JP2009154540A - Printing device, printing method, and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a double-sided printing job from being wasted even if a device recognizes, after the reception of a double-sided printing job, that a medium stored in a paper feed tray cannot be used for double-sided printing. <P>SOLUTION: When a medium determining means determines that a medium cannot be used for double-sided printing, image data are set so that printing is carried out on the front and back in this order. Then, the device performs a process so that after a first printing page is printed on one side of a medium, the medium is ejected by an ejecting section, and after a second printing page is printed on one side of a medium different from that medium, the different medium is ejected by the ejecting section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses have been provided that can perform double-sided printing that prints image data on the front and back surfaces of a single medium (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The data of the double-sided print job received from the host device and held by the printing device includes image data for the front page for printing on the surface of one medium and image data for the back page for printing on the back surface. And are included. The printing apparatus includes a double-sided printing unit for performing double-sided printing. Then, a new medium is fed from a paper feed tray that accommodates the medium, a back page is printed on the back surface of the new medium, and is temporarily held by the duplex printing unit. Subsequently, the medium on which the back page is printed from the duplex printing unit, that is, the medium on which the back surface has been printed, is fed, and the front page is printed on the surface of the medium.

  However, there is an upper limit on the number of media that can be held in the duplex printing unit. Therefore, when performing double-sided printing, a new medium is fed from the paper feed tray until the upper limit is reached, the back page is printed in advance on the medium, and is temporarily held in the double-sided printing unit. Thereafter, printing of the front page on the back-printed medium fed from the duplex printing unit and printing of the back page on the new medium fed from the paper feed tray are performed alternately. ing. For example, if the duplex printing unit can hold up to two media, the first back page, the second back page, the first front page, the third back page, the second page The front page and the fourth back page are printed in this order. Thereby, printing efficiency can be improved.

JP 2001-151425 A

  However, in the conventional printing apparatus, when a double-sided print job is received, if it is recognized that the medium stored in the paper feed tray is a double-sided non-printable medium, printing is stopped because a jam has occurred. It has become. In this case, the double-sided print job created in the host device and transmitted to the printing device is discarded because the data is discarded and is not printed on the medium.

  Normally, when a double-sided print job is created in the host device, it is not recognized that the medium stored in the paper feed tray of the printing device is a double-sided non-printable medium. After receiving the created duplex print job, the medium stored in the paper feed tray is determined by a medium discrimination mechanism such as a medium type (media type) or a medium thickness (media weight) of the printing apparatus. It is recognized that the medium cannot be printed on both sides. In this case, since the printing is stopped when a jam occurs, the created duplex printing job is wasted.

  The present invention solves the problems of the conventional printing device, and when receiving a double-sided print job, even if it recognizes that the medium contained in the paper feed tray is a double-sided non-printable medium, It is an object to provide a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system that do not waste a duplex printing job.

  Therefore, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the reception processing unit that transmits and receives data to and from the host device, the print data received by the reception processing unit is converted into image data that can be printed on a medium, and each surface of the medium Control means for setting a first print page and a second print page to control printing on each side of the medium, and paper running on which the medium runs and prints the image data on the medium A path, a discharge unit that discharges the medium on which the image data is printed on the paper travel path, a medium reversing unit that reverses the surface on which the medium is printed, and whether the medium is capable of duplex printing. Medium determining means for determining, and when the medium determining means determines that the medium can be printed on both sides, the control means sets the image data to be printed in order of the back side and the front side, A second mark on the back of the media After the page is printed, the medium is reversed by the medium reversing means and sent to the paper travel path, and the medium is ejected by the ejecting unit after the first print page is printed on the surface of the medium. When the medium determining unit determines that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and a first print page is set on one side of the medium. After the printing, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit, and after the second print page is printed on one surface of the medium different from the medium, the different medium is discharged by the discharge unit.

  In the printing method of the present invention, data is transmitted / received to / from the host device, the received print data is converted into image data that can be printed on a medium, and a first print page and a second print are printed on each side of the medium. Setting a print page, controlling printing on each side of the medium, printing the image data on the medium traveling on the paper travel path, and discharging the medium on which the image data is printed on the paper travel path , A printing method for inverting the printed surface of the medium and determining whether or not the medium can be printed on both sides, and determining that the medium is capable of duplex printing, Set to print in the order of the front side, print the second print page on the back side of the medium, invert the medium and send it to the paper travel path, print the first print page on the surface of the medium After the medium When it is determined that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of front side and back side, and the first print page is printed on one side of the medium. Thereafter, the medium is discharged, and after the second print page is printed on one surface of a medium different from the medium, the different medium is discharged.

  In the printing system of the present invention, the printing system includes a host device and a printing device that prints print data received from the host device, and the host device sends the print data to the printing device by a connection unit. The printing apparatus transmits and receives data to and from the host apparatus, and converts the print data received by the reception processing section into image data that can be printed on a medium. Control means for setting the first print page and the second print page and controlling printing on each side of the medium; a paper travel path for traveling the medium and printing the image data on the medium; Determining a discharge unit that discharges the medium on which the image data is printed on the paper travel path, a medium reversing unit that reverses a surface on which the medium is printed, and whether the medium is capable of duplex printing. Medium Determining means, and when the medium determining means determines that the medium can be printed on both sides, the control means sets the image data to be printed in the order of the back side and the front side, and sets the image data on the back side of the medium. After the second print page is printed, the medium is reversed by the medium reversing means and sent to the paper travel path, and after the first print page is printed on the surface of the medium, the medium is removed by the discharge unit. If the medium determining unit determines that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and the first side is set on one side of the medium. After the print page is printed, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit, and after the second print page is printed on one side of the medium different from the medium, the different medium is transferred to the discharge unit. It performs a process of discharging me.

  According to the present invention, in the printing apparatus, the reception processing unit that transmits and receives data to and from the host device, the print data received by the reception processing unit is converted into image data that can be printed on the medium, and each surface of the medium Control means for setting a first print page and a second print page to control printing on each side of the medium, and paper running on which the medium runs and prints the image data on the medium A path, a discharge unit that discharges the medium on which the image data is printed on the paper travel path, a medium reversing unit that reverses the surface on which the medium is printed, and whether the medium is capable of duplex printing. Medium determining means for determining, and when the medium determining means determines that the medium can be printed on both sides, the control means sets the image data to be printed in order of the back side and the front side, A second printing page is placed on the back of the media. After the medium is printed, the medium is reversed by the medium reversing means and sent to the paper travel path, and after the first print page is printed on the surface of the medium, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit. When the medium determining unit determines that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and a first print page is set on one side of the medium. After the printing, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit, and after the second print page is printed on one surface of the medium different from the medium, the different medium is discharged by the discharge unit.

  In this case, when a double-sided print job is received, even if it is recognized that the medium stored in the storage unit is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, the print job is not wasted.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the structure of the printing apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the printing order at the time of the normal double-sided printing in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 1st figure which shows the single-sided printing order when double-sided printing is impossible in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a 2nd figure which shows the single-sided printing order when double-sided printing is impossible in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the reception process part in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the job control part in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a print control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a first flowchart showing a subroutine for paper feed start processing from a paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a second flowchart illustrating a subroutine for paper feed start processing from a paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the video data setting process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the medium carrying-in process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the medium discharge | emission process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the double-sided printing impossible medium notification reception process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer unit control unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine for paper feed start processing from a paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine of a printing order determination process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the double-sided printing discrimination | determination process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the printing start process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine for paper feed start processing from a duplex printing unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the medium discharge | emission process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the cassette extraction process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the single-sided printing order when double-sided printing is impossible in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of a double-sided printing impossible notification reception process in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the printer unit control part in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the double-sided printing discrimination | determination process in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the printing resumption process in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing apparatus in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the printing control part in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the medium discharge | emission processing in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the double-sided printing impossibility notification reception process in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine for manual print start processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the printing order determination process in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the medium discharge | emission processing in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the operator panel control part in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a printing apparatus, and reference numeral 11 denotes a host apparatus connected to the printing apparatus 12 so as to be communicable. In the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 12 recognizes that a medium fed from a certain paper feed tray is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides by a medium automatic discrimination mechanism 23 described later. When a duplex printing designation job is executed, data to be printed on both sides of the medium can be continuously printed on one side.

  The host apparatus 11 is an external apparatus that transmits a print job including print data and printing apparatus control data to the printing apparatus 12, and is a personal computer or a workstation, for example, and can create a print job. Any device can be used. The print data is, for example, data in PDL (Page Description Language) format such as Post Script or PCL, but may be any data. Furthermore, the printing apparatus control data is, for example, data in PJL (Printer Job Language) format, but may be any data. The connection method between the host device 11 and the printing device 12 is, for example, a Centronics interface or USB (Universal Serial Bus), but may be any method.

  The printing apparatus 12 includes a reception processing unit 13, a job control unit 14, a print processing unit 15, and a printer unit control unit 16. Here, the reception processing unit 13 is an internal processing unit of the printing apparatus 12 and performs a process of receiving a print job from the host apparatus 11. The main roles are detection of data reception, determination of job type (PDL type), determination of job boundary, and the like.

