JP3121941B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer and a digital copying machine, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a manual paper feed function and a straight paper discharge function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, image data sent from a host apparatus is input, and the input image data is printed out on a sheet set in the apparatus and output. In this case, the maximum printable paper size is limited by the print size in the main scanning direction.

On the other hand, a "page printer" as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-135768 has been proposed. When printing long image data exceeding the maximum printable paper size, this page printer prints part of paper of a predetermined size continuously and prints it without dividing the printing operation into several times. , Can be printed at once. In other words, image data continuous in the paper feeding direction of the printer (that is, the sub-scanning direction) can be continuously printed without interrupting the printing operation for each sheet.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional image forming apparatus, the maximum printable paper size is limited by the print size in the main scanning direction. There is a problem that printing cannot be performed.

According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-135768, "Page Printer", although long image data exceeding the maximum printable paper size can be printed, the print size in the main scanning direction is similarly reduced. However, there is a problem that printing of image data exceeding the print size in the main scanning direction cannot be performed.

For example, if a sheet exceeding the maximum sheet size is
Fold the paper, set it in the image forming apparatus with the paper size smaller than the maximum paper size, and then divide the image data from the host device and send it twice to print it on the folded paper. Although printing can be performed on paper that exceeds the limit, the image forming apparatus itself does not support such a printing method. It has grown and is not actually used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has as its object to enable printing on paper larger than the maximum printable paper size.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is an object of the present invention to enable printing of image data exceeding the print size in the main scanning direction.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus which receives image data from a host device such as a computer and outputs the image data to a sheet. A split print mode setting means for setting a split print mode for folding a large sheet to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing in a plurality of times, and a split print mode set via the split print mode setting means to the host device. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus including a control unit for requesting divided transmission of image data.

It is desirable that the division print mode setting means accepts the setting of the division print mode only in the manual feed mode.

The printer further comprises a straight paper discharging means for linearly transporting the paper after the image formation and discharging the paper. When the divided printing mode is set via the divided printing mode setting means, the straight discharging means is provided. It is desirable to discharge the paper using paper means.

It is preferable that the control means controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device to be higher than usual when the divided print mode is set via the divided print mode setting means.

It is preferable that the division print mode setting means can set the division print mode by inputting a command for designating the division print mode from the host device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for inputting image data from a host device such as a computer and outputting the image data to a sheet, at least twice the maximum printable sheet size. Storage means capable of storing image data; split print mode setting means for setting a split print mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable paper size is folded below the maximum paper size and printed in a plurality of times; It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus provided with a control means for dividing and outputting image data stored in a storage means when a division print mode is set via a setting means.

[0015]

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to be smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing is performed in a plurality of times is selected, the host apparatus is provided with Request split transmission of image data.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, only in the manual feed mode, a mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to be equal to or smaller than the maximum sheet size and printed in a plurality of times can be selected.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing is performed in a plurality of times is selected, straight discharge is performed. Do.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing is performed a plurality of times is selected, the fixing device of the fixing device is selected. Control the temperature above normal.

Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is configured such that a command for designating a mode for folding a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing a plurality of times is input from the host apparatus. , The mode is set.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to be smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing is performed in a plurality of times is selected, the image is transmitted from the host apparatus. The image data stored in the page memory is divided and output.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail in the order of [Embodiment 1], [Embodiment 2], [Embodiment 3] with reference to the drawings, taking a laser printer as an example.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a laser printer according to a first embodiment. A controller which inputs commands and image data from a host computer 101, which will be described later, and develops a raster image of the image data. Unit 102, an engine controller 103 for inputting image data from the controller unit 102 to perform processing for printing processing, and a light for writing with a laser beam based on the image data (image data) sent from the engine controller 103. It comprises a writing unit 104 and a setting unit 105 for setting various modes of the laser printer.

Here, the controller unit 102 has an RS232 for communicating with the host computer 101.
A CI / F (interface) 106, a command decoder 107 for decoding a command sent together with image data from the host computer 101, and an image data (code data and / or vector data) sent from the host computer 101 based on the command. A raster image developing unit 108 that develops image data and a control unit 109 that controls the above units are provided.

