JP2010076114A - Printing apparatus and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems that an amount of consumed ink is large, it is difficult to correctly print a reference mark, and there are restrictions when the reference mark is printed. <P>SOLUTION: The printing apparatus has a conveying part which conveys a cutting reference sheet used exclusively for printing of the reference mark that shows a cutting position of a printing medium along a predetermined conveyance direction, and a printing control part which carries out predetermined preliminary printing by making ink droplets ejected from the same nozzle as that used in printing of the reference mark to a region of the cutting reference sheet which is the region located on the downstream side in the conveyance direction from a specific position when the reference mark is to be printed to the specific position of the cutting reference sheet by making a printing head equipped with a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting the ink droplets eject the ink droplets. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

  Conventionally, when desired printing is performed on a printing medium, a reference mark indicating a cutting position called a register mark is printed around the desired image (four corners of the printing medium). Such fiducial marks are printed on all print media in the same manner when printing is performed on a plurality of print media by a printing method using a plate such as offset printing.

In addition, as a related technique, an ink jet image is formed on a peripheral surface portion of a predetermined surface portion of a cut medium or a print medium with a mark and a ground color surface different from the mark color in order to increase the contrast between the peripheral portion of the mark. A printing method for printing with a printer is known (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-212997 A

  The cutting of the print medium is usually performed by marking a reference mark on the uppermost print medium in a state where a plurality of print media are stacked together. Therefore, printing the reference marks on all print media as in the prior art was a waste of ink.

  In addition, as described in the above document, the reference mark may be printed together with a desired image by an ink jet method using an ink droplet discharge nozzle. However, in the vicinity of the nozzle opening, if a period during which ink droplets are not ejected is maintained to some extent, the air and the ink inside the nozzle come into contact with each other, thereby evaporating moisture and solvent in the ink and increasing the viscosity of the ink. An increase in ink viscosity can cause various ejection failures such as a deviation in timing and speed at which ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles, flying bends of ink droplets, non-ejection of ink droplets, and the like. As described above, since the reference mark indicates the cutting position of the print medium, high accuracy is required for the print position. However, when the reference mark is printed using the nozzle having the possibility of ejection failure as described above, the reference mark may not be printed accurately at the position where the reference mark should be originally printed on the print medium. Could happen.

Further, as described above, when the reference mark is printed on the print medium together with the desired printing, it is necessary to print the reference mark while avoiding the area in the print medium where the desired printing is performed. That is, until now, there are many restrictions on the place where the reference mark is printed, which is inconvenient. For example, it has been difficult to freely print the reference mark that meets the user's request.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and further improves the accuracy of the position of the fiducial mark, reduces the amount of ink to be used, and has a high degree of freedom without any particular restrictions on the printing location. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method capable of printing a reference mark.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention discharges ink droplets, a conveyance unit that conveys a cutting reference sheet dedicated to printing a reference mark indicating a cutting position of a print medium, along a predetermined conveyance direction. When printing the reference mark at a specific position of the cutting reference sheet by ejecting ink droplets onto a print head having a plurality of possible nozzles, the area of the cutting reference sheet is more in the transport direction than the specific position. In a region located on the downstream side, a print control unit that performs predetermined preliminary printing by ejecting ink droplets from the same nozzle as that used for printing the reference mark is provided.

  According to the present invention, a fiducial mark is printed on a cutting fiducial sheet that is a medium different from a print medium on which printing desired by a user (for example, printing of text, CG, photographs, etc.) is performed. For this reason, there is no restriction on the printing position of the reference mark, which occurs when the reference mark is printed on the print medium together with the desired printing. Further, preliminary printing is performed on the cutting reference sheet before printing the reference mark, and after the preliminary printing, printing of the reference mark is performed by the same nozzle as that used for the preliminary printing. That is, since the reference mark is printed after correcting the ejection failure of the nozzle during the preliminary printing, the printing position of the reference mark becomes extremely accurate. Furthermore, since the reference mark only needs to be printed on the cutting reference sheet, the ink consumption can be greatly reduced as compared with the case where the reference mark is printed on each print medium as in the prior art.

