JP2001213031A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer for performing appropriate printing when a designated type of paper is different from an actual type of paper supplied to the printer. SOLUTION: When a sheet 5 of an OHP(overhead projector) sheet is detected by a paper type discrimination sensor 29 during the execution of the normal printing (the designated type of paper is a plain paper), a jam recovery operation is executed. The sheets of the plain paper (2-4) and the sheets of OHP sheets (5, 6) existing in a portion between a first paper feed inlet 25 and a paper discharge outlet are discharged therefrom. As a result, it is possible to prevent the printing on the OHP sheet when the designated type of paper (plain paper) is different from the type of supplied paper (OHP sheet).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for performing a predetermined printing process when a sheet designated for printing and a sheet actually fed are different.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printing apparatus that performs a printing process based on print information sent from a host. In this printing apparatus, a paper feed port and a paper type are designated based on print information sent from the host, paper is fed from the designated paper feed port, and the specified paper type is supplied to the fed paper. Printing is performed under suitable printing conditions. As the paper feed port, a predetermined paper feed cassette, a paper feed tray, or the like is specified, and as the paper type, plain paper, an OHP sheet, or the like is specified. Therefore, for example, when a paper feed cassette containing OHP sheets is designated as a paper feed port and an OHP sheet is designated as a paper type,
Paper (OHP sheet) is supplied from the paper supply cassette, and printing is performed on the paper (OHP sheet) under printing conditions suitable for the OHP sheet.

[0003]

However, when a sheet different from the sheet to be originally stored in a predetermined paper feed port is stored due to an error or the like when the user replenishes the sheet,
Or it may be stored in a mixed state. In such a case, there is a problem that proper printing is not performed because the paper type of the paper stored in the specified paper feed port is different from the specified paper type.

For example, when OHP sheets are also stored in a paper cassette in which plain paper is to be stored, the paper cassette is designated as a paper supply port and plain paper is designated as a paper type. In this case, the OHP sheets mixed in the sheet cassette are also fed, and the printing process is performed on a sheet (OHP sheet) which is not originally desired by the user. In addition, the page printed on the OHP sheet must be printed again on plain paper, and the OHP sheet itself has been wasted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that performs an appropriate printing process when a designated paper type and a paper type of a paper to be actually fed are different in view of the above situation.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In a printing apparatus that performs printing based on print information sent from a host, an identification unit for identifying a paper type of paper, a paper type of the paper identified by the identification unit, and a paper type of a paper specified by the print information are determined. If it is different, the printing apparatus includes a print control unit that performs unprinted printing.

[0007] This makes it possible to prevent printing from being performed with the paper type specified by the print information and the paper type actually printed being different. Claim 2
According to the invention described in claim 1, in the invention described in claim 1, the unprinted printing is performed by not transferring the image data or transferring the blank image data.

[0008] Thus, unprinted printing can be performed on paper of different paper types. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, after the print control unit determines that the paper type of the paper identified by the identification unit is different from the paper type of the paper specified by the print information, When the paper type of the paper identified by the identification means is equal to the paper type of the paper specified by the print information, the transfer is restarted from the image data that was not transferred.

[0009] This makes it possible to perform unprinted printing only when the paper type identified by the identification means and the paper type specified by the print information are different. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a printing apparatus capable of performing double-sided printing that performs printing based on print information sent from a host, an identification unit for identifying a paper type of paper and double-sided printing are designated based on the print information. When the paper type of the paper identified by the identification means is different from the paper type of the paper specified by the print information, double-sided printing is set to single-sided printing, and the paper outlet is set to a FaceUp paper outlet. A printing control unit that performs printing without counting up a paper discharge counter when paper is discharged.

In this way, when the paper type is different during double-sided printing, the discharge counter is not counted up, and only the paper of this different paper type is forcibly subjected to the single-sided printing process in the FaceUp discharge port. For example, when a different paper type is an OHP sheet, the double-sided unit can be prevented from being damaged by being conveyed to the double-sided unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the type of the paper identified by the identification means is an OHP sheet. The invention according to claim 6 provides any one of claims 1 to 5
In one aspect of the present invention, the identification means is a reflective photosensor integrated with a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

Thus, since the light emitting element and the light receiving element can be integrally formed, the number of parts can be reduced, and as a result, it is possible to contribute to cost reduction and simplification of assembly work.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a system configuration of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 shows hardware, a memory, and a task that constitute the printing apparatus 1. A dotted-line square indicates hardware, a solid-line square indicates a memory, and a solid-line circle indicates a task.

The hardware constituting the printing apparatus 1 includes a host I / F (interface) 2 for receiving print information sent from the host, a video transfer unit 3 for transferring image data to the engine unit 7, and a paper feeder. A start unit 4 for starting, a standby position unit 5 for determining the type of paper conveyed to a standby position, a restart unit 6 for restarting video transfer, an engine unit 7 for actually printing on paper, and a printing device An operation panel unit 8 for performing various settings and display.

The memory used in the printing apparatus 1 includes:
A reception buffer 9 for storing print information received via the host I / F, an image memory 10 for storing image data, an engine control memory 11 for storing a control state of the engine unit 7, and a device state of the engine unit 7. An engine state memory 12 for storing, a print matrix memory 13 for storing a print matrix, a warning error memory 14 for storing information indicating a warning error, and the like.

The tasks processed by the printing apparatus 1 include:
A reception task 15 for print information reception processing, an execution task 16 for print execution processing, a paper supply task 17 for paper supply processing, a transfer task 18 for image data transfer processing, a paper discharge task 19 for paper discharge processing, an engine unit 7
And an operation panel task 21 related to the control processing of the operation panel unit 8.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of the engine unit 7 according to this embodiment. Note that the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is a so-called tandem type color printer. As shown in the figure, the engine unit 7 includes a first paper feed port 25, a second paper feed port 26, and an MPF tray 27 as paper feed ports, and paper is fed from any of these. The fed paper is then moved to the standby position (standby roller 2).
8), and moves on the conveyor belt 30 at a timing coincident with the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum of the image forming unit 31. The image forming unit 31 is composed of image forming units 32a to 32d, and the paper moving on the conveyor belt 30 is magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y),
The toner of each color of black (K) is transferred, and color transfer is performed on the paper P. After that, a heat fixing process is performed by a fixing device (not shown), and the Fa is discharged with the print surface facing up.
The sheet is discharged to either the ceUp discharge port 33 or the FaceDown discharge port 34 which is discharged with the print surface facing down.
In the drawing, 〜 indicates paper, 〜 indicated by a solid line indicates plain paper, and 点 indicates an OHP sheet.

A double-sided unit 90 is provided substantially at the center of the engine unit 7 to perform double-sided printing. In the engine unit 7, the paper type identification sensor 2 is located at the standby position.
The sensor 9 identifies the paper type of the paper at the standby position. In the present embodiment, the paper type identification sensor 29 is used to identify whether or not the paper is an OHP sheet, and a predetermined process described later is performed according to the identification result.

