JP2009202438A - Printing controlling apparatus, printing controlling method and printing controlling program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that processing by a post process by suitably removing a defective page at the post process and extracting pages other than the defective page cannot be carried out in the case of allocating and printing a plurality of pages to a surface of a sheet of printing medium. <P>SOLUTION: Image data showing an image of the plurality of pages is acquired. The plurality of pages are allocated to the surface of the printing medium on the basis of the image data. A printing part is made to carry out printing according to the allocation. Defective page information showing the defective page is acquired on the basis of output information of an inspecting part which inspects the printing medium after printed. The defective page information is printed to the printing medium where the defective page is printed, by controlling a defective page information printing part for printing the defective page information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, method, and program for imposing and printing a plurality of pages on a single print medium and using the pages in a post-printing process.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing system is known in which a printed print medium is photographed with a camera, the presence of a printing defect is inspected based on the photographing result, and if a defect occurs, the defective page is discarded and reprinted. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-A-9-216440 JP-A-9-240120

In the conventional technology, when printing a plurality of pages on a single print medium, the defective pages are appropriately removed in a later process, and pages other than the defective pages are extracted and the subsequent process is performed. Processing could not be performed. That is, in the conventional technology, a technique for marking a defective printed matter with respect to the defective printed matter and discarding the printed matter that has been marked is disclosed, but a plurality of pages are imposed on a single printing medium. A technique for appropriately removing defective pages when printing is not disclosed.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when printing a plurality of pages on a single print medium, the defective pages are appropriately removed in a later process, and other than the defective pages. The purpose is to extract a page and perform a process in a later process.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a defective page indicating a defective page when printing is performed by imposing a plurality of pages on a print medium based on output information of an inspection unit that inspects the print medium. Get information. Then, the defective page information is printed on the print medium on which the defective page is printed. For this reason, it is possible to easily identify a defective page included in a print medium based on the defective page information, and it is possible to easily remove a defective page and extract a good page in a post-printing process. become.

That is, when printing is performed by imposing a plurality of pages on a single print medium, if any of the impositioned pages becomes a defective page, a defective page and a good page may be mixed on the print medium. . Therefore, in order to perform processing in a post-printing process (for example, cutting, bookbinding, etc.) using only good pages, only bad pages are removed from a print medium in which bad pages and good pages are mixed, and good pages are extracted. There is a need. Therefore, in the present invention, the defective page information is printed on the print medium including the defective page, and the defective page information can be acquired in a later process. As a result, it is possible to appropriately remove defective pages and extract good pages.

It should be noted that the configuration for printing defective page information on a print medium is a case where the printing unit that performs printing on the print medium and the device that performs the post process are physically separated from each other, or the device that performs the post process Therefore, it is preferable to apply to a configuration in which information transmission means such as wired communication and wireless communication is not provided. In other words, in such a configuration, printing by the printing apparatus and post-processing are not linked, and the processing speeds of the two are usually different. Therefore, in such a configuration, printing is once performed to accumulate a certain amount of print medium, and after the predetermined amount of print medium is conveyed to the subsequent process, the process of the subsequent process proceeds. Even if it is such a processing mode, if bad page information is printed on a print medium, that information is acquired when a subsequent process that starts processing at an arbitrary timing requires defective page information. Therefore, it is possible to transmit the defective page information very conveniently throughout the system including printing and the post-printing process.

Here, the imposition processing means only needs to be able to perform the process of imposing a plurality of pages on the print medium, and the plurality of pages are printed on the print medium according to the print conditions included in the image data or the print conditions specified by the user. Imposition. For example, it is possible to specify the imposition of a page on a print medium according to printing conditions that specify the size of the print medium, the size of the page, the presence / absence of double-sided printing, the binding method, and the like. Imposition by algorithm.

The print control means only needs to allow the printing unit to execute printing according to the imposition, and may output data for printing each page according to the imposition to the printing unit to execute printing. Of course, here, the image data may be subjected to predetermined processing as necessary. For example, the pixel data is generated by performing interpolation processing, color conversion processing, halftone processing, etc. on the image data. Then, it is only necessary that the printing unit can be controlled so as to record ink or toner for each pixel based on the data.