  The printing control unit may perform at least a part of the preliminary printing and / or the printing of the reference mark on the area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the area remaining after cutting. According to this configuration, preliminary printing and / or reference are performed on the cutting reference sheet region corresponding to the region remaining after cutting, that is, on the cutting reference sheet region corresponding to the printing region of the print medium on which the desired image is printed. The mark is printed. Specifically, the printing control unit may include a rectangular reference mark in which one or two edges indicate the cutting position at least at a part of the corner of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the region remaining after the cutting. May be printed. Further, the print control unit performs the preliminary printing at a position adjacent to the area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the area remaining after the cutting, and a blank area having a predetermined width between the image formed by the preliminary printing. A rectangular reference mark may be printed in the area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the area remaining after the cutting. The print control unit may print reference marks indicating a plurality of cutting positions corresponding to the sizes of the plurality of print media.

The print control unit may print a management code that can be read by a predetermined code reader and includes predetermined management information of the print medium in an area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to an area remaining after the cutting. . According to this configuration, the management code printed on the portion of the cutting reference sheet that remains with the printing medium after cutting is read by the code reader, so that the warehouse where the printing medium is stored, the transportation route of the printing medium, and the transportation destination. Management information can be grasped.
When the print control unit performs printing on the print medium by driving the print head based on print data representing a predetermined image to be printed, the print control unit is arranged on the uppermost surface of the set of print media composed of a plurality of sheets. The reference mark is printed and preliminarily printed using the corresponding print medium as the cutting reference sheet, and printing based on the print data is performed on a print medium constituting the set and other than the cutting reference sheet. It is good. According to this configuration, since the reference mark is printed and preprinted only on the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the uppermost surface of the set among the print media constituting the set, the ink consumption can be greatly reduced. The set of print media here means, for example, a unit of print media cut at a time. Therefore, when cutting each printing medium constituting the set, the printing media are stacked with the cutting reference sheet placed on top, and cutting is performed with reference to the reference mark printed on the cutting reference sheet.

  So far, the technical idea according to the present invention has been described as a printing apparatus, but the invention corresponds to the invention of the printing method including each process corresponding to each part included in the above-described printing apparatus and each part included in the above-described printing apparatus. The invention of a print processing program for causing a computer to execute each function can also be grasped. The printing apparatus may be a single apparatus, or may be configured by a plurality of apparatuses (for example, a printer including a conveyance unit and a print head, and a computer that controls the printer).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a part of the configuration of an ink jet printer (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) 10 according to the present embodiment. The printer 10 corresponds to an example of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. The printer 10 includes a housing 11, and a printing head 12 that can eject ink (liquid) droplets onto the paper P in the housing 11. On the lower surface (nozzle formation surface 16) of the print head 12, a plurality of nozzles 13 for ejecting ink droplets intersect with the transport direction of the paper P (the X direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1) (in FIG. 1). (The direction perpendicular to the paper surface) is formed over the entire width of the print area of the paper P. That is, in this embodiment, the printer 10 is configured as a so-called full line head type printer.

  In the present embodiment, on the paper P, a print paper S1 used for printing an image desired by the user (referred to as a target image), and a reference mark that is not used for printing the target image, as will be described later. Both of the cutting reference sheet S2 used exclusively for RM printing are included. The printing paper S1 and the cutting reference sheet S2 may be of the same material or different materials, and may have the same size.

  A plurality of ink cartridges (not shown) that store inks of different colors are connected to the print head 12, and the ink stored in these ink cartridges is adjusted to a predetermined pressure during printing. At any time, the print head 12 is supplied. In the housing 11, a transport mechanism 14 for transporting the paper P along the transport direction is disposed below the print head 12. The transport mechanism 14 corresponds to an example of a transport unit according to the present invention.

  On the upstream side in the transport direction (rear side in the transport direction), a paper feed tray 21 that stores a plurality of sheets P in a stacked state is provided. On the downstream side in the transport direction (front side in the transport direction), the paper P after printing is printed. Each of the paper discharge trays 22 is provided. The transport mechanism 14 includes a transport belt 23 for transporting the paper P by passing under the nozzle formation surface 16 (an ink discharge position facing the nozzle formation surface 16). The conveyor belt 23 is driven after the start of printing, a driving roller 24, a driven roller 25 that rotates following the driving roller 24 at the same height as the driving roller 24, and an intermediate position between the driving roller 24 and the driven roller 25. It is stretched in a state where tension is applied to a tension roller 26 positioned below the tension roller 26. The driving roller 24, the driven roller 25, and the tension roller 26 are arranged so that the conveyor belt 23 forms a triangular shape when the conveyor belt 23 is stretched around the three rollers 24, 25, and 26.

