EP0180059B1 - Print medium source selection - Google Patents

Print medium source selection Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0180059B1
EP0180059B1 EP19850112604 EP85112604A EP0180059B1 EP 0180059 B1 EP0180059 B1 EP 0180059B1 EP 19850112604 EP19850112604 EP 19850112604 EP 85112604 A EP85112604 A EP 85112604A EP 0180059 B1 EP0180059 B1 EP 0180059B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
paper
print
load
printer
feed
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP19850112604
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0180059A3 (en
EP0180059A2 (en
Inventor
Paul Richard Daniels
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
International Business Machines Corp
Original Assignee
International Business Machines Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by International Business Machines Corp filed Critical International Business Machines Corp
Publication of EP0180059A2 publication Critical patent/EP0180059A2/en
Publication of EP0180059A3 publication Critical patent/EP0180059A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0180059B1 publication Critical patent/EP0180059B1/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/48—Apparatus for condensed record, tally strip, or like work using two or more papers, or sets of papers, e.g. devices for switching over from handling of copy material in sheet form to handling of copy material in continuous form and vice versa or point-of-sale printers comprising means for printing on continuous copy material, e.g. journal for tills, and on single sheets, e.g. cheques or receipts
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J15/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs
    • B41J15/04—Supporting, feeding, or guiding devices; Mountings for web rolls or spindles

