JP2011073323A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder reduced in size and cost while throughput is improved in image recording when images are continuously recorded on a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: It is determined that a paper sheet previously discharged to a discharge tray is already dried up (S503) when a drying stage holds a paper sheet P to be discharged next (S501). If the previously discharged sheet is not dried up, the discharge treatment is finished, or if it is dried up when the lapse time period after the sheet P is held reaches a drying time period (S505:YES), the sheet P is discharged to a discharge tray (S510). When the time period does not reach the drying time period (S505:NO), if all the drying stages hold sheets (S506:YES), a supply request of a sheet to the drying stage is made (S507:YES), and the sheet is in a state of being dischargeable (S508:YES), the sheet P to be discharged next is discharged to the discharge tray. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that records an image on a recording medium by discharging droplets.

  There is an ink jet printer that dries a sheet on which an image is printed by ejecting ink droplets. In such an ink jet printer, since the printing speed is increased, the drying time becomes longer than the printing time, and the next sheet cannot be printed until the previously printed sheet is dried. Sometimes. For this reason, the throughput, which is the execution time until the completion of discharging the printed paper, is likely to decrease. Therefore, a technique is known in which the drying time is predicted for each sheet to be printed continuously, and the sheets are discharged in order to a plurality of discharge destinations while printing is performed in the order of the longer drying time (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-296702 A

  From the viewpoint of improving the throughput, it is more effective to provide a plurality of drying units for drying the paper on which the image is printed. However, increasing the number of drying sections increases the size of the inkjet printer and increases the cost.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of suppressing the increase in size and cost of the apparatus while improving the throughput of image recording when images are continuously recorded on a recording medium. is there.

  The recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head that records an image on a recording medium, a plurality of drying units that dry the recording medium on which the image is recorded, and a recording medium on which the image is recorded by the recording head. A distribution mechanism that supplies the recording medium to any one of the recording units, a discharge unit that is a discharge destination of the recording medium, a discharge mechanism that discharges the recording medium supplied to any of the plurality of drying units to the discharge unit, and a plurality of recordings Command storage means for storing a recording command including image data relating to an image recorded on each recording medium, and recording for controlling the recording head so that the plurality of images are recorded on a plurality of recording media. Control means, supply control means for controlling the distribution mechanism so that each recording medium on which an image is recorded is supplied to the drying section where the recording medium is not dried, and the plurality of drying sections. The As recording medium is discharged to the discharge unit, and a discharge control means for controlling the discharge mechanism. In the discharge unit, the recording medium to be discharged next is stacked on the recording surface on which the image of the recording medium discharged previously is recorded, and the recording surface to be discharged next is such that the recording surface is on top. And when the discharge control means makes a request to supply the recording medium to the drying unit when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium, any of the plurality of drying units The recording medium is discharged from one of the plurality of drying units to the discharge unit until the recording medium is discharged from the discharge unit to the discharge unit and until the recording medium is dried in the discharge unit. Control the discharge mechanism.

  According to the present invention, since the recording medium is dried in the discharge unit, it is possible to reduce the time for waiting for the drying unit to be vacant while suppressing an increase in the number of drying units and an increase in size and complexity of the apparatus structure. Thereby, it is possible to improve the throughput of recording while suppressing an increase in apparatus size and cost. In addition, since the recording medium to be discharged next is stacked on the recording surface on which the image on the recording medium is recorded after the recording medium discharged first is dried in the discharge section, the recording discharged to the discharge section It is possible to prevent the medium from becoming dirty. Furthermore, since the discharged recording medium is discharged so that the recording surface faces up, drying is easily promoted, and the recording medium can be efficiently dried in the discharging portion.

  In the present invention, when the supply request is made when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium, the discharge control unit should next discharge the drying unit to the discharge unit. It is preferable to control the discharge mechanism so that the recording medium is discharged to the discharge portion only when it is determined that the recording medium is not bent by being dried by the discharge portion. According to this, since it is possible to prevent the recording medium dried in the discharge unit from being bent, the throughput can be improved without impairing the finish of the recording medium.

  Further, in the present invention, the recording command further includes a recording order of the plurality of images, and the discharge control unit includes a recording unit on which the plurality of images are recorded in the discharging unit. It is preferable to control the discharge mechanism so that the layers are stacked in descending order. This eliminates the need for the user to sort the recording media discharged to the discharge unit.