The defective page information acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire defective page information based on the output information of the inspection unit, and the defective page information only needs to be configured so that a defective page can be specified in a post-printing process. For example, defective page information may be configured by a page number as information for identifying a defective page from a plurality of pages, or other information, for example, information indicating a printing position of a defective page or a defective page is printed. For example, information for specifying the printed print medium may be included in the defective page information.

The inspection unit only needs to be able to inspect the print medium after printing, and can be configured by a camera for photographing the print medium after printing by the printing unit, a scanner for reading an image printed on the print medium, or the like. It is. In other words, by comparing the image indicated by the output information of the camera or scanner with the image indicated by the image data of the printed page, it is possible to identify missing dots or incorrect recording such as ink or toner as defective. It is.

The defective page information printing unit only needs to be able to print the defective page on the print medium on which the defective page is printed by controlling the defective page information printing unit. Data for printing the defective page may be output to the defective page information printing unit to execute printing. In addition, here, it is sufficient that the defective page information can be printed so that the defective page can be specified in the subsequent process, and the defective page information can be printed in various forms such as characters and symbols. In the present invention, the printing unit for printing each page and the defective page information printing unit for printing defective page information may be configured by the same mechanism or by different mechanisms. Furthermore, the defective page information can be printed at an arbitrary position on the print medium, for example,
It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the margin of the print medium (part other than the part constituting the page on the print medium) is the print position of the defective page information.

Furthermore, when a defective page occurs, it is preferable to reprint the defective page. That is, the reprinting control unit performs reimposition for printing the defective page, and causes the printing unit to perform reprinting based on the reimposition. Here, the reprint control unit impositions at least the defective page again, and imposes another page together with the defective page if necessary according to the printing conditions. Then, the impositioned defective page (including other pages when other pages are impositioned) is reprinted. As a result, even if a print defect occurs on a part or all of each page printed by imposing a plurality of pages on a print medium, a print result relating to the defective page can be obtained with appropriate imposition. it can. For example, if a page that has been impositioned to be printed with a specific binding method becomes a defective page, the printing position of the defective page on the print medium is limited depending on the binding method, and other pages may be reprinted. Re-imposition may be necessary for proper reprinting, such as when printing is required. Therefore, the defective page can be appropriately reprinted by performing reprinting by performing imposition for printing the defective page. Of course, when performing reprinting, necessary image processing may be performed as appropriate as in the case of the printing control means. In the printing unit, a mechanism for performing reprinting and a mechanism for performing initial printing before reprinting may be configured as a common mechanism or may be configured as separate mechanisms. The configuration can be adopted.

Furthermore, in a configuration in which pages are impositioned on both sides of a print medium, a configuration in which defective page information is printed on a later printed side of the both sides may be adopted. According to the configuration, in the configuration in which the print medium is transported so that one surface faces the printing unit, and the one surface is printed, the print medium is reversed and printing is performed on the other surface. The defective page information can be printed without any problem. Accordingly, the print medium transport mechanism can be simplified.

Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which defective page information is printed at a plurality of locations on the print medium. According to this configuration, the erroneous recognition rate of the defective page information can be reduced by reading the plurality of defective page information printed at the plurality of locations in the subsequent process. Further, when the configuration is such that at least one location of the defective page information is read in the subsequent process, the degree of freedom of installation of the reading means for the defective page information can be increased.

Further, in a configuration in which defective page information printed on a print medium is a symbol composed of a plurality of lines (for example, a barcode), the plurality of lines extend in a direction non-parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium. A configuration with a plurality of lines may be adopted. That is, in an ink jet method in which an image is printed by ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles, dots are not recorded in a direction parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium when ink clogging occurs in a specific nozzle.
So-called missing dots can occur. Therefore, if the plurality of lines constituting the defective page information are configured by straight lines oriented in the direction parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium, the line width may vary due to missing dots. In this case, the bad page information may not be printed accurately. Therefore, if defective page information is configured by a plurality of lines extending in a direction non-parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium, the configuration is such that proper defective page information is printed even when dot missing occurs. can do. Here, the plurality of lines constituting the defective page information may be non-parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium, may be perpendicular to the conveyance direction, or 0 ° with respect to the conveyance direction. You may comprise so that it may orientate so that it may cross | intersect at arbitrary angles (for example, 45 degrees) except for, and various structures are employable. Note that the defective page information may be a plurality of rectangles (for example,
(Two-dimensional barcode) may be used, and in this case, a configuration in which a rectangular side is not parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium can be employed.

