JP2010023398A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus which does not output partitioning paper in the case when the boundary of printed matters of two kinds of printing jobs can visually be distinguished. <P>SOLUTION: The printing apparatus has a printing job receiving part for receiving the printing job from an external apparatus, a printing job processing part for converting the printing job into bit map data, an image forming part for forming an image based on the bit map data, a printing condition holding part for holding the printing condition of the printing job, a partitioning paper output-determining part for comparing the printing condition related to the printing job with the next printing condition and determining whether outputting of the partitioning paper is necessary or not, and a partitioning printing job holding part for holding a printing job to be printed on the partitioning paper from the printing condition. When it is determined by the partitioning paper output-determining part that outputting of the partitioning paper is necessary, the image forming part performs printing of the partitioning printing job when the printing job is printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of printing input image data on the front and back surfaces of a recording medium.

  Conventional printing apparatuses such as printers, copiers, facsimile machines, and electrophotographic color recording apparatuses are connected to a network and shared by a plurality of people. May be placed.

  Therefore, in order to make it easy to take out a desired printed matter, a partition sheet is printed between a print job that is printed first and a print job that is printed later, so that the printed matter printed earlier and the printed matter printed later are printed. There is a technique for clarifying the boundary (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-11-147349

  However, in the above-described configuration, the partition paper is output every time one print job is printed, so that there is a problem that a lot of partition paper and toner are consumed.

  Therefore, in view of the above-described technical problem, the present invention is configured such that when two types of print jobs are continuously printed, the boundary between the printed materials related to the two types of print jobs placed on the paper discharge tray is the shape of the paper. Alternatively, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that can reduce the number of partition sheets by not outputting the partition sheets when it can be easily discriminated visually by the difference in the layout of the sheets.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a printing apparatus according to the present invention converts a print job receiving unit that receives a print job from an external device, and a print job received by the print job receiving unit into printable bitmap data. A print job processing unit, an image forming unit that forms an image on a predetermined surface of a medium based on the bitmap data, a printing condition holding unit that holds printing conditions of a print job input to the image forming unit, A partition paper output determination unit that determines whether or not it is necessary to output partition paper by comparing the print condition of the print job held in the print condition holding unit with the print condition of the next input print job; A partition print job holding unit that holds a print job to be printed on the partition sheet based on the printing conditions held in the condition holding unit, and the image forming unit includes the partition sheet When it is determined that the output of the partition sheet is necessary by the force determination unit, when the print job received from the external device is printed, the partition print job held in the partition print job holding unit is printed. It is characterized by that.

  According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, when printing two types of print jobs in succession, the print paper setting of the print job input first is compared with the print paper setting of the print job input later, When the boundary between the printed materials related to the two types of print jobs placed on the paper discharge tray can be easily discriminated visually by the difference in the shape of the paper or the layout of the paper, the partition paper is not output. Therefore, partition paper can be reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to a printing apparatus of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The printing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the following description, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[First Embodiment]
The printer of this embodiment includes a printer engine 1, a controller 70, and a printer engine control unit 90. First, the printer engine 1 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a printer engine 1 provided in the printer, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of an image forming unit 30 provided in the printer engine 1.

  The printer engine 1 includes a paper feeding unit 10 that takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper feeding tray 4 and conveys the recording medium 5 to the transfer belt 23, an image forming unit 20 that forms a toner image based on image information and transfers the toner image to the recording medium 5, and the recording medium 5. The fixing unit 40 that melts and presses and fixes the toner image transferred to the sheet, the discharge unit 50 that discharges the recording medium 5 on which the toner image is fixed to the discharge tray 57, and the recording medium 5 that performs duplex printing are reversed. And a double-sided printing unit 60 for re-conveying to the image forming unit 20. The sheet conveyance path 2 is a substantially S-shaped path through which the recording medium 5 is conveyed in the paper supply unit 10, the image forming unit 20, the fixing unit 40, and the discharge unit 50. Similarly, the sheet reverse conveyance path 3 is a substantially arcuate path through which the recording medium 5 is conveyed in the duplex printing unit 60. Hereinafter, first, each component member arranged in the paper conveyance path 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and then each component member arranged in the paper reversal conveyance path 3 will be described. This will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  The paper supply unit 10 takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper supply tray 4 and conveys it to the transfer belt 23. The paper feeding unit 10 includes a hopping roller 11, a pressure roller 12, a registration roller 13, a pressure roller 14, and a registration roller 15. Hereinafter, each component constituting the paper feed unit 10 and the paper feed tray 4 that stores the recording medium 5 will be described. The recording medium 5 is a recording paper having a predetermined size for developing monochrome or color image information, and is generally made of paper such as recycled paper, glossy paper, and high-quality paper, or an OHP film. The paper feed tray 4 stores a plurality of recording media 5 in a stacked manner, and supplies the recording media 5 into the printer engine 1 when a printing operation is started. The paper feed tray 4 is configured to be detachable from the printer engine 1. Further, the hopping roller 11 rotates in a state where it is pressed against the recording medium 5 stacked and stored in the paper feed tray 4 to thereby remove the recording medium 5 taken out from the paper feed tray 4 one by one. 12 and the registration roller 13. In addition, the pressure roller 12 and the registration roller 13 are arranged to face each other with the conveyed recording medium 5 interposed therebetween, and the pressure roller 12 pressurized by the registration roller 13 is rotated to rotate the pressure roller 12 and the registration roller 13 obliquely. The sheet is conveyed to the pressure roller 14 and the registration roller 15 while taking off. Further, the pressure roller 14 and the registration roller 15 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 that has been conveyed, and the pressure roller 14 pressed by the registration roller 15 is rotated so that the recording medium 5 is inclined. The image is conveyed to a suction roller 21 and a suction roller 22 provided in an image forming unit 20 (to be described later) while taking a line.