Next, the paper type identification sensor 29 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the paper type identification sensor 29. The paper type identification sensor 29 shown in FIG.
This is a light-transmitting photo-interrupter composed of an ED 29a and a light receiving sensor 29b. This is provided so that the sheet is positioned between the light emitting LED 29a and the light receiving sensor 29b when the sheet is waiting at the standby position. Thus, when the light receiving sensor 29b detects the light emitted from the light emitting LED 29a while the paper is waiting at the standby position, the emitted light has passed through the paper, and the paper is OHP. The sheet is identified as a sheet, and when the light receiving sensor 29b does not detect the light emitted from the light emitting LED 29a, the emitted light is blocked by the sheet, and the sheet is identified as plain paper.

In FIG. 1, the first paper feed port 2 is used as a paper feed port.
5 is used, the paper fed from the first paper feed port 25 by the paper feed roller 35 is transported to the standby position via the paper transport path 36, and the paper type identification sensor (translucent photo An interrupter 29 identifies whether the sheet is an OHP sheet.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the paper type identification sensor 29. The paper type identification sensor 29 shown in the figure is an integrated translucent photointerrupter in which a light emitting LED 29a and a light receiving sensor 29b are integrated, and a light shielding plate 38 for blocking light is provided between the light emitting LED 29a and the light receiving sensor 29b. Have been. A total reflection plate 37 is provided at a position facing the integrated translucent photo-interrupter. When the paper is waiting at the position of the standby roller 28, the paper is integrated with the integrated translucent photo-interrupter and the total reflection plate 37. It is configured to be located between. Thus, when the sheet is waiting at the standby position, the light emitted from the light emitting LED 29a is reflected by the total reflection plate 37, and when the light receiving sensor 29b detects the reflected light, the sheet When the sheet is identified as a sheet and the light receiving sensor 29b does not detect the reflected light, the sheet is identified as plain paper.

By applying the integrated translucent photo-interrupter shown in FIG. 1 as a paper type identification sensor,
Since the light emitting LED 29a and the light receiving sensor 29b can be integrally configured, the number of components can be reduced as compared with the light transmitting type photo interrupter in which the light emitting LED 29a and the light receiving sensor 29b are separated as shown in FIG. This can contribute to facilitation of assembly work.

Next, the print matrix memory 1 shown in FIG.
3, the engine status stored in the engine status memory 12, the engine control status stored in the engine control memory 11, and the data structure of the warning error information stored in the warning error memory 14. explain.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of a print matrix. The print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 3 is created based on print information sent from the host. The data structure of the print matrix 40 includes a number of sheets 41, a request pointer 42, a paper feed pointer 43, a transfer pointer 44, a paper discharge pointer 45, and seven matrix data 46. The number of sheets 41 indicates the number of sheets managed in the print matrix 40, and each of the pointers 42 to 45 indicates a pointer (address) of the matrix data 46 in a current request, paper feed, transfer, and paper discharge state. Is shown. The data structure of each matrix data 46 includes a paper feed port 47, a paper size 48, a paper type 49,
And a printing condition for designating the paper discharge port 50 and an image data address 51. The image data address 51 indicates an address of image data stored in the image memory 10. Therefore, when printing predetermined matrix data, the image data at the image data address is
7, printing is performed according to printing conditions including a paper size 48, a paper type 49, and a paper discharge port 50. In the present embodiment, the number of the matrix data 46 included in the print matrix 40 is seven, but the number is not limited to seven.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of the engine status stored in the engine status memory 12. As shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the data structure of the engine state 52 includes an operator call 53, a current paper feed port 54, and a paper feed port state 5.
5, a current paper outlet 56, and a printing state 57. The operator call 53 has a jam bit 58 in the data, and when 1 is set to this bit value, jam processing is performed. In addition, the current paper feed port 54 and the current paper discharge port 56
Indicates a paper feed port and a paper discharge port currently set in the engine unit 7, and a paper feed port state 55 indicates a state of each paper feed port of the engine unit 7. The data structure of the paper feed port state 55 is MP
For each paper feed port of the F tray 27, the first paper feed port 25, and the second paper feed port 26, the paper feed port status (whether or not a paper feed port is installed, whether or not a cassette is present, whether or not there is paper), the paper size , And paper type. The print state 57 has a paper feed start bit 59 indicating the start of paper feed and an engine stop bit 60 indicating the stop of the engine unit 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure of an engine control state stored in the engine control memory 11. As shown in FIG.
As shown in the drawing, the data structure of the engine control state 61 includes a paper feed port 62, a paper size 63, a paper type 64, and a paper discharge port 65.
These indicate the current control state of the engine unit 7.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data structure of warning error information stored in the warning error memory 14. As shown in the figure, the warning error information 66 has a paper type difference bit 67, which indicates the paper type of the predetermined matrix data 46 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5 and the engine status shown in FIG. 5
When the paper type of the predetermined paper feed port (here, the first paper feed port 25) of the second paper feed port state 55 is different, 1 is set, and when the paper type is the same, it is cleared to 0. .

Next, the processing operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the flowchart shown in the figure, the engine unit 7, the engine task 20, the paper discharge task 19, the transfer task 18, the paper feed task 1
7, each operation process of the operation panel task 21 and the operator process 68 are shown in chronological order.

FIG. 5 shows a print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
The first paper feed port 25 is set in the paper feed port 47 of the matrix data 46, and plain paper is set in the paper type 49, and the printing apparatus 1 feeds paper from the first paper feed port 25 based on this and executes printing. Inside, OH
The processing when a P sheet is detected is shown.

During normal printing (printing on plain paper) (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 901), the paper at the standby position is identified by the paper type identification sensor 29 of the engine unit 7 as an OHP sheet. At first, the engine unit 7 notifies that the jam state is present (virtual jam state) (S902). The engine task 20 sets the jam bit 58 of the operator call 53 in the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 to 1 and changes the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply port state 55 to the OHP sheet. FIG.
The paper type 64 in the engine control state 61 shown in (1) is changed to the OHP sheet (S903). The paper feeding task 17, the transfer task 18, and the paper discharging task 19 stop each process, and the paper feeding task 17 does not feed new paper. Then, a jam recovery process for discharging all the sheets present in the paper discharge port from the first paper supply port 25 at the time and holding the corresponding image data is performed (S904). That is,
In FIG. 2, when a sheet that is an OHP sheet is detected by the sheet type identification sensor 29 and the jam recovery processing is performed, the sheet exists between the first sheet supply port 25 and the sheet discharge port.
The sheet of plain paper and the sheet of OHP sheet are discharged. At this time, the plain paper is discharged to the FaceDown discharge port 34, and the OHP sheet and the paper are discharged to the FaceUp discharge port 33. Further, after the jam bit 58 is set to 1, the transfer task is stopped, so that the plain paper, which is printed, is discharged, but the OHP sheet is not printed. The paper is discharged in the state of blank paper (unprinted printing), and the jam recovery process is performed on all the papers that have not been completely discharged, so that the image data for the papers is left in the image memory as it is.

