JP2002059606A - Printer which can put rear surface mark - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can automatically put a 'rear surface mark' indicating a miss print face clearly. SOLUTION: At an arbitrary position on a carrying passage from a sheet feeder 30 through a sheet feed roller 20 and a sheet discharge roller 50 to a sheet discharge port, means 100 for putting a rear surface mark for clearly indicating a miss print face on a sheet is disposed. When printing is performed utilizing the unprinted face of a miss printed sheet effectively, a control section controls the means 100 for putting a rear surface mark to put a rear surface mark automatically on the printed face.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus capable of providing a backside mark.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a misprint or the like is made by a printing apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a sheet on which only one side is printed is effectively used. Printing may be performed. In this case, since the paper has prints of characters and the like on both sides thereof, one side is a miscopy side on which old information is recorded, and the other side is a new copy on which new necessary information is recorded. There is a risk that the user may not be able to determine whether the surface is a surface. For this reason, the user applies an identification mark such as an “x” mark (hereinafter referred to as a “back surface mark”) by handwriting.

[0003]

However, it is troublesome to add such a backside mark by handwriting, and if the backside mark is forgotten, either side is an old miscopyed side. It may take time to determine which surface is a new surface, or the determination may be difficult.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems and automatically attaches a "backside mark" to clearly indicate a misprinted side.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, which can apply a rear surface mark, conveys a sheet from a sheet feed roller of a sheet feeder to a print head, A printing device that performs printing on one side by passing paper over a print head by a paper feed roller and a paper discharge roller provided before and after the print head, and from the sheet supply device through a paper feed roller and a paper discharge roller. When printing is performed at any position on the transport path leading to the paper discharge port, a back surface marking means is provided for attaching a back surface mark to the paper to clearly indicate the misprinted surface, and the non-printed surface of the misprinted paper is effectively used. Prior to the completion of the effective printing, a control unit is provided for automatically attaching a back surface mark to the already printed surface by the back surface marking means.

According to the present invention, when performing printing utilizing the non-printed surface of a misprinted sheet under the control of the control unit, the back side mark applying means automatically performs the printing before the completion of the effective printing. Since the back surface mark is attached to the printing surface, the trouble of manually applying the back surface mark by hand is eliminated, and the risk of forgetting to attach the back surface mark can be easily and reliably reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the rear surface mark applying means includes a movable marker which is a constituent element of the printing apparatus. Is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat in the paper transport path. Thereby, the back surface mark can be provided with a simple structure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the back side mark applying means is provided upstream of a sheet feeding roller of a sheet feeding apparatus. It is characterized by having. Thus, it is possible to easily attach the back surface mark before starting the effective printing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the back surface mark applying means is provided near the downstream of the paper discharge roller. It is characterized by. This makes it possible to easily add a back surface mark at a stage before completion of effective printing.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the sheet feeding device feeds the paper to a paper feed roller in a horizontal U-shape. And the back-marking means is provided at a position of a paper feed cassette upstream of the paper feed roller. This makes it possible to easily attach a back surface mark before the start of effective printing when the paper feeding path is of the U-shaped conveyance type.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the printing apparatus adds the backside mark when printing one of the backside marks. It is characterized by comprising a double-sided printing device having a print mode. Thus, one of the two-sided printing modes of the two-sided printing apparatus can be used for printing the backside mark, so that the backside mark printing can be easily executed by a software process.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein the back side mark is printed first, and then the formal printing is performed. It is characterized in that it is performed on the opposite side. Since the printing of the back side mark is generally simple, for example, "x" mark, if the back side mark is first attached and then effective printing is performed on the opposite side, the first back side mark is used. A short ink drying time for mark printing is sufficient, and the total throughput can be reduced.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an example of an inkjet printing apparatus having a reversing conveyance path and capable of performing double-sided printing. The printing apparatus includes a paper feed roller 20 including a drive roller 21 and a driven roller 22 in contact with the drive roller 21.
A sheet supply device 30 for supplying the paper S to the paper feed roller 20, a print head 40 for ejecting ink onto the surface of the paper S conveyed by the paper feed roller 20, and forming an image (including characters). And a discharge roller 50 for discharging the printed paper S.