  A plurality (four in this embodiment) of auxiliary conveying rollers 27 are arranged between the driving roller 24 and the driven roller 25. The conveyor belt 23 is horizontally supported from below by the auxiliary conveyor rollers 27. A first guide plate 31 for guiding the paper P to the driven roller 25 is provided between the paper feed tray 21 and the transport belt 23. A pick-up roller 32 for taking out the paper P stored in the uppermost part of the paper feed tray 21 is provided at the upper part of the paper feed tray 21, and the connecting portion between the paper feed tray 21 and the first guide plate 31 has a friction. A separation roller pair 33 is provided for feeding only one sheet of paper P picked up in an overlapping manner. At a predetermined position of the first guide plate 31, a paper gate roller pair 35 that is driven when the paper P is sent from the first guide plate 31 to the downstream side of the driven roller 25 is provided.

  Between the conveyance belt 23 and the paper discharge tray 22, a second guide plate 36 for guiding the paper P between the driving roller 24 and the paper discharge tray 22 is provided. A pair of paper discharge rollers 37 for discharging the printed paper P to the paper discharge tray 22 is provided between the second guide plate 36 and the paper discharge tray 22. The printer 10 further includes a base sheet transport mechanism for transporting a base sheet for receiving ink ejected from the paper P during borderless printing, as disclosed in JP-A-2007-112097. A configuration in which the paper P is transported by the transport belt 23 in a state where the paper P is superimposed on the base sheet may be employed.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows the electrical configuration of the printer 10 and the like. The printer 10 includes a control unit 61 that includes at least a CPU 62, a ROM 63, and a RAM 64. In the control unit 61, the CPU 62 controls the operation of the print head 12 and the transport mechanism 14 by executing a predetermined control program stored in the ROM 63 using the RAM 64 as a work area. The control unit 61 includes a communication interface (IF) 38, an input receiving unit 39, and predetermined rollers (a pickup roller 32, a separation roller pair 33, a paper gate roller pair 35, a drive roller 24, and a paper discharge roller) that constitute the transport mechanism 14. The pair 37), the head drive unit 40 and the like are electrically connected to each other.

  The communication IF 38 is connected to an external device (in the example of FIG. 2, a personal computer (PC) 50) and receives print data (for example, raster data for each ink type representing an image to be printed) from the external device. It is a possible interface. The input receiving unit 39 can receive an input instruction from the user via a button (not shown) or a user interface (for example, a touch panel) provided in the printer 10 and can transmit the instruction to the control unit 61. The head drive unit 40 generates a voltage pattern (drive signal) for driving each nozzle 13 (piezoelectric element included in each nozzle 13) of the print head 12 corresponding to the raster data under the control of the control unit 61. By driving each nozzle 13 with this drive signal, ink droplets are ejected from each nozzle 13. Further, the controller 61 drives (rotates) the predetermined roller constituting the transport mechanism 14 based on detection signals from various sensors (not shown) that appropriately detect the position of the front end of the paper P on the transport path of the paper P. ) Control is performed to transport the paper P.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a result of printing the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM on the cutting reference sheet S2 by the printer 10. The reference marks RM are marks indicating positions (specific positions) for cutting the paper P, and are printed at the four corners of the cutting reference sheet S2. In the example of FIG. 3, the reference mark RM includes a line parallel to the transport direction (horizontal cutting line) and a line orthogonal to the transport direction (vertical cutting line). In the example of FIG. 3, a region (rectangular region A1) remaining when the cutting reference sheet S2 is cut at the positions of the reference marks RM at the four corners is indicated by a chain line for convenience. The rectangular area A1 represents a range where the target image is printed on the printing paper S1 cut together with the cutting reference sheet S2. In the actual printing result of the cutting reference sheet S2, the chain line is not shown. The preliminary mark PM is an image printed before the corresponding reference mark RM (an image formed by preliminary printing), and is printed at a position downstream of the corresponding reference mark RM in the transport direction.

