JP2006051660A - Printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing control method for separating a print job for a paper output tray with no job offset mechanism for separating the print job, in a printer which is equipped with a paper feeding tray capable of setting a long side and a short side as the paper feeding direction of recording paper. <P>SOLUTION: A printing control unit comprises: a paper-feeding-direction storage means for prestoring the paper feeding direction (the long side or the short side) and the paper output tray designated in the last print job; a print-job expansion means for expanding the print job in a reverse paper feeding direction acquired by the paper-feeding-direction storage means, when a job offset is designated in the print job; and a paper-feeding-direction changing means for acquiring the setting state of each paper feeding tray so as to change the setting of the paper feeding tray for being used as the paper feeding tray in the paper feeding direction set by the print-job expansion means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control method for separating print jobs in a printing apparatus including a paper feed tray in which a long side and a short side can be set as a paper feeding direction of recording paper.

  As a method of separating print jobs (meaning a method for facilitating job sorting rather than simply inserting paper for job separation), a job offset mechanism is provided in the discharge device of the printing device, thereby offset stacking The method of making it known is known. Some conventional cut sheet type printing apparatuses include a job offset mechanism for separating print jobs.

  As a method of this mechanism, there are a method of shifting only the first page of a print job, and a method of shifting the entire job and discharging it, which differ depending on the printing apparatus. The paper discharge image is as shown in FIG. 7, and is shifted by a predetermined shift amount (depending on the printing apparatus) in the direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction (paper discharge direction).

  Further, if the printing apparatus includes a plurality of discharge devices, it is possible to discharge a plurality of jobs in association with each discharge device (Patent Document 1), but the number of discharge devices is also limited. A means for separating any print job for one discharge device is desired.

  Here, the flow of separating print jobs using the conventional job offset mechanism will be described using the block diagram of the printing apparatus in FIG. 5 and the print job analysis and development unit in FIG.

  First, the host computer 10 has an operating system 11 that is basic software for operating the computer, and further has application software 12 for creating and printing a document. Further, there is a print interface 13 that gives a print instruction to the print job generation software 14 according to a print instruction of the application software 12, and there is a print job generation software 14 that generates a print job in response to the instruction. Further, the print job generation software 14 includes a user interface unit 15 having an interface with a user for setting a print format on the application software 12 and a print job generation processing unit 16 for generating a print job.

  When a user prints a document created on the application software 12 with the user interface unit 15 enabled with a job offset function (function to separate print jobs), the print interface 13 causes the print job generation software 14 to print according to a print instruction from the application software 12. The print job generation processing unit 16 in the print job generation software 14 generates a print command including job offset function designation based on the print instruction, and transmits the print command to the print job spooler 17.

  The received print job spooler 17 transmits the print job to the print control apparatus 31 via the bidirectional interface 20. In the print control device 31, the data receiving unit 32 receives the print job, and the print job analyzing and developing unit 33 analyzes the command.

  The print job analysis development unit 33 first checks whether the acquired command sequence is a job control command sequence (number of copies, paper discharge tray, etc.), and sets job control conditions. Next, it is checked whether it is a drawing command sequence. If not, it is recognized as a page control command sequence (paper size, paper feed tray, etc.), and page control conditions are set. If it is a drawing command sequence, it is expanded into an image data sequence based on the page control condition and stored in the frame memory 37. After the end of one page (however, when double-sided printing is specified, the print start command is notified to the engine control unit 34, and the same processing is performed until all pages are completed.

  The engine control unit 34 that has received the print start command from the print job analysis / development unit 33 converts it into a control command sequence (including a job offset command) corresponding to the obtained job / page control condition, and the image data on the frame memory 37. As video data to the engine mechanism unit 38 together with the control command sequence. Then, printing is performed on the recording paper by the engine mechanism unit 38, and the print job is offset stacked by the discharge device 39. The engine control unit 34 manages the setting state of the paper supply / discharge tray and the like of the engine mechanism unit 38. The operation panel 35 is used to display the status of the printing apparatus 30 and to perform print settings for the printing apparatus 30, and the set print setting values are stored in a nonvolatile storage device 36.