  The image forming unit 20 includes an image forming unit 30 that forms a toner image based on image information, and a suction roller 21 that is a component for transferring the recording medium 5 to the image forming unit 30 and transferring the toner image. A suction roller 22, a transfer belt 23, a drive roller 24, an idle roller 25, and a transfer roller 26 are included. Hereinafter, in each component constituting the image forming unit 20, the image forming unit 30 will be described first, and then each transfer member will be described.

  First, image forming units 30K, 30Y, 30M, and 30C that print on the recording medium 5 based on image information corresponding to each of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan colors provided in the image forming unit 30. Will be described. The image forming units 30K, 30Y, 30M, and 30C are arranged in the order of the conveyance direction of the recording medium 5 in the sheet conveyance path 2, respectively. The image forming units 30K, 30Y, 30M, and 30C are referred to as the image forming unit 30 because they have substantially the same configuration. The image forming unit 30 includes a photosensitive drum 31 that carries an electrostatic latent image based on image information, a charging roller 32 that stores charges on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31, and light corresponding to the image information. An LED head 33 provided on the main body of the printer engine 1 that irradiates the surface of the toner, a toner cartridge 35 that contains toner 34 as a developer, a toner supply roller 36 that supplies the toner 34 to the developing roller 37, and a photosensitive drum. A developing roller 37 that develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface 31 with the toner 34, a developing blade 38 that regulates the thickness of the toner 34 carried on the developing roller 37 to be uniform, and the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 31 It comprises a cleaning blade 39 that scrapes 34. Further, the image forming unit 30 is detachably attached to the printer engine 1. Hereinafter, each component provided in the image forming unit 30 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  The photosensitive drum 31 is an image carrier on which a developer image is formed, and is configured to be able to store charges on the surface in order to carry an electrostatic latent image based on image information. Note that the photosensitive drum 31 includes a cylindrical portion and is rotatably provided. In such a photosensitive drum 31, a photosensitive layer made of a photoconductive layer and a charge transport layer is formed on a conductive base layer made of aluminum or the like. Further, the charging roller 32 applies a predetermined positive voltage or negative voltage to the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 using a power source (not shown), so that charges are uniformly stored on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31. Is for. The charging roller 32 is provided so as to be rotatable while contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 with a constant pressure. Such a charging roller 32 is configured by coating a conductive metal shaft with a semiconductive rubber such as silicone. An LED (Light Emitting Diode) head 33 is configured to irradiate the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 with light corresponding to image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. And provided in the main body of the printer engine 1 so as to be positioned above the photosensitive drum 31. Such an LED head 33 is composed of, for example, a combination of a plurality of LED elements, a lens array, and LED driving elements. The toner cartridge 35 is a container that stores toner 34 as a developer, and is mounted above the toner supply roller 36. For example, the toner cartridge 35 is formed of a rectangular portion having a substantially circular side surface and long in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the recording medium 5. The toner cartridge 35 is configured to be detachable so as to be replaced when the toner 34 is consumed by the printing operation.

  The toner supply roller 36 is provided so that the toner 34 can be supplied to the developing roller 37 by contacting the developing roller 37 while rotating. Such a toner supply roller 36 is configured by, for example, covering a conductive metal shaft with rubber added with a foaming agent. The developing roller 37 is configured to be rotatable while contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 with a constant pressure. The developing roller 37 conveys the toner 34 to the photosensitive drum 31 while rotating, and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 with the toner 34. Such a developing roller 37 is formed of a cylindrical portion, and is configured by covering a conductive metal shaft with a semiconductive urethane rubber material or the like. Further, the developing blade 38 is provided such that the tip thereof is in contact with the surface of the developing roller 37, and scrapes off the toner 34 exceeding a certain amount while being supplied from the toner supply roller 36 to the surface of the developing roller 37. Thus, the thickness of the toner 34 formed on the surface of the developing roller 37 is regulated to be always uniform. Such a developing blade 38 is formed of a plate-like elastic member such as stainless steel. The cleaning blade 39 is formed from a plate-like portion made of a rubber material or the like, and scrapes off the toner 34 remaining on the photosensitive drum 31 after the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 31 is transferred to the recording medium 5. For this purpose, the tip of the cleaning blade 39 is disposed so as to contact the surface of the photosensitive drum 31.