Furthermore, it is possible to provide a printing system including a device that performs post-processing using defective page information. For example, in a configuration in which the print medium is cut into a printed matter for each page in a subsequent process, the defective page information printed on the print medium is read, and the printed matter obtained by cutting based on the read defective page information Alternatively, a good page other than a defective page may be selected. According to this configuration, in the subsequent process, it is possible to accurately remove defective pages based on defective page information and to select only good pages. Of course, the defective page is reprinted, and if the page after reprinting is a good page, the good page is selected. Further, the post-process is not limited to the cutting of the print medium and the sorting of the pages, and may include a sorter that sorts the sorted pages and a binding machine that binds (or binds) the sorted pages. The read defective page information may be used in any of the selector, sorter, and bookbinding machine.

Furthermore, the method of printing so that information on defective pages generated when imposing a plurality of pages on a single print medium as in the present invention can be used in a subsequent process can also be applied as a program or method. . Further, the print control apparatus, the program, and the method as described above may be realized as a single print control apparatus or may be realized by combining a plurality of apparatuses, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a print control apparatus, method, and program according to the present invention by cooperation of a computer and the print control apparatus. Further, some changes may be made as appropriate, such as a part of software and a part of hardware. Further, the present invention can be realized as a recording medium for a program for controlling the print control apparatus. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of print control apparatus:
(2) Print control processing:
(2-1) Printing example 1:
(2-2) Printing example 2:
(2-3) Printing example 3:
(2-4) Printing example 4:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of print control apparatus:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which a computer functions as the print control apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The print control apparatus 10 includes a control unit 20 including a RAM, a ROM, a CPU, and the like, and a program recorded in the ROM or the like can be executed by the control unit 20. In the present embodiment, the print control program 21 can be executed as one of the programs, and the print control program 21 imprints a page on a print medium as one of its functions and prints a defective page. In such a case, a function for printing defective page information indicating the defective page is provided.

Further, the print control apparatus 10 includes an interface (not shown) with an external device, and acquires image data 41 recorded on another computer, a recording medium, or the like via the interface. Furthermore, the print control apparatus 10 includes the printing unit 30 and the inspection unit 3 via the interface.
1 is connected. The printing unit 30 includes a print head 30a having a plurality of ink ejection nozzles.
And a transport unit 30b that transports the print medium P. The transport unit 30b can eject the ink from the ink ejection nozzles while transporting the print medium P to print an image. Note that the print head 30a in the present embodiment can eject ink over the entire length of the print medium P along the direction perpendicular to the transport direction D of the print medium P (the thick arrow shown in FIG. The conveyance path of the print medium P is shown). That is, the printing unit 30 performs printing by a method that does not scan in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print medium P. The inspection unit 31 is a reading device that acquires an image of the print medium P that is transported by the transport unit 30b. The printed image that shows the image of the print medium P by reading the print medium P that has been printed by the print head 30a. Get the data. The defective page information printing unit 33 can print on the printing medium P on the downstream side of the print head 30a and the inspection unit 31 (following the conveyance direction) on the conveyance path of the printing medium P. In place. In the present embodiment, the defective page information printing unit 33 is a mechanism that prints information indicating a defective page using a barcode symbol by an inkjet method.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, there is configured an apparatus that executes a post-process for binding a printed material after printing is performed with the above-described configuration. That is, a stacker 34 for accumulating a plurality of printed media, a cutter 35 that cuts the accumulated plurality of print media into a printed product for each page, and selecting a good page from each page obtained by the cutting. Selector 3
6. A sorter 37 that rearranges the selected pages in an order suitable for bookbinding, and a bookbinding machine 38 that binds the plurality of rearranged pages are configured. In this embodiment,
The cutter 35 is provided with a defective page information reading unit 35a, and the defective page information printed outside the margin of the print medium P can be read by the defective page information reading unit 35a before being cut by the cutter 35.

