JP2003200641A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer in which the location storing document data in a computer can be recognized obviously upon glancing a print sheet. <P>SOLUTION: The printer for printing data received from a computer 10 comprises a surface print mechanism section 22 for printing on the surface of a print sheet, a rear surface print mechanism section 23 for printing on the rear surface of the print sheet, a section 33 for receiving data transmitted from the computer 10, a data processing section 31 for controlling processing of received data, a buffer 35 for temporarily storing surface print data in the received data, a buffer 36 for temporarily storing rear surface print data in the received data, and a print controller 37 controlling the operation for printing each print data on each side of a sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a peripheral device of a computer such as a personal computer, and a printing apparatus capable of printing on both sides of paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printing device, which is a peripheral device of a computer, is not only a type that prints on only one side of a sheet, but also, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-139465 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 06-2.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 70482, there is a type of printing device that prints on both sides of a sheet. The print data printed on a sheet by these conventional double-sided printing devices is the data of the content of the document (file) to be printed.

[0003]

However, conventionally, even if the content of the document to be printed is printed on paper, various objects of the document to be printed, such as "file name / stored folder name / creator / creation date / time". Since information (hereinafter, also referred to as properties) is not printed on paper, it is possible to print the name of a file such as a document or the surface of the printing paper just by looking at the paper on which the document is printed by the conventional technology. There is a problem that the storage location of the document data in the computer cannot be easily recognized, and it takes a lot of time and labor for the user to find the storage location. In the case of a shared printer connected to the network, the sender's name and file name are printed on the first sheet of printing paper, and the content of the document is printed on the second and subsequent sheets. In such a case, the printing content of the first sheet ends with only a few lines, and the printing is not printed on the first sheet after that, which is a waste of the sheet.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to store the document data printed on the surface of the printing paper in the storage location in the computer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that allows the user to recognize the printed sheet by seeing it.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus which receives data from a computer and prints the data, and a surface to be printed on the surface of printing paper. A printing mechanism unit, a fixed back side printing mechanism unit for printing on the back side of printing paper, a data receiving unit for receiving data transmitted from the computer, a data processing unit for controlling data processing of the received data, and the receiving unit. A buffer for front side printing that temporarily stores the front side printing data in the data,
A first feature is that it has a back-side printing buffer for temporarily storing back-side printing data in the received data, and a print controller for controlling a print processing operation for printing each print data on each side of the paper. .

Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the print controller causes the front surface printing data stored in the front surface printing buffer to be printed on the front surface of the sheet by the front surface printing mechanism section and the back surface stored in the back surface printing buffer. A second feature is that the print processing operation of printing the print data on the back surface of the paper by the fixed back surface printing mechanism unit is controlled.

Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the fixed back surface printing mechanism section has dots arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction, and in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction in synchronization with the conveyance of the paper. A third feature is that the printer is configured to print one line.

A fourth aspect of the printing apparatus of the present invention is that the back side print data is data indicating properties of print target document data printed on the front side of the paper, or the back side print data is used by a computer. The fifth feature is that the message data is arbitrary message data set by the person.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Figure 1
2 is a configuration diagram of a printing system of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a print processing unit in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a print control unit in the printing apparatus. In the printing system of the present embodiment, the printing device 1
, As shown in FIG. 1, each computer 10 that performs print processing.
It is connected to a, 10b via the network 11. In the printing system of this embodiment, two computers 10a and 10b are connected to the printing apparatus 1 via the network 11, but the number of computers 10 provided in the printing system is not limited to this. Absent. The computer 10a, 10b and the printing apparatus 1 are typically connected to each other via a LAN (Local Area Network), but may be connected via the Internet or without a network. The computer and the printing device may be directly connected and connected at a ratio of 1: 1.

<Structure of Printing Apparatus> The printing apparatus 1 includes a print processing section 2 for actually performing print processing and a print control section 3 for controlling print processing operation inside the apparatus. The control unit 3 and the computers 10a and 10b are connected via a network 11. In addition, each computer 10
Print driver software 5 for the printing apparatus 1 is provided for a and 10b.
0 is installed.