  In the present embodiment, when the user issues an instruction to print a target image via a predetermined application screen (user interface screen) displayed on the monitor 51 (see FIG. 2) of the PC 50, the reference mark RM is printed. When the instruction is also given, the cutting reference sheet S2 on which the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM are printed as described above is output from the printer 10, and then the printing paper S1 on which the target image is printed is output from the printer 10. The Specifically, the PC 50 activates a predetermined printer driver corresponding to the printer 10 when an instruction to print the target image and the reference mark RM is given via the application screen. Then, the PC 50 performs gradation processing for the ink color (for example, black (k) ink) for each pixel, which is data preliminarily stored in the PC 50 or the like as image processing according to the printer driver, and the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM. Is arranged in a memory area for one page according to a predetermined positional relationship, halftone processing or rasterizing processing is performed on the arranged data to generate raster data, and the generated raster data (print Data) is transmitted to the printer 10, and subsequently, the image data representing the target image (for example, image data representing each pixel in RGB gradation) is transferred to the color system of the ink color used by the printer 10. Color conversion processing is performed, and the data after this color conversion is subjected to halftone processing and rasterization processing to generate raster data, And it transmits the generated raster data (print data) to the printer 10 the. Note that the print data generated based on the image data representing the target image corresponds to print data representing a predetermined image to be printed.

  In the printer 10 that has received the raster data generated in this way, the control unit 61 controls the head driving unit 40 based on the raster data and also controls the driving of the predetermined roller constituting the transport mechanism 14. . As a result, the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM are printed on one sheet P (cutting reference sheet S2) as shown in FIG. 3, and the target image is printed on the other sheet P (printing sheet S1). Is printed. The control unit 61 corresponds to an example of a print control unit. Alternatively, when the printer 10 and the PC 50 are collectively grasped as the printing apparatus of the present invention, the printer driver and the control unit 61 correspond to an example of a print control unit.

  Thus, by printing the reference mark RM on one sheet P, each sheet P (printing sheet S1) on which the target image is printed is overlaid on the one sheet P (cutting reference sheet S2). At the same time, all the superimposed sheets P can be cut together with the reference mark RM on the first sheet P as a reference. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM are printed by using the uppermost sheet P as the cutting reference sheet S2 in the set of sheets P to be cut together at the time of cutting after printing. For example, when printing a target image for a plurality of pages such as a publication, the printer driver causes the printer 10 to print the reference mark RM (and the spare mark) before causing the printer 10 to print the first page of the publication on the printing paper S1. The cutting reference sheet S2 having the mark PM) is printed. In this case, the cutting reference sheet S2 and the printed printing paper S1 constituting one publication are a set of paper P to be cut together.

  Alternatively, when the number of sheets P to be cut together (the number of pages to be cut) is set in advance (when the number of pages to be cut is stored in the PC 50 or the like as information), the printer driver uses a plurality of sheets P. In the process of executing the above-described image processing to perform printing on the printer, the cutting reference sheet S2 having the reference mark RM and the preliminary mark PM is printed on the printer 10 as the first page for every cutting page number (for example, 100 pages). It is also possible to cause the printer 10 to print a page in which the target image is represented as other pages. In this case, the printed paper P for the number of cutting pages is a set of paper P to be cut together.

  FIG. 4 exemplifies a part of the print result shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a preliminary mark PMh corresponding to the horizontal cutting line RMh is printed on the cutting reference sheet S2 at a position downstream of the horizontal cutting line RMh as the reference mark RM in the transport direction. That is, the printer 10 prints the preliminary mark PMh before the horizontal cutting line RMh by the nozzle 13 (nozzle 13 corresponding to the printing position of the horizontal cutting line RMh in the paper P) used for printing the horizontal cutting line RMh. . Further, a preliminary mark PMv corresponding to the vertical cutting line RMv is printed at a position downstream of the vertical cutting line RMv as the reference mark RM in the transport direction. The printer 10 prints the preliminary mark PMv before the vertical cutting line RMv by the nozzle 13 (nozzle 13 corresponding to the printing position of the vertical cutting line RMv in the paper P) used for printing the vertical cutting line RMv.