The print control apparatus 10 imposes a plurality of pages on the print medium based on the image data 41 indicating the images of the plurality of pages, generates print data for performing printing according to the imposition, and causes the printing unit 30 to perform printing. Output. The printing unit 30 performs printing based on the print data,
The inspection unit 31 outputs printed image data indicating the image of the printed print medium P. The print control apparatus 10 checks whether or not a defective page exists based on the printed image data,
When a defective page exists, defective page information indicating the defective page is printed on the print medium.
In addition, the defective page is re-imposed and reprinted. Further, in the subsequent process, the cutter 35 acquires the print medium accumulated in the stacker 34 and reads defective page information printed on each print medium. Then, the print medium is cut to acquire each page, and defective page information is transferred to the selector 36. The selector 36 selects a good page from each page based on the defective page information. The sorter 37 rearranges the pages in an appropriate order including the reprinted good pages, and the bookbinding machine 38 binds the rearranged pages. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily remove a defective page and extract a good page based on the defective page information in a post-printing process. In this embodiment, as will be described later, even after reprinting a defective page, it is determined whether the reprinted page is a defective page. If it is a defective page, defective page information is printed. To do. Therefore, if the defective page information printed on the print medium does not indicate the occurrence of a defective page, it can be determined that the page is a good page, and the good page may be extracted. Further, in the sorter 37, each page may be specified by specifying the page number of the good page based on the imposition rule (for example, imposing in order of increasing page number). Of course, it is possible to configure the bad page information to include information indicating the imposition position of the bad page, the imposition position of the good page, etc.
In this case, it is possible to select good pages based on the information.

(2) Print control processing:
The print processing of each page and the print processing of defective page information are realized by causing the control unit 20 to perform predetermined processing by the print control program 21. In the present embodiment, the print control program 21 includes the image data acquisition unit 21a. , An imposition processing unit 21b, a print control unit 21c, a defective page information acquisition unit 21d, a defective page information print control unit 21e, and a reprint control unit 21f. In the print control process, a print condition is specified in advance and the print process is started. The print condition is information indicating the size of the print medium, the size of each page printed on the print medium, the presence / absence of double-sided printing, the designation of the binding method, and the like.

When the printing process (see FIG. 2) is started, the control unit 20 acquires image data 41 indicating images of a plurality of pages by the process of the image data acquisition unit 21a (step S100), and the process of the imposition processing unit 21b. By imposing each page indicated by the image data 41 on the print medium (
Step S105). Here, in order to obtain a printed matter according to the printing conditions, it is sufficient that each page can be imposed on the print medium, and the imposition is performed by a known algorithm.
As a result, information indicating the position and orientation on the print medium is generated for each of the plurality of print target pages included in the image data 41.

Next, the control unit 20 generates print data for causing the printing unit 30 to execute printing according to the imposition by the processing of the print control unit 21c (step S110). In this embodiment,
The print control unit 21c includes modules of an image adjustment unit 21c1, a color conversion processing unit 21c2, and a halftone processing unit 21c3, and print data is generated by these modules.

More specifically, by the processing of the image adjustment unit 21c1, the control unit 20 generates image data for printing according to the above-described imposition, which is printing according to printing conditions (resolution, etc.). That is, the control unit 20 associates a pixel plane having the number of pixels corresponding to the print resolution with a single print medium P, and performs interpolation processing based on the image data 41, whereby each pixel on the pixel plane is processed. The gradation value is determined and the image data is generated. At this time, the pixels constituting each page are arranged on the pixel plane so that each page is printed according to the imposition, and the gradation value of each pixel is determined. If necessary, sharpness enhancement processing for improving the image quality of the printed material is also performed.

The data generated by the processing of the image adjustment unit 21c1 is data expressed in the RGB color system, the YCC color system, or the like, and the control unit 20 performs RG by the processing of the color conversion processing unit 21c2.
The color system of data expressed in the B color system, the YCC color system, or the like is converted into an ink color system that uses ink colors as color components. Further, the control unit 20 performs the processing of the halftone processing unit 21c3 on the basis of the data after color conversion described above, and the amount of ink to be recorded in each pixel constituting each page (whether ink is ejected or per ink droplet). Ink amount) is generated.

When the print data is generated in step S110, the control unit 20 causes the printing unit 30 to perform printing (step S115). That is, the control unit 20 outputs print data to the printing unit 30 by the process of the print control unit 21c. When the print unit 30 acquires the print data, it performs a process of sequentially ejecting ink according to the ink discharge amount at each ink discharge nozzle indicated by the print data, and prints each page on the print medium P. In step S115, the control unit 20 records the print data on the recording medium 22 (print data 22a).

