JP2011143613A - Continuous paper printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a continuous paper printer improved in image data transmission efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: The continuous paper printer makes double-side printing by printing on a front and back sides of a sheet of paper in two divided printing areas by using different printing mechanisms (first and second printing mechanisms 7A and 7B), respectively. The two printing mechanisms have transmission paths corresponding to several colors (control lines 19 to 22, and control lines 23 to 26), respectively, and are controlled by two different engine controllers (engine controllers A2 and B3), and each of the two engine controllers is connected to transmission paths of the several colors in each printing mechanism (transfer paths 11 to 14, and transfer paths 15 to 18). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a continuous paper printing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a continuous paper printing apparatus that improves the transfer efficiency of image data and enables high-speed color printing.

  A continuous paper printer that divides the print area in half on the left and right sides and performs double-sided printing by printing on the front and back sides of the paper (continuous paper). High-speed continuous paper printers) are known. Such a configuration is called an SED (Single Engine Duplex) configuration. Hereinafter, printing using this configuration is simply referred to as SED, SED printing, or the like.

  An example of a functional block diagram of a high-speed continuous paper printer having this SED configuration is shown in FIG. The high-speed continuous paper printer 100 includes a RIP (raster image processor) device 110, an engine control device 120, and a print engine 130. Here, the RIP device 110 converts the print data received from the host computer 200 into image data handled by the print engine 130. The engine control device 120 sends the image data received from the RIP device 110 to the print engine 130, and the print mechanism unit 140 controlled by the print engine 130 prints on the paper.

  An example of a printer having an SED configuration is disclosed in Patent Document 1. An example of the flow of paper when performing printing by the SED will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the continuous paper is conveyed on the left side of the printing mechanism unit 140 having a sufficient width with respect to the paper width, and printing on the surface is performed at this stage. Then, after exiting the printing mechanism unit 140, it is reversed in the transport path, and then enters the right side of the printing mechanism unit again, and printing is performed on the back surface. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, in order to invert the paper, a conveyance path having a considerable paper length is necessary. At a certain point, for example, the left half of the printer prints the surface of the 33rd page. In the right half, the back side of the third page is printed.

  In such SED, since the printer is printing two pages at the same time, in order to maintain continuous printing, a large amount of image data needs to be transferred at high speed. In particular, since a color printer needs to send data for each color, the data transfer capability required for the engine control device 120 is very high.

  However, if it is attempted to satisfy such a high data transfer requirement by the single engine control device 120, a large-scale circuit is required, resulting in an increase in cost.

  Therefore, a technique is known that includes a plurality of engine control devices 120 and uses them together to multiplex image data transfer paths and enable high-speed data transfer. An example of a functional block diagram of such a high-speed continuous paper printer is shown in FIG. In the high-speed continuous paper printer 100 shown in FIG. 10, two engine control devices 120A and 120B are connected to the RIP device 110, and image data is sent using a multiplexed data transfer path 150.

  However, in such engine control devices 120A and 120B, the transfer paths are divided according to the colors. Therefore, when printing two pages at the same time, the engine control device 120A is composed after combining two or more pages with the RIP device 110. , 120B has to be transmitted.

  In this regard, two engine control devices are used as an example of a color inkjet printer that prints in four colors of cyan (Cyan, C), magenta (Magenta, M), yellow (Yellow, Y), and black (Black, B). The control used will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 11, cyan (C) and magenta (M) are assigned to the engine control device 120A, and yellow (Y) and black (B) are assigned to the engine control device 120B. As described above, in the SED configuration, the printing start positions on the front surface and the back surface do not match. For example, when the left side of the ink jet head (printing mechanism unit 140) prints 33 pages on the front surface, the right side of the ink jet head is on the back surface. Print part of 3 pages and part of 4 back pages.

  Therefore, the RIP device 110 combines the 33 pages on the front surface with the 3 pages and 4 pages on the back surface, taking into account the shift in the printing position between the front surface and the back surface, and 1 is obtained by cutting the page length in the paper feed direction. It is necessary to transmit to the engine control devices 120A and 120B as pages (areas indicated by dotted lines in the figure).