Then, the operation panel task 21
Indicates that a jam has occurred on the operation panel 8 and the number of jams is 0
The fact that the number is a sheet is displayed (S905). Even though the jam occurs, the number of jams is 0, so that the operator can understand that it is not the actual jam but the printing interruption processing due to unspecified paper feeding. The user checks the display contents on the operation panel 8, opens and closes the roof of the printing apparatus 1, and releases the jam state (S906, S906).
7). By opening and closing the roof, the engine unit 7 returns the jam state to the normal state (S908). In this case, it is also possible to provide a dedicated switch for canceling the unspecified sheet feeding error, instead of opening and closing the roof. The engine task 20 sets the jam bit 58 of the operator call 53 in the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 to 0 (S90).
9), the operation panel task 21 returns the operation panel 8 to a normal display (S910). Thereafter, the processing of the sheet feeding task 17 is divided into a case where the sheet feeding port is fixed and a case where the sheet feeding port is automatically set.
That is, in the case of the fixed paper feed, the print matrix 4 shown in FIG.
The paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the paper feed pointer 43 of 0
Since the paper type (OHP sheet) of the first paper feed port 25 in the paper feed port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 differs from the paper type (OHP sheet) of the warning error information 66 shown in FIG. The difference bit 67 is set to 1 and this is notified to the operation panel task 21 (S911). The operation panel task 21 receives this notification and displays on the operation panel 8 that the paper type is different (S912). The user checks the contents displayed on the operation panel 8, pulls out the paper feed cassette that is the first paper feed port 25, replaces the OHP sheet stored in the paper feed cassette with plain paper, and inserts the normal paper into the first paper feed port 25. The sheet cassette is inserted so that only the sheets are stored (S913). The engine unit 7 detects that the first paper feed port 25 is
Is notified that the paper is plain paper (S914). The engine task 20 changes the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 from the OHP sheet to the plain paper (S915). The operation panel task 21 sets the paper type difference bit 67 of the warning error information shown in FIG. 8 to 0, and returns the display on the operation panel 8 to the normal display (S916). Then, the paper feeding task 17
Executes normal printing again (S917 (S901)).
On the other hand, in the case of automatic paper feeding, the paper feeding port is automatically changed to a paper feeding port that matches the paper type, that is, a paper feeding port in which plain paper is stored (S918), and the process is continued (normal printing is performed). Do)
(S917 (S901)).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the paper type (printing matrix 4 shown in FIG.
When the paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 of 0 is different from the paper type of the actually fed paper, a (virtual) jam is generated to perform a jam recovery process. To the engine unit 7 by notifying the user that the paper type is different and reloading the paper in the paper feed port, or automatically changing the paper feed port in the case of automatic paper feeding. It is possible to prevent printing from being performed while the seed and the actually fed paper are different.

In the first embodiment, the above-described processing is performed when the designated paper type is plain paper and the actually fed paper type is an OHP sheet. This may be applied to the case where the paper type is OHP sheet and the paper type actually fed is plain paper, and other types such as envelopes that can be detected when the specified paper type is different from the actually fed paper type Any paper can be applied.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the discharge sheet according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7A shows a paper sheet according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 7B shows a paper sheet according to the second embodiment. In the figure, the papers indicated by solid lines indicate plain paper, and the papers indicated by dotted lines and indicate OHP sheets.

Referring to FIG. 2A, in the first embodiment, when a paper type identification sensor 29 detects an OHP sheet as shown in FIG. At that time, all sheets of plain paper and OHP sheets from the first paper feed port to the paper discharge port were discharged as jam paper. Therefore, in the subsequent processing, the content printed on the sheet is printed again, and the sheet is wasted.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, FIG.
As shown in (1), normal paper is not used as jam paper, and normal printing is performed to prevent waste of paper.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the printing apparatus according to this embodiment. During normal printing (S1101), when the paper at the standby position is identified as an OHP sheet by the paper type identification sensor 29 of the engine unit 7, the engine unit 7 does not notify that the paper is in a jam state. Then, only the fact that the sheet is an OHP sheet is notified (S1102). The engine task 20 is the first of the sheet supply port states 55 in the engine state 52 shown in FIG.
The paper type of the paper feed port 25 and the paper type 64 in the engine control state 61 shown in FIG. 7 are changed to OHP sheets (S110).
3). Then, the paper feeding task 17, the transfer task 18, and the paper discharging task 19 execute OHP compulsory printing described later (S1104). The subsequent processes of S1105 to S1112 are the same as the processes of S911 to S918 shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of the paper feed task 17 during normal printing and forced printing. In the flowchart shown in the figure, the processing shown in S1201 to S1207 indicates normal printing, and the processing shown in S1208 to S1210 indicates OHP forced printing.

In the processing of the sheet feeding task, first, after the elapse of a predetermined standby time (S1201), it is determined whether or not there is a sheet feeding request (S1202). That is, the request pointer 42 and the paper feed pointer 4 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the value of 3 is different. Here, when the values of the request pointer 42 and the paper feed pointer 43 are different, it is determined that there is a paper feed request, and when they are the same, it is determined that there is no paper feed request.

When it is determined that there is a paper feed request (S12
02 is Yes), the paper feed port is determined based on the paper feed port 47 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the paper feed pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5, and the paper feed is started (S1203). In this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the first paper feed port is used.
It is assumed that the paper feed port 25 has been determined. At the same time, the paper feed start bit 59 in the print state 57 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. The paper feed start bit 59 is set to 1 when the paper feed is started, and is set to 0 when the paper feed is completed. After waiting for a predetermined time (S1204), the matrix data 46 indicated by the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40.
It is determined whether or not the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply state 49 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. That is, when the OHP sheet is detected by the paper type identification sensor 29 as shown in FIG.
Since the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG.
S1103), in this case, it is determined that the paper type is different (S1205: Yes), and the processing shifts to OHP forced printing processing to be described later. On the other hand, when it is determined that the paper type is the same (No in S1205), the engine state 52 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not the paper feed start bit 59 of the print state 57 is 0 (S1206), and if it is 0 (S1206).
Returning to the process of S1204, when it is 1 (No in S1206), it means that the paper feeding has been completed, so the paper feeding pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5 is incremented by 1 (S1207), Returning to the processing of S1201, the processing moves to the processing of the next matrix data 46.