  Next, each transfer member provided in the image forming unit 30 will be described. The transfer member includes an adsorption roller 21, an adsorption roller 22, a transfer belt 23, a drive roller 24, an idle roller 25, and a transfer roller 26. Hereinafter, each transfer member will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The suction roller 21 and the suction roller 22 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the pressure roller 14 and the registration roller 15 provided in the paper feeding unit 10, and are attached to the rotation of the suction roller 21. The recording medium 5 is electrostatically adsorbed to the transfer belt 23 by energizing the suction roller 22 to follow. The transfer belt 23 is a conveying unit for conveying the recording medium 5 into the image forming unit 30 to develop image information. The transfer belt 23 holds image information by the toner 34 on the peripheral surface of the transfer belt 23, and This is an endless belt capable of electrostatically attracting the recording medium 5. The drive roller 24 and the idle roller 25 are provided at both ends of the endless transfer belt 23 and apply a certain tension to the transfer belt 23. Further, the drive roller 24 and the idle roller 25 are formed of members made of high friction resistance. When the drive roller 24 is rotated by a drive system (not shown), the idle roller 25 is rotated in accordance with the rotation of the drive roller 24, thereby driving the transfer belt 23 in conjunction with the drive roller 24. The transfer roller 26 is positioned below the photosensitive drum 31 and is rotatably provided in a state where the transfer roller 26 and the photosensitive drum 31 are in contact with each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5. A bias voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging of the toner 34 is supplied to such a transfer roller 26, and the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 31 is transferred to the recording medium 5. As described above, the black, yellow, magenta, and cyan colors based on the image information in the process of transporting the recording medium 5 electrostatically attracted to the transfer belt 23 to the image forming units 30K, 30Y, 30M, and 30C. By developing the toner images of the respective colors on the recording medium 5, the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed on the recording medium 5.

  The fixing unit 40 melts and presses the toner image transferred to the recording medium 5 to fix it. The fixing unit 40 includes a fixing roller 41 and a pressure roller 42. Hereinafter, each constituent member constituting the fixing unit 40 will be described. The fixing roller 41 and the pressure roller 42 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed by the transfer belt 23, and fix the toner image transferred to the recording medium 5. Specifically, the fixing roller 41 and the pressure roller 42 have elastic surfaces and are formed from a cylindrical portion, and a heater such as a halogen lamp is disposed inside the cylindrical portion. Such a fixing roller 41 and a pressure roller 42 dissolve the toner image adhering to the recording medium 5 only with a weak electrostatic force, and then fix the toner image to the recording medium 5 by the pressure of the pressure roller 42. Let The pressure roller 42 is driven by being biased by the rotation of the fixing roller 41.

  The discharge unit 50 discharges the recording medium 5 on which the toner image is fixed to the discharge tray 57. The discharge unit 50 includes a path switching roller 51, a path switching roller 52, a transport roller 53, a transport roller 54, a discharge roller 55, a discharge roller 56, and a paper discharge tray 57. Hereinafter, each structural member which comprises the discharge part 50 is demonstrated. The path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the fixing unit 40. A medium passage detection sensor (not shown) is disposed between the fixing unit 40 and the path switching roller 51. Similarly, a path switching separator (not shown) is disposed between the path switching roller 51 and the transport roller 53. Here, when printing is performed only on one side of the recording medium 5, the path switching separator does not operate, and the path switching roller 52 is driven by energizing the rotation of the path switching roller 51 to be conveyed from the fixing unit 40. The recorded recording medium 5 is conveyed to the conveyance roller 53 and the conveyance roller 54. On the other hand, when performing double-sided printing, when the medium passage detection sensor detects the recording medium 5, the path switching separator operates to urge the rotation of the path switching roller 51 to follow the path switching roller 52, thereby fixing. The recording medium 5 conveyed from the section 40 is conveyed to the sheet reversing roller 61 and the sheet reversing roller 62 in the sheet reversing conveyance path 3. Further, the conveyance roller 53 and the conveyance roller 54 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52, and are conveyed by being urged by the rotation of the conveyance roller 53. By moving the roller 54, the recording medium 5 is discharged to the discharge roller 55 and the discharge roller 56. The discharge roller 55 and the discharge roller 56 are disposed to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the conveyance roller 53 and the conveyance roller 54, and are urged by the rotation of the discharge roller 55 to discharge the discharge roller 56. Is driven to discharge the recording medium 5 to the paper discharge tray 57. The paper discharge tray 57 is a storage space for stacking and storing the recording medium 5 that has been ejected after printing image information.

  The duplex printing unit 60 inverts the recording medium 5 on which duplex printing is performed and transports the recording medium 5 again to the image forming unit 20. The duplex printing unit 60 includes a sheet reversing roller 61, a sheet reversing roller 62, a driving roller 63, a driven roller 64, a driving roller 65, a driven roller 66, a driving roller 67, and a driven roller 68. Hereinafter, each component constituting the double-sided printing unit 60 will be described. The sheet reversing roller 61 and the sheet reversing roller 62 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52 provided in the discharge unit 50. A medium passage detection sensor (not shown) and a path switching separator (not shown) are disposed between the path switching roller 51 and the paper reversing roller 61. When the recording medium 5 is conveyed from the path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52, the medium passage detection sensor detects it, and the paper reversing roller 62 is driven by energizing the rotation of the sheet reversing roller 61. The recording medium 5 is once drawn into the reversing unit 3A in the paper reversing conveyance path 3. After the recording medium 5 is drawn into the reversing unit 3A, the path switching separator is operated, and the paper reversing roller 61 is rotated in the reverse direction, whereby the driving roller 63 and the driven roller 64 provided on the conveying unit 3B. Transport to. Note that double-sided printing is possible because the front and back of the recording medium 5 are reversed by the above-described operation. Further, the driving roller 63 and the driven roller 64 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the paper reversing roller 61 and the paper reversing roller 62, and are driven by being energized by the rotation of the driving roller 63. By moving the roller 64, the recording medium 5 is conveyed to the driving roller 65 and the driven roller 66. Further, the driving roller 65 and the driven roller 66 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the driving roller 63 and the driven roller 64, and are energized by the rotation of the driving roller 65 to follow the driven roller 66. , The recording medium 5 is conveyed to the driving roller 67 and the driven roller 68. Further, the driving roller 67 and the driven roller 68 are arranged to face each other so as to sandwich the recording medium 5 conveyed from the driving roller 65 and the driven roller 66, and are energized by the rotation of the driving roller 67 to follow the driven roller 68. The recording medium 5 is conveyed to the suction roller 21 and the suction roller 22 provided in the image forming unit 20.

