, a sensor 44 (see FIG. 4) for detecting an identification mark for identifying the type provided in the installed print engines 12Y to 12S is installed. The arrangement detector 46 (see FIG. 4) detects the arrangement of the mounted print engines 12Y to 12S from the reading result of the sensor 44.

  In step 104, the control unit 34 repeats negative determination until the reading result of the sensor 44 changes, that is, until the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S mounted on the printer main body 11 changes. . In step 105, it is determined whether or not the arrangement of the print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S determined by the arrangement determining unit 40 matches the arrangement of the detected print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S detected by the arrangement detection unit 46. If the result is negative, the process proceeds to step 107.

  In step 106, as shown in FIG. 6C, the display panel 36 displays the display 36C of the correct arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S and the warning display 36D. That is, when the operator does not arrange the print engines 12Y to 12S as notified by the display panel 36, the operator is informed of an arrangement error of the print engines 12Y to 12S. As a result, it is possible to prevent the print operation from being executed while the print engines 12Y to 12S are erroneously arranged. In addition to displaying on the display panel 36, other methods such as sounding a buzzer may be used as a means for warning the operator of an arrangement error of the print engines 12Y to 12S. Then, the process returns to step 105.

  On the other hand, in step 107, the control unit 34 determines the printing conditions of the print engines 12Y to 12S (transfer bias of the primary transfer roll 32, developing roll 30A according to the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S determined by the arrangement determination unit 40. The developing bias, the exposure condition of the exposure head 28, the charging bias of the charging roll 26, etc.) and the print engines 12Y to 12S can perform the printing operation. As a result, when the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S changes, not only the images formed by the print engines 12Y to 12S are superimposed in an optimum order, but also the images formed by the respective print engines 12Y to 12S. Can be formed under optimum conditions. In addition, it is possible to reliably prevent the print operation of the print engines 12Y to 12S from being executed in a state where the print engines 12Y to 12S are erroneously arranged.

  As described above, the arrangement according to the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is displayed on the display panel 36, and it is determined whether or not the arrangement of the mounted print engines 12Y to 12S is correct. , It is possible to prevent the print engines 12Y to 12S from being arranged by mistake. In addition, since the print engines 12Y to 12S can be accurately arranged, development and transfer can be executed in the order in which the print engines 12Y to 12S are arranged, so that a decrease in print speed can be prevented. Further, as the print engines 12Y to 12S can be arranged accurately, it is possible to freely combine a plurality of print engines 12Y to 12S, and there is an extra space between the print engines 12Y to 12S and front and rear. Since there is no need to provide a space, it is possible to prevent the movement distance of the intermediate transfer belt 14 from being extended and to prevent a reduction in printing speed. In addition, an increase in size of the printer 10 can be prevented.

  Next, a second embodiment of control of the printer 10 when changing the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the mode for changing the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S is selected on the display panel 48 (see FIGS. 8 and 9), the processing routine is started and the routine proceeds to step 200. In step 200, as shown in FIG. 9A, the negative determination is repeated in the control unit 50 (see FIG. 8) until the type of the print engine 12S added on the display panel 48 is input. Proceed to step 201. Here, on the display panel 48, the type of toner to be added can be selected by pressing the button 48A on which the type of toner is written. The means for selecting the type of toner to be added is not limited to input from the display panel 48, but may be selected with a dial.

  In step 201, the recognition unit 52 (see FIG. 8) prints from the type of the print engine 12S input on the display panel 48 and the type of the print engine 12 already mounted on the printer main body 11 detected by the sensor 44. Recognize the combination of engines 12Y-S. In step 202, the arrangement determining unit 40 (see FIG. 8) reads out the arrangement of the print engines 12Y to 12S corresponding to the combination of the print engines 12Y to S from the storage unit 42 (see FIG. 8), and print engine 12Y. Determine the placement of ~ S.