The sheet feeding device 30 presses the sheet S between a D-type sheet feeding roller 31, a hopper 33 for urging the sheet S toward the sheet feeding roller 31, and the sheet feeding roller 31. A separation pad 32 for separating sheets. At the time of sheet supply, the paper S is pressed by the hopper toward the paper feed roller 31 that rotates once, is separated by the separation pad 32, and only one sheet of paper S is supplied to the paper feed roller 20.

The print head 40 is mounted on a carriage 41, on which an ink tank is mounted. The printing operation is performed by ejecting ink from the head 40 while the carriage 41 moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, thereby performing printing for one line. S is conveyed at a predetermined pitch (normal line spacing), and these operations are repeated to perform single-sided printing. Reference numeral 44 denotes a regulating member that supports the lower surface of the paper S during printing and regulates the distance between the paper S and the head 40 to a predetermined value.

The paper discharging roller 50 is composed of a driving roller 51 and a driven star wheel 52 urged toward the driving roller 51, and discharges the printed paper S outside the machine.

In the above configuration, a pair of the lower guide 63 and the upper guide 64, a pair of the drive roller 21 and the driven roller 22 of the paper feed roller 20, a pair of the print head 40 and the defining member 44, and a discharge roller 50 Means print head 4
A common transport path (print transport path) for passing the paper in the forward direction (forward feed direction) or the reverse travel direction (reverse feed direction) in the 0 portion
72 is formed. The hopper 33 and the paper feed roller 31
The pair of the separation pad 32 and the pair of the lower guide 63 and the upper guide 64 join the sheet on the hopper 33 to the common conveyance path 72 before the print head 40 through the space between the paper feed roller 31 and the separation pad 32. The paper feed path 71 is formed.

On the other hand, in the sheet feeding device 30, a hopper 33 also serving as a paper feed tray is disposed obliquely upward, and a closed loop-shaped reversing conveyance path 81 is provided in a triangular rear space below the hopper 33. The reversing unit 80 is detachably attached with its tip inserted.

The reversing unit 80 includes a large reversing roller 82 and a small reversing roller 83 which are arranged apart from each other.
The support member (not shown), which also serves as a paper guide member, has an inner member that is tapered as a whole. A reversing flap 90 for switching the paper flow path is provided on the leading end side where the reversing small roller 83 is provided so as to be switchable between a solid line receiving position and a dotted line discharging position. In the present specification, a description will be given assuming that the relay path 91 that reverses and feeds the sheet printed on one side to the reversing flap 90 is also a part of the reversing conveyance path 81.

In other words, the printing apparatus connects the feeding path 71 and the reversing paths 81 and 91 with the print head 40.
The sheet is printed at one side by forwardly feeding the sheet through the print head 40 portion of the common transport path 72 following the junction 73, and the sheet printed on one side is reversely fed. Then, the sheet is guided to the reversing conveyance path 81 via the relay path 91 and the reversing flap 90, and the sheet inverted by the reversing conveyance path 81 is sent out again to the common conveyance path 72 by the normal feed, and the back surface is printed by the print head 40. Is printed. Therefore, there is a first conveyance path from the paper supply conveyance path 71 to the common conveyance path 72 and a second conveyance path returning from the common conveyance path 72 to the common conveyance path 72 via the reversing conveyance path 81.