In this embodiment, the setting unit 105 is used to set a divided printing mode in which a sheet larger than the maximum printable paper size is folded to a size smaller than the maximum paper size and printed a plurality of times. . Reference numeral 101 denotes a host computer that generates image data to be printed.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the appearance of the laser printer of the first embodiment. The photosensitive member 201 receives laser light from the optical writing section 104 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the photosensitive member 20 includes
A developing unit 202 for developing the electrostatic latent image on one surface with toner, a manual paper feed tray 203 used for manually feeding paper, and an automatic paper feed tray 20 for automatically feeding paper
4, a separation roller 205 for feeding sheets one by one from the automatic sheet feeding tray 204, a fixing unit 206 for performing a fixing process of a toner image transferred from the photoconductor 201 onto the sheet,
A straight discharge tray 207 for discharging the paper after the fixing process toward the back of the laser printer, a face-down paper discharge unit 208 for discharging the paper after the fixing process to the upper surface of the laser printer, and a paper discharge direction. It comprises a paper outlet switching device 209 for switching, and a solenoid 210 for switching the paper outlet switching device 209. FIG. 1A shows a side view, and FIG. 1B shows a top view. The maximum printable paper size in the laser printer of the first embodiment is the A4 size (297 mm × 210 mm) shown in FIG.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, the printing operation of the laser printer will be described. Image data (vector data, etc.) from the host computer 101
Is transmitted with the command, RS232CI / F1
06 receives the image data and the command. RS2
With the reception of the 32 CI / F 106, the control unit 109
Based on the decoding result of the command decoder 107, the image data transmitted from the host computer 101 is developed into image data using the raster image developing unit 108. Subsequently, the control unit 109 sends the developed image data to the engine controller 103. The engine controller 103 generates drive data for the optical writing unit 104 based on the image data, and sends the generated data to the optical writing unit 104.

The optical writing unit 104 irradiates the surface of the photoconductor 201 with a laser beam based on the data generated by the engine controller 103. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 201 by the irradiation of the laser beam is developed into a toner image by a developing unit 202, and a sheet fed by a manual feed tray 203 or an automatic feed tray 204 at a transfer unit (not shown). Transcribed above. Thereafter, the toner image is fixed on the sheet by the fixing unit 206, and the sheet after fixing is discharged to the straight discharge tray 207 or the face-down discharge unit 208. The selection of the paper discharge method is performed by the paper discharge port switching unit 209 via the solenoid 210.

Next, a printing method in the divided printing mode will be described with reference to FIGS. In the divided print mode, a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is folded to be smaller than the maximum sheet size and printed in a plurality of times. Here, a case where printing is performed on A3-size paper (paper larger than the maximum printable paper size) shown in FIG. 3A will be described as an example.

The A3 size paper can be pseudo A4 size by folding in half as shown in FIG. 3B. The first printing is performed on one side of this pseudo A4 size paper as shown in FIG. 4A, and the second printing is subsequently performed on the other side as shown in FIG. 4B. By opening this sheet as shown in FIG. 4C, printing on A3-size sheets becomes possible. Note that the data to be printed twice is obtained by dividing image data of an A3-size original.

Next, a specific operation when printing on the above-mentioned A3 size paper will be described with reference to flowcharts of FIGS. As shown in FIG. 5, the setting of the laser printer is performed by first pressing the online switch of the setting unit 105 to bring the laser printer into an offline state (S50).
1). Next, press the paper feed selection switch of the setting unit 105,
The manual feed tray 203 is selected (S502). Subsequently, the user presses a division print mode key (not shown) of the setting unit 105 to set the division print mode (S503). Finally, press the online switch of the setting unit 105 again,
The laser printer is brought online (S504).

When the automatic paper feed tray 204 is selected in S502, the setting of the divided print mode is not accepted in S503. As described above, in the divided printing mode, one sheet is folded in half and printing is performed on one side thereof. Therefore, when the automatic paper feed tray 204 is selected, the sheet folded by the separation roller 205 when the sheet is separated is selected. The upper and lower parts of the sheet are separated and a jam occurs. On the other hand, when the manual paper feed tray 203 is selected, no jam occurs because the paper does not pass through the separation roller 205. Therefore, in order to avoid the occurrence of a jam, the setting of the divided print mode is accepted only in the manual feed mode.