  The job control unit 14 is an internal processing unit of the printing apparatus 12 and controls the flow of processing of a print job to generate a page to be printed on a medium. The job control unit 14 also translates the print job. In the translation of the print job, the print data is processed and converted into printable video data (image data).

  Further, the print processing unit 15 is an internal processing unit of the printing apparatus 12, functions as a control unit, receives pages generated by the job control unit 14, and communicates with the printer unit control unit 16 for each page. By sending and receiving commands, the printer unit control unit 16 is instructed to print video data on a medium. In the present embodiment, the printing method in the print processing unit 15 is, for example, an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method, an electrophotographic method, or the like, but may be any method.

  Further, the printer unit control unit 16 is an internal processing unit of the printing apparatus 12 and functions as a control unit, and realizes printing by transmitting / receiving commands necessary for printing to / from the print control unit 15. Then, the printer unit control unit 16 feeds a medium from a paper feed tray, which will be described later, based on the designation of the print control unit 15, and the medium is fed to the double-sided printing unit 25 or the discharge port 26, which will be described later, based on the designation. Discharge. The printer unit controller 16 controls the medium discrimination mechanism.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view showing the configuration of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 22 denotes a first tray as a paper feed tray which is a storage means for storing a medium, and the user of the printing apparatus 12 sets the medium on the first tray 22. The first tray 22 is equipped with a medium presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a medium or a sensor for detecting insertion / removal of a cassette in the first tray 22. In the present embodiment, the number of paper feed trays may be one or plural.

  Reference numeral 23 denotes a medium automatic determination mechanism as medium determination means, which includes a sensor for automatically determining a medium type, a medium thickness, and the like for determining whether or not double-sided printing can be realized. The sensor is, for example, a sensor for determining whether the medium type is a transmissive medium used in OHP (Over Head Projector) projection or the like, or ordinary plain paper, and what is the medium thickness ([mu] m). Although it is a sensor which measures these, what kind of thing may be sufficient.

  When detecting the dimensions of the medium, the length of the medium in the traveling direction is determined based on the sensor detection time of the medium during the medium traveling and the preset medium traveling speed by the contact sensor provided in the medium traveling path. Is detected. In addition, by arranging a plurality of contact sensors in parallel to the medium surface perpendicular to the medium traveling direction, the lateral width of the medium is detected based on the position information of the sensor in contact with the medium. Further, when the medium type is determined, an optical sensor and a contact sensor are used. When the contact sensor detects the medium, and when the optical sensor does not detect, it is determined that the medium is a transmissive medium used for OHP projection or the like. Further, when determining the thickness of the medium, a distance sensor in the direction perpendicular to the medium surface is disposed in the traveling path of the medium, the thickness of the medium is measured, and the thickness of the medium is determined.

  Reference numeral 24 denotes a first paper travel path, and the medium fed from the first tray 22 is sent to the first paper travel path 24 via the automatic medium discrimination mechanism 23. Note that video data is printed on the medium on the first paper travel path 24. Further, reference numeral 25 denotes a double-sided printing unit serving as a medium reversing unit. The medium is fed from the first tray 22 or the duplex printing unit 25. When double-sided printing is performed, the medium passes through the first paper travel path 24 and is then sent to the double-sided printing unit 25 where it is reversed in the double-sided printing unit 25 and again the first paper traveling. It is sent to the path 24. When double-sided printing is not performed or the double-sided printed medium printed on both sides passes through the first paper travel path 24, the medium is discharged from the discharge port 26.

  Reference numeral 27 denotes a medium printing order determination limit point. The printer unit control unit 16 needs to notify the print control unit 15 in what order the pages are to be printed, and the print control unit 15 determines the video data of the page based on the notified page. Is set. If the video data is not set up to a predetermined point in the medium travel route, the video data is appropriately printed on the medium traveling on the first paper travel route 24 without stopping printing. Can not do it. The predetermined point is the printing order determination limit point 27.

  In the case of single-sided printing, the order of single-sided printing pages printed on the medium is unconditionally determined as the printing order. When duplex printing is possible, the back page printed on the medium when the medium is fed from the first tray 22 is printed on the medium when the medium is fed from the first tray 22. The front page to be printed is determined as the printing order. However, if it is determined that the medium set in the first tray 22 is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, the front page is determined as the print order even when the medium is fed from the first tray 22. Is done.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when the printing order determination limit point 27 exists before the automatic medium determination mechanism 23 on the medium traveling path, the printing order is determined due to the configuration of the printing apparatus 12. After that, it is determined that the medium cannot be printed on both sides. In this case, since double-sided printing cannot be performed, switching to single-sided printing is performed, and the medium is printed first from the back page.

  Reference numeral 28 denotes a manual feed tray as a paper feed tray, which does not include a cassette like the first tray 22 and can be replenished by simply placing the medium when the medium is replenished.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 12 having the above configuration will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a printing order in normal double-sided printing in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows a single-sided printing order in double-sided printing impossible in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1 and 5 are second diagrams showing the single-sided printing order when double-sided printing is not possible in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, when performing normal double-sided printing, as shown in FIG. 3, the first back page, the second back page, the first front page, the third back page, It prints on the medium in the order of the second front page. It is assumed that the number of media that can be held in the duplex printing unit 25 is two.

  If it is determined before printing that the medium set in the paper feed tray is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, as shown in FIG. 4, the first front page and the first back page One-side printing is performed on the medium in the order of the second front page, the second back page, the third front page, and so on.

  Furthermore, after double-sided printing is performed on the media up to the (n-1) th sheet, the medium type becomes unknown due to replacement of the paper feed tray or the like, and the medium cannot be double-sided printed after the printing of the nth medium is started. If determined, as shown in FIG. 5, the nth back page, the nth front page, the (n + 1) th front page, the (n + 1) back page, the (n + 2) front page, and the (n + 2) page One-sided printing is performed on the medium in the order of the back page of the eyes.

  Next, the operation of the reception processing unit 13 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the reception processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the reception processing unit 13 receives a print job from the upper level apparatus 11, the reception processing unit 13 instructs the job control unit 14 to translate. Such an operation is repeated until all print jobs have been processed.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S1: The job control unit 14 is instructed to translate.
Step S2: Determine whether all print jobs have been processed. If all print jobs have been processed, the process ends. If all print jobs have not been processed, the process returns to step S1.

  Next, the operation of the job control unit 14 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the job control unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the job control unit 14 is waiting for an event. When a print job is received, a job reception start process is performed. When the print job translation is completed by the job reception start process, a job translation completion process is performed. Subsequently, when the page generation is completed by the job translation completion process, the page generation completion process is performed, and the page having the video data is delivered to the print processing unit 15.

  Subsequently, when the printing of the page is completed in the printing control unit 15 and the completion of page printing is received from the printing control unit 15, a page printing completion process is performed to erase the video data of the page from the memory.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S11 Wait for an event.
Step S12: It is determined whether a print job has been received. If a print job is received, the process proceeds to step S13, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S14.
Step S13: Job reception start processing is performed.
Step S14: It is determined whether or not the translation of the print job is completed. If the translation of the print job is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and if not completed, the process proceeds to step S16.
Step S15: Job translation completion processing is performed.
Step S16: It is determined whether the page generation is completed. If the generation of the page is completed, the process proceeds to step S17, and if not completed, the process proceeds to step S18.
Step S17 A page generation completion process is performed.
Step S18: It is determined whether the printing of the page is completed. If the printing of the page is completed, the process proceeds to step S19, and if not completed, the process returns to step S11.
Step S19 A page printing completion process is performed.

  Next, the operation of the print control unit 15 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the print control unit 15 is waiting for an event. When a page is received, a paper feed start process from the paper feed tray is performed, and the printer unit control unit 16 determines the page printing order by the paper feed start process from the paper feed tray. When a print order determination notification is received from the printer unit control unit 16, video data setting processing is performed for the page for which the print order is determined.

  Subsequently, when the video data is printed on the medium fed from the paper feed tray, the medium is inserted into the duplex printing unit 25 in the case of duplex printing. When a medium carry-in notification from the printer unit control unit 16 to the duplex printing unit 25 is received, a medium carry-in process is performed.

  Next, when the medium is carried into the duplex printing unit 25 and printing preparation from the duplex printing unit 25 is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the printing control unit 15 of the printing order determination again. When the print control unit 15 receives a print order determination notification from the printer unit control unit 16, the print control unit 15 performs video data setting processing. When the printing of the page on the medium is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the completion of the medium discharge.