  In addition, in a paper feed tray of a conventional printing apparatus, there is a paper tray in which the same recording paper size can be set by long side feed or short side feed. Long side feed (paper feed direction: “long side”) is set when the vertical direction is set to the long side, and short side feed (paper feed direction: “short side”) is set for the short side. In FIG. 8, the paper feed direction 1 and the paper feed direction 2 correspond to this, respectively. Although the recording paper size that can be set by long side feeding or short side feeding is limited, a standard size (such as A4) that is generally used can be set (however, it varies depending on the printing apparatus).

JP 2000-233548 A

  However, in the discharge device provided in the printing apparatus, the job offset mechanism is not necessarily added to all the discharge trays, and in this case, the print jobs cannot be separated.

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a paper feed tray in which a long side and a short side can be set as a paper feeding direction of a recording paper, and a print job to a paper discharge tray having no job offset mechanism for separating print jobs. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing control method for separating.

  The present invention is a printing control method in a printing apparatus including a host computer that generates and transmits a print job, and a paper feed tray that can set a long side and a short side as a paper feeding direction of the recording paper. In the upper print control device, a paper feed direction storage means for storing the paper discharge tray and paper feed direction specified in the immediately preceding print job, and when the job offset is specified in the print job, the paper feed direction storage is stored. Print job expansion means for developing a print job in the reverse paper feed direction acquired by the means, and the setting state for each paper feed tray is acquired and used for the paper feed tray in the paper feed direction set by the print job development means Paper feed direction changing means for changing the setting of the paper feed tray to be used, and the print job developing means and the paper feed direction changing means switch the paper feed direction to separate the print jobs. And wherein the Rukoto.

  According to the invention, printing can be performed in a paper feeding direction different from that of the print job immediately before the paper discharge destination, so that the print jobs can be clearly separated without using a job offset mechanism.

  In a printing apparatus having a paper feed tray in which the long side and the short side can be set as the paper feeding direction of the recording paper, when printing a print job of the recording paper size, it is discharged without mixing the print jobs. The purpose was realized by switching the paper feed direction of the print job.

  An embodiment of the invention of claim 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of the print job analysis and development unit in FIG. In this embodiment, a paper supply / discharge tray management unit 40 is added to the print job analysis / development unit 33 as compared with the conventional example of the printing apparatus (FIG. 5).

  The print job analysis development unit 33 in this embodiment will be described. In this processing, when the received print job is analyzed, the sheet supply / discharge tray management unit 40 is changed to be executed in the case of a page control command sequence other than the drawing command sequence.

  First, when the current print job is job offset designation, the paper feed / discharge tray management unit 40 automatically selects the paper feed tray and paper feed direction designated on the current page (the paper feed tray corresponding to the designated recording paper). Or a mode in which the paper feed direction is automatically selected on the printing apparatus side), and in cases other than automatic selection, the paper feed direction is not changed because the tray is specified, and the acquired page control condition is set and the process is terminated. .

  In the case of automatic selection, the size specified on the current page is acquired and compared with the previous page size. If they do not match, the acquired page control condition is set and the process ends (to minimize processing, the paper feed direction is not switched for different page sizes). On the other hand, if they match (including the first page), the immediately preceding paper feed direction for the same paper discharge tray as the paper discharge tray specified in the current print job is acquired from the storage device 36, and its inverse value is the current value ( = Change setting as paper feed direction A).

  Then, the paper feed tray state is acquired from the engine control unit 34, the setting of the paper feed tray to be used is changed to the same paper feed tray as the paper feed direction A, and the current print job is discharged as the previous print job information. The tray and paper feed direction are stored in the storage device 36. Finally, the current page control condition is set, including the above setting change, and the process is terminated.