  Thus, since the printer 10 prints the corresponding preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM with the same nozzle 13, the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM are basically printed with the same ink color. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the printer 10 forms a predetermined blank area W by not ejecting ink droplets between the corresponding preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM. That is, an area based on the background color of the paper P is provided between the corresponding preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM. By forming the blank area W in this way, it becomes easy to distinguish between the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM. When the paper P is cut, the reference mark RM is optically read by a machine or visually confirmed by the user. The reference mark RM is easily identified.

  The printer 10 does not form the blank area W between the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM, but causes the ink droplets to be ejected from the nozzle 13 so that a predetermined density difference is generated between the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM. The preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM may be printed by discharging. For example, the printer 10 prints the reference mark RM at a higher density than the preliminary mark PM. In this way, by creating a density difference between the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM, it becomes easy to distinguish between the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM, and the reference mark RM is optically mechanically used when cutting the paper P. The reference mark RM is easily identified when it is read or visually confirmed by the user.

  As described above, in an ink jet printer, if nozzles are not used for a certain period of time, the ink viscosity near the nozzle openings increases, resulting in ejection failure. Therefore, when the reference mark RM is printed on the paper P by the printer 10, if the ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle 13 for printing the reference mark RM suddenly, the ink droplet is not ejected or ejected due to the ejection failure. Deviation occurs in the landing position of ink droplets.

  FIG. 5 is a comparative example with respect to FIG. 4, and a part of the sheet P when the printer 10 prints only the reference mark RM on the sheet P when receiving a print instruction of the reference mark RM together with the target image from the user. Is illustrated. In the example of FIG. 5, the reference mark RM (the horizontal cutting line RMh and the vertical cutting line RMv) is printed without printing the preliminary mark PM. In other words, by driving the nozzle 13 in a state of having the possibility of ejection failure in order to record the reference mark RM, as shown in FIG. The landing position may be shifted (the landing positions are not aligned in a row), or a part of the reference mark RM may not be recorded due to lack of ink droplets.

  However, in the present embodiment, as described above, when printing the reference mark RM on the cutting reference sheet S2, the same nozzle 13 used for printing the reference mark RM is provided at a position ahead of the printing position of the reference mark RM in the transport direction. Preliminary printing is performed by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzle 13 to record the preliminary mark PM. By performing preliminary printing in this way and causing the nozzle 13 to eject ink droplets a plurality of times, the ink with high viscosity that has accumulated near the opening of the nozzle 13 is discharged, and the ejection failure state of the nozzle 13 is eliminated. (As illustrated in FIG. 4, the preliminary mark PM itself is an image including non-landing of ink droplets and deviation of the landing position). As a result, when the reference mark RM is printed with the same nozzle 13 after the preliminary mark PM is printed, the ink droplet ejection state (ejection speed, ejection angle, etc.) becomes normal, and as shown in FIG. The reference mark RM (horizontal cutting line RMh, vertical cutting line RMv) is an accurate straight line. That is, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to print the reference mark RM indicating the cutting position of the paper P very accurately without the influence of the ejection failure that the nozzle 13 may have. Therefore, when cutting the printing paper S1 after the target image is printed together with the cutting reference sheet S2, the cutting can be performed at an accurate cutting position.

In particular, in the present embodiment, since the reference mark RM is not printed on the paper P on which the target image is printed, after the reference mark RM is printed on one paper P, the reference mark RM is printed on another paper P. The time interval tends to be relatively long. Therefore, in the nozzle 13 used for printing the reference mark RM, the above-described ejection failure is likely to occur. However, by printing the preliminary mark PM as in the present embodiment, the ejection failure state of the nozzle 13 is the reference. This is eliminated when the mark RM is printed.
Further, the printer 10 prints the reference mark RM (and the spare mark PM) only on the uppermost sheet P (cutting reference sheet S2) when cutting the sheet P, so that the reference mark is applied to all the sheets P. Compared to the conventional configuration in which printing has been performed, the ink consumption can be greatly reduced.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the target image is not printed on the cutting reference sheet S2. Therefore, the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM can be printed in various shapes and designs (patterns) without any particular restrictions as long as they are on the cutting reference sheet S2. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the printer 10 can also print at least a part of the preliminary mark PM and / or the reference mark RM in an area (rectangular area A1) that remains when the cutting reference sheet S2 is cut.