  Next, control of the printer engine 1 will be described. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram relating to the control of the printer engine 1, FIG. 4 shows an example of print job data, and FIG. 5 shows a print example of partition print job data.

  The printer issues a command to the printer engine control unit 90 from the controller unit 70 including a microprocessor, ROM, RAM, input / output port, timer, and the like, and the image information is recorded on the recording medium 5 based on the control of the printer engine control unit 90. The printer engine 1 for printing is operated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 70 includes a print job receiving unit 71, a print job buffer 72, a partition sheet output determining unit 73, a print sheet setting storage unit 74, a partition print job storage unit 75, a partition print job selector 76, And a print job processing unit 77. In the print paper setting relating to the print job data shown in FIG. 4, the paper size is A4 or A3, the paper orientation is Short Edge or Long Edge, the paper discharge orientation is face up or face down, and the print surface Can select duplex printing or single-sided printing. Hereinafter, each component constituting the controller 70 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.

  The print job receiving unit 71 is an interface that receives print job data from an external device (not shown) such as a network and USB. The print job buffer 72 is a buffer for temporarily storing print job data received by the print job receiving unit 71. Further, the partition paper output determination unit 73 extracts the print paper setting relating to the print paper from the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72, and is stored in the extracted print paper setting and the print paper setting storage unit 74. It is determined whether or not it is necessary to output the partition paper by comparing the print paper setting. The partition paper output determination unit 73 compares the paper size and the paper orientation among the print paper settings added to the print job data. Comparing the paper size and the paper orientation, even when two print jobs with different paper sizes or different paper orientations are printed in succession, the paper discharge tray 57 is changed based on the difference in paper shape or arrangement. The boundary between the two types of discharged print jobs can be determined. Therefore, even when print jobs having different paper sizes or paper orientations are printed continuously, there is no need to output partition paper between the print jobs. The printing paper setting storage unit 74 is a printing condition holding unit, and stores the printing paper setting extracted from the print job data based on the determination result in the partition paper output determination unit 73 as a new printing paper setting. The partition print job storage unit 75 is a partition print job holding unit, and stores print job data to be printed on a partition sheet.

  Here, the setting conditions of the partition print job data for the printer engine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The setting condition relating to the print job data is that the paper discharge direction is face-down and double-sided printing is enabled. With the print settings as described above, when printing two types of print jobs in succession, no matter what combination is specified for the orientation of the paper discharge surface and the print surface for each print job, By simply looking at the top surface of the recording medium 5 output to the paper tray 57, the boundary of the print job can be easily determined. Further, after picking up a plurality of recording media 5 placed on the paper discharge tray 57 and taking out only the recording media 5 printed by himself, the other recording media 5 printed by another person are turned upside down. Even when the paper is returned to the paper discharge tray 57, the printing surface of the partition paper is always displayed on the upper side of the recording medium 5. Therefore, even if another person later picks up the printed matter, the boundary of the print job can be easily determined by merely looking at the upper surface of the recording medium 5 placed on the paper discharge tray 57.

  The partition print job selector 76 inputs the partition print job data to the print job processing unit 77 based on the determination result output by the partition sheet output determination unit 73. Specifically, when it is determined that the partition print job data needs to be input to the print job processing unit 77, the partition print job data is input to the print job processing unit 77 and then stored in the print job buffer 72. The stored print job data is input to the print job processing unit 77. Similarly, when it is determined that it is not necessary to input the partition print job data to the print job processing unit 77, only the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72 is input to the print job processing unit 77. The print job processing unit 77 translates PDL (Page Description Language) of the input print job data, and generates bitmap data that can be printed by the printer engine 1 in units of pages. After receiving the bitmap data from the print job processing unit 77 of the controller unit 70, the printer engine control unit 90 operates the printer engine 1 that prints the bitmap data on the recording medium 5.

  Next, the paper conveyance control in the printer engine control unit 90 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The printer engine control unit 90 reads the paper discharge surface orientation and duplex printing settings added to the print job data, and performs control corresponding to the combination of the above settings. Specifically, there are combinations of four settings of face-down and single-sided printing, face-up and single-sided printing, face-down and double-sided printing, and face-up and double-sided printing. Hereinafter, each of the four settings will be described separately.