Further, a flap (first flap) 10 is provided at the junction 73. This flap 1
0 is provided with a self-return behavior so as to be in an open position to form an entrance passage to the reversing conveyance passage 81, more precisely, an entrance passage to the relay passage 91. The paper S rotates following the paper S, and is pivotally supported by the shaft 11 so as to guide the paper S to the auxiliary lever 4. The main lever 3 and the auxiliary lever 4 of the paper detector 2 pass through the flap 10 and cross each other.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. At the time of front side feeding for single-sided printing, the paper S is
The paper is then fed from the 0 paper feed roller 31 to the junction 73 along the paper feed path 71. The paper S first has a flap 10
Of the main lever 3 and the flap 10
, And a force acts on both the main lever 3 and the flap 10. At this time, the flap 10 is configured to be gradually pushed down first. Next, the auxiliary lever 4 rotates in the forward direction of the paper, and after the rotation of a certain range,
The main lever 3 is integrated so as to be entrained and rotated. Then, after the flap 10 is pushed down to the predetermined retracted position, the main lever 3 and the auxiliary lever 4 gradually start to rotate integrally and change to an inclined state, and a photo sensor (not shown) is turned off (not shown). (Paper present detection state).

Thereafter, the sheet S is printed on one side by the print head 40, and the trailing edge of the sheet exits the paper detector 2 to detect the trailing edge of the sheet.

When the single-sided printed sheet S is back-fed in the reverse feed direction toward the reversing conveyance path 81, the flap 10 is in an open position (up position) forming an entrance passage to the reversing conveyance path 81. It is in. The main lever 3 and the auxiliary lever 4 of the paper detector 2 are in a standing posture. The single-sided printed sheet S is conveyed in the reverse feed direction through the common conveyance path 72 and enters the lower space of the flap 10 which maintains the open position (upper position) at the merging section 73, where the lower guide surface is provided. It comes into contact with the auxiliary lever 4 projecting more. The auxiliary lever 4 can rotate in the reverse feed direction about the shaft 6, so that the auxiliary lever 4 is pushed back while the relay
The sheet is further conveyed toward the reversing conveyance path 81 in the reverse feed direction. The movement of the auxiliary lever 4 is performed independently, and the main lever 3 does not move. Therefore, the photo sensor is in the detection state of no paper.

The paper conveyed in the reverse feed direction is a reversing flap 90 whose free end is always at the lower position by its own weight.
Is received above the reversing conveyance path 81, and after making a round of the reversing conveyance path 81, when passing under the reversing flap 90, the reversing flap 90 is pushed up by the feeding force of the sheet. Thus, the reversing flap 9
0 is pushed up to the upper position, the sheet S is discharged from the lower side of the reversing conveyance path 81, and is again returned to the relay path 91.
It is returned to the common transport path 72.

From the reversing conveyance path 81 to the common conveyance path 72
The paper returned to the flap 10 enters the lower space of the flap 10 which maintains the open posture (upper position) at the merging portion 73, and abuts on the auxiliary lever 4 protruding from the lower guide surface. The auxiliary lever 4 can rotate in the reverse feed direction about the shaft 6 but cannot rotate in the normal feed direction. Therefore, the auxiliary lever 4 is entrained by the auxiliary lever 4 and the main lever 3 rotates in the normal feed direction. I do. Therefore, the paper detector 2 is in the detection state of paper presence.

The paper S is transported in the common transport path 72 to the print head 40 in the forward direction, and after the print head 40 prints on the back surface, the paper S is discharged.

On the conveyance path from the sheet supply device 30 to the paper discharge port via the paper feed roller 20 and the paper discharge roller 50, a back surface mark indicating a misprinted surface on the paper is attached at an arbitrary position. There is provided a back surface marking means 100 to be used. The back surface marking means 100 is provided with a movable marker (not shown) so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the paper transport path by a position switching drive means comprising a plunger. In the case of the present embodiment, the movable marker of the back surface mark applying means 100 is always at the retracted position with respect to the paper conveyance path, and protrudes (imprints) with respect to the paper conveyance path only when the operation of applying the back surface mark is performed. It has become.

A first specific position to which the back surface marking means 100 is attached is, as indicated by reference numeral 100a, upstream of the sheet feeding roller 31 of the sheet feeding device 30, and in FIG. 1, the hopper also serves as a sheet feeding tray. 33 are provided. The second specific position is near the downstream of the paper discharge roller 50 as indicated by reference numeral 100b. The third specific position is a U-shaped transport type in which the sheet feeding device 30 feeds the paper from the paper feed cassette 34 to the paper feed roller 20 in a horizontal U-shape. As shown by reference numeral 100c in FIG. The back surface marking means is provided at a position near the paper feed cassette 34 upstream of the paper feed roller 20.