Next, the operation of the laser printer after the division print mode is set will be described with reference to FIG. When the divided printing mode is set in the setting of the laser printer, the controller unit 102 outputs a command to request transmission of image data to the host computer 101 (S601). More specifically, the control unit 109
Host computer 1 via the H.232 CI / F 106
A status indicating that the print mode is the division print mode is sent to 01. Thereafter, by referring to the status from the host computer 101, it is confirmed whether or not there is a response from the host computer 101 (S602). If there is a response, it is confirmed whether or not it is a response of division transmission OK. (S603). In the case of division transmission OK, the control unit 109 selects the straight discharge tray 207 by the discharge port switching unit 209 via the solenoid 210 (S
604) Further, the fixing temperature of the fixing unit 206 is set high (S605). On the other hand, if there is no response in S602 and if the divided transmission is not OK in S603, the divided print mode is invalidated (S606).

In step S604, the face-down discharge unit 2
When 08 is selected, the folded paper is bent on the path of the face-down paper discharge unit 208, and becomes wrinkled.
Jams are likely to occur. In order to prevent this, in the first embodiment, the straight discharge tray 207 is selected. In the first embodiment, since the folded sheet has twice the thickness of a normal sheet, the fixing unit 206 is executed in step S605.
The fixing property is improved by setting the fixing temperature higher. If the divided transmission is possible, the host computer 101 receives the status from the laser printer and transmits the data twice so that divided printing can be performed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4C, image data such as those shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B are used so that a normal image is formed when the sheet is spread after printing. Send it to the printer.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the divided printing mode is set and the mode for printing paper larger than the maximum printable paper size is set, image data is transmitted to the host computer 101. In order to request that the data be divided and transmitted, the host computer 101 can be made to transmit appropriate data, that is, data as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Further, only when the manual paper feed tray 203 is selected, a divided printing mode for printing paper larger than the maximum printable paper size can be set, so that paper larger than the maximum printable size is printed. In this case, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the folded paper is erroneously fed from the automatic paper feed tray 204 and a jam occurs.

Further, since the straight discharge tray 207 is automatically selected when the mode for printing paper larger than the maximum printable paper size is set, the paper thickness is doubled. Can be avoided. Furthermore, since the fixing temperature of the fixing unit 206 is increased when the mode for printing a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is set, it is possible to avoid a fixing defect caused by doubling the thickness of the sheet.

Embodiment 2 An image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2
The divided print mode can be set by transmitting a command from the host computer 101. The configuration is the same as in the first embodiment.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, the host computer 101 first selects a print mode indicating that printing is performed by the laser printer (S701). Next, a divided print mode indicating that printing is performed on a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size is selected (S702). When the selection is completed, a command notifying that the print mode is the split print mode is transmitted to the laser printer (S703). After that, the laser printer checks whether or not there is a status (S704). If there is the status, it is checked whether or not the divided printing is OK (S705). If the divided printing is OK, the image is displayed. A divided print process for dividing and transmitting data is performed (S70).
6). On the other hand, if there is no status from the laser printer in S704 and if the divided printing is not OK in S705, the divided printing mode is invalidated (S707) and the divided transmission of the image data is not performed.

Next, on the laser printer side, as shown in FIG. 8, first, in the print mode set processing routine, it is confirmed whether or not there is a divided print mode command from the host computer 101 (S801). If there is a division print mode command, it is confirmed whether or not the mode is the manual feed mode (S802). If the mode is the manual feed mode, it is determined that divided printing is possible, and an OK status is returned to the host computer 101 (S803). On the other hand, if the mode is not the manual feed mode in S802, an NG status is returned to the host computer 101 (S804). Also, S801
If there is no divided print mode command in the step, the process is terminated. When the OK status is returned in step S803, as in the first embodiment, the straight output tray 20 is returned.
7, the fixing temperature of the fixing unit 206 is set to be high.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the setting of the laser printer can be performed from the host computer 101 side, so that the setting by the setting unit 105 shown in the first embodiment (the flowchart of FIG. 5) is unnecessary. Become. In addition, since the status from the host computer 101 is checked on the laser printer side, the normal setting can be returned to the host computer 101 that does not support a mode for printing on paper larger than the maximum printable paper size. . In other words, if the host computer 101 that does not support the divided print mode specifies a sheet larger than the maximum sheet size, a sheet error can be returned.

Further, a status is returned from the laser printer to the host computer 101, and the host computer 1
After confirming this status on the 01 side, the image data is divided and transmitted, so that there is no possibility that the image data is erroneously divided and transmitted to a laser printer that does not support the divided print mode.

[Embodiment 3] The laser printer of Embodiment 3 divides image data on the side of the laser printer when printing in the division print mode. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the laser printer according to the third embodiment.
The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 901 denotes a page memory capable of storing image data at least twice the maximum printable paper size.