  In the case of setting face down and single-sided printing, first, bitmap data is input from the print job processing unit 77 to the printer engine control unit 90 in order from the start page to the last page. Next, the printer engine control unit 90 operates the printer engine 1 that prints the bitmap data on the recording medium 5 based on the input content of the bitmap data. Specifically, the printer engine 1 takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper feed tray 4 in the paper feeding unit 10 and conveys it to the image forming unit 20, and forms and records a toner image based on the bitmap data in the image forming unit 20. After being transferred to the medium 5 and conveyed to the fixing unit 40, the bitmap image transferred to the recording medium 5 in the fixing unit 40 is melted and pressed to be fixed and conveyed to the discharge unit 50, and then the bitmap is generated in the discharge unit 50. The recording medium 5 on which the image is fixed is discharged to a discharge tray 57.

  In the case of setting up face-up and single-sided printing, first, bitmap data is input from the print job processing unit 77 to the printer engine control unit 90 in order from the start page to the last page. Next, the printer engine control unit 90 operates the printer engine 1 that prints the bitmap data on the recording medium 5 based on the input content of the bitmap data. Specifically, the printer engine 1 takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper feed tray 4 in the paper feeding unit 10 and conveys it to the image forming unit 20, and forms and records a toner image based on the bitmap data in the image forming unit 20. After the bit map image transferred to the medium 5 is conveyed to the fixing unit 40 and the bitmap image transferred to the recording medium 5 is fixed by melting and pressing in the fixing unit 40, the path switching roller 51 provided in the discharge unit 50 is provided. Then, the paper is conveyed to the duplex printing unit 60 through the path switching roller 52. In the duplex printing unit 60, the recording medium 5 is reversed and re-conveyed to the image forming unit 20, and then the recording medium 5 is conveyed in the order of the image forming unit 20, the fixing unit 40, and the discharge unit 50 to the discharge tray 57. In addition, the image forming unit 20 does not perform toner image formation and transfer operations, and the fixing unit 40 does not perform melting and pressurizing operations.

  In the case of setting face down and double sided printing, first, bitmap data is input from the print job processing unit 77 to the printer engine control unit 90 in units of two pages in order from the start page to the last page. Next, the printer engine control unit 90 operates the printer engine 1 that prints the bitmap data on the recording medium 5 based on the input content of the bitmap data. Specifically, the printer engine 1 takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper feed tray 4 in the paper feeding unit 10 and conveys it to the image forming unit 20, and the image forming unit 20 produces a toner image based on bitmap data near the last page. Formed, transferred to the recording medium 5 and conveyed to the fixing unit 40, where the bitmap image transferred to the recording medium 5 was fixed by melting and pressing the fixing unit 40, and then provided in the discharge unit 50. The paper is conveyed to the duplex printing unit 60 via the path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52. In the duplex printing unit 60, the recording medium 5 is reversed and transported again to the image forming unit 20, and then the toner image is formed on the image forming unit 20 based on the bitmap data closer to the start page and transferred to the recording medium 5. After the bitmap image transferred to the fixing unit 40 and transferred to the recording medium 5 is fixed by melting and pressing the fixing unit 40, the bitmap image near the final page and the start page is printed on both sides in the discharge unit 50. The recorded recording medium 5 is discharged to a discharge tray 57.

  In the face-up and duplex printing settings, first, bitmap data is input from the print job processing unit 77 to the printer engine control unit 90 in units of two pages in order from the last page to the start page. Next, the printer engine control unit 90 operates the printer engine 1 that prints the bitmap data on the recording medium 5 based on the input content of the bitmap data. Specifically, the printer engine 1 takes out the recording medium 5 from the paper feed tray 4 in the paper feeding unit 10 and conveys it to the image forming unit 20, and the image forming unit 20 produces a toner image based on bitmap data closer to the start page. Formed, transferred to the recording medium 5 and conveyed to the fixing unit 40, where the bitmap image transferred to the recording medium 5 was fixed by melting and pressing the fixing unit 40, and then provided in the discharge unit 50. The paper is conveyed to the duplex printing unit 60 via the path switching roller 51 and the path switching roller 52. In the duplex printing unit 60, the recording medium 5 is reversed and re-transported to the image forming unit 20, and then the toner image is formed on the image forming unit 20 based on the bitmap data near the final page and transferred to the recording medium 5. After the bitmap image transferred to the fixing unit 40 and transferred to the recording medium 5 in the fixing unit 40 is melted and pressed to be fixed, the bitmap images near the start page and the last page are printed on both sides in the discharge unit 50. The recorded recording medium 5 is discharged to a discharge tray 57.

  Next, the operation of the printer of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart relating to the operation of the printer.

  When a print job receiving unit 71 provided in the controller unit 70 in the printer receives print job data from an external device (not shown) such as a network or USB, the received print job data is temporarily stored in the print job buffer 72. Then, a sequence related to the operation of the printer is started (S1). Next, the partition paper output determination unit 73 extracts print paper settings from the received print job data (S2). Next, the partition paper output determination unit 73 checks whether or not the paper size is held in the print paper setting storage unit 74. If the paper size is held (Yes), the process proceeds to step 4. If the paper size is not held (No), the process proceeds to step 6 (S3). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 4, the paper size of the print paper setting extracted from the received print job data is compared with the paper size stored in the print paper setting storage unit 74, and the paper size is the same. If (Yes), the process proceeds to step 6. If the paper size is different (No), the process proceeds to step 5 (S4). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 5, the partition printing flag is enabled and the procedure proceeds to step 6 (S5). Next, the paper size extracted from the received print job data is stored in the print paper setting storage unit 74 (S6). Next, the partition paper output determination unit 73 checks whether or not the paper orientation is held in the print paper setting storage unit 74. If the paper orientation is held (Yes), the process proceeds to step 8. If the paper orientation is not held (No), the process proceeds to step 10 (S7).