  Subsequently, when the print control unit 15 receives a medium discharge notification from the printer unit control unit 16, the print control unit 15 performs a medium discharge process. As a result of automatic medium recognition, the printer unit control unit 16 is fed to the first tray 22. If it is determined that the double-sided printing cannot be continued with the existing medium, the print control unit 15 is notified accordingly. When the printing control unit 15 receives a notification that a double-sided printing impossible medium is detected, the printing control unit 15 performs a double-sided printing impossible medium notification receiving process.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S21 Wait for an event.
Step S22: It is determined whether a page has been accepted. If a page is accepted, the process proceeds to step S23, and if not accepted, the process proceeds to step S24.
Step S23: Starts paper feed from the paper feed tray.
Step S24: to judge whether a print order determination notification has been accepted. If a print order determination notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S25, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S26.
Step S25 Video data setting processing is performed.
Step S26: It is determined whether a medium delivery notification to the duplex printing unit 25 has been accepted. If a medium carry-in notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S27. If not received, the process proceeds to step S28.
Step S27: A medium carrying-in process is performed.
Step S28: It is determined whether a medium discharge notification is accepted. If the medium discharge notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S29, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S30.
Step S29: A medium discharge process is performed.
Step S30: It is determined whether a double-sided printing impossible medium detection notification has been received. If a double-sided printing disabled medium detection notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S31. If not received, the process returns to step S21.
Step S31 A double-sided printing disabled medium notification acceptance process is performed.

  Next, a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the paper feed tray in step S23 of FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a first flowchart showing a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a paper feed from the paper feed tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a second flowchart showing a subroutine for paper start processing.

  In the present embodiment, the print control unit 15 manages various states of pages using queues.

  First, when the print control unit 15 receives a page, the print control unit 15 puts the page in a paper supply start waiting page queue (queue). Next, it is determined whether or not the medium can be fed. If the medium is inserted in the printing apparatus 12 within the limit of the allowable range, the feeding of the medium may be started. Since it is not possible, wait for discharge.

  Further, when the sheet can be fed, it is determined whether or not the page is a page for which duplex printing is designated. If the page is a page for which duplex printing is designated, both sides of the front page and the back page are determined. Wait until they are ready. When both the front page and the back page are aligned, the front page and the back page are taken out from the print queue page queue, the information on the paper feed tray is taken out from the page, and the paper feed tray is sent to the printer unit controller 16. Is specified.

  Next, the print control unit 15 notifies the printer unit control unit 16 to perform duplex printing on the medium fed from the paper feed tray. Thereafter, the print control unit 15 and the printer unit control unit 16 respectively assign a page ID (unique ID) for uniquely identifying the corresponding page to the page, and print to the printer unit control unit 16 on the medium. The page ID on the front side and the page ID on the back side are notified as the page ID of the page to be processed.

  Based on the page ID, the printer unit control unit 16 can notify the print control unit 15 which page is to be printed next by determining the page printing order.

  If the page is not a page for which duplex printing is designated, the print control unit 15 takes out the page from the print queue page queue, takes out information on a paper feed tray from the page, and feeds paper to the printer unit control unit 16. Specify a tray. Thereafter, the printer unit controller 16 is notified to perform single-sided printing on the medium fed from the paper feed tray. Next, each of the print control unit 15 and the printer unit control unit 16 assigns a page ID for uniquely identifying the corresponding page to the page, and the page to be printed on the medium to the printer unit control unit 16. As the page ID, the page ID of the single-sided printing page is notified. Then, the page taken out from the paper supply start waiting page queue is placed in the print start waiting queue.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S23-1: The page is put into the paper supply start waiting page queue.
Step S23-2: It is determined whether or not the medium can be fed. If the medium can be fed, the process proceeds to step S23-3, and if the medium cannot be fed, the process proceeds to step S23-3.
Step S23-3 Wait for the medium to be discharged.
Step S23-4: It is determined whether or not the page is a page designated for duplex printing. If the page is designated for duplex printing, the process proceeds to step S23-5. If the page is not designated for duplex printing, the process proceeds to step S23-11.
Step S23-5: It is determined whether the front page and the back page of the first double-sided printing are ready. If the front page and the back page are aligned, the process proceeds to step S23-6. If the front page and the back page are not aligned, the process proceeds to step S23-16.
Step S23-6: Take out two pages (first front page and back page) from the print queue page queue.
Step S23-7: Take out the information of the paper feed tray from the page.
Step S23-8: Specify the paper feed tray for the printer unit controller 16.
Step S23-9: The printer unit controller 16 is notified that double-sided printing is being performed.
Step S23-10: A unique ID is assigned to the front page and the back page, and the page ID is notified to the printer unit controller 16.
Step S23-11: Takes out the page (first single-sided printing page) from the print queue page queue.
Step S23-12: Take out the information of the paper feed tray from the page.
Step S23-13: Specify the paper feed tray for the printer unit controller 16.
Step S23-14: Notify the printer unit controller 16 that single-sided printing is being performed.
Step S23-15: Assign a unique ID to the single-sided printing page, and notify the printer unit controller 16 of the page ID.
Step S23-16: The taken out page is put in the print start waiting queue, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the video data setting process subroutine in step S25 of FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of video data setting processing in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the print control unit 15 specifies the next page to be printed based on the page ID of the next page to be printed received from the printer unit control unit 16 as a print order determination notification. As described above, since the print control unit 15 assigns a unique page ID to each page, the page to be printed next can be easily specified.

  Next, the print control unit 15 takes out a page for which the print order has been determined from the print start waiting queue, takes out video data from the page for which the print order has been determined, and performs print settings for the video data. The video data of this page is transmitted from the print control unit 15 to the printer unit control unit 16 according to the print setting of the video data determined by the print order.

  Subsequently, the print control unit 15 notifies the printer unit control unit 16 to start printing. Then, it is determined whether or not the page for which the printing order is determined is a back page for double-sided printing. If the page is a back page for double-sided printing, the page is placed in the carry-in waiting queue of the double-sided printing unit 25, and If it is not a page, the page is put in a discharge queue.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S25-1: The page is identified from the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16.
Step S25-2: The page whose printing order is determined is taken out from the print start waiting queue.
Step S25-3: Take out the video data from the page whose printing order has been determined, and start the print setting of the video data.
Step S25-4: The printer unit control unit 16 is notified to start printing.
Step S25-5: It is determined whether or not the page for which the printing order is determined is a reverse page for duplex printing. If it is a back page for duplex printing, the process proceeds to step S25-6, and if it is not a back page, the process proceeds to step S25-7.
Step S25-6: The page is placed in the carry-in waiting queue of the duplex printing unit 25, and the process is terminated.
Step S25-7: The page is put in the discharge waiting queue, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the medium carrying-in process subroutine in step S27 of FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a medium carry-in processing subroutine according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when a medium is carried into the duplex printing unit 25, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 that the medium is carried together with the page ID of the page printed on the medium.

  Subsequently, the print control unit 15 specifies a page based on the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16, takes out the page from the carry-in queue of the duplex printing unit 25, and puts the page into the discharge queue. .

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S27-1: The page is specified from the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16.
Step S27-2: The page carried into the printer unit controller 16 is taken out from the duplex printing unit 25.
Step S27-3: The page is put in the discharge waiting queue, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the medium discharge subroutine in step S29 of FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of medium discharge processing in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the medium is discharged from the discharge port 26, the printer unit controller 16 notifies the print controller 15 of the completion of discharging the medium together with the page ID of the page printed on the medium. When the print control unit 15 receives the medium discharge notification, the print control unit 15 specifies the discharged page based on the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16.

  Subsequently, the print control unit 15 determines whether or not the discharged page exists in the discharge waiting queue. When the page is in the discharge waiting queue, the print control unit 15 takes out the page from the discharge waiting queue. In addition, when both sides of the front page and the back page are printed on the medium by double-sided printing, it is performed on the front page and the back page.

  If the discharged page does not exist in the discharge waiting queue, the page is taken out from the carry-in waiting queue of the duplex printing unit 25. The presence of a page in the discharge queue of the duplex printing unit 25 means that the duplex printing page that should be duplex printed is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, and only the single-sided page is printed and ejected. To do.

  Then, the print control unit 15 notifies the job control unit 14 of the completion of printing of the discharged page. This notification performs cleanup processing for this page.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S29-1: The page is specified from the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16.
Step S29-2: It is determined whether or not the discharged page exists in the discharge waiting queue. When it exists in the discharge waiting queue, the process proceeds to step S29-3, and when it does not exist in the discharge waiting queue, the process proceeds to step S29-4.
Step S29-3 Take out the page from the discharge waiting queue.
Step S29-4: Remove the page from the carry-in queue.
Step S29-5: The job control unit 14 is notified of the completion of printing of the page, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the subroutine of the double-sided print disabled medium notification receiving process in step S31 of FIG. 8 will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the double-sided print disabled medium notification acceptance process in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 automatically determines the medium by the medium automatic determination mechanism 23 for the fed medium, and if the medium is recognized as a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, the printer unit control unit 16 stores the medium in the sheet feeding tray. Notifies that the inserted medium cannot be printed on both sides.