When printing is performed by the printing unit 30, the printed print medium P is sequentially conveyed to the reading range of the inspection unit 31 by the conveyance unit 30b. At this time, the inspection unit 31 reads the printed surface of the print medium P and outputs printed image data indicating the read result to the print control apparatus 10. The control unit 20 acquires defective page information indicating a defective page based on the image data by the processing of the defective page information acquisition unit 21d (step S120). That is, since the printed image data corresponds to the print result for the print medium P, the control unit 2
0 compares the image indicated by the printed image data with the image indicated by the print data,
It is determined whether or not a defect (for example, missing dots or incorrect ink recording) has occurred in the print result indicated by the printed image data. If a defect has occurred, the page on which the defect has occurred is defined as a defective page, and defective page information 22b indicating the defective page is recorded on the recording medium 22.

When the defective page information is acquired, the control unit 20 prints the defective page information by the processing of the defective page information print control unit 21e (step S122). That is, the control unit 20
Refers to the defective page information 22b, identifies a defective page on the printed print medium P, and generates print data for printing a symbol indicating the defective page outside the margin of the print medium P. Then, the print data is output to the defective page information printing unit 33, and the symbol is printed on the defective page information printing unit 33. In the present embodiment, the defective page information printed on the print medium P is configured by a barcode symbol, and the barcode symbol indicating the page number of the defective page is printed outside the area of the print medium P. Of course, the bad page information includes other information,
For example, various information such as information indicating the presence / absence of a defective page, information indicating the type of defect, and information indicating a position where the defective page is imposed can be included.

Next, the print control unit 21c determines whether printing has been completed for all pages included in the image data 41 (step S125), and steps until it is determined that printing has been completed for all pages. The processes after S110 are repeated. If it is determined in step S125 that printing has been completed for all pages, the control unit 20 determines whether or not a printing failure has occurred by the process of the reprint control unit 21f (step S130). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the recording medium 22 and determines that a printing defect has occurred when the defective page information 22b indicating that any page is defective is recorded on the recording medium 22. If it is not determined in step S130 that a printing failure has occurred, the printing control process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S130 that a printing failure has occurred, the control unit 20
By the process of the reprint control unit 21f, the defective page is reimposed (step S135), and the processes after step S110 are repeated (reprinting the defective page is performed). That is, the control unit 20 identifies the defective page with reference to the defective page information 22b, and determines the layout on the print medium so that printing corresponding to the above-described printing condition is performed for the defective page. To do. At this time, information indicating the position and orientation of the reimpositioned defective page on the print medium is generated.

In this embodiment, in step S110 repeated after the re-imposition, print data for generating printing based on the re-imposition is generated by diverting the print data 22a already recorded on the recording medium 22. That is, defective page data (data after halftone processing) is extracted from the print data 22a generated for the first printing, and after the halftone processing is performed on the pixel plane according to the imposition described above. Rearrange data. When the rearrangement of the defective page on one print medium is completed, in step S115, print data after re-imposition composed of the halftone processing data after the rearrangement is generated, and the printing unit 3
Output for 0. That is, reprinting is performed. Further, if a defective page occurs on the reprinted page, defective page information indicating the defective page is printed. Then, steps S110 to S125 are repeated until the reprinting of the defective page is completed.

According to the above processing, even if a printing defect occurs in a part or all of each page printed by imposing a plurality of pages on the printing medium, the defective page is reimposed on the printing medium. Therefore, an appropriate print result can be obtained when reprinting a defective page. In addition, it is possible to easily perform processing in a later process by using defective page information.

(2-1) Printing example 1:
Next, an example of printing in the above processing will be described. FIG. 3 shows a printing example when imposing four pages on one side of the print medium and printing a total of 16 pages. In FIG. 3, each print medium P is indicated by a rectangle, and each page is indicated by four rectangles in the rectangle. Also, a numerical value indicating the page number of each page is appended in a rectangle indicating each page. Further, for each print medium P, the subscript character f indicates initial printing, the next numerical value of the character f indicates the serial number of the print medium at the time of initial printing, the subscript character r indicates reprinting, and the character r The next numerical value indicates the serial number of the print medium at the time of reprinting.