Definitions

  • This invention relates to output printers for use in data or word processing environments which printers have a plurality of document type handling apparatus simultaneously resident therein. More specifically, this invention relates to a technique for operator selection of one of the plurality of resident document type handling apparatus.
  • Output printers are known which have apparatus therein for handling several types of documents.
  • U.S. Patent 4,452,543 assigned to Florida Data Corp. shows feed paths within the printer for manually fed cut sheets, automatically fed cut sheets, and marginally punched continuous forms.
  • US-A-4 583 873 discloses the integration of apparatus for three document types in the printer, each document type feed path sharing in part a common path to and past the print station.
  • printers such as the IBM 52XX series have apparatus for only one document type handling resident therein, individually fed cut sheets, and additional apparatus is required to be attached for handling continuous forms or automatic feeding of cut sheets or envelopes.
  • Another disadvantage relates to human factors usability considerations associated with requiring the operator to set a switch to correspond to the document type to be fed.
  • a mismatch in switch setting and document type supplied could result in jamming conditions and possible loss of data.
  • feeding from the sheet feed would cause interference with the continuous forms. Therefore, it is desirable to have a technique which avoids these possible malfunctions associated with prior art teachings while providing a simple and, from a human factors standpoint, satisfactory man/machine interface. It is desirable, of course, in output printers of the type herein referred to to minimize the necessity of operator intervention during print sessions.
  • the present invention provides a means for operator selection of document type feed apparatus which eliminates the requirement for a hardware switch and facilitates document feed type selection using normal operator action sequences.
  • This document feed type selection technique utilizes components already standard in output printers. These components are a paper sensor near the print station and LOAD, START and STOP buttons on the control panel. Improved printer control logic is provided wherein the condition detected at the sensor in combination with operator initiated sequences are used to cause the correct document type to be advanced to the print station.
  • LOAD LOAD, START and STOP buttons on the control panel.
  • Improved printer control logic is provided wherein the condition detected at the sensor in combination with operator initiated sequences are used to cause the correct document type to be advanced to the print station.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printer having apparatus for handling a variety of document types resident therein.
  • document type means cut sheets, continuous forms, marginally punched continuous forms for tractor feeding, envelopes, etc.
  • the print station comprises a printhead 2 which may be of any type and a platen 4.
  • Rollers 6, 8 are manually positionable to contact the sheet or web passing therebetween.
  • Exit feed rollers 10 and 12 are provided downstream of the print station.
  • a sensor 14 Immediately preceding entry to the nip formed by feed rollers 6 and 8 is a sensor 14 which may be of any conventional type.
  • Print receiving media follow path 20 indicated by the dotted line.
  • the print media may be of any of several document types.
  • Hopper 24 may contain one kind of cut sheets, hopper 26, a different size or kind of cut sheets or envelopes.
  • a different type of print medium source may be supplied, that is, it may be an entry point for manually inserted sheets, multipart forms, labels or envelopes, or in the illustrated setup, a roll of continuous forms whether marginally punched or not.
  • the document separator, advancing and guide means necessary to urge the document toward common path portion 20 along paths 30, 32 and 34, respectively, from the document supply areas 24, 26 and 28.
  • One obvious difference between cut sheets, continuous webs, and marginally punched continuous webs is that the tractor feed, not shown in Fig. 1, requires that the feed rollers 6, 8 be released.
  • Control logic 40 represents the electronics for operating the printer. For simplicity's sake only the connection between the control logic, the paper sensor, the document type supplies 24, 26 and 28, and a control panel 44 are indicated by dotted lines in this figure.
  • the control panel 44 may have, among other buttons and displays, at least a LOAD button 46 for initiating movement of the document type from the selected source to the print station.
  • a STOP button 48 is provided for halting a print operation. Also provided is START button 50.
  • a message display area for communicating printer status to the operator is represented at 52.
  • Figs. 2-5 points out the simplicity of the inventive technique for minimizing operator steps needed to select print medium or document type by combining conventional operator supply replenishing steps with control panel button depressions to enable the feed apparatus associated with the desired print medium.
  • the printer control logic initializes the printer to the automatic document feed mode after power on.
  • the automatic document feed mode may be overridden if the operator loads continuous forms or manually inserts sheets between the ejection of the last printed sheet and before the feed of the next. Once an override occurs in this manner, subsequent paper supply depletion conditions cause load paper prompts to the operator. This is what happens when automatic is not active. If automatic were active, a sheet would be fed automatically, following a paper out, with no need for an operator prompt.
  • the printer control logic issues a load paper prompt and the operator presses START without loading paper, the current and subsequent sheets will be fed by the automatic document feed device.
  • the printer control logic senses a paper out condition after the last physical line on the sheet has passed the print station, it issues a load paper prompt during continuous forms feeding or manual document insertion. If the operator presses LOAD before getting a paper out message, the load paper prompt for continuous forms or manually loaded documents is bypassed provided paper was placed at the load position when the LOAD button was pressed and paper presence is sensed at the time the load paper prompt would be issued.
  • the printer control logic will load from the currently active automatic feed device. If the logic attempts an automatic feed and the active hopper is empty, as determined by the sensor not making within a predetermined time period, the logic issues a load paper prompt.
  • the feed type selected by the operator may at any time be overridden by a command in the host data stream.
  • the override may result in an operator feed change prompt as needed.
  • the printer is initialized to automatic document feed mode, therefore, positive action must be taken to select either of the continuous forms feed handling devices or manual document insertion mode. This action must be taken at a time when a feed is pending, i.e., between the ejection of the last page and the feed of the next page.
  • Automatic document feed is deactivated when the printer control logic senses the absence of paper followed by the presence of paper followed by a LOAD button depression followed by a continuation of paper presence at the sensor. Operator actions required to cause this sequence and to make a feed-type transition are the same as those actions normally needed for loading continuous forms or manually inserted documents.
  • the operator presses STOP, loads the document type, continuous forms, cut sheets, envelopes or the like by placing it against the feed rollers 6, 8 upstream of the print head 2 (Fig. 1), and presses LOAD. Finally, the operator presses START to continue printer operation.
  • the control logic is ready to execute the feed, it has already sensed the feed-type transition sequence and reverts to continuous forms or manual operation for subsequent pages until such time as the operator again selects automatic feed operation.
  • the sequence commences at the start terminal 102 and continues with the determination at decision block 104 whether it is necessary to load paper at 104. That is, if paper has passed the print point, then more paper must be loaded before printing continues. If paper load is not required the condition is examined continuously until a paper load is required.
  • decision block 106 a determination is made whether the automatic feed mode is active. If it is not the system issues at 108 commands to process a load as if manually fed documents or marginally punched continuous forms are being used and proceeds to the end of the sequence at 110.
  • the operator must make a determination at 112 whether to deactivate the automatic mode. If not, a determination is made whether paper has been loaded and sensed at 114. If not, paper is loaded from the automatic feed source at 116. If paper has been loaded and sensed the automatic feed mode is deactivated at 118 and the routine terminates.
  • the STOP button must be depressed at block 120 before the automatic load cycle occurs. Then at step 122 the operator inserts paper and depresses first the LOAD button then the START button as indicated at step 124. The printer controls pick up again at decision block 114 and proceed as just described.
  • Fig. 3 the sequence executed by the printer control logic 40 of Fig. 1 to activate automatic feed mode will be described.
  • This sequence occurs when either continuous forms or manual insertion mode is active and is accomplished by the control logic sensing the absence of a document, entering the printer-not-ready state, reentering the printer ready state and again sensing document absence.
  • the operator action required to cause this sequence is the depression of the START button without loading either continuous forms or manually inserting a document when the load paper prompt is issued.
  • the control logic senses that the printer has entered the ready state with no paper loaded and feeds the current and subsequent pages from the automatic document feed hopper.
  • the control logic causes documents to be fed automatically until such time as a feed-type transition sequence is sensed which overrides automatic operation.
  • the printer control logic causes the printer to go to a not-ready state and issues a load paper prompt. At this point the operator determines, as indicated at step 144, whether to activate the automatic feed mode. If not, the operator action required to achieve the desired result at 146 is to insert paper and depress LOAD button.
  • the operator wants to activate automatic feed mode or if the operator has inserted paper and depressed the LOAD button, the operator then should depress the START button at 148.
  • the control logic then tests at 150 to see if paper has been loaded and sensed. If yes, control branches to the end of the sequence. If not, at 152 the automatic feed mode is activated and documents are loaded therefrom.
  • the switch to manual load from automatic fed mode is accomplished when the printer is in the not ready state.
  • the control logic senses a LOAD button depression simultaneously with the absence of document at sensor 14 (Fig. 1). The operator causes this condition by pressing the LOAD button without placing a document in the load position against the feed rollers 6, 8 upstream of print head 2.
  • the control logic on sensing paper absence, cycles the sheet feed device to cause a feed from the currently active source. This particular mode of operation does not cause transition to automatic document feed mode.
  • the sequence is entered at the start terminal 160 and a determination made at 162 whether a paper load is required. If not, the determination is made again as described with reference to Fig. 2. If a paper load is required, the controls determine at 164 whether the automatic feed mode is active. If it is, then at 166 the load is accomplished in accordance with the procedure set out for automatic feeding and the routine is exited at terminal 170. If the automatic feed mode is not active, then the printer control logic enters the not-ready state at step 172 and issues a load paper prompt for the operator.
  • Step 174 represents the operator's determination whether to perform a manual load. If so, the operator must manually insert paper at step 176. In either event, at step 178 the operator depresses the LOAD button.
  • the printer control logic checks the paper sensor at 180. If paper is present it issues the necessary commands to accept a manually inserted sheet at 182. If paper is not present at the paper sensor, then the control logic enters the default sequence for loading paper from the automatic document feed handling device at 184 and exits the routine at terminal 170.
  • Fig. 5 for an understanding of how the improved printer control logic of the present invention suppresses load paper prompts. This is accomplished by a method quite similar to that used for selecting continuous forms or manual insertion mode.
  • the control logic senses that paper has already been loaded when it would ordinarily issue a load paper prompt, the logic bypasses the prompt and restarts printing without requiring additional operator intervention. This sequence allows the operator to stop the printer at a page boundary and load paper without waiting for a prompt, thereby enhancing throughput and improving operator human factors at the man/machine interface.
  • This sequence is entered at the start terminal 200 and, in the same manner earlier described, a query is made at step 202 whether a paper load is required. If not, the logic continues to cycle through that query. Once a positive response is sensed at step 204 the control logic determines whether the automatic feed mode is active. If so, the logic processes an automatic feed sequence at step 206 before it exits the routine at terminal 210. If the automatic mode is not active, the operator is given an opportunity to determine at step 212 whether it-is desirable to suppress a prompt. If it is not necessary to suppress the load paper prompt, normal operation continues with test at step 214 whether the operator has loaded paper and it has been sensed at sensor 14 (Fig. 1). If not, the printer control logic causes the printer to enter the not-ready state and issue a load paper prompt at 216 before exiting the sequence at terminal 210.
  • step 220 the operator must depress the STOP button before the load paper prompt can be issued.
  • step 222 the operator then must insert paper and depress the LOAD button to ensure print continuation.
  • step 224 the operator depresses the START button and processing continues at decision block 214 as previously described.