The operation of the above configuration, which is different from the first embodiment, will be described. When printing is performed in the divided print mode, the image data before division (for example, image data of an A3-size original) is transmitted to the host computer 101 as it is, and after the image data before division is developed into image data, Page memory 901 in the printer
To memorize. Next, the image data stored in the page memory 901 is divided into images as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and sent to the engine controller 103 in order.
Printing is performed twice. Therefore, the host computer 1
No division transmission request to 01 is made. The other settings and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and have the same effects as those of the first embodiment. Further, since all the processes related to the divided print mode are performed inside the laser printer, the processes on the host computer 101 side can be omitted. Therefore, image data from the host computer 101 that cannot be divided and transmitted can be printed on a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus that inputs image data from a host device such as a computer and outputs the image data to a sheet, the image forming apparatus can perform printing with a maximum printable sheet size. A split print mode setting means for setting a split print mode for folding a large sheet to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printing in a plurality of times, and a split print mode set via the split print mode setting means to the host device. In addition, since control means for requesting divided transmission of image data is provided, printing can be performed on a sheet larger than the maximum printable sheet size, and in particular, image data exceeding the print size in the main scanning direction can be printed.

Further, since the divisional print mode setting means accepts the setting of the divisional print mode only in the manual feed mode, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a jam caused by feeding the folded sheet in the divisional print mode.

Further, there is provided a straight paper discharging means for linearly transporting the paper after image formation and discharging the paper, and when the divided printing mode is set via the divided printing mode setting means, the straight discharging means is provided. Since the paper is discharged using the paper means, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a jam due to the doubling of the thickness of the paper in the divided print mode.

When the division printing mode is set via the division printing mode setting means, the control means controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device to be higher than usual. It is possible to avoid the fixing failure due to the doubling.

The division print mode setting means can set the division print mode by inputting a command for designating the division print mode from the host device.
It is not necessary to set the division print mode in the image forming apparatus.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, image data is input from a host device such as a computer,
In an image forming apparatus for outputting to paper, a storage means capable of storing image data at least twice as large as the maximum printable paper size, and folding a paper larger than the maximum printable paper size to the maximum paper size or less to perform the printing multiple times. Divided print mode setting means for setting a divided print mode for separate printing, and control means for dividing and outputting image data stored in the storage means when the divided print mode is set via the divided print mode setting means Therefore, it is possible to print on paper larger than the maximum printable paper size, and particularly to print image data exceeding the print size in the main scanning direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a laser printer according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an appearance of the laser printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which an A3-size sheet is folded.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of printing on A3 size paper.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of setting a division print mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation in a divided print mode.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation on the host computer side when the division printing mode is set from the host computer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control operation on the laser printer side when the division printing mode is set from the host computer.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a laser printer according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 102 controller unit 105 setting unit 109 control unit 203 manual paper feed tray 207 straight discharge tray 901 page memory

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 21/00 B41J 13/00 G03G 15/00 518 G03G 21/00 384

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] In an image forming apparatus for inputting image data from a host device such as a computer and outputting the image data on a sheet, a sheet larger than a printable maximum sheet size is folded to a size smaller than the maximum sheet size and printed a plurality of times. Divided print mode setting means for setting a divided print mode to be set, and control means for requesting the host apparatus to perform divided transmission of image data when the divided print mode is set via the divided print mode setting means. An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the division print mode setting means accepts the setting of the division print mode only in the manual feed mode. And a straight discharging means for linearly transporting the paper after image formation and discharging the paper, wherein the control means is configured to output the divided printing mode when the divided printing mode is set via the divided printing mode setting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is discharged using the straight discharge unit. 4. The fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the fixing temperature of the fixing device to be higher than normal when the division printing mode is set via the division printing mode setting unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to 3. 5. The division printing mode setting means can set the division printing mode by inputting a command specifying the division printing mode from a host device. Or the image forming apparatus according to 4. 6. An image forming apparatus for inputting image data from a host device such as a computer and outputting the image data on paper, a storage means capable of storing image data at least twice the maximum printable paper size, A divided printing mode setting means for setting a divided printing mode for folding a sheet larger than the maximum paper size to a size smaller than the maximum paper size and printing in a plurality of times, and a divided printing mode via the divided printing mode setting means. Control means for dividing the image data stored in the storage means and outputting the divided data.