That is, in this example, when printing for the first time, a total of four pages on each of four print media, a total of 16 pages.
An example is shown in which pages are impositioned and printed, and reprinting is performed once. Further, in FIG. 3, the occurrence of a defective page is indicated by adding x in the rectangle indicating the page,
The example shown in FIG. 3 indicates that page numbers 1, 5, 9, and 13 were defective pages in the initial printing. That is, in the process shown in FIG. 2, imposition is performed as shown in the print media P _{f1 to} P _f4 in FIG. 3 in step S105, and print data for executing printing according to the imposition is generated in step S110. In step S115, initial printing is performed. Here, as a result, it is assumed that each page is printed as shown in FIG. 3, and the page numbers 1, 5, 9, and 13 are defective pages.

In this case, defective page information is printed on each print medium P in steps S120 and S122. That is, defective page information I ₁ indicating that page number 1 is a defective page is printed _outside the margin of the print medium P _f1 (in the example shown in FIG. 3, the lower left of the print medium). Similarly, defective page information I ₂ indicating that page number 5 is a defective page is print medium P _f2 , and defective page information I ₃ indicating that page number 9 is a defective page is print medium P _f3 , page number 13. is defective page information I ₄ indicating that is printed in the margin of the printing medium P _f4 is defective page.

Furthermore, it is determined that there is a defective page through the determination in steps S125 and S130,
In step S135, the defective page is re-imposed. In the example shown in FIG. 3, page numbers 1, 5, 9, and 13 are reimposed. Since this example is single-sided printing, re-imposition is performed in a state where each page is packed as shown in the print medium _Pr1 . Steps S110 and S11
In step 5, reprinting is performed. As a result, as shown in FIG.
, It is possible to obtain a print medium P _r1 of 5, 9 and 13 are printed. If the reprinted page is not a defective page, as shown in FIG. 3, the defective page information is not printed on the reprinted print medium _Pr1 , and if the reprinted page is a defective page, the print medium is printed. Bad page information is printed in P _r1 .

(2-2) Printing example 2:
FIG. 4 shows an example of printing when imposing four pages on each of both sides of the print medium and printing a total of 16 pages. In FIG. 4, the meanings of the rectangles, numbers, and subscripts in the figure are the same as those in FIG. 3, and the same applies to the subsequent figures. In this example, since printing is performed on both sides of the printing medium P, the printing unit 30 is configured so that printing on both sides can be performed, and the inspection unit 31 is configured so that printing results on both sides can be inspected. To do. For example, as shown in parentheses in FIG. 1, the printing unit 30 includes a print medium reversing unit 32.
The printing medium P once printed by the printing unit 30 is conveyed to the printing medium reversing unit 32, and after being reversed by the printing medium reversing unit 32, the printing medium P is further conveyed to the print head 30a. . The configuration other than the print medium reversing unit 32 is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and the processing is almost the same as the processing shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, a total of 16 pages on each side of a total of two sheets of printing media are printed for the first printing.
An example is shown in which pages are impositioned and printed, and reprinting is performed once. In this example, it is assumed that page numbers 1, 3, 13, and 16 are defective pages in the initial printing. In step S122 in the present embodiment, defective page information is printed as necessary only after the back side is printed. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the defective page information I ₁ indicating that the page numbers 1 and 3 are defective pages is the print medium P _f1.
Printed on the backside of Similarly, defective page information I ₂ indicating that the page numbers 13 and 16 are defective pages is printed outside the margin on the back side of the print medium P _f2 . Furthermore, step S1
At 35, re-imposition is performed for pages numbered 1, 3, 13, and 16. However, since the printing condition of this example is double-sided printing, both the front and back of the defective page are imposed on the print medium. For example, in FIG. 4, page numbers 1, 3, 13 which are defective pages on the front surface of the print medium P _r1 .
The page number 15 corresponding to the back of the page number 16 that is a defective page is impositioned on the front side. Further, the page numbers 2, 4, 14, and 16 corresponding to the back surfaces of the page numbers 1, 3, 13, and 15 are imposed on the back surface of the print medium in association with each page number. When impositioning is performed as described above, the page imprinted in steps S110 to S125 is reprinted. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, even if one of both sides is a defective page, it is possible to perform imposition and perform printing so that proper double-sided printing is performed.

