Image forming apparatus

Claim 2

An image forming apparatus comprising: a reading section for optically reading a document; an image forming section for forming an image representative of the document read by said reading section on an image carrier in response to image data; a storing section for storing desired colors and functions associated with said colors and relating to image formation; an identifying section for identifying a color entered on the document in response to the image data; and a control section for executing any of the functions stored in said storing section and matching the color determined by said identifying section, wherein said image forming apparatus has a color register mode in which an operator can register one of said desired colors and assign one of said functions to said one of said desired colors by sequentially setting said one of said functions, pressing a color register key, marking a sheet having a background color in said one of said desired colors, and pressing a copy start key, and wherein, when said color register mode has been selected, said reading section scans the sheet and outputs a corresponding output signal, said identifying section identifies said background color of said sheet and then identifies said one of said desired colors, and the storing section writes each of a mean of the output signal of said reading section corresponding to said one of said desired colors, a color register number, and said one of said functions in memory.

Claim 3

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: deciding circuitry for determining, when a color is to be newly stored in said storing section, a difference between a color signal representative of said color and a color signal representative of the stored color; and an alarming section for producing an alarm when the difference between the two color signals determined by said deciding circuitry is not greater than a predetermined value.

Claim 4

An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a selecting section for selecting, when the difference between the color signals determined by said deciding circuitry is not greater than said predetermined value, either of the color to be newly stored and the stored color.

Claim 5

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said identifying section identifies, in the event of image formation by said image forming section, a color entered on a leading edge of the document when said document is read by said reading section.

Claim 6

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said storing section stores the desired colors and functions relating to control associated with whether or not to effect prescanning in the event of image formation is to be executed, in matching relation to each other.

Claim 7

An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a restricting section for restricting said control section from executing any of the functions stored in said storing section.

Claim 8

An image forming apparatus comprising: a mode setting section for setting a mode associated with various functions relating to image formation; a reading section for optically reading a document; an image forming section for forming an image representative of the document read by said reading section on a recording medium in response to image data and in the mode set by said mode setting section; a storing section for storing, for each of the modes set by said mode setting section, desired colors and functions relating to image formation and corresponding to said desired colors; an identifying section for identifying a color entered on a document in response to image data generated by said reading section; and a control section for executing the functions stored in said storing means in matching relation to the color identified by said identifying section and the mode set by said mode setting section, wherein said mode setting section sets a color register mode, in which one of said desired colors is registered and one of said functions is assigned to said one of said desired colors, when an operator sequentially sets said one of said functions, presses a color register key, marks a sheet having a background color in said one of said desired colors, and presses a copy start key, and wherein, when said color register mode has been set, said reading section scans the sheet and outputs corresponding image data, said identifying section identifies said background color of said sheet and then identifies said one of said desired colors, and the storing section writes each of a mean of the image data generated by said reading section corresponding to said one of said desired colors, a color register number, and said one of said functions in memory.

Claim 9

An image forming apparatus comprising: a mode setting section for setting a mode associated with various functions relating to image formation; a reading section for optically reading a document; an image forming section for forming an image representative of the document read by said reading section on a recording medium in response to image data and in the mode set by said mode setting section; a storing section for storing, for each of the modes set by said mode setting section, desired colors and functions relating to image formation and corresponding to said desired colors; an identifying section for identifying a color entered on a document in response to image data generated by said reading section; and a control section for executing the functions stored in said storing means in matching relation to the color identified by said identifying section and the mode set by said mode setting section, wherein said mode setting section sets a color register mode, in which one of said desired colors is registered and one of said functions is assigned to said one of said desired colors, when an operator sequentially sets said one of said functions, presses a color register key, marks a sheet having a background color in said one of said desired colors, and presses a copy start key, and wherein, when said color register mode has been set, said reading section scans the sheet and outputs corresponding image data, said identifying section identifies said background color of said sheet and then identifies said one of said desired colors, and the storing section writes each of a mean of the image data generated by said reading section corresponding to said one of said desired colors, a color register number, and said one of said functions in memory.

Claim 10

An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a restricting section for restricting said control section from executing any of the functions stored in the stored section.