When back mark printing is performed in order to make effective use of the non-printed surface of the misprinted paper, prior to completion of the printing, control by a control unit (not shown) is performed by the back mark applying means 100 described above. , The already printed surface is automatically marked with a cross mark, for example, as a back surface mark.

Next, although not shown, the control unit of the printing apparatus having the above-described configuration includes an input interface for receiving print data and control commands from a host computer, analysis of print data, creation of intermediate data, and creation of bitmap memory. A CP that controls the printing device, including the unfolding and refeeding processes
U, a ROM for storing a control program of the CPU and various data, a RAM for temporarily storing various data, and the like.

Next, the processing contents of the first-half control unit will be described.
FIG. 2 is a control example in the case where the back surface mark applying means 100 is located upstream of the paper feed roller 31 as indicated by the reference numeral 100a. Placed on top.

In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the CPU first checks whether the user has selected the mark printing mode (step S10). This mark printing mode can be selected by a user using a personal computer. If the determination in step S10 is NO and the normal single-sided printing mode is set, normal paper feeding, normal printing, and normal paper discharging are performed, and single-sided printing is performed (steps S11 to S11).
13).

When the user has instructed the selection of the mark printing mode, printing of the back surface mark is first executed by the back surface marking means 100 shown by the reference numeral 100a (step S14). Next, the sheet feeding is started and the sheet S is sent out to the common transport path 72 (step S15). Thereafter, the paper feed roller 20 is rotated in the reverse direction, and reverse sheet feeding is performed using the reverse unit 80 (step S16). Then, normal printing is performed on the inverted sheet S, and the sheet is discharged (steps S17 and S18).

FIG. 3 shows an example of control in the case where the back surface marking means 100 is located downstream of the paper discharge roller 50 as indicated by reference numeral 100b. And is placed on the hopper 33.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the CPU first checks whether the user has selected the mark printing mode (step S20). This mark printing mode can be selected by a user using a personal computer. If the determination in step S20 is NO and the normal single-sided printing mode is set, normal paper feeding, normal printing, and normal paper discharging are performed, and single-sided printing is performed (steps S21 to S21).
23).

When the user has instructed the selection of the mark printing mode, paper feeding is started (step S24), and normal printing is executed (step S25). At the same time, the leading edge of the paper
It waits until it comes to the mark position where the back side mark applying means 100b exists (step S26). The mark position is determined by the counter counting the number of drive pulses of the pulse motor for a known distance after the leading edge of the paper is detected by the paper detector 2.

When the leading edge of the paper is
When it comes to the mark position b, the conveyance of the sheet is temporarily stopped (step S27), and a back surface mark is attached by the back surface mark applying means 100b (step S28). Then, the remaining printing is completed (step S29), the sheet is discharged, and the process is terminated (step S30).

FIG. 4 shows an example of control in the case where the back surface marking means 100 is located in the paper feed cassette 34 at the upstream position of the U-shaped transport path as indicated by reference numeral 100c. The sheet is placed in the sheet cassette 34 with the printed surface facing down. This is because the sheet is turned over during the conveyance and then sent to the sheet feed roller 20.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the CPU first checks whether the user has selected the mark printing mode (step S30). This mark printing mode can be selected by a user using a personal computer. If the determination in step S30 is NO and the normal single-sided printing mode is set, normal sheet feeding, normal printing, and normal sheet discharging are performed, and single-sided printing is performed (steps S31 to S31).
33).

When the user instructs to select the mark printing mode, the sheet placed in the sheet cassette 34
A back surface mark is provided by the back surface mark applying means 100c (step S34). After that, the paper is discharged through the same normal paper supply and normal paper discharge as in normal one-sided printing (step S3).
5 to S36).