  For example, let us consider a case where A4 size paper is printed on a paper feed tray 1/2/3 which can set both the long side and the short side as the paper feed direction. However, the current state of the printing apparatus is as shown in Table 1. The immediately preceding printed job # 1 in the paper discharge tray 2 is printed with paper size: A4, paper feed tray: automatic selection, paper feed direction: automatic selection, paper discharge tray: 1, job offset function: invalid. (The paper is assumed to have been fed from the paper feed tray 1).

When printing from the application software with the following specifications (= Job # 2)

The received print job # 2 has a job offset designation, the paper feed tray and paper feed direction are “automatic selection” (see Table 2) designation, and the paper feed of job # 1 on the paper discharge tray 1 that matches job # 2 Since the direction is “long side” (see Table 3-A), the paper feed direction is “short side” (see Table 3-B), and the paper feed tray to be used is set to the corresponding “short side”. The setting is changed to the tray 2 and developed into an image data string in the short side mode.

  Then, the paper is discharged from the discharge device with short-side feed, and the jobs # 1 and # 2 can be clearly separated as shown in FIG. However, if there is no corresponding “short side” paper feed tray on the printing device, a warning message is sent to the user in advance to prompt the user to set the “short side” on the printing device, or “long” Printing can be performed with “side” (without job offset). Note that the same effect can be obtained in the configuration of a plurality of client devices and printing devices connected by a network interface.

  An embodiment of the invention of claim 2 will be described. In the present embodiment, when the job offset, the number of copies, and the collation designation in the print job are specified in the print job analysis development unit, the number of copies in the print job designated by the number of copies is used by using the paper feed direction switching method of the first embodiment. Separation between the two.

  For example, when the job offset function is enabled in the user interface and printing is performed with 3 copies and collation specified, the paper feed direction is switched in units of copies, so that a separated 3 copy print job can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to perform the separation between the number of copies not only between different print jobs but also within a print job with a plurality of copies designated.

  The present invention can be applied to a case where a plurality of print jobs using the recording paper are printed in a printing apparatus having a paper feed tray in which the long side and the short side can be set as the paper feeding direction of the recording paper.

1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of a print job analysis development unit for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the paper supply / discharge tray management part for description of one Example of this invention. It is a paper discharge result image for description of one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the conventional printing apparatus. 10 is a flowchart of a conventional print job analysis development unit. It is a paper discharge image by a conventional job offset mechanism. It is a recording paper set image in a conventional paper feed tray.

Explanation of symbols

10 is a host computer, 11 is an operating system, 12 is application software, 13 is a print interface, 14 is a print job generation software, 15 is a user interface, 16 is a print job generation processing unit, 17 is a print job spooler, and 20 is bidirectional. Interface, 30 printing device, 31 print control device, 32 data receiving unit, 33 print job analysis and development unit, 34 engine control unit, 35 operation panel, 36 storage device, 37 frame memory, 38 An engine mechanism unit 39 is a discharge device, and 40 is a paper supply / discharge tray management unit.

Claims (2)

  A printing control method in a printing apparatus comprising a host computer that generates and transmits a print job, and a paper feed tray in which a long side and a short side can be set as a paper feeding direction of the recording paper, the printing control on the printing apparatus The paper feed direction storage means for storing the paper discharge tray and paper feed direction specified in the immediately preceding print job in the apparatus, and when the job offset is specified in the print job, the paper feed direction storage means Print job development means for developing a print job in the reverse paper feed direction, and a paper feed tray for acquiring a setting state for each paper feed tray and used for the paper feed tray in the paper feed direction set by the print job development means Paper feed direction changing means for changing the setting, and the print job expanding means and the paper feed direction changing means switch the paper feed direction to separate the print jobs. Printing control method for a butterfly. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein when a job offset, a plurality of copies, and collation are specified in a print job, the paper feed direction is switched to separate the number of copies of the print job.

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