  At this time, the drying time relationship value calculating means for calculating a value related to the drying time of the recording medium in the drying unit from the image data, and the descending order with respect to the recording order based on the recording order and the drying time relationship value. When recording an image on a plurality of recording media and when recording an image on a plurality of recording media in an order different from the descending order with respect to the recording order, at least one of the recording media related to the recording command is the above Recording command execution time predicting means for predicting a recording command execution time including time until all recording media related to the recording command are supplied to the discharging section after being supplied to the drying section, and the recording command execution time predicting means When the plurality of images are recorded on the plurality of recording media in the descending order with respect to the recording order at the plurality of recording command execution times predicted by If the recording command execution time shorter than the time is included, the recording command execution time is different from the descending order related to the recording order corresponding to any of the recording command execution times. Otherwise, the descending order related to the recording order Determining means for determining to record the plurality of images on a plurality of recording media, and the recording head so that the plurality of images are recorded on the plurality of recording media in the order determined by the determining means. More preferably, it further comprises a recording control means for controlling. According to this, since the images are recorded in the recording order in which the throughput is shortened, the throughput can be reliably improved.

  Further, in the present invention, the discharge control means includes a plurality of drying units which are drying when there is the supply request when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium. It is preferable that the discharge mechanism is controlled so that the recording medium having the shortest drying time among the recording media is discharged to the discharge unit. According to this, since the time during which the recording medium cannot be discharged to the discharge unit can be shortened as much as possible, the throughput can be improved efficiently.

  According to the present invention, since the recording medium is dried in the discharge unit, it is possible to reduce the time for waiting for the drying unit to be vacant while suppressing an increase in the number of drying units and an increase in size and complexity of the apparatus structure. Thereby, it is possible to improve the throughput of recording while suppressing an increase in apparatus size and cost.

1 is a schematic side view of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the data processing part shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the engine control part shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart of print data reception processing shown in FIG. 4. 5 is a flowchart of the printing process shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the discharge process shown in FIG.

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

  As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet printer 101 includes a conveyance unit 20, four inkjet heads 1 that eject magenta, cyan, yellow, and black ink droplets onto a sheet P conveyed by the conveyance unit 20, and a guide. 31, nip rollers 32 and 33, a distribution mechanism 34, four drying stages 41 a to 41 d, a discharge mechanism 43, four discharge trays 55 a to 55 d, and a control device 16. In the present embodiment, the sub-scanning direction is a direction parallel to the transport direction when the paper P is transported by the transport unit 20, and the main scanning direction is a direction orthogonal to the sub-scanning direction and along the horizontal plane. Direction.

  The transport unit 20 includes two belt rollers 6, 7, an endless transport belt 8 wound around the rollers 6, 7, and four inkjet heads 1 in a loop of the transport belt 8. And a platen 19 arranged to face each other. The belt roller 6 is a driving roller, and rotates when a driving force is applied from a conveyance motor (not shown). The belt roller 7 is a driven roller and rotates as the conveyor belt 8 travels as the belt roller 6 rotates. The paper P placed on the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 8 is transported to the right in FIG.

  The four inkjet heads 1 each extend along the main scanning direction and are arranged in parallel to each other in the sub-scanning direction. That is, the ink jet printer 101 is a line type color ink jet printer in which a plurality of ejection openings for ejecting ink droplets are arranged in the main scanning direction. The lower surface of each inkjet head 1 is an ejection surface on which a plurality of ejection ports from which ink droplets are ejected are arranged.

  The platen 19 is disposed so as to be in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the upper loop of the conveyor belt 8, and supports this from the inner peripheral side of the conveyor belt 8. As a result, the outer peripheral surface of the upper loop of the conveyor belt 8 and the ejection surface of the inkjet head 1 are parallel to each other, and a gap having a predetermined interval suitable for image formation is formed. When the paper P transported by the transport belt 8 passes immediately below the four ink jet heads 1, ink droplets of each color are sequentially ejected from the respective ink jet heads 1 toward the upper surface of the paper P, and the paper P is ejected onto the paper P. A desired color image is formed. The sheet P on which the image is formed is further transported to the right in FIG. 1 by the transport unit 20 and reaches the guide 31.

  The guide 31 guides the paper P on which the image transported by the transport unit 20 is formed to the distribution mechanism 34. The nip rollers 32 and 33 apply a conveying force to the paper P by driving the paper P guided by the guide 31 while pinching it.