  Upon receiving a notification that double-sided printing is not possible, the print control unit 15 determines whether the double-sided printing designation is TRUE (correct), and if the double-sided printing designation is FALSE (incorrect). The process ends. If the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, the print control unit 15 determines whether or not the printing order of the back side and the front side of the page to be printed on the medium is switched by the double-sided printing disabled medium notification, and the single-sided printing is performed. When the order of the back page and the front page is reached, information indicating that double-sided printing is not possible and that the printing order is switched are displayed on the LCD panel or the like. Further, when single-sided printing is performed in the order of the front page and the back page, double-sided printing impossible medium detection is displayed on the LCD panel or the like.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S31-1: It is determined whether or not the double-sided printing designation is TRUE. If the duplex printing designation is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S31-2, and if the duplex printing designation is FALSE, the process ends.
Step S31-2: It is determined whether or not the printing order of the back surface and the front surface is switched. If the printing order is changed, the process proceeds to step S31-3. If the printing order is not changed, the process proceeds to step S31-4.
Step S31-3 Display that double-sided printing cannot be performed on the LCD panel or the like, and that the printing order has been changed due to single-sided printing, and the process ends.
Step S31-4 Display that double-sided printing cannot be performed on the LCD panel or the like, and single-sided printing has been performed, and the process ends.

  Next, the operation of the printer unit controller 16 will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer unit control unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 is waiting for an event. When the paper feed start process from the paper feed tray is received, the paper feed start process from the paper feed tray is performed, the paper feed from the paper feed tray or the duplex printing unit 25 is started, and the medium supply completion notification is sent. If accepted, a printing order determination process for the medium is performed.

  Subsequently, after the medium printing order determination process, the printer unit control unit 16 further travels the medium, the medium automatic determination mechanism 23 determines the medium, and performs a double-sided printing determination process when the medium automatic determination result is received. . When a print start notification is received from the print control unit 15, a print start process is performed. Furthermore, when printing is performed and the medium is detected to be carried into the duplex printing unit 25, a paper feed start process from the duplex printing unit 25 is performed.

  When the printer unit control unit 16 detects the discharge of the medium, the printer unit control unit 16 performs a medium discharge process. Further, when it is detected that the cassette in the paper feed tray has been pulled out, a cassette pulling out process is performed.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S41 Wait for an event.
Step S42: to judge whether a paper feed start notification has been accepted. If a paper feed start notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S43. If a paper feed start notice is not accepted, the process proceeds to step S44.
Step S43: A process for starting paper feed from the paper feed tray is performed.
Step S44: to judge whether a paper feed completion notice has been accepted. If a paper feed completion notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S45. If a paper feed completion notice is not accepted, the process proceeds to step S46.
Step S45: Print order determination processing is performed.
Step S46: It is determined whether an automatic medium discrimination result has been accepted. When the automatic medium determination result is accepted, the process proceeds to step S47, and when the automatic medium determination result is not accepted, the process proceeds to step S48.
Step S47 A duplex printing determination process is performed.
Step S48: to judge whether a print start notification has been accepted. If a print start notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S49, and if a print start notification has not been received, the process proceeds to step S50.
Step S49 Print start processing is performed.
Step S50: It is determined whether or not loading of 25 into the duplex printing unit is detected. When carrying in to the duplex printing unit 25 is detected, the process proceeds to step S51, and when carrying into the duplex printing unit 25 is not detected, the process proceeds to step S52.
Step S51 A paper feed start process from the duplex printing unit 25 is performed.
Step S52: It is determined whether or not the ejection of the medium is detected. If the discharge of the medium is detected, the process proceeds to step S53, and if the discharge of the medium is not detected, the process proceeds to step S54.
Step S53 A medium discharge process is performed.
Step S54: It is determined whether or not cassette removal has been detected. If it is detected that the cassette has been pulled out, the process proceeds to step S55. If it is not detected, the process returns to step S41.
Step S55: Cassette removal processing is performed.

  Next, a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the paper feed tray in step S43 in FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the paper feed tray in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether to feed paper from the paper feed tray or from the duplex printing unit 25 from the number of media and the media position in the printing apparatus 12. When paper is fed from the double-sided printing unit 25, paper feeding processing from the double-sided printing unit 25 is performed. When paper is fed from the paper feed tray, whether the medium inserted in the paper feed tray has already been automatically discriminated or not, and whether the media auto discriminating flag of the paper feed tray is TRUE / FALSE. Judgment by

  Subsequently, when the determination is not completed, that is, when the medium automatic determination flag of the paper feed tray is FALSE, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the automatic medium determination mechanism 23 to automatically determine the medium. Then, the medium automatic discrimination flag of this paper feed tray is set to TRUE. As a result, for the paper feed tray, automatic medium discrimination is not performed until the cassette of the paper feed tray is next pulled out or until no paper is detected.

  Further, when the printer unit control unit 16 has determined, that is, when the medium automatic determination flag of the paper feed tray is TRUE, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether the medium of the paper feed tray is capable of duplex printing. . If duplex printing is possible, the duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE for this medium, and if duplex printing is not possible, the duplex printing enable flag is set to FALSE for this medium.

  Subsequently, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether or not the page to be printed on the medium is a double-sided printing page. If the page is a front-side page and a back-side page for double-sided printing, the double-sided printing designation flag is set to TRUE. . If the page is a single-sided printing page, the double-sided printing designation flag is set to FALSE, and paper feeding is started from the designated paper feeding tray.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S43-1 Whether the paper is fed from the paper feed tray or the double-sided printing unit 25 is determined from the number of media in the printing apparatus 12 and the media position. When the paper is fed from the paper feed tray, the process proceeds to step S43-3, and when the paper is fed from the duplex printing unit 25, the process proceeds to step S43-2.
Step S43-2: Feeding start processing from the duplex printing unit 25 is performed.
Step S43-3: It is determined whether or not the medium inserted in the paper feed tray has already been automatically discriminated. If the medium automatic determination has been completed, the process proceeds to step S43-6. If the medium automatic determination has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S43-4.
Step S43-4: The automatic media discrimination mechanism 23 is notified to discriminate media automatically.
Step S43-5: The medium automatic discrimination flag of the paper feed tray is set to TRUE.
Step S43-6: It is determined whether the medium in the paper feed tray is capable of duplex printing. When double-sided printing is possible, it progresses to step S43-7, and when double-sided printing is impossible, it progresses to step S43-8.
Step S43-7: The duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE.
Step S43-8: The duplex printing enable flag is set to FALSE.
Step S43-9: It is determined whether or not the page to be printed on the medium is a duplex printing page. If it is a double-sided printing page, the process proceeds to step S43-10, and if it is not a double-sided printing page, the process proceeds to step S43-11.
Step S43-10: Set the duplex printing designation flag to TRUE.
Step S43-11: The duplex printing designation flag is set to FALSE.
Step S43-12: Feeding is started from the designated paper feed tray, and the process is terminated.

  Next, a subroutine of the printing order determination process in step S45 in FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the printing order determination process in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether or not the duplex printing designation flag is TRUE. If the double-sided printing designation flag is not TRUE, it means single-sided printing, so the page ID of the scheduled page to be printed on the medium is notified to the print control unit 15 and the destination of the medium is set as the discharge port 26.

  If the double-sided printing designation flag is TRUE, double-sided printing is performed, so the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether the medium is fed from the paper-feeding tray or the double-sided printing unit 25. To do. If the paper source is the duplex printing unit 25, the back side of the medium has already been printed, so the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the page ID of the front page to the print control unit 15 and the destination of the medium. Is the outlet 26.

  If the paper supply source is a paper supply tray, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether the double-sided printable flag is FALSE. If the double-sided printable flag is not FALSE, that is, if double-sided printing of the medium is possible, the printer unit control unit 16 prints from the backside page of the medium, and sets the page ID of the backside page to the print control unit 15. To the double-sided printing unit 25 as the destination of the medium.

  When the double-sided printing enable flag is FALSE, that is, when double-sided printing of the medium is impossible, the printer unit control unit 16 performs single-sided printing on the front page, single-sided printing on the front page, and back page, respectively. Print in the order of single-sided printing.

  Next, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether or not single-sided printing of the front page of the medium has been completed. If the front page has not been printed on one side, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the page ID of the front page to print from the front page, and then the double-sided printing is not possible. And the destination of the medium is the discharge port 26.

  In addition, when the single-sided printing of the front page has been completed, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the page ID of the back page to print from the back page, and sets the destination of the medium as the discharge port 26.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S45-1: Determine whether the duplex printing designation flag is TRUE. If the duplex printing designation flag is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S45-4. If the duplex printing designation flag is not TRUE, the process proceeds to step S45-2.
Step S45-2 Since it is single-sided printing, the page ID of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is the page to be printed this time.
Step S45-3: The medium destination is set as the discharge port 26, and the process is terminated.
Step S45-4: It is determined whether or not the medium supply source is the paper supply tray or the duplex printing unit 25. If the paper source is the paper tray, the process proceeds to step S45-7. If the paper source is the duplex printing unit 25, the process proceeds to step S45-5.
Step S45-5 Since duplex printing is in progress, the page ID of the front page of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S45-6: The destination of the medium is the outlet 26, and the process is terminated.
Step S45-7: It is determined whether or not the double-sided print enable flag is FALSE. If the double-sided printable flag is FALSE, the process proceeds to step S45-10. If the double-sided printable flag is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S45-8.
Step S45-8 Since double-sided printing is possible, the page ID of the back page of this medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S45-9: The destination of the medium is the duplex printing unit 25, and the process is terminated.
Step S45-10: It is determined whether or not the front page of the medium has been printed. If the front page has been printed, the process proceeds to step S45-13. If the front page has not been printed, the process proceeds to step S45-11.
Step S45-11 Since double-sided printing is not possible, the page ID of the front page of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S45-12: notifies the print controller 15 that double-sided printing is not possible.
Step S45-13 Since double-sided printing is not possible, the page ID of the back page of this medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S45-14: The medium destination is set as the discharge port 26, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the double-sided printing discrimination process subroutine in step S47 of FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of duplex printing discrimination processing in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 receives an automatic medium determination result from the automatic medium determination mechanism 23, and based on the automatic determination result, determines whether the medium fed from the paper feed tray is capable of duplex printing. to decide.