  When the procedure proceeds to step 8, the paper size extracted from the received print job data is compared with the paper orientation stored in the print paper setting storage unit 74, and the paper size is the same (Yes). If the paper size is different (No), go to step 9 (S8). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 9, the partition printing flag is enabled and the procedure proceeds to step 10 (S9). Next, the paper size extracted from the received print job data is stored in the print paper setting storage unit 74 (S10). Next, the partition print job selector 76 checks whether or not the partition print flag is valid. If the partition print flag is valid (Yes), the process proceeds to step 12, and the partition print flag is invalid. If there is (No), the process proceeds to step 13 (S11). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 12, the partition print job data stored in the partition print job storage unit 75 is input to the print job processing unit 77 via the partition print job selector 76, and then the print job. By sending the data to the printer engine 1 via the processing unit 77 and the printer engine control unit 90, the partition print job data is printed (S12). Next, the partitioning print job selector 76 inputs the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72 to the print job processing unit 77, and then passes through the print job processing unit 77 and the printer engine control unit 90 to the printer engine 1. To print the print job data, and the sequence relating to the operation of the printer is completed (S13).

  As described above, according to the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment, when two types of print jobs are continuously printed, the print paper setting of the print job input first and the print paper setting of the print job input later are set. If the boundary between the printed materials related to the two types of print jobs placed on the paper discharge tray 57 can be easily discriminated visually by the difference in paper shape or paper layout, no partition paper is output. . Therefore, partition paper can be reduced.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, in addition to the constituent members according to the first embodiment, when two types of print jobs are printed in succession, the orientation of the print surface at the time of discharging the previously input print job In addition, in order to correspond to the orientation of the printing surface at the time of discharge of a print job that is input later, a constituent member that can switch the contents of the print data to be printed on the partition sheet between the front side and the back side is provided. Other configurations relating to the printer are the same as those of the printer described in the first embodiment. Therefore, in the present embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, a duplicate description relating to the same configuration, operation, and effects as in the first embodiment will be omitted, and only a configuration different from the first embodiment will be described.

  First, control of the printer engine 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram related to the control of the printer engine 1, FIG. 4 is an example of print job data, and FIG. 8 is a recording medium printed on the discharge tray 57 after being printed on one side only under the setting conditions of printing and face down. FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the recording medium 5 viewed from the upper side and the lower side. FIG. 9 shows the recording medium 5 printed on the discharge tray 57 printed under the mixed and face-down setting conditions of single-sided printing and double-sided printing. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram viewed from the side, and FIG. 10 shows a print example of the partition print job data.

  The printer issues a command to the printer engine control unit 90 from a controller unit 80 including a microprocessor, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output port, a timer, and the like, and the image information is recorded on the recording medium 5 based on the control of the printer engine control unit 90. The printer engine 1 for printing is operated.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the controller 80 includes a print job reception unit 71, a print job buffer 72, a partition paper output determination unit 73, a print paper setting storage unit 74, and a print job, which are the same components as in the first embodiment. In addition to the processing unit 77, the partition print job creation unit 81, the second print paper setting storage unit 82, the partition print data storage unit 83, and the partition print job selector, which are components added in the second embodiment 84 and a printer engine control unit 90. Also, the print paper setting relating to the print job data shown in FIG. 4 is the same as in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, each component constituting the controller 80 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 7, 4, and 8 to 10.

  The partition print job creation unit 81, which is a partition print job generation unit, should print on the partition paper based on the print sheet settings stored in the second print sheet setting storage unit 82, which is a print condition holding unit. Create a print job. Further, after creating the partition paper print job, the print paper setting relating to the print paper is extracted from the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72, and the extracted print paper setting is stored in the second print paper setting storage unit 82. Store. The partition print job creation unit 81 selects, among the paper settings added to the print job data, short edge or long edge for the paper discharge direction, and similarly double-sided or single-sided printing for double-sided printing. Thus, the print data to be printed on the partition paper is determined. By determining the print data to be printed on the partition paper as described above, the boundary between the two types of printed matter may be output even if the blank partition paper is output to the discharge tray 57 depending on the combination of the print surfaces of the two types of printed matter. In some cases, it can be easily discriminated, and consumption of the toner 34 can be suppressed.

  Here, with respect to the fact that the boundary between the printed matter printed earlier and the printed matter printed later can be easily discriminated when the above-described two types of print jobs are continuously printed, refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. However, it explains concretely. First, the case of printing on only one side with the setting conditions of face down and with reference to FIG. 8 will be described. Next, with reference to FIG. A case of printing will be described.

  First, the case where only one side is printed under the setting conditions of printing and face down will be described. (1) shown in FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 which is a printed matter printed in advance when two types of print jobs are continuously printed, and is printed by setting single-sided printing and face-down. Also, (3) shown in FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 that is printed later by the single-sided printing and the face-down setting in the printed matter when the two types of print jobs are continuously printed. . Also, (2) shown in FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 which is a partition sheet. The partition sheet is discharged between a printed matter printed earlier and a printed matter printed later when two types of print jobs are printed continuously. As shown in FIG. 8, the upper side surface of the partition sheet needs to be printed to determine the boundary, but the lower side surface of the partition sheet is a boundary between the printed matter printed earlier and the printed matter later printed on white paper. Can be determined.