On the other hand, if the paper type is different in the processing of S1205 (S1205: Yes), the processing shifts to the OHP forced printing processing, the paper feeding start bit 59 is changed to 1, and the paper feeding is interrupted (S1208). Do not feed new paper. After waiting for a predetermined time (S1209), when the paper is completely discharged, that is, when the paper feed pointer 43 and the paper discharge pointer 45 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
If the answer is 1210 (Yes), the process returns to S1201 (normal printing process), and if they are not the same (No in S1210), that is, if the OHP sheet has not been ejected yet, the processes of S1209 and S1210 are repeated until the OHP sheet is ejected.

Next, in the process of the transfer task 18, a process of discriminating between normal printing and OHP forced printing will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the transfer task 18 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the apparatus waits for a predetermined time until the sheet arrives at the standby position (S1301).
Is No, S1302), and when the paper arrives (S1301)
Is Yes), the paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5, and the first paper feed port 25 in the paper feed port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the paper type is different (S1303). If the paper type is not different (S1303: No), the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5 is incremented by one (S1).
304), normal transfer processing is performed (S1305), and normal printing is performed (sheets in FIG. 10B). On the other hand, when the paper type is different (S1303: Yes), the paper feed pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
306), and perform a blank paper transfer process (unprinted printing) (S13).
07). This is a process performed after the engine unit 7 is stopped to print again the page on which the OHP forced printing process has been performed (the page on which the blank page transfer process has been performed).

Further, in order to print unprinted paper between the first paper feed port 25 and the standby position, if the paper between the first paper feed port 25 and the standby position arrives at the standby position (S1308: Yes), the processes (S1306 and S1307) are performed similarly. Paper pointer 4
3 is decremented by 1 and a blank sheet transfer is performed. If the paper has not arrived at the standby position (No in S1308),
The engine stop bit 60 in the print state 57 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 is checked, and if this is not a value indicating the engine stop, that is, if the engine unit 7 is still operating (No in S1309), the predetermined time is determined. After waiting (S
1311), the process returns to S1308, and if the engine stop bit 60 is a value indicating that the engine is stopped (S13)
09 is Yes), which means that the operation of the engine unit 7 has been completed, and the processing is terminated.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the paper arriving at the standby position is identified as an OHP sheet,
Since the OHP sheet is subjected to the blank sheet transfer processing without causing a jam, as a result, the jam recovery processing (retention of the image data for the undischarged sheet) is not performed, and the print page that has already been printed on the plain paper is returned. No printing is performed on the subsequent plain paper, and waste of the paper can be prevented.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the order of the discharge sheets according to the present embodiment. FIG. 14A shows the order of the discharge sheets according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 13B shows the order of the discharge sheets according to the third embodiment. In the figure, the papers indicated by solid lines and indicate plain paper, and the papers indicated by dotted lines indicate OHP sheets. Also,
A to G shown in FIG. 3B indicate image data (print pages) to be printed on each sheet.

As shown in FIG. 9A, in the second embodiment, the sheet, which is an OHP sheet, is
Is detected, the blank paper transfer process is performed on all the papers at the standby position from the first paper supply port, so that unprinted printing is performed. In this case, the plain paper is also subjected to blank paper transfer processing, and unprinted printing is performed.

Therefore, in the third embodiment, blank paper transfer processing is performed and unprinted printing is performed only when the paper is an OHP sheet. That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, unprinted printing is performed only on the OHP sheet, and normal printing is performed on the other plain paper. Therefore, unprinted printing is performed on the OHP sheet, and when the printing is changed to plain paper, the image data E to be transferred to the OHP sheet is transferred to the plain paper.
, And printing is resumed in the order following from the image data F on the succeeding plain paper.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. FIG.
Is almost the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, but the OHP forced printing process (S1501) is different. That is, when the paper is changed to plain paper during OHP forced printing, normal printing (S
1502) is resumed.

FIG. 16 shows a sheet feeding task 1 according to this embodiment.
9 is a flowchart showing the process of FIG. In the flowchart shown in the figure, the processing shown in S1601 to S1610 indicates normal printing, and the processing shown in S1611 to S1614 indicates OHP forced printing.

In the paper feeding task processing, first, after a predetermined standby time has elapsed (S1601), it is determined whether or not there is a paper feeding request (S1602), and when there is no paper feeding request (S1602).
No), the process returns to S1601, and if there is a paper feed request (Yes in S1602), the print queue 4 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the paper type of the matrix data 46 indicated by the paper feed pointer 43 of 0 is different from the paper type of the first paper feed port 25 in the paper feed port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 (S16).
03). If the paper type is different (Yes in S1603),
It is determined whether there is a sheet between the sheet feeding port and the standby position (S1604). That is, the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
If the values of the paper feed pointer 43 and the transfer pointer 44 are the same, it is determined that there is no paper between the paper feed port and the standby position (S1604: Yes), and if the values of the paper feed pointer 43 and the transfer pointer 44 are different, It is determined that there is a sheet between the sheet feeding port and the standby position (No in S1604). Therefore, if there is a sheet (No in S1604), after waiting for a predetermined time (S1605), the process returns to S1604, and the processing from S1604 to S1604 is performed until there is no more sheet between the sheet feeding port and the standby position.
The processing of S1605 is repeated. On the other hand, if there is no paper in the processing of S1604 (Yes in S1604), or if the paper type of the matrix data 46 and the paper type of the first paper feed port 25 in the engine state 52 are the same in the processing of S1603 (S1603 No), the paper feed port 47 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the paper feed pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
The paper feed port is determined on the basis of and the paper feed is started (S160).
6). Note that, in the present embodiment, the same as in the first embodiment, the first
It is assumed that the paper feed port 25 has been determined. At the same time, the feed start bit 59 of the print state 57 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 is set to 0 (S1606). And
After waiting for a predetermined time (S1606), the paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the transfer pointer 44 of the print queue 40 and the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not is different (S1608),
If the paper type is different (S1608: Yes), the process proceeds to the OHP forced printing process described later. On the other hand, when it is determined that the paper type is the same (No in S1608), the paper feed start bit 59 of the print state 57 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG.
Is determined to be 0 (S1609), if it is 0 (Yes in S1609), the process returns to S1607, and if it is 1 (No in S1609), it means that the paper feeding has been completed. The paper feed pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5 is incremented by 1 (S1610), the process returns to S1601, and the process of the subsequent paper is started.