  If double-sided printing is possible, the printer unit control unit 16 determines that double-sided printing is possible for all the remaining media existing in the paper feed tray, and sets the double-sided printable flag to TRUE. If double-sided printing is not possible, the printer unit controller 16 determines that double-sided printing is not possible for all remaining media in the paper feed tray and sets the double-sided printable flag to FALSE. Subsequently, the print control unit 15 is notified that a medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected. Further, the printer unit control unit 16 switches the destination even if the destination of the medium is the duplex printing unit 25 and changes the destination to the discharge port 26.

  As a result, even if the medium is scheduled to be printed on both sides when the medium is fed, it is determined that double-sided printing is impossible in the automatic medium determination process, and the medium is ejected by single-sided printing.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S47-1: Determine whether the discriminated medium is a duplex printable medium. If it is a double-sided printable medium, the process proceeds to step S47-2, and if it is a double-sided non-printable medium, the process proceeds to step S47-4.
Step S47-2: It is assumed that all the media in the paper feed tray that has fed this medium are duplex printable media.
Step S47-3: The duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE, and the process ends.
Step S47-4: It is assumed that all the media in the paper feed tray that has fed this medium are non-double-sided printing media.
Step S47-5: The duplex printing enable flag is set to FALSE.
Step S47-6: The print control unit 15 is notified that a medium that cannot be printed on both sides has been detected.
Step S47-7: The destination of this medium is changed to the discharge port 26, and the process ends.

  Next, the print start processing subroutine in step S49 of FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the print start process in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when receiving a print start from the print control unit 15, the printer unit control unit 16 prints video data on the fed medium.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S49-1 The video data is printed on the fed medium, and the process is terminated.

  Next, a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the duplex printing unit in step S51 in FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a subroutine for paper feed start processing from the duplex printing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether to feed paper from the paper feed tray or from the duplex printing unit 25 based on the number of media and the media position in the printing apparatus 12. When paper is fed from the paper feed tray, paper feed start processing from the paper feed tray is performed.

  Further, when paper is fed from the duplex printing unit 25, the print control unit 15 is notified together with the page ID of the page printed on the loaded medium that the medium has been carried into the duplex printing unit 25. Start feeding media.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S51-1: It is determined whether the paper is fed from the paper feed tray or the double-sided printing unit 25 from the number of media in the printing apparatus 12 and the media position. When the paper is fed from the paper feed tray, the process proceeds to step S51-4, and when the paper is fed from the duplex printing unit 25, the process proceeds to step S51-2.
Step S51-2: Notifies the print control unit 15 that the medium has been carried into the duplex printing unit 25.
Step S51-3: Feeding is started from the duplex printing unit 25, and the process is terminated.
Step S51-4: Starts paper feed from the paper feed tray, and ends the process.

  Next, the medium discharge processing subroutine in step S53 in FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of medium discharge processing in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when detecting the discharge of the medium, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the discharge completion together with the page ID of the page printed on the medium.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S53-1: The print controller 15 is notified that the medium has been ejected, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the subroutine for the cassette pulling process in step S55 in FIG. 15 will be described.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the cassette pulling-out process in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the printer unit control unit 16 detects that the cassette of the paper feed tray is pulled out or no paper is present, the printer unit control unit 16 sets the medium discrimination flag of the paper feed tray to FALSE. In addition, the duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE. Thereby, double-sided printing is possible in the initial state.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S55-1: Clear the medium discrimination flag of the paper feed tray from which the cassette has been pulled out (FALSE).
Step S55-2: The duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the medium fed from the paper feed tray is already recognized as a medium that cannot be printed on both sides by the automatic medium discrimination mechanism 23 or the like, printing designated for duplex printing is performed. When printing a job, the first front page, the first back page, the second front page, and the second back page of the duplex print job are printed in this order. The data to be printed can be continuously printed on one side.

  Further, when it is detected that the cassette is pulled out from the paper feed tray or no paper is detected, the automatic medium discrimination mechanism 23 once clears the information indicating whether duplex printing is possible in the paper feed tray. Therefore, when performing duplex printing on the first first medium after clearing, the first two pages are in the order of single-sided printing on the back side and single-sided printing on the front side. Are single-sided printing on the front side and single-sided printing on the back side.

  By the way, in the first embodiment, when printing a page designated for duplex printing in a state where automatic discrimination of the medium in the paper feed tray has not been completed, a medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected after the page printing order is determined. Then, since it switches to single-sided printing at that time, the first two pages will be single-sided printing on the back side and single-sided printing on the front side.

  Therefore, when printing a page specified for double-sided printing without automatic determination of the medium in the paper feed tray, the determined printing is performed when a medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected after the page printing order is determined. By clearing the order once and re-determining the printing order, even if the medium that cannot be printed on both sides is switched to single-sided printing, the single-sided printing for the front page and the printing order for the back page are always performed. A form is demonstrated.

  In addition, about the thing which has the same structure as 1st Embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same code | symbol. Also, the description of the same operations and effects as those of the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a single-sided printing order when double-sided printing is not possible in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In this embodiment, after double-sided printing is performed on the media up to the (n-1) th sheet, the medium type becomes unclear due to replacement of the paper feed tray or the like, and double-sided printing is impossible after printing of the nth medium is started. 23, as shown in FIG. 23, as shown in FIG. 23, the nth front page, the nth back page, the (n + 1) th front page, the (n + 1) th back page, and the (n + 2) th page Single-sided printing is performed on the medium in the order of pages, n + 2 back page, and so on.

  In the present embodiment, the operation of the reception control unit 13 and the operation of the job control unit 14 are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIGS. 6 and 7), and thus description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the print control unit 15 will be described.

  Since the main operation of the print control unit 15 is the same as the main operation (FIG. 8) of the print control unit 15 in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. Furthermore, the operations of the paper feed start process (FIGS. 9 and 10), the video data setting process (FIG. 11), the medium carry-in process (FIG. 12), and the medium discharge process (FIG. 13) in the print control unit 15 are performed. Since this is the same as the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the subroutine of the double-sided printing disapproval notification acceptance process in step S31 of FIG.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of double-sided printing disapproval notification acceptance processing in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit controller 16 automatically determines the medium for the fed medium, and if the medium is recognized as a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, the medium inserted in the paper feed tray is the double-sided printing medium. Notify that printing is not possible.

  Then, when accepting the double-sided printing impossibility, the printing control unit 15 determines whether or not the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, and ends the process when the double-sided printing designation is FALSE. If the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, it is determined whether or not the page ID after the change of the print order is received together with the print order change notification. If the print order change notification and the page ID after the print order change are not received, double-sided printing cannot be performed on an LCD panel (not shown), and a message indicating that single-sided printing has been performed is displayed.

  In addition, when the print control unit 15 receives the print order change notification and the page ID after the print order change, the print control unit 15 performs a print order change process. At this time, the video data of the back page is already set at the time of duplex printing, but the printing of the video data of the back side is stopped. Next, the print control unit 15 takes out the back page for which the printing of the video data is stopped from the carry-in queue of the duplex printing unit 25 and puts it in the print start queue.

  Subsequently, the print control unit 15 takes out the page ID (front page) notified from the printer unit control unit 16 from the print start waiting queue and puts it in the discharge completion waiting queue, and performs print settings for video data. When the print setting is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 is notified that the printing order has been changed.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S31-11: It is determined whether the double-sided printing designation is TRUE. If the duplex printing designation is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S31-12, and if the duplex printing designation is FALSE, the process ends.
Step S31-12: It is determined whether a print order change notification and a changed page ID have been accepted. If the print order change notification and the changed page ID are accepted, the process proceeds to step S31-13. If the print order change notice and the changed page ID are not accepted, the process proceeds to step S31-18.
Step S31-13 The printing of the back side video data that has already been set is stopped.
Step S31-14: This back page is taken out from the carry-in queue of the duplex printing unit 25 and placed at the head of the print start queue.
Step S31-15 Take out the page of the notified page ID from the print start waiting queue and place it in the discharge completion waiting queue.
Step S31-16 Print setting of the video data of the notified page ID is performed.
Step S31-17: The printer unit controller 16 is notified that the printing order has been changed.
Step S31-18 Display that double-sided printing cannot be performed on the LCD panel or the like and single-sided printing has been performed, and the processing is terminated.