FIG. 5 shows a control example in which the function as a double-sided printing device is utilized.

In the flowchart of FIG. 5, the CPU first checks whether the user has selected the one-sided printing mode or the two-sided printing mode (step S40). This print mode can be selected by the user using a personal computer. If the user does not specify otherwise, the default setting value "single-sided print mode" is selected and the user instructs the selection. Only in this case, the mode shifts to the duplex printing mode.

If the determination in step S40 is NO and the single-sided printing mode is set (when double-sided printing is not selected), normal sheet feeding, normal printing, and normal sheet discharging are performed, and single-sided printing is executed (step S41). ).

Next, the CPU checks whether the user has selected the mark printing mode (step S42). If the determination in step S42 is NO and the normal double-sided printing mode is set, normal paper feeding, normal printing, reverse paper feeding, normal printing, and normal paper discharging are performed, and double-sided printing is performed (step S4).
3).

When the user instructs to select the mark printing mode, the back side mark printing is executed in any of the above three cases (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) (step S44).

Thereafter, the sheet on which the back mark has been printed is conveyed in the reverse feed direction, the back is reversed (step S45), and the reversing unit 80 reverses the front and back.
The normal printing is performed on a new side having no back side mark, and the sheet is discharged (steps S46 and S47).

In the above-described embodiment, the dedicated back surface mark applying means 100 is provided. However, the back surface mark can be provided based on the inherent printing function.

[0049]

According to the present invention, when performing printing utilizing the non-printed surface of a misprinted sheet effectively, a backside mark indicating the misprinted surface is automatically added.
It is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of conventional handwriting and to avoid the inconvenience of making it difficult to make a distinction when the user forgets to mark.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a two-sided printing apparatus as a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process of the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating another control processing example of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating still another control processing example of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process according to another embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Paper Detector 3 Main Lever 4 Auxiliary Lever 10 Flap 11 Axis 20 Paper Feed Roller 21 Drive Roller 22 Follower Roller 30 Sheet Feeder 31 Feed Roller 32 Separation Pad 33 Hopper 34 Paper Feed Cassette 40 Print Head 41 Carriage 44 Regulator 50 Discharge roller 51 Drive roller 52 Follower star wheel 63 Lower guide 64 Upper guide 71 Feeding transport path 72 Common transport path 73 Merging section 80 Inverting unit 81 Inverting transport path 82 Inverting large roller 83 Inverting small roller 90 Inverting Flap 91 Relay passage 100, 100a, 100b, 100c Back surface marking means

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sheet is conveyed from a paper feed roller of a sheet feeder to a print head, and the paper is passed through a print head portion by a paper feed roller and a paper discharge roller provided before and after the print head, so that the paper is printed on one side. A printing device for performing printing, wherein a back surface mark indicating a misprinted surface is provided on a sheet at an arbitrary position on a conveyance path from the sheet supply device to a sheet discharge port via a sheet feed roller and a sheet discharge roller. In the case of performing printing using the non-printed surface of the erroneously printed paper by providing a mark applying unit, prior to the completion of the effective printing, the back surface marking unit automatically adds a back surface mark to the already-printed surface. A printing apparatus capable of providing a back surface mark, wherein the printing apparatus has a unit. 2. The back surface mark providing device according to claim 1, wherein the movable marker of the component is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat on a paper transport path by a position switching drive unit. Applicable printing device. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the back surface mark applying means is provided upstream of a sheet feeding roller of a sheet feeding device. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the back surface mark providing means is provided near a downstream side of a paper discharge roller. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is of a U-shaped conveyance type for feeding a sheet to a sheet feeding roller in a horizontal U-shape, and the back surface marking means includes a sheet feeding device upstream of the sheet feeding roller. A printing apparatus which is provided at a position of a paper cassette and which can add a rear surface mark. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus comprises a double-sided printing apparatus having a printing mode for printing a backside mark when one of the printings is performed. Printing equipment. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the double-sided printing apparatus prints a backside mark first, and then performs formal printing on the opposite side.