The print processing unit 2 in the printing apparatus 1 stores paper inside, and at the time of printing processing, operates a paper feed roller 21a to feed the stored paper one by one. , A front surface printing mechanism section 22 dedicated to the front side for printing on one side (front side) of the paper, a fixed back side printing mechanism section 23 dedicated for the back side for printing on the other side (back side) of the paper, and a printing process is performed. Paper ejecting section 2 for ejecting post-fed paper to the outside of the device
4 and a transport path 25 for transporting the paper fed from the paper feed unit 21 to the paper discharge unit 24 through between the front side printing mechanism unit 22 and the fixed back side printing mechanism unit 23. ing. Further, a plurality of conveying roller pairs 25a and 25b for conveying the paper along the conveying path 25 are provided at a plurality of predetermined positions of the conveying path 25. In the present embodiment, two paper feed rollers 21a are provided, and the pair of transport rollers 25a and 25b are provided at two locations on the transport path 25, but the number of each roller installed is not limited to this. There is no such thing.

Here, the front side printing mechanism section 22 and the fixed back side printing mechanism section 23 are both non-impact type print heads of the ink jet type, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, they are provided so as to face each other with the transport path 25 interposed therebetween, and are configured so that both sides of the paper can be printed at the same time in the printing process.
When one or both of the printing mechanism units 22 and 23 are of the impact type such as the wire dot type, since the printing mechanism units 22 and 23 require a platen at the facing portions, both of the printing mechanism units 22 and 23 are required. , 23 cannot be opposed to each other, and the printing mechanism units 22, 23 are arranged at positions displaced to some extent. When the front surface printing mechanism section 22 is a laser beam / electrostatic type, the fixed back surface printing mechanism section 23 is
It is placed at a position where it does not interfere with each mechanism such as exposure to light, adhesion of toner, and transfer to paper. Further, the fixed back surface printing mechanism section 23 prints only one line, and is composed of dots arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper conveying direction. With the fixed back surface printing mechanism section 23 having such a configuration, as described later, only one line is printed in the paper carrying direction on the back surface of the paper being carried.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the print control section 3 of the printing apparatus 1 includes a program storage section 31a.
A data processing unit 31 that controls data processing in accordance with a control program stored in, an input unit 32 that inputs data such as a print mode to the printing apparatus 1, and various data from any computer 10 via the network 11. Data receiving buffer 33, and the printer 1 to the network 11
A data transmission buffer 34 for transmitting data to an arbitrary computer 10 via a computer, a front surface printing buffer 35 for temporarily storing front surface printing data among the data received by the data receiving buffer 33, and a front surface printing buffer 35 for receiving data. A back side printing buffer 36 for temporarily storing the back side printing data and a print controller 37 for controlling the print processing operation are provided.

<Print Processing Procedure> The print processing procedure in the printing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a print processing procedure in the printing system and the printing apparatus of this embodiment.

First, when a document created by various computers 10 such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) is printed on paper, it starts by activating print driver software 50 incorporated in the personal computer (step 101). Here, according to the print driver software 50, the user can select either one of the two printing modes, the “duplex printing mode” for printing on both sides of the paper and the “front side printing mode” for printing only on the front side. Is selected on the computer,
You will be able to set it.

Therefore, when performing double-sided printing such as printing the contents of the document on the front side of the paper and printing the properties of the document on the back side, the user first needs the print driver software 5
The print mode is set on the computer 10 using the 0 function. In this case, the "duplex printing mode" is set (step 102). In step 102, the print driver software 50 causes the front surface print data to be printed on the front surface of the paper, the back print data to be printed on the back surface of the paper,
Alternatively, setting of print condition data such as a print area to be printed on the surface of the paper is also performed. In this embodiment, the front side print data is data relating to the content of the document,
The back side print data is set as the data related to the document properties. After the setting process by the print driver software 50, the user further inputs and sets the print mode of the printer 1 into the "double-sided print mode" similar to the print driver software 50 from the input section 32 (step 103). .