On the other hand, if the paper type is different in the processing of S1608 (Yes in S1608), the processing shifts to the OHP forced printing processing, the paper feeding start bit 59 is changed to 1, and the paper feeding is interrupted (S1611). No new paper feed is performed. After waiting for a predetermined time (S1612), the paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 indicated by the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40 and FIG.
It is determined whether or not the paper type of the first paper feed port 25 in the paper feed port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in (1) is different (S161).
3) If the paper types are the same (No in S1613),
The process returns to the normal print processing after S1601. That is, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the paper is changed to plain paper during OHP forced printing (when the OHP sheet is no longer detected by the paper type identification sensor 29), the first of the paper feed port states 55 in the engine state 52 is set. The paper type of the paper feed port 25 is returned to plain paper, and it is determined that the paper type is the same in the processing of S613 (S61).
3 is No), and the process proceeds to the normal printing (S1502). On the other hand, when the paper type is different (Yes in S1613),
It is determined whether the paper is completely discharged (S1614). If the paper is completely discharged (Yes in S1614), that is, FIG.
When the values of the paper feed pointer 43 and the paper discharge pointer 45 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
s) Returning to the processing of S1601 (normal printing processing), if not the same (No in S1614), the processing of S1612 to S1614 is repeated until the paper is completely discharged.

Next, in the process of the transfer task 18, a process of discriminating between normal printing and OHP forced printing will be described. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the transfer task 18 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the drawing, the apparatus waits until the paper arrives at the standby position (No in S1701;
When the paper arrives (S1702) (Yes in S1701)
s), the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not the paper type 49 of the matrix data 46 shown in FIG. 6 is different from the paper type of the first paper supply port 25 in the paper supply port state 55 of the engine state 52 shown in FIG. 6 (S1703). If the paper type is not different (No in S1703), the transfer pointer 44 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG. 5 is incremented by 1 (S170).
4) A normal transfer process is performed (S1705), and normal printing is performed (paper in FIG. 14B). On the other hand, when the paper type is different (S1703: Yes), the paper feed pointer 43 of the print matrix 40 shown in FIG.
706), a blank sheet transfer process is performed (S1707). This is a process performed after the engine unit 7 is stopped to print a page on which the OHP forced printing process has been performed (a page on which the blank page transfer process has been performed).

As described above, according to the third embodiment, only when the paper arriving at the standby position is identified as an OHP sheet, the blank paper transfer processing of this OHP sheet is performed.
When the paper arriving at the standby position returns to plain paper, a normal print process is performed by transferring a print page to be printed on an OHP sheet to the plain paper. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the non-printing printing process from being performed even though the paper has returned to plain paper.

In the second and third embodiments, the OHP compulsory printing is performed by identifying the paper type. However, the OHP compulsory printing may be performed by identifying the paper size based on the standby position passage time. . Alternatively, OHP compulsory printing may be performed by identifying the paper color using an optical sensor. Further, OHP compulsory printing may be performed by identifying the skew of the sheet, the wrinkle of the sheet, and the direction of the preprint sheet by two optical sensors on the left and right.

In the second and third embodiments,
Unprinted print processing was performed by blank paper transfer processing,
By not performing the transfer process, a configuration may be adopted in which a non-printing print process is performed.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. In the above-described first to third embodiments, the processing during single-sided printing has been described. In the fourth embodiment, processing during double-sided printing will be described.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the paper position during double-sided printing according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the paper indicates the plain paper discharged to the FaceDown discharge port 34, the paper indicates the plain paper being discharged, and the paper is being conveyed in the duplex unit 90 after the paper is inverted. Indicates plain paper,
The paper indicates plain paper being transferred on the back side, the paper indicates an OHP sheet detected by the paper type identification sensor 29 at the standby position, and the paper is fed from the first paper feed port 25 and the standby position has not arrived. Show.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the paper discharge sheet according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a sheet discharged by a conventional process, FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a transfer order in the present embodiment, and FIG. 1C is a diagram showing a transfer order in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a discharge sheet. In FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, the sheets to indicate plain paper and the sheets indicate OHP sheets. A to D, J, N, and E to H indicate image data (page data) to be printed on each sheet.

In FIG. 1A, in the conventional processing, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, when the paper as the OHP sheet is detected by the paper type identification sensor 29, a paper jam occurs, all the printing processes are interrupted, and the paper between the paper feed port and the paper discharge port is discharged. Were all discharged. Therefore, plain paper is also discharged as jam paper.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, only the OHP sheet (paper) is forcibly discharged as a jam sheet to the FaceUp discharge port 33 in the single-sided printing process, and normal printing (double-sided) is performed on plain paper (paper). Print) processing.

FIG. 19B shows the transfer order of the page data after the sheet, and the back page data F, H,
J and N are printed, and page data E and G are printed on the surface of the paper.
Print. OHP sheets are ejected after printing on one side (back side), so that printing on the front side is not performed.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 9C, the page data AB is replaced with the sheet (plain paper).
Indicates that page data CD is printed on both sides, paper (OHP sheet) has page data J, paper (OHP sheet) has page data N printed on one side, paper (plain paper) has page data EF, and paper (plain paper) has In (), page data GH is printed on both sides. In addition, the plain paper is discharged to the FaceDown discharge port 34, and the OHP sheet is discharged from the FaceUp discharge port 33. Since the OHP sheet is discharged after one-sided printing, it is discharged before the plain paper.

FIG. 20 is a system configuration diagram of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG.
Is composed of an I / F (interface) controller 70, a video I / F (interface) controller 71, and an engine unit 7, and performs a printing process based on print information sent from the host 72. I / F controller 70
Creates a control command and drawing data for the engine unit 7 based on the print information sent from the host 72, and outputs this to the video I / F controller 71. Video I / F
The controller 71 controls the engine unit 7 based on the input control command and the drawing data.
These are used to actually execute printing on paper.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a data structure of a print queue (print queue) applied to the present embodiment. The print queue (print queue) shown in the drawing is created based on print information sent from the host 72. As shown in the figure,
The data structure of the print matrix 75 includes a read pointer 76,
It is composed of a write pointer 77 and eight paper data 78.