(2-3) Printing example 3:
Further, the defective page information may be printed at a plurality of locations outside the print medium. FIG. 5A shows an example in which imposition for four pages is performed on the print medium, and defective page information is printed at four locations (four corners in the example shown in FIG. 5A). In this example, the defective page information printing unit 33 is arranged at a position where the defective page information can be printed at the four corners of the print medium after the inspection by the inspection unit 31 is completed. Then, in step S122 shown in FIG. 2, defective page information is sequentially printed on the four corners of the print medium. The defective page reading unit 35a is configured to be able to read defective page information printed at the four corners of the print medium, and reads defective page information at each position.
If the pages indicated by the read defective page information are the same, the page is specified as a defective page. If the pages are not the same, the determination result based on the defective page information is adopted by majority. According to this configuration, it is possible to specify a defective page with higher accuracy.
The defective page information is preferably expressed by a symbol that can perform error correction, and the defective page information is configured by adopting the symbol that performs the error correction and printing the defective page information at a plurality of positions. Can be set to a very low value.

(2-4) Printing example 4:
Furthermore, it is good also as a structure which prints defective page information in the aspect which is hard to be influenced by the defect which generate | occur | produces in the inkjet printing part 30. That is, when ink clogging occurs in the ink discharge nozzles provided in the print head 30a, dots are not recorded in a direction parallel to the transport direction of the print medium P. However, if ink clogging occurs in a specific nozzle and ink can be ejected normally by the adjacent nozzle or neighboring nozzles, dot missing on a thin line occurs in a direction parallel to the conveyance direction of the print medium P Just do it. Therefore, the direction in which the straight lines constituting the bar code symbol extend may be configured to be non-parallel to the print medium conveyance direction. FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a configuration example in the case of printing a bar code symbol configured by a straight line extending in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction D of the print medium P _f1 .

FIG. 5B shows an example in which imposition for four pages is performed on the print medium, and defective page information is printed at four locations (four corners in the example shown in FIG. 5B). Furthermore, in this example:
Since the straight line constituting the bar code symbol is perpendicular to the conveyance direction D, even if the dot omission occurs, a part of the straight line constituting the bar code symbol becomes defective and the dot omission occurs over the entire length of the straight line. There is nothing. Therefore, according to this configuration, it is possible to print defective page information in a more reliable state. Of course, the defective page information shown in FIG. 5B is not necessarily printed at a plurality of locations on the print medium, and may be configured to be printed at one location.

Furthermore, the configuration for suppressing the deterioration in reliability of defective page information due to missing dots is not limited to FIG. 5B, and a configuration as shown in FIG. 5C in which the defective page information shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B is mixed is adopted. May be. Further, it is not essential that the straight line of the barcode is formed so as to be perpendicular to the conveyance direction D of the print medium P. As shown in FIG. 5D, each straight line is 45 ° with respect to the conveyance direction D. You may comprise so that it may face the direction of.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and information on defective pages generated when a plurality of pages are imposed on a single print medium can be printed so that it can be used in a subsequent process. Insofar as various other embodiments are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the main scanning is not performed in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print medium by the print head 30a of the printing unit 30, but the present invention is of course configured to perform the main scanning. May be applied. Even in this case, as long as dot dropout occurs in a straight line parallel to the print medium conveyance direction, it is non-parallel to the print medium conveyance direction as shown in FIGS. 5B to 5D. By configuring the defective page information with a barcode formed by oriented straight lines, it is possible to print the defective page information with high reliability.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the defective page information is configured by the bar code symbol. However, the defective page information may be configured by other modes (for example, characters).
For example, you may comprise by a character. In addition, an RFID chip is attached to the print medium,
A configuration in which defective page information is written in the RFID may be adopted. Furthermore, the printing unit and the defective page information printing unit only need to be able to print the image indicated by the image data, and constitute a printing unit that performs electrophotographic printing including a mechanism for fixing toner in addition to the inkjet method. Alternatively, a printing unit that performs other types of printing may be configured.