  For example, Patent Document 2 discloses an image forming system using a plurality of data transfer units for the purpose of efficiently transferring image data from a data processing apparatus to a printing apparatus. This image forming system is a technique for controlling the amount of data flowing through the transfer path so as not to cause an imbalance by changing the color assigned to the transfer path in accordance with the data amount for each color, thereby improving the efficiency of image data transfer. Is disclosed.

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 2 is designed to improve the efficiency of image data transfer from the data processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by using a plurality of transfer paths. This does not solve the problem that processing is necessary, but leaves a problem in data transfer efficiency.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous paper printing apparatus that can increase the data transfer efficiency using a plurality of transfer paths without forcing the RIP apparatus to perform complicated page composition when printing by SED. To do.

  In order to achieve such an object, the continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 1 is configured such that, in two divided print areas, printing of a plurality of colors on the front surface of the paper and printing of a plurality of colors on the back surface are different from each other. A continuous paper printing device that performs double-sided printing by using a mechanism unit, each of which has a transmission path corresponding to each color and is controlled by two different engine control devices The two engine control devices are respectively connected to the transmission paths for the respective colors in one printing mechanism.

  Therefore, when printing by SED, the print area is divided into two, and each area is controlled by a separate engine control device, so that each engine control device can divide image data by page instead of by color. Can be processed.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising switching means capable of integrating two printing areas into one printing area, and each of the two engine control devices has the other Are connected to one or more color transmission paths in the printing mechanism section, and one-side printing is performed in one printing area integrated by the switching means by two engine control devices.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize high-speed data transfer using a plurality of engine control devices without forcing the RIP device to perform complicated page composition even in printing by SED.

It is a schematic block diagram of the control part of the high-speed continuous paper printer which is one Embodiment of the continuous paper printing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the printing result at the time of SED implementation by a high-speed continuous paper printer. It is another example of the schematic block diagram of the control part of a high-speed continuous paper printer. It is explanatory drawing of the printing result at the time of normal printing implementation by a continuous paper printer. It is a flowchart which shows the switching process between SED and normal printing. It is another example (at the time of SED implementation) of the schematic block diagram of the control part of a high-speed continuous paper printer. It is another example (at the time of normal printing) of the schematic block diagram of the control part of a high-speed continuous paper printer. It is an example of the functional block diagram of the conventional high-speed continuous paper printer. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sheet transport method using an SED configuration. It is another example of the functional block diagram of the conventional high-speed continuous paper printer. It is a schematic diagram explaining the printing by the high-speed continuous paper printer shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a configuration according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a control unit of a high-speed continuous paper printer which is an embodiment of a continuous paper printing apparatus according to the present invention. The high-speed continuous paper printer according to the present embodiment has different printing mechanism units (first printing mechanism unit 7A, second printing mechanism) for printing on the front side and back side of the paper in two divided printing areas. 7B) is a continuous paper printing apparatus that performs double-sided printing, and each of the two printing mechanism units has a transmission path (control lines 19 to 22, control lines 23 to 26) corresponding to each color. The two engine control devices are controlled by two different engine control devices (engine control devices A2 and B3), and each of the two engine control devices is connected to a transmission path of each color in one printing mechanism (transfer path 11). -14, transfer paths 15-18).

(First embodiment)
The high-speed continuous paper printer according to the present embodiment includes an RIP device 1, an engine control device A2, an engine control device B3, and a print engine 6. , 10.

  The transfer paths 9 and 10 are each formed of a transfer path for each CMYK color data. The engine control device A2 and the engine control device B3 are connected to the print engine 6 via software switches 4 and 5 that control connection of transfer paths 11 to 18 for each CMYK color data. During SED printing, the software switches 4 and 5 are in a state where the CMYK lines are connected. Each line shown in the software switch is an image, and any line can be used as long as switching control is performed on software.