  Next, the operation of the printer unit controller 16 will be described.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer unit controller in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 is waiting for an event. When a paper feed start process from the paper feed tray is received, a paper feed start process from the paper feed tray is performed. Then, the sheet feeding from the sheet feeding tray or the duplex printing unit 25 is started, and when the medium feeding is completed, the medium printing order determining process is performed.

  Subsequently, after the printing order determination process of the medium, the printer unit control unit 16 performs a double-sided printing determination process when the medium further travels and the medium automatic determination mechanism 23 determines the medium. When a print start is received from the print control unit 15, a print start process is performed. When printing is performed and the medium is carried into the double-sided printing unit 25, a paper feeding start process from the double-sided printing unit 25 is performed.

  Subsequently, when the printer unit control unit 16 detects the discharge of the medium, it performs a medium discharge process. Then, when it is detected that the cassette in the paper feed tray has been pulled out, a cassette pulling process is performed. Subsequently, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 that the printing order has been changed by detecting a medium that cannot be printed on both sides. As a result, when the print control unit 15 notifies that the printing order has been changed, the printing restart process is performed.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S61 Wait for an event.
Step S62: to judge whether a paper feed start notification has been accepted. If a paper feed start notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S63. If a paper feed start notice is not accepted, the process proceeds to step S64.
Step S63: Starts paper feed from the paper feed tray.
Step S64: to judge whether a paper feed completion notice has been accepted. If a paper feed completion notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S65. If a paper feed completion notification has not been received, the process proceeds to step S66.
Step S65: A printing order determination process is performed.
Step S66: to judge whether an automatic medium discrimination result has been accepted. If the automatic medium determination result is accepted, the process proceeds to step S67. If the automatic medium determination result is not accepted, the process proceeds to step S68.
Step S67 A duplex printing determination process is performed.
Step S68: It is determined whether a print start notification is accepted. If a print start notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S69. If a print start notification has not been received, the process proceeds to step S470.
Step S69 Print start processing is performed.
Step S70: It is determined whether or not the carry-in to the duplex printing unit 25 is detected. When carrying in to the duplex printing unit 25 is detected, the process proceeds to step S71, and when carrying into the duplex printing unit 25 is not detected, the process proceeds to step S72.
Step S71 A paper feed start process from the duplex printing unit 25 is performed.
Step S72: to judge whether the discharge of the medium is detected. If the discharge of the medium is detected, the process proceeds to step S73, and if the discharge of the medium is not detected, the process proceeds to step S74.
Step S73: A medium discharge process is performed.
Step S74: It is determined whether or not cassette removal has been detected. If it is detected that the cassette has been pulled out, the process proceeds to step S75. If it is not detected, the process proceeds to step S76.
Step S75 A cassette drawing process is performed.
Step S76: It is determined whether a print order change notification has been received. If a print order change notification has been received, the process proceeds to step S77. If a print order change notification has not been received, the process returns to step S61.
Step S77 The printing restart process is performed, and the process returns to Step S61.

  In this embodiment, the printer unit control unit 16 starts the paper feed process from the tray (FIG. 16), the print order determination process (FIG. 17), the print process, and the paper feed start process from the duplex printing unit (FIG. 16). 20) The operations of the medium discharge process (FIG. 21) and the cassette pull-out process (FIG. 22) are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Next, the subroutine for the double-sided printing determination process in step S67 in FIG. 25 will be described.

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of double-sided printing determination processing in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 receives an automatic medium determination result from the automatic medium determination mechanism 23, and determines from the automatic determination result whether the medium on the paper feed tray is capable of duplex printing.

  Then, if double-sided printing is possible, the printer unit control unit 16 determines that all subsequent media in the paper feed tray can be double-sided printed, and sets the double-sided printable flag to TRUE. If double-sided printing is impossible, it is determined that double-sided printing is impossible for all the remaining media in the paper feed tray, and the double-sided printable flag is set to FALSE. Furthermore, even if the destination of the medium is the duplex printing unit 25, the destination is switched and changed to the discharge port 26.

  As a result, even if the medium is scheduled to be printed on both sides when the medium is fed, it is determined that double-sided printing is impossible in the automatic medium determination process, and the medium is ejected by single-sided printing.

  Next, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether or not the medium currently being printed is a back page for double-sided printing. If it is not the back side page of double-sided printing, the process ends. Further, in the case of the back page of duplex printing, in order to change the printing on the medium to the front page instead of the back page, the page ID of the front page is notified to the print control unit 15 together with the print order change notification. . Since the medium printing order is changed after the printing order determination limit point 27, the medium is temporarily stopped to guarantee printing.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S67-1: Determine whether the discriminated medium is a duplex printable medium. If it is a double-sided printable medium, the process proceeds to step S67-2. If it is a double-sided printable medium, the process proceeds to step S67-4.
Step S67-2: It is assumed that all the media in the paper feed tray that has fed this medium are duplex printable media.
Step S67-3: The duplex printing enable flag is set to TRUE, and the process ends.
Step S67-4: It is assumed that all the media in the paper feed tray that has fed this medium are non-double-sided printing media.
Step S67-5: The duplex printing enable flag is set to FALSE.
Step S67-6 The destination of this medium is changed to the discharge port 26.
Step S67-7: It is determined whether or not the medium currently being printed is a reverse page for duplex printing. If it is not the back page of double-sided printing, the process ends. If it is the back page of double-sided printing, the process proceeds to step S67-8.
Step S67-8: A medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected, and the print control unit 15 is notified to change the page ID of the front page of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 to the page to be printed this time.
Step S67-9 Waiting for the medium to resume running until a notification of changing the printing order is received, and the process ends.

  Next, a subroutine for the print restart process in step S77 in FIG. 25 will be described.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the print resumption process in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, after notifying the print control unit 15 of the print order change notification, the printer unit control unit 16 stops running the medium in order to wait for the print order change notification from the print control unit 15. When the printer unit control unit 16 receives the notification that the printing order has been changed, the printer unit control unit 16 resumes running of the medium.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S77-1 The travel of the stopped medium is resumed, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when printing a page designated for duplex printing in a state where automatic determination of the medium in the paper feed tray has not been completed, a medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected after the page printing order is determined. When it is done, once the determined printing order is cleared and the printing order is re-determined, even if the medium that cannot be printed on both sides is switched to single-sided printing, the single-sided printing on the front page and the printing order on the back page are always performed. Can do.

  Thereby, when a medium that cannot be printed on both sides is detected, the printing order of the front page and the back page of single-sided printing can always be maintained for the medium.

  Next, when it is recognized that the medium fed from the paper feed tray is already a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, only one side of the duplex printing job is printed, the medium is ejected, and then the medium is printed. In order to print on the other side that is not, the user is prompted to place the single-sided printed media in the paper feed tray again, and the other side is printed by pulling the same medium from the paper feed tray and printing on the other side. A third embodiment of the present invention that realizes printing will be described.

  In addition, about the thing which has the same structure as 1st and 2nd embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted by providing the same code | symbol. The description of the same operations and effects as those in the first and second embodiments is also omitted.

  FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 12 has an operator panel control unit 37 as input means. The operator panel control unit 37 is an internal processing unit of the printing apparatus 12, processes a key input from an operator panel (not shown) of the printing apparatus 12, and displays a message on a display device (not shown) of the printing apparatus 12.

  Note that the configuration of other points of the printing apparatus 12 in the present embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, the medium is fed from the first tray 22 as a paper feed tray, the manual feed tray 28 as a paper feed tray, or the duplex printing unit 25.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 12 having the above configuration will be described. Since the operation of the reception control unit 13 and the operation of the job control unit 14 are the same as those in the first embodiment (FIGS. 6 and 7), description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the print control unit 15 will be described.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control unit in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the print control unit 15 is waiting for an event. When the print control unit 15 receives a page, the print control unit 15 performs a paper feed start process from the tray, and the printer unit control unit 16 determines a page printing order by a paper feed job reception start process from the paper feed tray. When receiving a print order determination notification from the printer unit control unit 16, the print control unit 15 performs video data setting processing for the page for which the print order has been determined.

  Subsequently, when the video data is printed on the medium fed from the paper feed tray, the medium is inserted into the duplex printing unit 25 in the case of duplex printing. When a medium carry-in notification from the printer unit control unit 16 to the duplex printing unit 25 is received, a medium carry-in process is performed.

  Next, when the medium is carried into the duplex printing unit 25 and printing preparation from the duplex printing unit 25 is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the printing control unit 15 of the printing order determination again. When the print control unit 15 receives a print order determination notification from the printer unit control unit 16, the print control unit 15 performs video data setting processing. When the printing of the page on the medium is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the completion of the medium discharge.

  Subsequently, when the print control unit 15 receives a medium discharge notification from the printer unit control unit 16, the print control unit 15 performs a medium discharge process, and as a result of automatic medium recognition, the printer unit control unit 16 is fed to the first tray 22. If it is determined that the double-sided printing cannot be continued with the medium being printed, the print control unit 15 is notified of the fact. When the print control unit 15 receives a notification that a double-sided printing impossible medium is detected, the printing control unit 15 performs a double-sided printing impossible medium receiving process.

