1460891251-658cfb45-b00e-4030-80d6-a45a2c04ac2c

1. An image formation apparatus comprising:
an image carrier on which a developer image is formed;
an image transfer device configured to transfer the developer image formed on the image carrier to a medium;
a controller configured to control drive of the image carrier and the image transfer device;
a first medium feeder configured to feed the medium in the medium-conveyance direction to convey the medium to the image transfer device;
a medium-size detector configured to detect a conveyance-direction dimension of the medium; and
a leading-end detector provided at a first distance from the image transfer device in a downstream direction and configured to detect the leading end of the medium discharged from the image transfer device, wherein
the controller is configured to stop driving the image carrier, when the medium is conveyed over a distance obtained by subtracting the first distance from the conveyance-direction dimension after the leading-end detector detects the leading end of the medium.
2. An image formation apparatus comprising:
an image carrier on which a developer image is to be formed;
an image transfer device configured to transfer the developer image formed on the image carrier to a medium at an image transfer position;
a controller configured to control drive of the image carrier and the image transfer device;
a first medium feeder configured to feed the medium to the image transfer position along a medium conveyance path extending from the first medium feeder to the image transfer position; and
a medium detector provided between the first medium feeder and the image transfer position in the medium conveyance path,
wherein the controller is configured to control the drive of the image carrier on the basis of a medium-detection result by the medium detector, and
wherein the controller does not start driving the image carrier if the medium is within a zone that allows transfer of the developer image to the medium to be performed at the image transfer position in time.
3. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the zone that allows transfer of the developer image to the medium at image transfer position in time is a position whose distance to the image transfer position along the medium conveyance path is longer than a distance over which the image carrier moves after an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is started until the transfer of the developer image formed on the image carrier to the medium is started.
4. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controller does not start driving the image carrier when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for transfer of the developer image to the medium at the image transfer position.
5. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, during the time when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for the transfer of developer image to the medium at the image transfer position, the controller drives the image carrier at a lower speed than after the time.
6. The image formation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the time when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for the transfer of developer image to the medium at the image transfer position is time from which a time duration until the medium is conveyed to the image transfer position is longer than a time duration from the start of an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier until the start of the transfer of the developer image formed on the image carrier to the medium.
7. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an image formation process to form the developer image is started when a charging operation commences to electrically charge the image carrier.
8. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
a charge-voltage judgment device configured to judge whether or not the image carrier charged voltage reaches a level with which an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is ready to start, wherein
when the charge-voltage judgment device judges that the image formation process is ready to start, the image formation process begins with formation of an electrostatic latent image without a charging operation to electrically charge the image carrier.
9. The image formation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein on the basis of a length of time elapsed after voltage application to the image carrier is stopped, the charge-voltage judgment portion judges whether or not the charge voltage of the image carrier reaches the charge voltage with which the image formation process is ready to start.
10. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising
a second medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than a distance from the first medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the second medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
11. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a second medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than a distance from the first medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the second medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a first time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a second time longer than the first time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
12. The image formation apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: a third medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than the distance from the second medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the third medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a third time longer than the second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
13. The image formation apparatus according to claim 12, wherein
the third medium feeder is a medium feeder provided in an image formation apparatus main body, and
the first medium feeder and the second medium feeder are additional medium feeders externally provided to the image formation apparatus main body.
14. The image formation apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:
a third medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than the distance from second medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the third medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a third time longer than the second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
15. The image formation apparatus according to claim 14, wherein
the third medium feeder is a medium feeder provided in an image formation apparatus main body, and
the first medium feeder and the second medium feeder are additional medium feeders externally provided to the image formation apparatus main body.
16. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image carrier is at least one of a photosensitive drum and an intermediate transfer belt.
17. The image formation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when the medium is within a zone that allows transfer of the developer image to the medium at the image transfer position in time, the controller drives the image carrier at a lower speed than when the medium is conveyed downstream of the most downstream position of the zone in the medium conveyance path.
18. An image formation apparatus comprising:
an image carrier on which a developer image is to be formed;
an image transfer device configured to transfer the developer image formed on the image carrier to a medium at an image transfer position;
a controller configured to control drive of the image carrier and the image transfer device;
a first medium feeder configured to feed the medium to the image transfer position along a medium conveyance path extending from the first medium feeder to the image transfer position; and
a medium detector provided between the first medium feeder and the image transfer position in the medium conveyance path,
wherein the controller is configured to control the drive of the image carrier on the basis of a medium-detection result by the medium detector, and
wherein, when the medium is within a zone that allows transfer of the developer image to the medium at the image transfer position in time, the controller drives the image carrier at a lower speed than when the medium is conveyed downstream of the most downstream position of the zone in the medium conveyance path.
19. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the zone that allows transfer of the developer image to the medium at image transfer position in time is a position whose distance to the image transfer position along the medium conveyance path is longer than a distance over which the image carrier moves after an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is started until the transfer of the developer image formed on the image carrier to the medium is started.
20. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the controller does not start driving the image carrier when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for transfer of the developer image to the medium at the image transfer position.
21. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, wherein, during the time when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for the transfer of developer image to the medium at the image transfer position, the controller drives the image carrier at a lower speed than after the time.
22. The image formation apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the time when the medium will arrive at the image transfer position in time for the transfer of developer image to the medium at the image transfer position is time from which a time duration until the medium is conveyed to the image transfer position is longer than a time duration from the start of an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier until the start of the transfer of the developer image formed on the image carrier to the medium.
23. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, wherein an image formation process to form the developer image is started when a charging operation commences to electrically charge the image carrier.
24. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising:
a charge-voltage judgment device configured to judge whether or not the image carrier charged voltage reaches a level with which an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is ready to start, wherein
when the charge-voltage judgment device judges that the image formation process is ready to start, the image formation process begins with formation of an electrostatic latent image without a charging operation to electrically charge the image carrier.
25. The image formation apparatus according to claim 24, wherein on the basis of a length of time elapsed after voltage application to the image carrier is stopped, the charge-voltage judgment portion judges whether or not the charge voltage of the image carrier reaches the charge voltage with which the image formation process is ready to start.
26. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising
a second medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than a distance from the first medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the second medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
27. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a second medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than a distance from the first medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the second medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a first time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a second time longer than the first time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
28. The image formation apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising: a third medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than the distance from the second medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the third medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started, and
if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a third time longer than the second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
29. The image formation apparatus according to claim 28, wherein
the third medium feeder is a medium feeder provided in an image formation apparatus main body, and
the first medium feeder and the second medium feeder are additional medium feeders externally provided to the image formation apparatus main body.
30. The image formation apparatus according to claim 27, further comprising:
a third medium feeder whose distance to the image transfer device is shorter than the distance from second medium feeder to the image transfer device, wherein
if the medium is fed from the third medium feeder, the controller starts driving the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started if the medium is fed from the first medium feeder, the controller does not drive the image carrier when the feeding of the medium is started and starts driving the image carrier when a third time longer than the second time elapses after the feeding of the medium is started.
31. The image formation apparatus according to claim 30, wherein
the third medium feeder is a medium feeder provided in an image formation apparatus main body, and
the first medium feeder and the second medium feeder are additional medium feeders externally provided to the image formation apparatus main body.
32. The image formation apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the image carrier is at least one of a photosensitive drum and an intermediate transfer belt.
33. An image formation apparatus comprising:
an image carrier on which a developer image is to be formed;
an image transfer device configured to transfer the developer image formed on the image carrier to a medium;
a controller configured to control drive of the image carrier and the image transfer device;
a first medium feeder including a first medium feeding device configured to feed a medium therefrom toward the image transfer device in a medium conveyance direction;
a second medium feeder including a second medium feeding device configured to feed a medium therefrom toward the image transfer device in the medium conveyance direction,
wherein the controller is configured, when feeding the medium from the first medium feeder, to start to rotate the image carrier when starting to feed the medium from the first medium feeder, and wherein the controller is configured, when feeding the medium from the second medium feeder, to start to rotate the image carrier after starting to feed the medium from the second medium feeder.
34. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, further comprising:
a medium detector provided upstream of the image transfer device in the medium conveyance direction,
wherein the controller is configured to control the rotation of the image carrier on the basis of a medium-detection result by the medium detector.
35. The image formation apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the medium detector is provided in the second medium feeder.
36. The image formation apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the first medium feeder is provided in a body of the image formation apparatus, and
wherein the second medium feeder is capable of being attached to the body of the image formation apparatus.
37. The image formation apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the controller is configured to stop the rotation of the image carrier until the medium reaches a predetermined position, based on the medium-detection result of the medium detector.
38. The image formation apparatus according to claim 35, wherein, until the medium reaches a predetermined position in the medium conveyance direction, the controller is configured to rotate the image carrier at a lower speed than when the medium is being conveyed downstream of the predetermined position in the medium conveyance direction.
39. The image formation apparatus according to claim 37, wherein the predetermined position is a position whose distance to the image transfer device along the medium conveyance direction is longer than a distance over which the image carrier moves after an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is started until the transfer of the developer image formed on the image carrier to the medium is started.
40. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, wherein an electrophotographic process to form the developer image on the image carrier is started when a charging operation starts to electrically charge the image carrier.
41. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, further comprising:
a charge-voltage judgment device configured to judge whether or not the image carrier charged voltage reaches a level with which an image formation process to form the developer image on the image carrier is ready to start, wherein
when the charge-voltage judgment device judges that the image formation process is ready to start, the image formation process begins with formation of an electrostatic latent image.
42. The image formation apparatus according to claim 41, wherein on the basis of a length of time elapsed after voltage application to the image carrier is stopped, the charge-voltage judgment device judges whether or not the charge voltage of the image carrier reaches the level with which the image formation process is ready to start.
43. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, further comprising:
a medium-size detector configured to detect a conveyance-direction dimension of the medium; and
a leading-end detector provided at a first distance from the image transfer device in a downstream direction and configured to detect the leading end of the medium discharged from the image transfer device, wherein
the controller is configured to stop the rotation of the image carrier, when the medium is conveyed over a distance obtained by subtracting the first distance from the conveyance-direction dimension detected by the medium-size detector after the leading-end detector detects the leading end of the medium.
44. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the image carrier is at least one of a photosensitive drum and an intermediate transfer belt.
45. The image formation apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the controller is configured, when feeding the medium from the first medium feeder, to start to rotate the image carrier before or at a same time as starting to feed the medium from the first medium feeder.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for evaluating network data, wherein the network data comprises one or more records, the method comprising:
receiving one or more events, each of the event having one or more conditions that, if all satisfied, render the corresponding event satisfied;
organizing the events and conditions into metadata data structures for each of the records in the network data;
for each field in a field map data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the field map data structure contains a mapping of field names to a list of conditions specified on the field names:
obtaining a list of conditions associated with the field from the field map data structure;
for each condition in the list of conditions associated with the field:
retrieving a list of events associated with the condition from a condition data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the condition data structure contains information regarding conditions within the events;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a list of events of interest if the condition is satisfied by the data in the record;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a working set of events;

for each of the events in the list of events of interest:
incrementing a field representing the number of conditions met for the event in an event data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the event data structure contains information regarding the events;
for each event in the working set of events:
determining if the number of conditions for the event is equal to the number of conditions met for the event by examining the event data structure in the metadata data structures; and
marking the event as satisfied if the number of conditions for the event is equal to the number of conditions met for the event.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata data structures include:
a field map table having a list of all possible fields of the conditions and a list of which conditions contain which fields.
a condition data structure for each condition; and
an event data structure for each event.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the condition data structure contains a field name for the corresponding condition, an operator, a value, and a list of associated events representing the events that contain the corresponding condition.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the event data structure contains an identification of the event, a count of the number of conditions to be satisfied for the event, and a count of the number of conditions met for the event.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
reorganizing the metadata data structures so that there are an equal number of conditions defined for each event.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reorganizing includes adding dummy conditions to the metadata data structure, wherein a dummy condition is a condition that is always true.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising organizing events marked as satisfied into a list indicating the satisfied events.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the list indicating the satisfied events further includes a count of the number of records that satisfied each event.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a summary table indicating, for each record, the events which were satisfied by the record.
10. An apparatus for evaluating network data, wherein the network data comprises one or more records, the apparatus comprising:
means for receiving one or more events, each of the event having one or more conditions that, if all satisfied, render the corresponding event satisfied;
means for organizing the events and conditions into metadata data structures for each of the records in the network data;
means for, for each field in a field map data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the field map data structure contains a mapping of field names to a list of conditions specified on the field names:
obtaining a list of conditions associated with the field from the field map data structure;
for each condition in the list of conditions associated with the field:
retrieving a list of events associated with the condition from a condition data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the condition data structure contains information regarding conditions within the events;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a list of events of interest if the condition is satisfied by the data in the record;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a working set of events;

for each event in the working set of events:
determining if the number of conditions for the event is equal to the number of conditions met for the event by examining the event data structure in the metadata data structures; and
marking the event as satisfied if the number of conditions for the event is equal to the number of conditions met for the event.
11. An apparatus for evaluating network data, wherein the network data comprises one or more records, the apparatus comprising:
an event and condition receiver;
an event and condition metadata data structure organizer coupled to the event and condition receiver;
a field map data structure condition list obtainer coupled to the event and condition metadata data structure organizer;
a condition list of associated events condition data structure retriever coupled to the field map data structure condition list obtainer;
a condition list of associated events list of events of interest adder coupled to the condition list of associated events condition data structure retriever;
a condition list of associated events working set adder coupled to the condition list of associated events condition data structure retriever;
a number of conditions met field event data structure incrementer coupled to the condition list of associated events list of events of interest adder;
an event number of conditions-to-event number of conditions met comparer coupled to the condition list of associated events working set adder; and
a satisfied event marker coupled to the event number of conditions-to-event number of conditions met comparer.
12. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for evaluating network data, wherein the network data comprises one or more records, the method comprising:
receiving one or more events, each of the event having one or more conditions that, if all satisfied, render the corresponding event satisfied;
organizing the events and conditions into metadata data structures for each of the records in the network data;
for each field in a field map data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the field map data structure contains a mapping of field names to a list of conditions specified on the field names:
obtaining a list of conditions associated with the field from the field map data structure;
for each condition in the list of conditions associated with the field:
retrieving a list of events associated with the condition from a condition data structure in the metadata data structures, wherein the condition data structure contains information regarding conditions within the events;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a list of events of interest if the condition is satisfied by the data in the record;
adding the list of events associated with the condition to a working set of events;