  Also, a left printing mechanism section (hereinafter referred to as a first printing mechanism section) 7A and a right printing mechanism section (hereinafter referred to as a second printing mechanism section) 7B included in the printing engine 6 each have a control line 19 for controlling printing on the left side. To 22 and control lines 23 to 26 for controlling printing on the right side. The first printing mechanism unit 7A is controlled by the engine control device A2, and the second printing mechanism unit 7B is controlled by the engine control device B3. In the present embodiment, the printing mechanism unit is an inkjet head that includes two unit line heads, the first printing mechanism unit 7A and the second printing mechanism unit 7B, and performs printing by an inkjet method.

  In such a configuration, the RIP apparatus 1 sends the front CMYK image data to the transfer path 9 and sends the back CMYK image data to the transfer path 10. Receiving this, the engine control apparatus A2 uses the transfer paths 11 to 14 to send the CMYK image data on the surface to the control lines 19 to 22 included in the first printing mechanism unit 7A. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the 33rd page 28 is printed on the paper 27 that passes through the left side of the printing mechanism corresponding to the first printing mechanism 7A.

  The engine control device B3 that has received the CMYK image data on the back side sends the CMYK image data on the back side to the control lines 23 to 26 of the second printing mechanism unit 7B using the transfer paths 15 to 18. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the back third page 30 is printed on the paper 28 that passes through the right side of the printing mechanism corresponding to the second printing mechanism 7B.

  As described above, the high-speed continuous paper printer according to the present embodiment enables the RIP device 1 to perform printing without performing complicated page composition processing even in printing by SED. Printing speed can be increased.

(Second Embodiment)
Further, the high-speed continuous paper printer is configured as shown in FIG. 3, and as shown in FIG. 4, the paper 31 passes only once through the printing mechanism unit 7 and prints one page in 32 areas (normal printing system and It is preferable that the printing method using the SED can be switched.

  In the present embodiment, the engine control device is also connected to one or more color transmission paths in the other printing mechanism. That is, the software switch 4 included in the engine control device A2 has C transfer paths 11a and 11b. The transfer path 11a is connected to the control line 19 and the transfer path 12b is connected to the control line 23. Further, M transfer paths 12 a and 12 b are provided, the transfer path 12 a is connected to the control line 20, and the transfer path 12 b is connected to the control line 24. The Y transfer path 13 and the K transfer path 14 are connected to the control lines 21 and 22, respectively.

  The software switch 5 included in the engine control device B3 includes Y transfer paths 17a and 17b. The transfer path 17a is connected to the control line 21 and the transfer path 17b is connected to the control line 25. Further, K transfer paths 18 a and 18 b are provided. The transfer path 18 a is connected to the control line 22, and the transfer path 18 b is connected to the control line 26. The C transfer path 15 and the M transfer path 16 are connected to control lines 23 and 24, respectively. Each line shown in the software switch is an image, and any line can be used as long as switching control is performed on software.

  In the case of the normal printing method, the RIP device 1 sends the CM image data to the engine control device A2 via the transfer path 9, and sends the YK image data to the engine control device B3 via the transfer path 10.

  Here, in the case of the normal printing method, by switching the software switch 4, the C transfer path 11a is turned on, 11b is turned on, the M transfer path 12a is turned on, 12b is turned on, the Y transfer path 13 is turned off, K The transfer path 14 is turned off. Further, by switching the software switch 5, the C transfer path 15 is turned off, the M transfer path 16 is turned off, the Y transfer path 17a is turned on, 17b is turned on, the K transfer path 18a is turned on, and the 18b is turned on. To be. That is, in FIG. 3, the transfer path indicated by the solid line and the dotted line is in the connected state, and the transfer path indicated by the chain line is in the disconnected state.

  By switching in this way, the engine control device A2 controls both the first printing mechanism unit 7A and the second printing mechanism unit 7B to print C and M image data, and the engine control device B3 Y and K image data are printed by controlling both the first printing mechanism unit 7A and the second printing mechanism unit 7B.

  According to such a normal printing method, as shown in FIG. 4, the page 32 can be printed on the paper 31 that passes through the printing mechanism unit 7.