Further, the process of using the defective page information is not limited to the selector 36, and can be used in various processes. For example, a defective page is identified based on the defective page information, and the stacker 34
In this case, it may be configured not to accumulate a print medium composed only of defective pages. Further, the cutter 35 is configured not to cut a print medium composed only of defective pages, and it is meaningless to cut between these defective pages on a print medium in which continuous defective pages exist. In some cases, a configuration that saves cutting can be adopted. further,
The configuration is not limited to the configuration for removing the defective page, and a configuration may be adopted in which a defective page is extracted and a print medium on which the defective page is printed is reused when no show-through occurs on the back surface of the defective page. Further, it may be configured to determine whether or not to reuse the print medium depending on the cause of the defect included in the defective page information.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print control apparatus. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating print control processing. It is a figure which shows the example of printing. It is a figure which shows the example of printing. It is a figure which shows the example of printing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Print control apparatus, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Print control program, 21a ... Image data acquisition part, 21b ... Processing part, 21c ... Print control part, 21c1 ... Image adjustment part, 21c2 ... Color conversion process part, 21c3 ... Halftone processing unit, 21d ... defective page information acquisition unit, 21e ... defective page information print control unit, 21f ... reprint control unit, 22 ... recording medium, 22a ... print data, 22b ... defective page information, 30 ... printing unit, 30a ... Print head, 30b ... Conveying section, 31
... inspection unit, 32 ... print medium reversing unit, 33 ... defective page information printing unit, 34 ... stacker, 35 ... cutter, 35a ... defective page information reading unit, 36 ... selector, 37 ... sorter, 38 ... bookbinding machine, 41 ... image data

Claims (8)

Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data indicating images of a plurality of pages;
Imposition processing means for imposing a plurality of pages on a print medium based on the image data;
Print control means for causing the printing unit to perform printing according to the imposition;
Defective page information acquisition means for acquiring defective page information indicating a defective page based on output information of an inspection unit that inspects the print medium after printing;
A defective page information printing control means for controlling a defective page information printing unit for printing the defective page information and printing the defective page information on a print medium on which the defective page is printed;
A printing control apparatus comprising: Reprint control means for performing re-imposition for printing the defective page based on the defective page information and causing the printing unit to perform re-printing based on the re-imposition;
The print control apparatus according to claim 1. The imposition processing means imposing the page on both sides of the print medium;
The defective page information printing control means prints the defective page information on a surface printed later among the both surfaces.
The print control apparatus according to claim 1. The defective page information print control unit causes the defective page information to be printed at a plurality of locations on a print medium on which the defective page is printed.
The printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The defective page information printed on the print medium is a symbol indicating the defective page by a plurality of lines extending in a direction non-parallel to the transport direction of the print medium.
The printing control apparatus in any one of Claims 1-4. A printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
Defective page information reading means for reading the defective page information printed on the print medium;
Cutting means for cutting the print medium into printed matter for each page;
Based on the read defective page information, a selecting unit that selects a page other than the defective page from the printed matter for each of the cut pages;
A printing system comprising: An image data acquisition step of acquiring image data indicating images of a plurality of pages;
An imposition processing step of imposing a plurality of the pages on a print medium based on the image data;
A printing control step for causing the printing unit to execute printing according to the imposition;
A defective page information acquisition step of acquiring defective page information indicating a defective page based on output information of an inspection unit that inspects the print medium after printing;
Controlling a defective page information printing unit for printing the defective page information, a plurality of portions extending in a direction non-parallel to the transport direction of the print medium at a plurality of locations on the print medium on which the defective page is printed A defective page information printing control step for printing the defective page information constituted by lines;
Based on the defective page information, performing a re-imposition for printing the defective page, and causing the printing unit to perform re-printing based on the re-imposition,
A printing control method. An image data acquisition function for acquiring image data indicating images of a plurality of pages;
An imposition processing function for imposing a plurality of the pages on a print medium based on the image data;
A print control function for causing the printing unit to execute printing according to the imposition;
A defective page information acquisition function for acquiring defective page information indicating a defective page based on output information of an inspection unit that inspects the print medium after printing;
Controlling a defective page information printing unit for printing the defective page information, a plurality of portions extending in a direction non-parallel to the transport direction of the print medium at a plurality of locations on the print medium on which the defective page is printed A defective page information print control function for printing the defective page information configured by lines;
A reprint control function for performing re-imposition for printing the defective page based on the defective page information, and causing the printing unit to perform re-printing based on the re-imposition;
A print control program that causes a computer to realize

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