CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-199946 filed Dec. 2, 2020.

BACKGROUND

(i) Technical Field

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

(ii) Related Art

In a case where a position of an image formed on a paper is measured with respect to the paper, it is necessary to perform measurement with reference to an end portion of the paper.

In a case where the image on the paper is scanned, a mounting table (for example, a glass stand of a flatbed scanner) is used to scan the image formed on a surface of the paper which is mounted on the mounting table to face a side of the mounting table. Here, in a case where the paper is abutted against an end portion of the mounting table to be scanned, the end portion of the paper cannot be measured well. Therefore, in a case where the position of the image is measured with respect to the paper, it is necessary to scan the image by being separated from the end portion of the mounting table, that is, in a state in which the paper is mounted at a position where a gap is provided between the end portion of the mounting table and the paper.

On the other hand, in a case where the paper is separated too far from the end portion of the mounting table, a problem occurs in that a part of the paper is separated from a scanning area on the mounting table.

In JP5974699B, a technology is proposed for adjusting a paper mounting position with respect to the mounting table by covering the paper mounted on the mounting table with a cover paper and using an alignment image formed on the cover paper and an alignment image formed on a second side that is a back side of a first side of the paper facing a side of the mounting table.

SUMMARY

In a case where the above-described proposal of JP5974699B is adopted, the paper can be mounted at a predetermined position on the mounting table. Therefore, the occurrence of the problem in that a part of the paper is separated from the scanning area on the mounting table can be suppressed.

However, the proposal is to form images on two sides of the paper and to use the alignment image on a second side in a case where an image on a first side is scanned. That is, it is necessary to form the images on two sides of the paper.

However, an image forming apparatus exists in which, in a case where an image is formed on two sides of a paper, for example, there is a limit to a length of the paper in a longitudinal direction and the image can be formed on only a single side of a long paper having a length exceeding the limit. It is necessary to measure an image position for each type of paper, and it is also necessary to measure the paper only whose single side can be formed with an image. Alternatively, a type of image forming apparatus exists which originally forms an image on only a single side of a paper.

Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an image forming apparatus that can guide a mounting position of a paper with respect to a mounting table even in a case of a paper on which only a single side is formed with the image.

Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure overcome the above disadvantages and/or other disadvantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not overcome any of the disadvantages described above.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an image forming apparatus including a mounting table on which an object whose image is to be scanned is mounted; an image forming section that forms an image, which includes a first image for measuring a relative position with respect to an end portion of a paper, on a first side of the paper; an image scanning section that scans the image mounted on the mounting table; and a position correction section that corrects a relative position of an image, which is formed on the paper, with respect to the paper based on a result of scanning performed by the image scanning section, in which in a case where the image scanning section scans the end portion of the paper and the image formed on the first side of the paper in a state in which the first side of the paper on which the first image is formed faces the mounting table, the end portion of the paper is mounted on the mounting table at a position separated from an end portion of the mounting table, and, further, the paper is covered with a cover paper, and the image forming section forms, on the first side of the paper, a third image that uses, as an alignment object, a second image for alignment formed on a side of the cover paper opposite to a side on which the cover paper is in contact with the paper while a part of the paper is mounted in a state of protruding from the mounting table and a first edge of the cover paper.