  The distribution mechanism 34 selectively supplies the paper P on which the image guided by the guide 31 is formed to one of the four drying stages 41a to 41d.

  The drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P for drying the paper P on which an image is formed. The paper P distributed by the distribution mechanism 34 is conveyed to the left in FIG. 1 by the nip rollers 42a to 42d corresponding to the drying stages 41a to 41d that are the supply destinations, and reaches the drying stages 41a to 41d. The drying stages 41a to 41d have a holding area where the paper P is placed. The sheet P is held in this holding area by electrostatic adsorption with the printing surface facing the upper open space. This prevents the paper P from curving when it dries. In the inkjet printer 101, each mechanism is arranged so that air flows on the holding regions of the drying stages 41a to 41d and the drying of the paper P held on the holding regions is promoted. In some cases, a drying heater or the like is installed.

  The discharge mechanism 43 includes four nip rollers 43a to 43d and a selection mechanism 45 corresponding to the drying stages 41a to 41d. The discharge mechanism 43 operates the selection mechanism 45 so that the drying stages 41a to 41d and any of the guides 51a to 51d for guiding the paper P to the discharge trays 55a to 55d are connected, and the nip rollers 43a to 43d are operated. By selectively driving, the paper P held on any one of the drying stages 41a to 41d is discharged to any one of the discharge trays 55a to 55d.

  The four discharge trays 55a to 55d are arranged in the vertical direction in FIG. 1 on the left side of the drying stages 41a to 41d in FIG. In the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the paper P to be discharged next is stacked on the printing surface on which the image of the paper P discharged previously is printed, and the paper P to be discharged next is printed on the printing surface. It is discharged so that is on top.

  Next, the control device 16 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 16 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a program executed by the CPU, and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) that stores data used for these programs in a rewritable manner. It includes RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporary storage. Each functional unit constituting the control device 16 is constructed by cooperation of these hardware and software in the EEPROM. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 16 includes a data processing unit 61 and an engine control unit 62.

  The data processing unit 61 receives and processes print data transmitted from an upper computer connected to the inkjet printer 101 so as to be able to perform data communication. The engine control unit 62 controls the operation of the inkjet printer 101 so that printing is executed based on the print data processed by the data processing unit 61.

  The data processing unit 61 includes a reception processing unit 70, a print command storage unit 71, a drying time calculation unit 72, and a print information generation unit 73. From the print data received from the host computer, the reception processing unit 70 outputs, for one or a plurality of sheets P, image data relating to an image to be printed on each sheet P, and a sheet P on which each image is printed on the discharge tray 55a. A print command including the discharge order, which is the order of discharge at ˜55d, is extracted. At this time, the extracted image data (for example, gradation data of 256 gradations) is multi-valued according to the specifications of the inkjet printer 101. In the present embodiment, since the inkjet printer 101 prints an image with four gradations of large droplets, medium droplets, small droplets, and 0, the image data is converted into four values. The print command corresponds to the recording command in the present invention. Note that the print command may be an aggregate of a plurality of print commands. For example, when a set of two print commands is used, the discharge order for each print command is the order in which the print commands are received. Furthermore, the print command may be a part of one print command. For example, when one print command is so large that it cannot be stored in the print command storage unit 71, the print command is separated into a part of the print command and processed. In some cases, it is suitable to divide one print command and apply the present invention from the viewpoint of data processing.

  The print command storage unit 71 stores the print command extracted by the reception processing unit 70.

  The drying time calculation unit 72 is required for the paper P on which the image related to the image data is printed from the image data included in the print command stored in the print command storage unit 71 to be dried in the drying stages 41a to 41d. The drying time which is time (the holding time for which the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P) is calculated. The drying time is calculated from, for example, the dot density per unit area for forming the image printed on the paper P. The drying time becomes longer as the dot density increases. If there is an area where the dot density is high even in a part of the paper P, the time required for drying becomes long. This drying time is one of the retention time-related values of the present invention, and the other is the retention time-related value such as the time for performing curl correction in the holding portion based on the dot density distribution. The holding time relationship value is configured to be calculated by the drying time calculation unit 72. Further, when a heater or a blower for promoting drying is provided in the drying unit, the drying time can be calculated in consideration of the heater temperature, the air volume of the blower, and the like.