  6 to 8 show a part of the printing result of the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM on the cutting reference sheet S2 by the printer 10, and the patterns of the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM shown in FIGS. Different examples are shown. In FIGS. 6 to 8, the area where the preliminary mark PM is printed is indicated by hatching, and the reference mark RM is indicated by a substantially black rectangle to indicate that there is a density difference between the two marks. Of course, also in the examples shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the corresponding spare mark PM and reference mark RM are printed on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the spare mark PM, and the same. Printed by the nozzle 13.

  In FIG. 6, the printer 10 prints a rectangular preliminary mark PM at a position outside the rectangular area A1 on the cutting reference sheet S2 and adjacent to the corner of the rectangular area A1, and the preliminary mark PM and the conveying direction are printed in the conveyance direction. In the example, the reference mark RM is printed at a position adjacent to the blank area W having a predetermined width. More specifically, a part of the reference mark RM is printed in the rectangular area A1, and between the reference marks RM existing inside and outside the rectangular area A1, the reference marks existing inside and outside the rectangular area A1. A blank area W is formed between the RM and the spare mark PM, between the reference mark RM outside the rectangular area A1 and the spare mark PM, and between the spare marks PM outside the rectangular area A1. According to the pattern of the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM shown in FIG. 6, the cutting position of the paper P is indicated by the linear blank area W.

  In FIG. 7, the printer 10 prints a rectangular preliminary mark PM in the rectangular area A1 of the cutting reference sheet S2, and is adjacent to the preliminary mark PM in the transport direction and at a position in the rectangular area A1 by one side or two. An example is shown in which a reference mark RM is printed in which the edges of the sides (two sides in the example of FIG. 7) coincide with one or two sides (two sides in the example of FIG. 7) of the rectangular area A1. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the cutting position of the paper P is indicated by the edge of the rectangular reference mark RM.

  In FIG. 8, the printer 10 prints a rectangular preliminary mark PM on the cutting reference sheet S2, and a plurality of cutting positions corresponding to the sizes of a plurality of printing media at positions adjacent to the preliminary mark PM in the transport direction. An example in which a reference mark RM indicating the above is printed is shown. Specifically, the reference mark RM is composed of a plurality of rectangular blocks adjacent to each other with a blank area W having a predetermined width therebetween. In such a reference mark RM, each linear blank area W between the reference marks RM indicates the position of the vertical side or the horizontal side of a plurality of paper sizes. Therefore, at the time of cutting, the cutting reference sheet is cut along the blank area W parallel to the transport direction arbitrarily selected from the linear blank areas W between the reference marks RM and the blank area W orthogonal to the transport direction. S2 (and other printing paper S1 on which the target image stacked under the cutting reference sheet S2 is printed) can be cut.

  In the present embodiment, any of the patterns of the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 6 to 8 may be printed on the cutting reference sheet S2 by the printer 10. Further, the patterns of the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM printed at the four places (four corners) of the single cutting reference sheet S2 may be different from each other.

  In addition, as an example of an effective usage method of the area (rectangular area A1) remaining when the cutting reference sheet S2 is cut, the printer 10 includes a predetermined management information that includes predetermined management information on the print medium in the rectangular area A1. A management code C readable by a code reader may be printed. FIG. 6 shows an example in which a management code C as a two-dimensional code is printed in the rectangular area A1. The management code C is, for example, a code in which various types of information such as the date and place of printing of the cutting reference sheet S2 and the target image, the content of the target image, and the delivery destination are embedded. If the management code C is printed in the rectangular area A1 of the cutting reference sheet S2, the management code C in the rectangular area A1 portion of the cutting reference sheet S2 remaining after the cutting together with the printing paper S1 on which the target image is printed is used as a code reader. Thus, various information related to the paper P can be grasped in various scenes even after cutting.