  Next, a case where single-sided printing and double-sided printing are printed under mixed and face-down setting conditions will be described. (1) shown in FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 that is printed by two-sided printing and face-down settings with the printed matter printed first when two types of print jobs are continuously printed. Further, (3) shown in FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 printed by a single-sided printing and face-down setting, which is a printed matter printed later when two types of print jobs are continuously printed. . Further, (2) shown in FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 which is a partition sheet. The partition sheet is discharged between a printed matter printed earlier and a printed matter printed later when two types of print jobs are printed continuously. As shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to determine the boundary between the printed matter printed earlier and the printed matter printed later even if the upper and lower sides of the partition paper are blank. Under this condition, the upper side of the sheet is not a partition sheet, but a boundary is formed between the partition sheet and the printed material. However, in terms of determining the boundary between the printed material printed first and the printed material printed later, FIG. The same effect as described above can be obtained with reference to FIG. Based on the settings for Short Edge or Long Edge for the paper discharge side, and for double-sided printing or single-sided printing for double-sided printing stored in the second print paper setting storage unit 82, as shown in Table 1, Create a print job. However, the printing paper setting of the partition print job is duplex printing and face down. By setting double-sided printing and face-down, the print data for the first page of the partitioning print job is discharged to the lower side with respect to the discharge tray 57, and the print data for the second page is output to the discharge tray 57. And discharged to the upper side.

  The partition print data storage unit 83 stores the print data used by the partition print job creation unit 81. FIG. 10 shows a print example of the partition print job data. The schematic diagram of the recording medium 5 with printing shown in FIG. 10 is print data when printing is performed on a partition sheet. Similarly, the schematic diagram of the blank recording medium 5 shown in FIG. 10 is when printing is not performed. Blank paper data. Further, the partition print job selector 84 inputs the partition print job data created by the partition print job creation unit 81 to the print job processing unit 77 based on the determination result output by the partition paper output determination unit 73. Specifically, when it is determined that the partition print job data needs to be input to the print job processing unit 77, the partition print job data is input to the print job processing unit 77 and stored in the print job buffer 72. The received print job data is input to the print job processing unit 77. Similarly, when it is determined that it is not necessary to input the partition print job data to the print job processing unit 77, only the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72 is input to the print job processing unit 77.

  Next, the operation of the printer of this embodiment will be described. 11 and 12 are flowcharts relating to the operation of the printer.

  When the print job receiving unit 71 provided in the controller unit 80 in the printer receives print job data from an external device (not shown) such as a network and USB, the received print job data is temporarily stored in the print job buffer 72. Then, a sequence related to the operation of the printer is started (S21). Note that steps 22 to 30 are the same as steps 2 to 10 in the flowchart according to the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. Next, the partition print job selector 84 checks whether or not the partition print flag is valid. If the partition print flag is valid (Yes), the process proceeds to step 32, and the partition print flag is invalid. If there is (No), the process proceeds to step 40 (S31). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 32, it is checked whether or not the discharge surface orientation is held in the second print sheet setting storage unit 82. If the discharge surface orientation is held (Yes), the procedure goes to step 34. If the paper discharge direction is not maintained (No), the process proceeds to step 33 (S32). Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 33, the face-down is stored in the second print sheet setting storage unit 82 as the default discharge surface orientation setting (S33). Next, it is confirmed whether or not the double-sided printing setting is held in the second printing paper setting storage unit 82. If the double-sided printing setting is held (Yes), the process proceeds to step 36, and the double-sided printing setting is held. If not (No), the process proceeds to step 35 (S34).

  Next, when the procedure proceeds to step 35, double-sided printing is stored in the second printing paper setting storage unit 82 as a default double-sided printing setting (S35). Next, the partition print job creation unit 81 creates print job data to be printed on the partition sheet based on the paper discharge direction and the duplex print setting stored in the second print sheet setting storage unit 82 (S36). . Next, the direction of the paper discharge surface added to the received print job data is stored in the second print paper setting storage unit 82 (S37). Next, the duplex print setting added to the received print job data is stored in the second print sheet setting storage unit 82 (S38). Next, the partition print job selector 84 inputs the partition print job data created in step 36 to the print job processing unit 77, and then passes the print job processing unit 77 and the printer engine control unit 90 to the printer engine 1. By transmitting, the partition print job data is printed (S39). Next, the partition print job selector 84 inputs the print job data stored in the print job buffer 72 to the print job processing unit 77, and then passes through the print job processing unit 77 and the printer engine control unit 90 to the printer engine 1. To print the print job data, and the sequence relating to the operation of the printer is completed (S40).