  The print information generation unit 73 generates print information of an image related to the print command based on the print command stored in the print command storage unit 71. The print information includes the monochrome / color type and the number of pixels of the image, the discharge number indicating the discharge order in which the printed paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the drying time calculated by the drying time calculation unit 72, and The print table ID for specifying the print information is included. When the print information of all the images related to the print command is generated, the print information is transmitted to the engine control unit 62.

  The engine control unit 62 includes a print table storage unit 74, a print order generation unit 75, a print time prediction unit 76, a print order determination unit 77, a print control unit 78, a supply control unit 79, and a discharge control unit 80. And have. The print table storage unit 74 stores the received print information as a print table when the print information transmitted from the print information generation unit 73 is received.

  Based on the print table stored in the print table storage unit 74, the print order generation unit 75 generates a plurality of print orders that are different from the discharge order and from which printing of each image on the paper P is started. The print order generation unit 75 may generate a print order for all patterns other than the discharge order, may generate a randomly determined print order, or only images whose drying time exceeds a predetermined value. A print order that is preferentially printed may be generated.

  The printing time prediction unit 76 prints each image on the paper P in the descending order of the printing order generated by the printing order generation unit 75 when printing the images on the paper P in the descending order of the printing order same as the discharge order. In each case, from the time when the paper P on which the image is first printed is supplied to one of the drying stages 41a to 41d, the paper P on which all the images relating to the printing information are printed is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d. The print execution time, which is the time until printing, is predicted. The start time of the print execution time may be when printing on the paper P is first started or when the paper P to be printed first is fed from the paper feed tray.

  The print order determination unit 77 determines the print order corresponding to the shortest print execution time among the print execution times in the plurality of print orders predicted by the print time prediction unit 76 as the print order for actual printing. . The determined printing order is added to the printing table.

  Based on the print table stored in the print table storage unit 74, the print control unit 78 prints the images of the print information in order on the paper P in descending order of the print order determined by the print order determination unit 77. The transport unit 20 and the inkjet head 1 are controlled. When all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P, the print control unit 78 outputs the supply signal to the discharge control unit 80 and then the paper held by the drying stages 41a to 41d. Printing on the next sheet P is temporarily stopped until any of P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d.

  The supply control unit 79 controls the distribution mechanism 34 so that the paper P on which the image is printed is supplied to the drying stages 41a to 41d that do not hold the paper P among the four drying stages 41a to 41d. . At this time, the supply controller 79 preferentially supplies the paper P in the order of the drying stages 41a to 41d.

  The discharge controller 80 controls the discharge mechanism 43 so that the paper P held on the drying stages 41a to 41d is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d in descending order of the discharge order. In the present embodiment, all of the paper P on which the image related to the print command is printed is discharged to the same discharge trays 55a to 55d.

  Further, when all of the drying stages 41a to 41d hold (dry) the paper P, the discharge control unit 80 requests the paper P to be supplied from the print control unit 78 to the drying stages 41a to 41d. If the sheet P to be discharged next can be discharged in the descending order of the discharge order among the sheets P held by the drying stages 41a to 41d, the sheet P is discharged to the drying stages 41a to 41d. Here, the dischargeable state means that when the paper P held on the drying stages 41a to 41d is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d before the drying time elapses, the paper P is dried on the discharge trays 55a to 55d. Accordingly, the paper P is not bent (curled). The discharge control unit 80 waits until the time (waiting time) until the drying of the paper P in the discharge trays 55a to 55d is completed after the paper P before drying is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d. The discharge mechanism 43 is controlled so that the paper P is not discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d from any of the drying stages 41a to 41d. Here, the state in which the paper P does not bend (curl) as the paper P dries in the trays 55a to 55d is a state in which the time required for drying is small, and depends on the type of the paper P, the type of ink, and the like. The timing at which the paper P is discharged from the drying unit to the discharge unit (a state in which the paper P is not curved) is appropriately set.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the inkjet printer 101 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, when print data is transmitted from a host computer, the reception processing unit 70 of the data processing unit 61 of the control device 16 receives the print data (step S101: hereinafter referred to as S101, The same applies to the other steps). When the reception processing unit 70 receives the print data, the reception processing unit 70 performs data processing on the received print data and extracts a print command including the quaternized image data and the discharge order (S102). The print command extracted by the reception processing unit 70 is stored in the print command storage unit 71 (S103).