The data structure of the paper data 78 includes a printing state 79, one side / two sides 80, a paper discharge port 81, whether or not paper discharge counts up 82, a VSYN number 83, and a paper type 84. The print state 79 indicates one of the following states: 1: before feeding, 2: starting feeding, 3: transfer, 4: discharging, and 5: both sides. The number of VSYNs is set to 0 at the start of sheet feeding, and is counted up at the start of transfer.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a flowchart when the OHP sheet is detected in the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, when an OHP sheet is detected at the standby position (Yes in S2201), the one-sided / two-sided 80 in the predetermined sheet data 78 before transfer of the print queue 75 is set to one-sided, and the paper discharge port is set to FaceUp. Then, the presence / absence of the discharge count up is set to nothing, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the paper is plain paper (No in S2201), the process ends.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a discharge destination setting process of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, first, the arrival of the paper is checked at the paper discharge setting position (S
2301), if the paper has not arrived (S2301 is N
o) When the processing is completed and the paper arrives (S2301)
Is Yes), it is determined whether or not one side / two sides 80 of the predetermined paper data 78 of the print queue 75 is both sides (S230).
2) If it is both sides (S2302: Yes), it is compared whether or not the VSYN number 83 of the paper data 78 is 2 (S2303). That is, it is determined whether or not the double-sided printing has been completed. If the VSYN number is not 2 (when it is 1) (No in S2303), when the double-sided printing has not been completed yet and only the single-sided printing has been completed, In order to perform printing on the other side, the discharge port 81 of the sheet data 78 is set to a duplex unit (S2304). On the other hand, when the VSYN number 83 is 2 (S2303 is Ye
Since s) indicates that the duplex printing has been completed, it is determined whether or not the paper discharge port 81 of the paper data 78 is the FaceDown discharge port 34 (S2305). In this case OH
Since the sheet is not a P sheet, it is determined that the sheet is the FaceDown discharge port 34 (Yes in S2305), and the discharge port 81 is set to
The eDown discharge port 34 is set (S2307). On the other hand, when the one side / two sides 80 of the sheet data 78 is not both sides (No in S2302), it is determined whether the sheet discharge port 81 of the sheet data 78 is the FaceDown sheet discharge port 34 (S2305), and the FaceDown sheet discharge is performed. If it is not the paper slot 34 (No in S2305), that is, if the paper is OHP
When the sheet is a sheet, the sheet ejection port 81 is set to the FaceUp sheet ejection port 33 (S2306), or when the sheet is the FaceDown sheet ejection port 34 (Yes in S2305), that is, the sheet ejection is performed when normal single-sided printing is performed. Face 81 is FaceD
This is set to the own paper discharge port 34 (S2307), and the process ends.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the count-up process of the paper discharge counter. As shown in the figure,
When the sheet is detected by a sheet ejection sensor (not shown) (S24).
01 is Yes), it is determined whether or not the discharge count up 82 of the paper data in the print queue 75 is present. If yes (S2402: Yes), the discharge counter is counted up (S2403). , And the process ends. On the other hand, if the discharge count is not up (S2402 is N
o) Since the OHP sheet is detected and there is no need to count up, the process ends without counting up the sheet discharge counter.

When the sheet is not detected by the sheet discharge sensor (S2401: No), the process is terminated. As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, when an OHP sheet is detected in the two-sided printing process, the OHP sheet is forcibly treated as a jam sheet and the FaceUp is performed in the one-sided printing process without counting up the discharge counter. The paper can be discharged to the paper discharge port 33. Therefore, the I / F controller 70 can print the page data of the jammed paper after the jam recovery. Further, since the sheet is not transported to the duplex unit 90, the damage of the duplex unit 90 can be prevented.

In the fourth embodiment, the sheet discharge counter is counted up when a sheet is detected by the sheet discharge sensor. However, in a printing apparatus having no sheet discharge sensor,
It may be performed when the discharge is recognized by another method.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining the discharge sheet according to the embodiment. FIG. 14A is a diagram showing a paper sheet according to a fourth embodiment, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing a paper sheet according to the present embodiment. In the same figure, the paper to indicated by a solid line indicate plain paper, the paper indicated by a dotted line and OHP
Show the sheet.

In FIG. 9A, in the fourth embodiment, page data J and N are printed on an OHP sheet (jam paper), and the OHP sheet cannot be reused. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, in the present embodiment, the paper that is the OHP sheet is not used as the jam paper,
The non-printing process is performed without transferring the page data, so that the OHP sheet can be reused.

FIG. 26 shows the OH of the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart when a P sheet is detected. As shown in the drawing, when an OHP sheet is detected at the standby position (Yes in S2601), one side / two sides 80 in the predetermined sheet data 78 before transfer of the print queue 75 is set to one side, and the sheet discharge port is set. FaceDown, the presence / absence of paper discharge count-up is changed, the number of VSYNs is changed to 1, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is plain paper (No in S2601), the process ends.

FIG. 27 shows the VS of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.
It is a flowchart which shows the transmission process of YN (vertical synchronization signal). As shown in the drawing, first, it is determined whether or not the paper has arrived at the standby position (S2701). If the paper has not arrived (No in S2701), the process is terminated, and if the paper has arrived (S2701). Is Yes), it is determined whether or not one side / two sides 80 of the predetermined paper data 78 of the print queue 75 is two sides (S2702).
Is Yes), and the VSYN number 83 of the paper data 78 is 2
It is determined whether it is less than (S2703). That is, when the VSYN number is less than 2 (S2703)
No) Since one-sided printing of the two-sided printing has not been completed yet, VSYN is set to Low (S2704), and the transfer process is performed. When the VSYN number is 2 or more (S2
Since the double-sided printing has been completed (YES in 703), the transfer process is not performed without setting VSYN to Low (S2705). On the other hand, one side / two sides 80 of the paper data 78
If not, it is determined whether the VSYN number 83 of the paper data 78 is less than 1 (S2706). When the number of VSYNs is less than 1 (Yes in S2706), since normal single-sided printing processing is performed, VSYN is set to Low (S2707), and transfer processing is performed. Also, both sides / one side 80 is one side (S270
2 is No), when the VSYN number is not less than 1 (S270)
6 is No), that is, since the OHP sheet is detected at the standby position, the two-sided / one-sided surface 80 is one-sided, and the number of VSYNs is set to 1, the VSYN is not set to Low (S
2708), the transfer process is not performed.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, when an OHP sheet is detected, it is not used as a jam sheet, and the unprinted printing process is performed without transferring page data to the OHP sheet. This made it possible to reuse OHP sheets.

Next, a sixth embodiment will be described. In the first to fifth embodiments, when the OHP sheet is detected, the printing is interrupted or the OHP sheet is discharged without printing. In this embodiment, when an OHP sheet is detected, printing is automatically performed by switching to a mode with a low process speed (hereinafter, referred to as an OHP mode) suitable for printing on the OHP sheet.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the automatic OHP mode switching process of the printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, when the sheet arrives at the standby position (Yes in S2801), it is determined whether or not the sheet is an OHP sheet (S2802). If the sheet is identified as an OHP sheet (S2802: Yes), the OHP sheet is set as the paper type in the engine unit 7 (S2803).
On the other hand, when the OHP sheet is not identified (S28
02 is No), it is determined whether or not the paper type 84 of the paper data 78 of the print queue 75 shown in FIG. 21 is an OHP sheet (S2804).
04 is Yes) Plain paper is set as the paper type in the engine unit 7 (S2805), and if the sheet is not an OHP sheet (S2804 is No), the process ends.

As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, it is possible for the printing apparatus 1 to automatically determine the paper type, and to automatically perform printing in the OHP mode when the paper type is an OHP sheet. Become. Therefore, it is not necessary for the host 72 to set the OHP sheet as the paper type.