After step 103, the print mode setting data, the front side print data and the back side print data set by the print driver software 50 as described above are transferred by the print driver software 50 to the data reception buffer 33 in the printing apparatus 1. (Step 104).

In the printer 1, the data reception buffer 33
At, the above-mentioned respective data sent from the print driver software 50 of the computer 10 are received (step 105), and the received respective data are sent to the data processing unit 31.

The data processing unit 31 compares the received print mode setting data with the print mode input and set from the input unit 32 (step 106).
If the two print modes match, the print process continues. On the other hand, if the two print modes do not match, an error code indicating that the two print modes do not match is transmitted from the data transmission buffer 34 to the print driver software 50 (step 107). After receiving this error code, the user will reset the print mode of either the print driver software 50 or the printer 1.

When it is determined in step 106 that the two print modes match, the printing process continues, and the data processing unit 31 receives the front side print data and the back side print data from the front side printing buffer 35 and the back side printing buffer, respectively. It is stored in 36 (step 108). The stored print data are sent by the print controller 37 to the front surface printing mechanism section 22 dedicated to the front side of the sheet and the fixed back surface printing mechanism section 23 dedicated to the back side of the sheet, respectively. Two
The front surface printing mechanism unit 22 moves the printing mechanism unit in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction in synchronization with the discharge of the printing paper from the paper feeding unit 21 by the interlocking of the transport roller pair 25a with 1a. As a result, the content of the front side print data is printed, and at the same time, the fixed back side printing mechanism unit 23 prints only one line in the paper transport direction based on the back side print data (step 109). The term "simultaneously" as used herein means "simultaneously" when the entire printing process is viewed in a macro manner. For example, when the front surface printing mechanism unit 22 is a serial system, printing is normally performed with the paper still. However, since the back side is printed when the paper is fed, it goes without saying that it may not be the same at the microscopic point. According to the above processing procedure, in the present embodiment, the content of the document is printed on the front surface of the paper, and the property of the document is printed on the back surface of the paper in one line in a direction parallel to the paper transport direction as shown in FIG. 5, for example. .

In the present embodiment, when the one-sided printing process is performed, for example, the content of the document is printed only on the front surface of the paper, first, after the step 101, the print driver software 5 is used in the steps 102 and 103.
0 and the print mode input and set from the input unit 32 of the printing apparatus 1 are both set as the “front side print mode”, and subsequently the processing operations from step 104 to step 106 are performed. Then, the data processing unit 31 stores the received front side printing data in the front side printing buffer 35 (step 110). Each print data stored is
The print controller 37 sends the print paper to the front surface printing mechanism unit 22 dedicated to the front side of the paper, and then the print controller 37 discharges the print paper from the paper feed unit 21 in association with the paper feed roller 21a and the transport roller pair 25a. In synchronization with the above, the front surface printing mechanism unit 22 performs printing based on the front surface printing data while moving the printing mechanism unit in the direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction with respect to the paper conveyance direction (step 1).
11). As described above, the printing process on the paper surface is performed.

<Other Embodiments> In this embodiment, one line of various object information of the document to be printed is printed on the back side. Instead of this various object information, for example, “This document is An arbitrary message set by the user, such as "FAX transmitted", may be printed in one line. In this case, in the print driver software 50a installed in the computer 10, whether the content of one-line printing is various object information or an arbitrary message input by a user from an input device (not shown) of the computer, The user is provided with a print text setting function for setting on the computer 10. By installing the print driver software 50a having such a function in the computer 10, it is possible to set not only the printing surface such as front-side printing or double-sided printing but also the above-described one-line printing content setting. it can. Regarding the arbitrary message, the print driver software 50a obtains the arbitrary message as back side print data from a message that is input and stored in advance in a storage device (not shown) of the computer 10, and then transmits it to the printing device 1. It may be configured to do so.