  When a new print command is stored in the print command storage unit 71, the dry time calculation unit 72 calculates the dry time related to the image related to the image data from the image data included in the print command (S104). Then, the print information generation unit 73 generates print information for each image related to the print command (S105) and transmits it to the engine control unit 62 (S106).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the engine control unit 62 sequentially repeats the print data reception process (S201), the print process (S202), and the discharge process (S203). Hereinafter, the print data reception process, the print process, and the discharge process will be described in order. As shown in FIG. 5, when the print data reception process is started, the engine control unit 62 determines whether or not the print information transmitted from the print information generation unit 73 has been received (S301). If the print information has not been received (S301: NO), the engine control unit 62 determines that print data has not been transmitted from the host computer, and ends the print data reception process.

  If the print information has been received (S301: YES), the engine control unit 62 stores the received print information in the print table storage unit 74 as a print table (S302). Then, the print order generation unit 75 generates a plurality of print orders, which are the order in which printing of each image on the paper P is started, based on the print table stored in the print table storage unit 74 (S303). Further, when the printing time prediction unit 76 prints images on the paper P in the descending order of the printing order same as the discharge order, and prints the images on the paper P in the descending order of the plurality of printing orders generated by the printing order generation unit 75. In each case, the print execution time is predicted (S304). The print order when the print order determination unit 77 actually prints the print order in which the shortest print execution time is predicted among the print execution times in the plurality of print orders predicted by the print time prediction unit 76. (S305). Thus, the print data reception process ends.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the printing process is started, it is determined whether or not a printing table is stored in the printing table storage unit 74 (S401). If no print table is stored in the print table storage unit 74 (S401: NO), it is determined that print data has not been transmitted from the host computer, and the printing process is terminated.

  If the print table is stored in the print table storage unit 74 (S401: YES), the print control unit 78 determines whether or not all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P (S402). If all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P (S402: YES), a supply request is output to the discharge control unit 80 (S403), the printing process is terminated, and any of the drying stages 41a to 41d is completed. If the paper P is not held (S402: NO), the print information print table for printing from the print table stored in the print table storage unit 74 according to the descending order of the print order determined by the print order determination unit 77 The ID is specified, and the image data corresponding to the specified print table ID is transferred to the inkjet head 1 (S404). The print control unit 78 controls the transport unit 20 and the inkjet head 1 so that the image related to the image data is printed on the paper P (S405). The supply control unit 79 controls the distribution mechanism 34 so that the paper P on which the image is printed is supplied to the drying stages 41a to 41d that do not hold the paper P among the four drying stages 41a to 41d. (S406). Thus, the printing process is finished.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the discharge process is started, the discharge control unit 80 determines whether or not the paper P to be discharged next is held in the drying stages 41a to 41d according to the descending order related to the discharge order ( S501). If the discharge control unit 80 determines that the paper P is not held by the drying stages 41a to 41d (S501: NO), the discharge process ends.

  If it is determined that the paper P is held on the drying stages 41a to 41d (S501: YES), the discharge controller 80 determines whether or not the drying flag is ON (S502). As will be described later, the drying flag is a flag that is turned ON when discharged from the drying stages 41a to 41d to the discharge trays 55a to 55d before the drying time elapses. If the drying flag is ON (S502: YES), the discharge controller 80 determines whether or not the time after the previous paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d has reached the standby time. (S503). If the time has not reached the waiting time (S503: NO), the discharging control unit 80 ends the discharging process, and if the time has reached the waiting time (S503: YES), the discharge control unit 80 turns the drying flag OFF. (S504) It is determined whether or not the time since the paper P to be discharged next is held by the drying stages 41a to 41d has reached the corresponding drying time in the descending order of the discharge order (S505).

  On the other hand, if the drying flag is not ON (S502: NO), the discharge control unit 80 reaches the drying time corresponding to the time from when the paper P to be discharged next is held by the drying stages 41a to 41d. It is determined whether or not (S505). If the time has reached the corresponding drying time (S505: YES), the discharge control unit 80 discharges the paper P to the discharge trays 55a to 55d (S510).

  On the other hand, if the time has not reached the drying time (S505: NO), the discharge control unit 80 determines whether all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P (S506). If all the drying stages 41a to 41d do not hold the paper P (S506: NO), the discharge control unit 80 ends the discharging process, and all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P. If YES in step S506, it is determined whether a supply request is output from the print control unit 78 (step S507).