  In step 203, the control unit 50 increases the layout based on the layout of the print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> S determined by the layout determination unit 40 and the layout of the mounted print engines 12 </ b> Y to 12 </ b> K detected by the layout detection unit 46. The mounting position of the print engine 12S and the position to move the mounted print engines 12Y to 12K are determined and displayed on the display panel 48.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when a print engine 12S using transparent toner is added to the printer main body 11 to which the print engines 12Y to 12K are installed, as shown in FIG. 2, the installed print engines 12Y to 12Y are installed. Since it is not necessary to move K, only the display 48B of the position (5) where the print engine 12S using the transparent toner is mounted is displayed on the display panel 48, as shown in FIG. 9B. Note that numbers 1 to 5 are assigned to the mounting positions of the print engines 12Y to 12S in order from the downstream side in the arrow A direction.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 2, a printer engine 11 that is equipped with a print engine 12S that uses transparent toner is replaced by a print engine that uses ultra blue toner instead of the print engine 12S that uses transparent toner, as shown in FIG. When the 12S is mounted, as shown in FIG. 9C, the display 48C for instructing to move the mounted print engine 12C to the most upstream mounting position in the direction of arrow A, and the print engine 12S. 48D of the mounting position (2) is displayed on the display panel 48. Thereby, even when the operator does not accurately grasp the combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S mounted on the printer main body 11, the recognition unit 52 can accurately recognize the new combination of the print engines 12Y to 12S. .

  In the following steps, processing similar to that in step 104 and subsequent steps in the first embodiment is executed.

  In the present embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking as an example the printer 10 in which any number of print engines 12Y to 12S can be combined. However, any number of print engines 12Y to 12S can be combined. It is not essential to do so, and any number of the developing devices 30 may be freely combined. Further, it is not essential to install the same number of components of the print engines 12Y to 12S as the developing device 30 such as the photosensitive member 22, and the number of these components may be one by one. Further, the present invention has been described by taking the configuration in which the toner image formed on the photoconductor 22 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 14 (transfer medium) and superimposed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and is formed on the photoconductor 22. The present invention can also be applied to a configuration in which the toner image thus transferred is directly transferred to a recording sheet (transfer medium) and superimposed.

1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a printer according to an embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a printer according to an embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a printer according to an embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a circuit configuration of a printer. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a first embodiment of printer control when changing a combination of print engines. (A)-(C) are figures which show the display of the display panel at the time of changing the combination of a print engine. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a second embodiment of printer control when changing the combination of print engines; FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the circuit configuration of the printer. (A)-(C) are figures which show the display of the display panel at the time of changing the combination of a print engine.

Explanation of symbols

10 Printer (image forming device)
14 Intermediate transfer belt (transfer medium)
22 Photoconductor (image carrier)
30 Developing Unit 34 Control Unit (Control Unit, First Determination Unit, Second Determination Unit)
36 Display panel (notification means, combination input means, display means, warning means)
38 recognition unit (recognition means)
40 Arrangement determination unit (determination means)
42 storage unit (storage means)
44 sensors (placement detection means, type detection means)
46 Arrangement Detection Unit (Arrangement Detection Unit)
48 Display panel (notification means, type input means, display means, warning means)
50 control unit (control means, first determination means, second determination means)
52 recognition unit (recognition means)

Claims (9)

An image carrier that carries an image to be transferred to a transfer medium, and a plurality of developing units that develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier with different developers, the developer units being combined in any number An image forming apparatus that can be freely used,
Recognition means for recognizing the combination of the developing devices;
Determining means for determining an arrangement of the developing devices according to a combination of the developing devices recognized by the recognizing means;
Notification means for notifying an operator of the arrangement of the developing device determined by the determination means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A combination input means for inputting a combination of the developing units;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the combination of the developing devices input by the combination input unit. A type detecting means for detecting the type of the developing device mounted on the apparatus main body;
A type input means for inputting the type of the developing device mounted on the apparatus main body,
2. The recognizing unit recognizes a combination of the developing units from the type of the developing unit detected by the type detecting unit and the type of the developing unit input by the type inputting unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1. Comprising storage means for storing the arrangement of the developing units according to the combination of the developing units;
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit reads out and determines the arrangement of the developing units according to the combination of the developing units recognized by the recognizing unit from the storage unit. 5. The image forming apparatus described. An arrangement detecting means for detecting the arrangement of the developing device mounted on the apparatus main body;
5. The notification unit according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies that the arrangement of the developing units detected by the arrangement detection unit is changed to the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determination unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is a display unit that displays an arrangement of the developing device determined by the determination unit. An arrangement detecting means for detecting the arrangement of the developing device mounted on the apparatus main body;
Warning means for warning an operator of an error in the arrangement of the developer;
A first determination unit that activates a warning unit if the arrangement of the developing units detected by the arrangement detection unit and the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determination unit do not match;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: An arrangement detecting means for detecting the arrangement of the developing device mounted on the apparatus main body;
A second determination unit that enables a printing operation if the arrangement of the developing units detected by the arrangement detecting unit matches the arrangement of the developing units determined by the determining unit;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls a printing condition for each image developed by each developing device in accordance with the arrangement of the developing device determined by the determining unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1.

Images