Landscapes

  • Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)
  • Handling Of Cut Paper (AREA)
  • Controlling Sheets Or Webs (AREA)
  • Sheets, Magazines, And Separation Thereof (AREA)
  • Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
EP19850112604 1984-10-31 1985-10-04 Print medium source selection Expired EP0180059B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US66679284A 1984-10-31 1984-10-31
US666792 1984-10-31

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0180059A2 EP0180059A2 (en) 1986-05-07
EP0180059A3 EP0180059A3 (en) 1988-09-14
EP0180059B1 true EP0180059B1 (en) 1992-03-11

Family

ID=24675503

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19850112604 Expired EP0180059B1 (en) 1984-10-31 1985-10-04 Print medium source selection

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0180059B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPS61114940A (ja)
CA (1) CA1233268A (ja)
DE (1) DE3585589D1 (ja)

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS6315750A (ja) * 1986-07-07 1988-01-22 Teraoka Seiko Co Ltd ラベルプリンタ
JP2545464B2 (ja) * 1989-05-31 1996-10-16 富士通株式会社 印刷装置
EP0694386A1 (fr) * 1994-07-29 1996-01-31 DANEL-FERRY, société anonyme Procédé pour réaliser des liasses de feuillets autocopiants préimprimés
US6185478B1 (en) 1997-05-29 2001-02-06 Seiko Epson Corporation Printing apparatus, control method for a printing apparatus, and recording medium for recording a control program for a printing apparatus

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2717758C3 (de) * 1977-04-21 1980-10-02 Siemens Ag, 1000 Berlin Und 8000 Muenchen Vorrichtung zur Papierführung in Druckgeräten, insbesondere bei Daten- und Fernschreibmaschinen
JPS5831834A (ja) * 1981-08-13 1983-02-24 Canon Inc 給紙装置
JPS59108640A (ja) * 1982-12-14 1984-06-23 Oki Electric Ind Co Ltd 電子写真記録装置の印字制御方法
DE3444557C2 (de) * 1983-12-06 1994-11-24 Canon Kk Drucker

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0180059A3 (en) 1988-09-14
DE3585589D1 (de) 1992-04-16
EP0180059A2 (en) 1986-05-07
CA1233268A (en) 1988-02-23
JPS61114940A (ja) 1986-06-02

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