  When SED is performed, for the software switch 4, the C transfer path 11a is on, the 11b is off, the M transfer path 12a is on, and the software switch 4 is the same as the connection state shown in FIG. Is turned off, the Y transfer path 13 is turned on, and the K transfer path 14 is turned on. For the software switch 5, the C transfer path 15 is turned on, the M transfer path 16 is turned on, the Y transfer path 17a is turned off, 17b is turned on, the K transfer path 18a is turned off, and the 18b is turned on. It may be switched as follows. That is, in FIG. 3, the transfer path indicated by the solid line and the chain line is in the connected state, and the transfer path indicated by the dotted line is in the disconnected state.

  Further, in FIG. 3, an example in which the engine control device A2 prints C and M image data and the engine control device B3 prints Y and K image data has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can be selected and changed by the connection form between the road and the control line and the connection switching by software switch.

  With the above configuration, according to the high-speed continuous paper printer, printing by both the SED printing and the normal printing method can be executed only by the switching operation of the software switch.

  The high-speed continuous paper printer has a calculation means (CPU), a storage means (RAM, ROM, etc.), etc., and functions as a switching means in cooperation with the software switches 4 and 5. A switching process between the printing method by SED and the normal printing method by the switching means will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The switching means determines whether or not the current setting is SED (step S1). In the case of SED (step S1: Yes), the software switches 4 and 5 are switched so that each of the engine control device A2 and the engine control device B3 controls CMYK image data for half of the print area (SED printing).

  On the other hand, if it is not SED (step S1: No), the software switches 4 and 5 are switched to control the image data of C and M for the engine control device A2 and Y and K for the engine control device B3 for the entire printing area. (Normal printing)

  Whether or not to perform SED printing may be set from a display unit (operation panel or the like) not shown or a host computer connected to the continuous paper printing apparatus. Alternatively, it may be realized by sending a command from the RIP device 1 as necessary.

(Other embodiments)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the printing mechanism unit 7 is composed of two units of line heads of the printing mechanism units 7a and 7b. However, the configuration of the printing mechanism unit 7 is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the printing mechanism unit 7 is preferably a printing mechanism unit of a single line type printing unit. Further, for example, two or more line-type printing units may be arranged in a staggered manner.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the printing mechanism unit 7 is configured by one unit. In addition to the switching of the software switches 4 and 5, the software switch 8 is turned off to turn off the printing mechanism unit 7. SED printing can be performed with the left and right sides disconnected (ie, treated as two printing mechanism units) (FIG. 6), and the left and right sides of the printing mechanism unit 7 are connected by turning on the software switch 8. As a state (that is, treated as one printing mechanism unit), it is possible to perform normal printing (FIG. 7).

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an ink jet type continuous paper printer has been described as an example. However, the printing method is not particularly limited, and may be of another method using an LED head or the like. is there.

1 RIP device 2 Engine control device A
3 Engine control device B
4, 5 Software switch 6 Print engine 7 Printing mechanism section 7A First printing mechanism section 7B Second printing mechanism section 8 Software switch 9 Transfer path (CMYK)
10 Transfer path (CMYK)
11, 11a, 11b, 15 Transfer path (C)
12, 12a, 12b, 16 Transfer path (M)
13, 17, 17a, 17b Transfer path (Y)
14, 18, 18a, 18b Transfer path (Y)
19, 23 Control line (C)
20, 24 Control line (M)
21, 25 Control line (Y)
22, 26 Control line (K)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-2017 JP 2009-75657 A

Claims (2)

A continuous paper printing apparatus that performs double-sided printing by performing printing of a plurality of colors on a front surface of a sheet and printing of a plurality of colors on a back surface using different printing mechanisms in two divided printing areas. ,
Each of the two printing mechanism sections has a transmission path corresponding to each color, and is controlled by two different engine control devices,
Each of the two engine control devices is connected to a transmission path for each color in one of the printing mechanism units. A switching means capable of integrating the two print areas into one print area;
Each of the two engine control devices is also connected to a transmission path of one or more colors in the other printing mechanism unit,
The continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two engine control devices perform single-sided printing in one printing region integrated by the switching unit.

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