In the sixth embodiment, the automatic switching between the OHP sheet and the plain paper has been described as an example. However, the automatic switching may be performed based on other sheets such as the plain paper and the envelope.
Next, a seventh embodiment will be described.

In the sixth embodiment, when an OHP sheet is detected by the paper type identification sensor 29, the OHP sheet is automatically set.
The printing was performed in the HP mode. Therefore, if the printing process is executed while the user accidentally inserts an OHP sheet into the paper feed port, all the OHP sheets are OHP sheets.
It was printed in mode. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the validity / invalidity of the automatic OHP mode switching can be set, and when the validity / invalidity of the automatic OHP mode switching is set to invalid, the automatic switching of the OHP mode is not performed. Print execution that does not match the intention of the user.

FIG. 29 shows the validity of automatic switching of the OHP mode.
Indicates an invalid data structure. This is stored in a storage unit (not shown) or the like in the video I / F controller 71, and the validity / invalidity 85 of the OHP mode automatic switching is specified by a control command output from the I / F controller.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing the automatic OHP mode switching process of the printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 29, when the sheet arrives at the standby position (Yes in S3001), the O shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the HP mode automatic switching valid / invalid 85 is valid. If it is not valid (S3002 is N
o), it is determined whether or not the sheet at the standby position is an OHP sheet (S3003). When the sheet is identified as an OHP sheet (S3003: Yes), a virtual jam is generated (S3004), and jam recovery is performed. The processing is performed to discharge all the paper between the paper supply port and the paper discharge port (S300).
5). On the other hand, when the valid / invalid 85 of the OHP mode automatic switching is valid (Yes in S3002), the subsequent processing (S3006 to S3009) is the same as the processing of S2802 to S2805 shown in FIG. Description is omitted.

As described above, according to the seventh embodiment, the OHP
Enable / disable setting of automatic mode switching,
It is possible to prevent print execution that does not suit the user's intention. Next, an eighth embodiment will be described.

In the above-described sixth and seventh embodiments, when paper is fed from the paper feed port, the I / F controller 70
The paper type is set based on the control command output from the printer, and then, when the paper arrives at the standby position, the paper type is set again based on the paper detected by the paper type identification sensor 29. The paper type is set, and the printing process time is lengthened. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the paper type is not set at the time of paper feeding, but is set only when the paper arrives at the standby position.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining a timing chart for setting the paper type of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9A is a diagram for explaining arrows used in FIGS. 9B and 9C, and FIG. 10B is a timing chart shown in the sixth and seventh embodiments. FIG. 4C shows a timing chart of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 10, thick paper is set as a paper type by a control command output from the I / F controller 70, and when the paper arrives at the standby position, the OHP sheet is detected by the paper type identification sensor 29. A timing chart for changing the paper type to the OHP sheet again and performing the printing process is shown.

Arrows used in FIGS. 9B and 9C are shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the white arrow indicates the point in time when the paper feeding can be started, and the dotted arrow indicates the point in time when the sheet arrives at the standby position and the OHP sheet or other sheets can be identified. .

As shown in FIG. 13B, in the sixth and seventh embodiments, first, the paper type is set to thick paper by the control command output from the I / F controller 70 at the start of paper feeding ( In step S3101, the fixing temperature of the engine unit 7 is increased, and the sheet is conveyed to the standby position (S310).
2) Identify the paper type of the paper. However, as mentioned above,
Here, an OHP sheet is detected as the paper, and the paper type is set to O.
An HP sheet is set (S3103). That is, the transport speed of the engine unit 7 is reduced to 1/4, and the fixing temperature is reduced to the normal temperature. Then, the transfer process is performed and the sheet is discharged (S310).
4). After the sheet is discharged, the processing of the subsequent sheet is started in the same manner (S3105 to S3108).

Next, as shown in FIG. 9C, in the eighth embodiment, first, the sheet is conveyed from the sheet feeding port to the standby position (S3109). Then, at the standby position, the paper is identified as an OHP sheet, and the OHP sheet is set as the paper type (S
3110). That is, the transport speed is reduced to 1/4 and the fixing temperature is lowered to the normal temperature. Then, a transfer process is performed and the sheet is discharged. The succeeding sheet starts feeding when the sheet can be fed, even if the preceding sheet is being discharged, and is conveyed to the standby position. Subsequent processing (S3113 and S3114) is performed in S3110.
And S3111, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a paper type changing process of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. First, it is determined whether or not the paper can be fed from the paper feed port (at the time when the paper can be fed) (S3201).
Is Yes), it is determined whether the OHP mode automatic switching valid / invalid 85 shown in FIG. 29 is valid (S320).
2) If it is valid (Yes in S3202), a process of detecting whether or not a sheet has arrived at the standby position (S320)
Go to 9). On the other hand, the automatic switching of OHP mode is enabled /
When the invalidation 85 is invalid (S3202 is No), the paper type 8 of the paper data 78 of the print queue 75 shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not 4 is plain paper (S3203), and if it is plain paper (Yes in S3203), it is set to plain paper (S3204). On the other hand, if it is not plain paper (S320
3 is No), and it is determined whether the paper type 84 is thick paper (S).
3205), if it is a thick paper (S3205: Ye
s) Thick paper is set (S3206). On the other hand, if it is not thick paper (S3205: No), it is determined whether or not the paper type 84 is an OHP sheet (S3207). If it is an OHP sheet (S3207: Yes), it is set to an OHP sheet (S3208).

After the above processing is completed, it is determined whether the paper has arrived at the standby position (S3209). If the paper has not arrived at the standby position (S3209 is N
o), the flowchart ends. On the other hand, when the paper arrives at the standby position (S3209: Yes), O
It is determined whether the validity / invalidity 85 of the HP mode automatic switching is valid (S3210), and if it is valid (S3210).
10 is Yes), it is determined whether or not the sheet is an OHP sheet (S3211), and if the sheet is an OHP sheet (S3211).
3211 is Yes), the paper type of the paper is set to the OHP sheet for the engine unit 7 (S3212). On the other hand, when the OHP sheet has not been identified (No in S3211),
It is determined whether the paper type 84 of the paper data 78 of the print queue 75 shown in FIG. 21 is plain paper (S3213), and if it is plain paper (Yes in S3213), it is set to plain paper (S3214). . On the other hand, if it is not plain paper (S32
13 is No), it is determined whether or not the paper type 84 is thick paper (S3215), and if it is thick paper (S3215 is Y).
es) Thick paper is set (S3216). On the other hand, if it is not thick paper (S3215: No), it is determined whether the paper type 84 is an OHP sheet (S3217). If it is an OHP sheet (S3217: Yes), it is set to plain paper (S3218).