  When the medium that cannot be printed on both sides is discharged only by single-sided printing, the printing apparatus 12 prompts the user to place the medium that has been printed on one side and discharged on the manual feed tray 28. When the user recognizes that the medium has been set on the manual feed tray 28, the print control unit 15 performs a print start process from the manual feed tray 28.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S81 Wait for an event.
Step S82: Whether the page has been accepted or not is determined. If a page is accepted, the process proceeds to step S83, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S84.
Step S83: Starts paper feed from the paper feed tray.
Step S84: to judge whether a print order determination notification has been accepted. If a print order determination notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S85, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S86.
Step S85 A video data setting process is performed.
Step S86: It is determined whether a medium delivery notification to the duplex printing unit 25 has been received. If a medium carry-in notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S87, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S88.
Step S87 A medium carrying-in process is performed.
Step S88: It is determined whether a medium discharge notification has been accepted. If a medium discharge notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S89, and if not received, the process proceeds to step S90.
Step S89: A medium discharge process is performed.
Step S90: It is determined whether or not a double-sided printing impossible medium detection notification has been received. If a double-sided printing disabled medium detection notification is accepted, the process proceeds to step S91. If not received, the process proceeds to step S92.
Step S91 A double-sided printing disabled medium notification acceptance process is performed.
Step S92: to judge whether the user confirmation is accepted. If user confirmation is accepted, the process proceeds to step S93. If user confirmation is not accepted, the process returns to step S81.
Step S93: A print start process is performed, and the process returns to Step S81.

  The operations of the paper feed start process (FIGS. 9 and 10), the video data setting process (FIG. 11), and the medium carry-in process (FIG. 12) in the print control unit 15 are the same as those in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as that of a form, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Next, the medium discharge processing subroutine in step S89 of FIG. 29 will be described.

  FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a medium discharge processing subroutine according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when the medium is discharged from the discharge port 26, the printer unit controller 16 notifies the print controller 15 of the completion of discharging the medium together with the page ID of the page printed on the medium. Also, in double-sided manual feed mode, that is, only the front page of the double-sided printing page is printed on the medium first, and then the same medium is fed from the manual feed slot to the same medium. If the mode is for printing, all pages in the print queue are moved to the paper feed queue and all unprinted pages are reset. When the print control unit 15 receives a medium discharge notification, the print control unit 15 specifies the page discharged from the page ID.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the discharged page exists in the discharge waiting queue, and if it exists in the discharge waiting queue, the page is taken out from the discharge waiting queue. In addition, when both sides of the front page and the back page are printed on the medium by double-sided printing, it is performed on the front page and the back page.

  If the discharged page does not exist in the discharge waiting queue, the page is taken out from the carry-in waiting queue of the duplex printing unit 25. The presence of a page in the discharge queue of the duplex printing unit 25 means that the duplex printing page that should be duplex printed is a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, and only the single-sided page is printed and ejected. To do.

  Then, the job control unit 14 is notified of the completion of printing of the discharged page. Next, it is determined whether or not the double-sided printing manual feed mode is set. If the double-sided printing manual feed mode is not set, the processing is terminated. In the case of the double-sided printing manual feed mode, the operator panel control unit 37 is requested to display a message prompting the user to set the discharged medium on the manual feed tray 28. Subsequently, all the pages in the print start waiting queue are stopped from waiting to start printing, and are put into the paper feed start waiting queue again.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S89-1: The page is specified from the page ID notified from the printer unit control unit 16.
Step S89-2: It is determined whether or not the discharged page exists in the discharge waiting queue. When it exists in the discharge waiting queue, the process proceeds to step S89-3, and when it does not exist in the discharge waiting queue, the process proceeds to step S89-4.
Step S89-3 Take out the page from the discharge waiting queue.
Step S89-4: The page is taken out from the carry-in queue.
Step S89-5: The job controller 14 is notified of the completion of printing the page.
Step S89-6: It is determined whether or not it is the duplex printing manual feed mode. If it is not in the duplex printing manual feed mode, the process ends. If it is in the duplex printing manual feed mode, the process proceeds to step S89-7.
Step S89-7 The operator panel control unit 37 is requested to display a message for placing the discharged medium on the manual feed tray 28.
Step S89-8: All pages in the print start waiting queue are placed in the paper feed start waiting queue, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the subroutine of the double-sided printing disapproval notification acceptance process in step S91 in FIG.

  FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of double-sided printing disapproval notification acceptance processing in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit controller 16 automatically determines the medium for the fed medium, and if the medium is recognized as a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, the medium inserted in the paper feed tray is printed on both sides. Notify that it is not possible.

  Then, when accepting the double-sided printing impossibility, the printing control unit 15 determines whether or not the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, and ends the process when the double-sided printing designation is FALSE. If the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, it is determined whether or not the page ID after the change of the print order is received together with the print order change notification. When the print order change notification and the page ID after the print order change are not received, the duplex printing manual feed mode is set to TRUE.

  When the print order change notification and the page ID after the print order change are received, the print order change process is performed. At that time, the video data of the back page has been set at the time of duplex printing, but the printing of the video data of the back side is stopped. Next, the print control unit 15 takes out the back page for which the printing of the video data is stopped from the carry-in queue of the duplex printing unit 25 and puts it in the print start queue.

  Subsequently, the print control unit 15 takes out the page ID (front page) notified from the printer unit control unit 16 from the print start waiting queue and puts it in the discharge completion waiting queue, and performs print settings for video data. When the print setting is completed, the printer unit control unit 16 is notified that the printing order has been changed.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S91-1: It is determined whether or not the duplex printing designation is TRUE. If the duplex printing designation is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S91-2. If the duplex printing designation is FALSE, the process ends.
Step S91-2: It is determined whether a print order change notification and a changed page ID have been received. If the print order change notification and the changed page ID are received, the process proceeds to step S91-3. If the print order change notification and the changed page ID are not received, the process proceeds to step S91-7.
Step S91-3: Printing of the video data on the back side that has already been set is stopped.
Step S91-4: Remove the back page from the carry-in queue of the duplex printing unit 25 and place it at the head of the print start queue.
Step S91-5: Print setting of the video data of the notified page ID is performed.
Step S91-6: The printer unit controller 16 is notified that the printing order has been changed.
Step S91-7: The duplex printing manual feed mode is set to TRUE, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the subroutine for the manual print start process in step S93 in FIG. 29 will be described.

  FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for manual print start processing in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the operator panel control unit 37 displays on the operator panel a prompt to set a medium on the manual feed tray 28, and notifies the print control unit 15 that a user confirmation has been accepted for the display. Then, the print control unit 15 determines whether or not a medium is set on the manual feed tray 28. If the medium is set, the single-sided printing is performed on one side of the double-sided printing page on the medium.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S93-1: It is determined whether or not a medium is inserted in the manual feed tray. If a medium is inserted in the manual feed tray 28, the process proceeds to step S93-2, and if no medium is inserted in the manual feed tray 28, the process proceeds to step S93-6.
Step S93-2: The manual feed tray 28 is designated as the paper feed tray for the printer unit controller 16.
Step S93-3: Notify the printer unit controller 16 that single-sided printing is being performed.
Step S93-4: The printer unit controller 16 is notified of the page ID of the already assigned page.
Step S93-5: The page is placed in the print start waiting queue, and the process is terminated.
Step S93-6: The operator panel control unit 37 is requested to display a message for placing the discharged medium on the manual feed tray 28, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the operation of the printer unit controller 16 will be described.

  The main operation of the printer unit control unit 16 is the same as the main operation (FIG. 25) of the printer unit control unit 16 in the second embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the printer unit control unit 16 starts paper feed from the paper feed tray (FIG. 16), duplex printing discrimination processing (FIG. 26), print start processing (FIG. 19), cassette pull-out detection processing (FIG. 22), and Since the operation of the print resumption process (FIG. 27) is the same as that in the first or second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a subroutine of the printing order determination process in step S65 in FIG. 25 will be described.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the printing order determination process in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the printer unit control unit 16 determines whether or not the double-sided printing designation flag is TRUE. If the double-sided printing designation flag is not TRUE, the printer unit control unit 16 performs single-sided printing, so the page ID of the scheduled page to be printed on the medium is set. The print control unit 15 is notified and the destination of the medium is set as the discharge port 26.

  If the double-sided printing designation flag is TRUE, double-sided printing is performed, so it is determined whether the medium is fed from the paper feed tray or the double-sided printing unit 25. If the paper supply source is the duplex printing unit 25, the back side of the medium has already been printed, so the page ID of the front page is notified to the print control unit 15, and the destination of the medium is set as the discharge port 26. .

  If the paper feed source is a paper feed tray, it is determined whether the double-sided print enable flag is FALSE. When the double-sided printable flag is not FALSE, that is, when double-sided printing of the medium is possible, printing is performed from the backside page of the medium, and the page ID of the backside page is notified to the print control unit 15, and the medium Is the double-sided printing unit 25.