  As described above, according to the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment, when two types of print jobs are continuously printed, the print surface is inserted later in the orientation of the print surface when the previously input print job is discharged. In order to correspond to the orientation of the printing surface when the print job is discharged, a component member is provided that can switch the content of the print data to be printed on the partition sheet between the front side and the back side. Further, when it is determined that printing is unnecessary due to the combination of the printed material and the printed surface of the printed material, the printing surface of the partition paper is not printed at all. Therefore, consumption of the toner 34 can be suppressed even when a partition sheet is output between the printed materials.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the printer is described as an electrophotographic color printer. However, if the apparatus has a mechanism for inputting print data from the outside and printing it, this printer is used. The printer of the embodiment may be provided in a copying machine, a monochrome printer, a facsimile apparatus, an automatic document reading apparatus, a composite apparatus, or the like. The image forming unit 30 according to the present invention includes four image forming units 30K, 30Y, 30M, and 30C that develop image information corresponding to four colors of black, yellow, magenta, and cyan. Three image forming units 30Y, 30M, and 30C corresponding to the three colors excluding the black color may be provided. Similarly, two image forming units 30K that develop image information corresponding to the black color may be provided. As described above, the number of the image forming units 30, the combination of colors of the image forming units 30, the arrangement positions, and the like are not limited, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. Further, since the present invention relates to a controller unit of a printing apparatus, it can also be applied to a printer server that does not have a printing mechanism directly.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a printer engine provided in a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming unit provided in the printer engine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating control of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of print job data related to control of the printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing example of partition print job data according to the control of the printer of the first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow related to an operation of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows control of the printer of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a recording medium printed on one side according to control of a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention and printed on a paper discharge tray and placed on a paper discharge tray is viewed from the upper side and the lower side. It is. A state in which the recording medium printed under the setting conditions of mixing and face-down for single-sided printing and double-sided printing according to the control of the printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention and placed on the paper discharge tray is viewed from the upper side and the lower side It is a schematic diagram which shows. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a printing of the partition print job data which concerns on control of the printer of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow which concerns on the first half of operation | movement of the printer of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow according to the second half of the operation of the printer according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer engine 2 Paper conveyance path 3 Paper reverse conveyance path 3A Inversion part 3B Conveyance part 4 Paper feed tray 5 Recording medium 10 Paper feed part 11 Hopping roller 12 Pressure roller 13 Registration roller 14 Pressure roller 15 Registration roller 20 Image formation part 21 Adsorption Roller 22 Adsorption roller 23 Transfer belt 24 Drive roller 25 Idle roller 26 Transfer roller 30, 30K, 30Y, 30M, 30C Image forming unit 31 Photosensitive drum 32 Charging roller 33 LED head 34 Toner 35 Toner cartridge 36 Toner supply roller 37 Developing roller 38 Developing blade 39 Cleaning blade 40 Fixing unit 41 Fixing roller 42 Pressure roller 50 Discharging unit 51 Path switching roller 52 Path switching roller 53 Conveying roller 54 Conveying roller 55 Discharging roller 56 Discharging roller 57 Paper discharge tray 60 Duplex printing unit 61 Paper reversing roller 62 Paper reversing roller 63 Drive roller 64 Drive roller 65 Drive roller 66 Drive roller 67 Drive roller 68 Drive roller 70 Controller unit 71 Print job receiving unit 72 Print job buffer 73 Partition paper output Determination unit 74 Print paper setting storage unit 75 Partition print job storage unit 76 Partition print job selector 77 Print job processing unit 80 Controller unit 81 Print job creation unit for partition 82 Second print sheet setting storage unit 83 Partition print data storage 84 Print job selector 90 for partition Printer engine controller

Claims (8)

A print job receiver for receiving a print job from an external device;
A print job processing unit that converts the print job received by the print job receiving unit into printable bitmap data;
An image forming unit that forms an image on a predetermined surface of the medium based on the bitmap data;
A printing condition holding unit for holding printing conditions of a print job input to the image forming unit;
A partition paper output determination unit that determines whether or not the output of the partition paper is necessary by comparing the print condition of the print job held in the print condition holding unit with the print condition of the next input print job;
A partition print job holding unit that holds a print job to be printed on the partition paper based on the printing conditions held in the print condition holding unit;
The image forming unit is held in the partition print job holding unit when printing of a print job received from the external device is performed when the partition sheet output determining unit determines that the output of the partition sheet is necessary. A printing apparatus for printing the partition print job.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing condition holding unit holds a printing paper size and a printing paper orientation as printing conditions.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the partition paper print job holding unit holds a print job for which double-sided printing is designated. A print job receiver for receiving a print job from an external device;
A print job processing unit that converts the print job received by the print job receiving unit into printable bitmap data;
An image forming unit that forms an image on a predetermined surface of the medium based on the bitmap data;
A printing condition holding unit for holding printing conditions of a print job input to the image forming unit;
A partition paper output determination unit that determines whether or not the output of the partition paper is necessary by comparing the print condition of the print job held in the print condition holding unit with the print condition of the next input print job;
A partition print job generation unit that generates a print job to be printed on the partition paper based on the print conditions held in the print condition holding unit;
The image forming unit is generated by the partition print job generation unit when printing the print job received from the external device when the partition sheet output determination unit determines that the partition sheet output is necessary. A printing apparatus that prints a print job.   The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing condition holding unit holds one or more of printing paper size, printing paper orientation, paper discharge surface orientation, duplex printing, and single-sided printing as printing conditions.   The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the partition paper print job generation unit generates a print job in which double-sided printing is designated.   5. The partition paper print job generation unit generates a print job for performing printing with different contents on the front surface and the back surface based on the printing conditions held in the printing condition holding unit. Printing device.   The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing condition is one or more printing conditions among a paper discharge direction, double-sided printing, and single-sided printing.