On the other hand, the paper arrives at the standby position (S320).
9 is Yes), valid / invalid of automatic OHP mode switching 85
Is invalid (No in S3210), it is determined whether or not the sheet at the standby position is an OHP sheet (S3).
219), if it is not an OHP sheet (S3219 is N
o), the flowchart ends. On the other hand, if the sheet is an OHP sheet (S3219: Yes), a jam is generated (S3220), and a jam recovery process is performed to discharge all of the sheets from the sheet feeding port to the sheet discharging port (S32).
21).

As described above, according to the eighth embodiment, when the validity / invalidity 85 of the automatic OHP mode switching is valid, the paper type setting for the engine unit 7 is not performed at the start of paper supply, and Since the process is performed only when the vehicle arrives at the standby position, the print processing time can be reduced.

[0094]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, printing is performed while the paper type specified by the print information sent from the host and the paper type of the actually fed paper are different. Can be prevented from being performed.

Further, when the paper type is different, a blank page transfer process (or no image data transfer) is performed without causing a jam, so that a print page that has already been printed on plain paper is returned to a subsequent normal page. No more printing on paper,
It is possible to prevent waste of paper.

The blank paper transfer process is performed only when the paper type is different, and when the paper type is equal after that, the paper (OHP sheet) which has been subjected to the previous blank paper transfer process on this paper (plain paper) is used. The normal printing process is performed by transferring the print page that was to be printed on the printer, and the unprinted printing process is performed even though the paper has returned to the specified paper (plain paper). Can be prevented.

In the double-sided printing process, if the paper type is different, the sheet (OHP sheet) of a different paper type is forcibly subjected to the single-sided printing process as a jam sheet without counting up the discharge counter. FaceUp paper exit 3
3 can be discharged. Therefore, the page data of the jammed paper (OHP sheet) can be printed after the jam recovery. Further, since the sheet is not conveyed to the duplex unit, damage to the duplex unit can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a system configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an overall configuration of an engine unit 7 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper type identification sensor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another example of the paper type identification sensor.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a print matrix.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of an engine state stored in an engine state memory.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data structure of an engine control state stored in an engine control memory 11;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of warning error information stored in a warning error memory;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a discharge sheet according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 10A illustrates the discharge sheet according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing a discharge sheet according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing during normal printing and forced printing in a sheet feeding task according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a transfer task according to the second embodiment.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams illustrating the order of the discharge sheets according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating the order of the discharge sheets according to the second embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the order of paper sheets according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a sheet feeding task according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a transfer task according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a sheet position during double-sided printing according to a fourth embodiment.

FIGS. 19A and 19B are diagrams for explaining a discharge sheet according to a fourth embodiment, in which FIG. 19A is a view illustrating a discharge sheet obtained by a conventional process, and FIG. FIG. 14C is a diagram showing the transfer order of sheets, and FIG. 14C is a view showing a sheet discharged by the processing of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a system configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a print queue (print queue) applied to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart when the OHP sheet is detected by the printing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a discharge destination setting process of the printing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating count-up processing of a sheet discharge counter.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are diagrams for explaining a discharge sheet according to a fifth embodiment, wherein FIG. 25A is a view illustrating a discharge sheet according to a fourth embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a view showing a discharge sheet according to the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart when the OHP sheet is detected by the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating a VSYN (vertical synchronization signal) transmission process of the printing apparatus 1 according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating an OHP mode automatic switching process of the printing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a data structure of valid / invalid of automatic OHP mode switching.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating an OHP mode automatic switching process of the printing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining a timing chart for setting the paper type of the printing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams for explaining arrows used in FIGS. 6B and 6C, FIG. 7B is a timing chart shown in the sixth and seventh embodiments, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a timing chart of the embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating a paper type changing process of the printing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 printing device 2 host I / F 3 video transfer unit 4 start unit 5 standby position unit 6 restart unit 7 engine unit 8 operation panel unit 9 reception buffer 10 image memory 11 engine control memory 12 engine state memory 13 print matrix Memory 14 Warning error memory 15 Receiving task 16 Execution task 17 Paper feeding task 18 Transfer task 19 Discharge task 20 Engine task 21 Operation panel task 25 First paper feed port 26 Second paper feed port 27 MPF tray 28 Standby roller 29 Paper Type identification sensor 30 Conveyor belt 31 Image forming unit 32 Image forming unit 33 FaceUp discharge port 34 FaceDown discharge port 35 Paper feed roller 36 Paper transport path 37 Total reflection plate 38 Light shielding plate 40 Printing matrix 41 Number of sheets 42 Request pointer 43 Feed Paper box Center 44 Transfer pointer 45 Discharge pointer 46 Matrix data 47 Paper feed port 48 Paper size 49 Paper type 50 Paper discharge port 50 51 Image data address 51 52 Engine status 53 Operator call 54 Current paper feed port 55 Paper feed port state 56 Current paper discharge port 57 Printing status 58 Jam bit 59 Paper feed start bit 60 Engine stop bit 61 Engine control status 62 Paper feed port 63 Paper size 64 Paper type 65 Paper discharge port 66 Warning error information 67 Paper type difference bit 68 Operator processing Reference Signs List 70 I / F controller 71 Video I / F controller 72 Host 75 Print queue 76 Read pointer 77 Write pointer 78 Paper data 79 Print state 80 Single-sided / double-sided 81 Discharge port 82 Presence or absence of discharge count 83 VSYN number 84 Paper type 85 O Enable / disable HP mode automatic switching 90 Duplex unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasushi Nakamura 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo Office F-term (reference) 2C061 AQ06 AR01 AR03 AS02 AS13 HK07 HN05 HN15 3F048 AA05 AB01 AB05 BA06 BB03 BB04 DC14 EA01 EA08 EB38 EB40 5B021 AA01 KK00 NN16

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for performing printing based on print information sent from a host, comprising: an identification unit for identifying a paper type of paper; and a paper type of paper identified by the identification unit and designated by the print information. A printing control means for performing unprinted printing when the paper type is different. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit performs the non-printing printing by not transferring the image data or transferring the blank image data.
The printing device according to the above. 3. The print control means, wherein after the paper type of the paper identified by the identification means and the paper type of the paper specified by the print information are different, the paper type of the paper identified by the identification means 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the paper type of the paper specified by the print information becomes equal, the transfer is restarted from the image data which has not been transferred. 4. A printing apparatus capable of performing double-sided printing based on print information sent from a host, comprising: an identification unit for identifying a paper type; and when double-sided printing is designated based on the print information, When the paper type of the paper identified by the identification means is different from the paper type of the paper specified by the print information, double-sided printing is set to single-sided printing, and the paper outlet is set to a FaceUp paper outlet. A printing control means for performing printing without occasionally counting up a sheet discharge counter. 5. The paper type of the paper identified by the identification means is an OHP sheet.
The printing device according to any one of the preceding claims. 6. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said identification means is a reflection type photo sensor integrated with a light emitting element and a light receiving element.