  If the double-sided printing enable flag is FALSE, that is, if double-sided printing of the medium is impossible, the single-sided printing is performed on the surface of the page designated for double-sided printing. When the user sets the medium on the manual feed tray 28 after discharging the single-side printed medium, the printing apparatus 12 feeds the medium from the manual feed tray 28 and performs single-sided printing of the back page.

  Next, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the page ID of the front page for printing from the front page, and then notifies the print control unit 15 that double-sided printing is not possible. The destination is the outlet 26.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S65-1: Determine whether the duplex printing designation flag is TRUE. If the duplex printing designation flag is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S65-4. If the duplex printing designation flag is not TRUE, the process proceeds to step S65-2.
Step S65-2 Since single-sided printing is performed, the page ID for the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S65-3: The destination of the medium is set as the discharge port 26, and the process is terminated.
Step S65-4: It is determined whether the paper supply source is the paper supply tray or the duplex printing unit 25. If the paper source is a tray, the process proceeds to step S65-7. If the paper source is the duplex printing unit 25, the process proceeds to step S65-5.
Step S65-5 Since duplex printing is in progress, the page ID of the front page of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S65-6: The destination of the medium is the discharge port 26, and the process is terminated.
Step S65-7: It is determined whether or not the double-sided print enable flag is FALSE. If the double-sided printable flag is FALSE, the process proceeds to step S65-10. If the double-sided printable flag is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S65-8.
Step S65-8 Since double-sided printing is possible, the page ID for the back side of this medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S65-9: The destination of the medium is the duplex printing unit 25, and the process is terminated.
Step S65-10 Since double-sided printing is not possible, the page ID for the surface of the medium notified from the print control unit 15 is set as the page to be printed this time.
Step S65-11: Notifies the print controller 15 that double-sided printing is not possible.
Step S65-12: The destination of the medium is set as the outlet 26, and the process is terminated.

  Next, the subroutine for medium discharge processing in step S73 in FIG. 25 will be described.

  FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of medium discharge processing in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, when detecting the discharge of the medium, the printer unit control unit 16 notifies the print control unit 15 of the discharge completion together with the page ID of the page printed on the medium.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the double-sided printing enable flag is FALSE and the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, that is, a double-sided printing page but a double-sided printing impossible medium is detected. If the double-sided printing enable flag is FALSE and the double-sided printing designation is TRUE, printing is stopped and the start of printing from the manual feed tray 28 is awaited. If the double-sided printing enable flag is FALSE and the double-sided printing designation is not TRUE, the process ends.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S73-1: The print controller 15 is notified that the medium has been discharged.
Step S73-2: It is determined whether or not the duplex printing enable flag is FALSE and the duplex printing designation is TRUE. If the duplex print enable flag is FALSE and the duplex print designation is TRUE, the process proceeds to step S73-3. If the duplex print enable flag is FALSE and the duplex print designation is not TRUE, the process ends. .
Step S73-3 Stops printing, waits for printing to start from the manual feed tray 28, and ends the process.

  Next, the operation of the operator panel control unit 37 will be described.

  FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing the operation of the operator panel control unit in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the operator panel control unit 37 waits for an event and performs key input determination processing when receiving a key input.

  Subsequently, when job translation is completed by job reception start processing, job translation completion processing is performed. When a panel display request is received, the requested character string is displayed on the LCD panel or the like.

Next, a flowchart will be described.
Step S101 Wait for an event.
Step S102: It is determined whether a key input is accepted. If a key input is accepted, the process proceeds to step S103, and if no key input is accepted, the process proceeds to step S104.
Step S103 A key input determination process is performed.
Step S104: It is determined whether a panel display request has been accepted. If a panel display request is accepted, the process proceeds to step S105. If a panel display request is not accepted, the process returns to step S101.
Step S105: Panel display processing is performed, and the process returns to step S101.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when it is recognized that the medium fed from the paper feed tray is already a medium that cannot be printed on both sides, only one side of the duplex printing job is printed and the medium is discharged once. . Then, in order to print on the other side where the medium is not printed, the user is urged to put the medium that has been printed on one side in the paper feed tray again, and the same medium is pulled from the paper feed tray. Print on one side. Thereby, printing on both sides of one medium can be performed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can change variously based on the meaning of this invention, and does not exclude them from the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be used in a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Host apparatus 12 Printing apparatus 13 Reception processing part 15 Print control part 16 Printer unit control part 23 Automatic medium discrimination mechanism 24 First paper travel path 25 Duplex printing unit 27 Printing order determination limit point

Claims (19)

A reception processing unit that transmits and receives data to and from the host device;
Print data received by the reception processing unit is converted into image data that can be printed on a medium, a first print page and a second print page are set for each side of the medium, and each side of the medium is set. Control means for controlling printing of
A paper travel path on which the medium travels and prints the image data on the medium;
A discharge unit for discharging the medium on which the image data is printed in the paper travel path;
Medium reversing means for reversing the printed surface of the medium;
Medium discrimination means for discriminating whether or not the medium is capable of duplex printing;
The control means includes
When the medium determining unit determines that the medium can be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the back side and the front side, and the second print page is printed on the back side of the medium. The medium is reversed by the medium reversing means and sent to the paper travel path, and after the first print page is printed on the surface of the medium, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit.
When the medium determination unit determines that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and a first print page is printed on one side of the medium. And after the second print page is printed on one surface of a medium different from the medium, the different medium is discharged by the discharge section. Printing device. The control unit is configured such that, with respect to a medium fed from the medium storage unit for duplex printing, duplex printing by the medium determination unit is not possible until the trailing edge of the medium reaches a printing order determination limit point. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not it has been determined. When the medium determining unit determines that the medium cannot be double-sided printed with respect to the medium fed from the medium storage unit for double-sided printing, the first printed page is not printed. When the printing operation of the second print page is being performed, the printing operation of the second print page is stopped, and the first print page is preferentially printed on the medium with respect to the medium. Subsequently, the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second print page is printed on one side on a medium different from the medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medium determination unit determines the length of the medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the medium determination unit is a contact sensor. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medium determination unit determines a type of the medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the type of the medium is a transmissive medium or plain paper. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the medium determination unit is an optical sensor. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medium determining unit determines the thickness of the medium. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the medium determination unit is a distance sensor. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medium reversing unit holds a plurality of media. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the medium reversing unit holds two sheets of media. The control means determines the number of sheets held by the medium reversing means when the medium determining means determines that the medium is a double-sided non-printable medium for the medium fed from the storage means for double-sided printing. 13. The image data is printed on the second surface of the medium, and then the image data is printed on the second surface of the medium, and the image data is printed on the first surface of the medium held by the medium reversing unit. Printing device. When it is determined by the medium determination unit whether the medium stored in the storage unit can realize double-sided printing, the storage unit displays the determination result of the medium determination unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is held until pulled out from the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the double-sided printing cannot be realized, the control unit displays that single-sided printing has been performed on the display unit. The control means determines whether or not the printing order of the first side and the second side has been switched when it is impossible to realize double-sided printing and single-sided printing has been performed, and determines that the printing order has been switched. The printing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein a printing order change is displayed. The printing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising an LCD panel, wherein the control unit displays on the LCD panel at least one of the determination result of whether double-sided printing is possible or whether the printing order is changed. Send and receive data with the host device,
The received print data is converted into image data that can be printed on a medium, a first print page and a second print page are set for each side of the medium, and printing on each side of the medium is controlled. ,
Printing the image data on the medium traveling on the paper travel route;
Discharging the medium on which the image data is printed in the paper travel path;
Reverse the printed side of the medium,
A printing method for determining whether the medium is capable of duplex printing,
If it is determined that the medium can be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the back side and the front side, and after the second print page is printed on the back side of the medium, the medium is reversed to Sending to the paper travel path, printing the first print page on the surface of the medium, and discharging the medium;
If it is determined that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and the first print page is printed on one side of the medium, and then the medium is ejected. And printing a second print page on one surface of a medium different from the medium, and then discharging the different medium. A printing system having a host device and a printing device that prints print data received from the host device,
The upper device transmits the print data to the printing device by a connection unit,
The printing apparatus includes:
A reception processing unit that transmits and receives data to and from the host device;
Print data received by the reception processing unit is converted into image data that can be printed on a medium, a first print page and a second print page are set for each side of the medium, and each side of the medium is set. Control means for controlling printing of
A paper travel path on which the medium travels and prints the image data on the medium;
A discharge unit for discharging the medium on which the image data is printed in the paper travel path;
Medium reversing means for reversing the printed surface of the medium;
Medium discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the medium is capable of duplex printing;
The control means includes
When the medium determining unit determines that the medium can be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the back side and the front side, and the second print page is printed on the back side of the medium. The medium is reversed by the medium reversing means and sent to the paper travel path, and after the first print page is printed on the surface of the medium, the medium is discharged by the discharge unit.
When the medium determination unit determines that the medium cannot be printed on both sides, the image data is set to be printed in the order of the front side and the back side, and a first print page is printed on one side of the medium. And after the second print page is printed on one surface of a medium different from the medium, the different medium is discharged by the discharge section. Printing system.

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