Further, in the above embodiment, the print driver software 50 acquires various object information of the document from the document to be printed and sends each data to the printing device together with the front / back print data, that is, the print driver software. Reference numeral 50 controls functions such as print mode setting processing and data transmission processing. These functions are executed by a program such as a document creation application or table creation application used by each user on the computer 10. It may be done. Specifically, first, when the user gives a print processing instruction on the application, for example, a setting display screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on a display device (not shown) of the computer. When the user clicks in the selection field of the desired print mode on this screen to select and set the print mode, similarly performs the setting processing of the print condition data, etc., and then instructs execution of the print processing, The application program performs the changing process to the bitmap, the setting process of the print driver software, and the sending process of each data to the printing device. Note that the print processing procedure after the transmission processing from the print driver software is performed according to the print processing procedure after step 105 described above.

[0024]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, various object information indicating where in the computer the data of the document printed on the front surface of the paper is stored on the back surface of the paper. Since it is printed, by looking at the printed paper, the storage location in the computer of the document data printed on the paper surface can be recognized at a glance. Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, compared to the conventional double-sided printing apparatus, since the printing processing on the back surface of the paper is a printing processing dedicated mechanism section for one line, the printing mechanism section dedicated to the front side of the paper is movable. On the other hand, since the printing mechanism section dedicated to the back surface of the paper can be fixed, it can be manufactured in a small size and at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a print processing unit in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a print control unit in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a printing processing procedure in the printing system and the printing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which one line of a document property is printed on the back surface of the paper in the paper conveyance direction by the printing apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a print processing operation when print processing in a computer is performed by an application program.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing device, 2 ... Print processing unit, 3 ... Print control unit, 1
0, 10a, 10b ... Computer, 11 ... Network, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper feeding part, 21a ... Paper feeding roller, 22 ... Front surface printing mechanism part, 23 ... Fixed back surface printing mechanism part, 24 ... Paper ejection part, 25
... conveyance path, 25a, 25b ... conveyance roller pair, 31 ... data processing section, 31a ... program storage section, 32 ... input section, 33 ... data reception buffer, 34 ... data transmission buffer, 35 ... front surface printing buffer, 36 ... Back side print buffer, 37 ... Print controller, 50, 50a ... Print driver software.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuko Muto             456 Sakai, Nakai-cho, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa Stock             Hitachi Information Technology Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Motoharu Shimada             456 Sakai, Nakai-cho, Ashigarakami-gun, Kanagawa Stock             Hitachi Information Technology Co., Ltd.             Within F-term (reference) 2C055 KK00 KK02                 2C061 AP01 AQ05 AQ06 AR03 AS02                       JJ02 JJ06                 2C087 AB05 AC01 AC07 AC08 BC02                       CB12                 5B021 AA02 BB08 DD05 FF03 LB01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printing device for receiving data from a computer and printing the data, comprising a front side printing mechanism section for printing on the front side of printing paper, and a fixed back side printing mechanism section for printing on the back side of the printing paper. A data receiving unit that receives data transmitted from the computer; a data processing unit that controls data processing of the received data; a front surface printing buffer that temporarily stores front surface print data in the received data; A printing apparatus comprising: a back printing buffer for temporarily storing back printing data among data; and a print controller for controlling a print processing operation for printing each print data on each side of a sheet. 2. The print controller uses the front side printing data stored in the front side printing buffer on the front side of the sheet by the front side printing mechanism section and the back side printing data stored in the back side printing buffer by the fixed type. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing processing operation for printing on the back surface of the paper is controlled by the back surface printing mechanism section. 3. The fixed back surface printing mechanism section has dots arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction, and performs one line printing in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction in synchronization with the conveyance of the paper. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the printing device is configured. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the back side print data is data indicating properties of print target document data printed on a front side of a sheet. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the back side print data is arbitrary message data set by a computer user.