  When the present embodiment is realized, part or all of the processing by the PC 50 described above (accepting a print instruction via the user interface screen, processing by the printer driver) may be performed by the printer 10 (input reception unit 39, control unit). 61) may be executed instead. As an example, when the PC 50 receives a print instruction for the target image and the reference mark RM, the PC 50 transmits print data representing the target image and a command for instructing printing of the reference mark RM to the printer 10. . When the printer 10 receives the print data and the command, the printer 10 may print the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM on the cutting reference sheet S2 and print the target image on the printing paper S2. However, also in this case, the printer 10 prints the preliminary mark PM and the reference mark RM using the paper P that is the uppermost surface in the set of paper P that is cut together as the cutting reference sheet S2.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a printer according to an embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows electrical configurations, such as a printer. It is the figure which showed an example of the cutting reference sheet. It is the figure which showed a part of example of the cutting | disconnection reference | standard sheet | seat. It is the figure which showed the conventional comparative example with respect to the printing result of the cutting | disconnection reference | standard sheet | seat of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed a part of other example of the cutting | disconnection reference | standard sheet | seat. It is the figure which showed a part of other example of the cutting | disconnection reference | standard sheet | seat. It is the figure which showed a part of other example of the cutting | disconnection reference | standard sheet | seat.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Housing, 12 ... Print head, 13 ... Nozzle, 14 ... Conveyance mechanism, 16 ... Nozzle formation surface, 23 ... Conveyor belt, 24 ... Drive roller, 32 ... Pickup roller, 33 ... Separation roller pair, 35 ... Paper gate roller pair, 37 ... Paper discharge roller pair, 38 ... Communication I / F, 39 ... Input receiving unit, 40 ... Head drive unit, 50 ... PC, 51 ... Monitor, 61 ... Control unit, 62 ... CPU, 63 ... ROM, 64 ... RAM, P ... paper, PM, PMh, PMv ... preliminary mark, RM ... reference mark, RMh ... horizontal cutting line (reference mark), RMv ... vertical cutting line (reference mark)

Claims (8)

A transport unit that transports a cutting reference sheet dedicated to printing a reference mark indicating a cutting position of the print medium along a predetermined transport direction;
When printing the reference mark at a specific position of the cutting reference sheet by discharging ink droplets to a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of discharging ink drops, the area of the cutting reference sheet is greater than the specific position. A printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that performs predetermined preliminary printing by ejecting ink droplets from the same nozzle as that used for printing the reference mark in a region located downstream in the transport direction. .   2. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit performs at least a part of the preliminary printing and / or the printing of a reference mark on an area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to an area remaining after cutting. apparatus.   The printing control unit prints a substantially rectangular fiducial mark in which one or two edges indicate the cutting position on at least a part of the corner of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the region remaining after the cutting. The printing apparatus according to claim 2.   The print control unit performs the preliminary printing at a position adjacent to the area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to the area remaining after the cutting, and forms a blank area of a predetermined width between the image formed by the preliminary printing. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a substantially rectangular reference mark is printed in an area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to an area remaining after the cutting.   The printing control unit prints a management code that can be read by a predetermined code reader and includes predetermined management information of a print medium in an area of the cutting reference sheet corresponding to an area remaining after the cutting. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit prints reference marks indicating a plurality of cutting positions corresponding to sizes of a plurality of printing media.   When the print control unit performs printing on a print medium by driving the print head based on print data representing a predetermined image to be printed, the print control unit is arranged on the uppermost surface of a set of print media composed of a plurality of sheets. The reference mark is printed and preliminarily printed using the corresponding print medium as the cutting reference sheet, and printing based on the print data is performed on a print medium constituting the set and other than the cutting reference sheet. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein:   The cutting reference sheet dedicated to printing the reference mark indicating the cutting position of the print medium is transported along a predetermined transport direction, and the ink droplets are ejected from a print head having a plurality of nozzles capable of ejecting ink droplets. When printing a reference mark at a specific position of the cutting reference sheet, the same nozzle as that used for printing the reference mark in an area of the cutting reference sheet that is located downstream of the specific position in the transport direction. A printing method comprising performing predetermined preliminary printing by ejecting ink droplets from a nozzle.

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