  If the supply request is not output (S507: NO), the discharge control unit 80 ends the discharge process. If the supply request is output (S507: YES), the next paper P to be discharged can be discharged. It is determined whether or not it is in a proper state (S508). If the paper P is not in a state in which the paper P can be discharged (S508: NO), the discharge control unit 80 ends the discharge processing, and if the paper P is in a state in which the paper P can be discharged (S508: YES), the discharge control unit 80 The flag is turned ON (S509), and the paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d (S510). Then, by discharging the paper P to the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the drying stages 41a to 41d are vacant, and the paper P related to the supply request can be supplied to the drying stages 41a to 41d.

  Each time the paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the discharge controller 80 deletes the print information related to the print table ID corresponding to the paper P from the print table (S511). This completes the discharge process.

  In this way, by repeating the print data receiving process, the print process, and the discharge process, the paper P on which images relating to all print information in the print table are printed is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d in descending order related to the discharge order. Printing is complete. At this time, since the corresponding print information is deleted every time the paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d, all the contents of the print table are cleared when printing is completed.

  As described above, according to the ink jet printer 101 of the present embodiment, if there is a supply request for the paper P when all the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P, the paper P before drying is discharged to the discharge tray 55a. The paper P relating to the supply request can be quickly supplied to the drying stages 41a to 41d because the paper P is discharged to .about.55d and dried on the discharge trays 55a to 55d. For this reason, it is possible to shorten the time to wait for the drying stages 41a to 41d to be free while suppressing the increase in the number of drying stages and the complexity of the apparatus structure. Thereby, the throughput of image printing can be improved while suppressing the increase in size and cost of the inkjet printer 101. Further, in the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the paper P to be discharged next is stacked on the dry printing surface of the paper P discharged first, and the printing surface of the paper P to be discharged next is up. Therefore, the paper P can be efficiently dried in the discharge trays 55a to 55d while preventing the paper P discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d from being soiled.

  The discharge control unit 80 discharges the paper P to the discharge trays 55a to 55d when the paper P is not curled by being dried in the discharge trays 55a to 55d. Throughput can be improved without loss.

  Further, since the discharge control unit 80 controls the discharge mechanism 43 so that the paper P held by the drying stages 41a to 41d is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d in descending order of the discharge order, the user can set the discharge tray. There is no need to re-sort the sheets P discharged to 55a to 55d.

  Further, the printing order determination unit 77 determines the printing order in which the shortest printing execution time is predicted among the printing execution times in the printing order predicted by the printing time prediction unit 76 as the printing order when actually performing printing. Therefore, the throughput can be further improved by simple data processing.

<Modification>
In the above-described embodiment, when all of the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P and the discharge control unit 80 requests the supply of the paper P from the print control unit 78, the discharge stages 41a to 41d. Among the sheets P held by 41d, the sheet P to be discharged next in descending order of the discharge order is discharged to the drying stages 41a to 41d. The sheet P held by the drying stages 41a to 41d Among them, the paper P having the shortest remaining drying time may be discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d. According to this, throughput can be improved reliably.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as they are described in the claims. In the above-described embodiment, when all of the drying stages 41a to 41d hold the paper P, the discharge control unit 80 should discharge next when there is a paper P supply request from the print control unit 78. If the paper P is not curled by being dried in the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the paper P is discharged to the discharge trays 55a to 55d. However, a supply request is made regardless of the presence or absence of such a state. If it exists, the structure which discharges | emits the paper P which should be discharged | emitted next to discharge tray 55a-55d may be sufficient.

  In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the print control unit 78 is configured to output a supply request to the discharge control unit 80, but the supply control unit 79 may be configured to output a supply request to the discharge control unit 80. Good.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, all the sheets P are discharged to the same discharge trays 55a to 55d, but the sheet P is divided into a plurality of discharge trays 55a to 55d and discharged. May be. In particular, when the paper P is dried by the discharge trays 55a to 55d, the paper P discharged next to the paper P is discharged to the other discharge trays 55a to 55d where the paper P is not dried. It is preferable. According to this, since the paper P can be discharged without considering the standby time, the throughput can be further improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the optimum printing order is determined based on the drying time. However, the optimum printing order may be determined based on other parameters related to the drying time. For example, the total amount of ink ejected onto the paper P or the maximum amount per unit area may be calculated from the image data, and the optimum printing order may be determined based on the calculated value. Further, the drying time may be calculated in consideration of the time for performing the curl correction in the drying stages 41a to 41d according to the distribution of the dot density. Furthermore, the configuration may be such that each image is printed on the paper in the print order according to the print command without determining the optimum print order.

  The present invention is also applicable to a recording apparatus that ejects liquid other than ink. Further, the present invention is not limited to a printer, and can be applied to a facsimile, a copier, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inkjet head 16 Control apparatus 34 Distribution mechanism 41a Drying stage 43 Discharge mechanism 43a-43d Nip roller 45 Selection mechanism 55a-55d Discharge tray 61 Data processing part 62 Engine control part 70 Reception processing part 71 Print command memory | storage part 72 Drying time calculation part 73 Print information generation unit 74 Print table storage unit 75 Print order generation unit 76 Print time prediction unit 77 Print order determination unit 78 Print control unit 79 Supply control unit 80 Discharge control unit 101 Inkjet printer

Claims (5)

A recording head for recording an image on a recording medium;
A plurality of drying units for drying the recording medium on which the image is recorded;
A distribution mechanism for supplying a recording medium on which an image is recorded by the recording head to any of the plurality of drying units;
A discharge unit to which the recording medium is discharged;
A discharge mechanism for discharging the recording medium supplied to any of the plurality of drying units to the discharge unit;
Command storage means for storing a recording command including image data relating to an image recorded on each recording medium for a plurality of recording media;
Recording control means for controlling the recording head so that the plurality of images are recorded on a plurality of recording media;
Supply control means for controlling the distribution mechanism so that each recording medium on which an image is recorded is supplied to the drying unit that does not dry the recording medium;
A discharge control means for controlling the discharge mechanism so that the recording medium supplied to the plurality of drying sections is discharged to the discharge section;
In the discharge unit, the recording medium to be discharged next is stacked on the recording surface on which the image of the recording medium discharged previously is recorded, and the recording surface to be discharged next is such that the recording surface is on top. Discharged into
When the discharge control unit is requested to supply the recording medium to the drying unit when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium, the discharge control unit discharges the discharge from any of the plurality of drying units. The discharge mechanism is controlled so that the recording medium is not discharged from any of the plurality of drying units until the recording medium is discharged to the discharge unit and until the recording medium is dried in the discharge unit. A recording apparatus.   When the supply request is made when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium, the discharge control unit is configured to output a recording medium to be discharged from the drying unit to the discharge unit. 2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge mechanism is controlled so that the recording medium is discharged to the discharge unit only when it is determined that the sheet is not bent by being dried by the discharge unit. The recording command further includes a recording order of the plurality of images;
The discharge control means controls the discharge mechanism in the discharge unit so that the recording media on which the plurality of images are recorded are stacked in descending order with respect to the recording order. The recording device described in 1. A drying time relation value calculating means for calculating a value related to the drying time of the recording medium in the drying section from the image data;
Based on the recording order and the drying time relationship value, when images are recorded on a plurality of recording media in a descending order with respect to the recording order, images are recorded on a plurality of recording media in an order different from the descending order with respect to the recording order. In one or a plurality of cases, at least one of the recording media related to the recording command is supplied to the drying unit, and the recording command execution including time until all the recording media related to the recording command are discharged to the discharging unit Recording command execution time predicting means for predicting time;
The recording command execution time shorter than the recording command execution time when the plurality of images are recorded on a plurality of recording media in descending order with respect to the recording order at the plurality of recording command execution times predicted by the recording command execution time prediction unit. When the command execution time is included, the recording order is different from the descending order with respect to the recording order corresponding to any of the recording command execution times. Otherwise, the recording order is set in the descending order with respect to the recording order. Determining means for determining to record the plurality of images;
4. The recording control unit according to claim 3, further comprising: a recording control unit that controls the recording head so that the plurality of images are recorded on a plurality of recording media in the order determined by the determining unit. Recording device. When the supply request is made when all of the plurality of drying units are drying the recording medium, the discharge control unit is configured to leave a remaining one of the plurality of recording media dried by the plurality of drying units. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge mechanism is controlled so that the recording medium having the shortest drying time is discharged to the discharge unit.

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