JPH05330020A - Unit type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a unit type printer for which the changing of connection of printing units for respective different contents of printing is not required and the remote control operation by, for example, an outside computer can be carried out efficiently. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of printing units are connected vertically between a paper feeding unit 9 and a paper taking-off unit 11, and a route bypassing a printing unit is formed, if necessary, in the respective printing unit, and a plurality of printing mechanism of slow printing speed are formed in the respective printing unit to make the printing speed faster. Also a printing mechanism of slow printing speed and a printing mechanism of fast printing speed are formed to make the unit multifunctional and the whole of the printing units is controlled integrally by a printing process control unit 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of combining recording means having different colors and resolutions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the printing industry, offset printing, which requires printing plates such as letterpress, planographic printing and stencil printing, is widely used because it is necessary to produce a large amount of the same printed matter. In recent years, in the printing plate process, a computer is used to construct an image to be printed to shorten the process. The plate made is attached to a rotary press and printed. In offset printing, a method has been developed in which image information is created on a computer and printing is performed without using a printing plate.

Journal of Television Society Vol.42, No.2 (1988)
"Image Electronics for Printing" and the printing magazine, PP.14 ~ 1
7, (1991) As stated in “Aiming for high added value by injecting new technology”, this type of printing method had a problem that the printing speed was slow and the resolution and expressiveness were limited. System printing devices are being improved. Further, it is necessary for the printing apparatus to be capable of multicolor recording, and there are a one-drum multi-rotation method and a multi-drum method for electrophotographic printing apparatuses that are compatible with multiple colors.

As disclosed in JP-A-3-18558, in the one-drum multi-rotation system, the charging means, the exposing means,
Around one photosensitive drum provided with transfer means, cleaning means, and the like, for example, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black 4
A plurality of color developing machines are arranged to develop one color for each rotation of the photoconductor, and the photoconductor is rotated a plurality of times to sequentially switch and develop a plurality of colors on the paper on the transfer drum or on the photoconductor. In order to form a multicolor image in which the colors are overlapped with each other.

Further, as disclosed in JP-A-1-105980, JP-A-1-182859 and the like, in the multiple drum system, charging means and exposure means for each color such as yellow, magenta, cyan and black. , A developing unit, a transfer unit, a cleaning unit, and the like are provided, and a sheet or an intermediate transfer member is sequentially passed through each photoconductor to form a color image. In the above-described multiple drum system, there is a problem in that it is necessary to sequentially feed the sheets to the respective photosensitive drum units to perform accurate image matching, which is troublesome.

For this reason, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-121065, a plurality of the above-mentioned photoconductor units are connected to each other to operate in response to an operation command from another specific unit, and the photoconductor units between which the above-mentioned operation command is issued It is disclosed that the operation is prohibited based on the connection signal, and that the specific unit is used as the leading photoconductor unit to make the entire operation efficient. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-215623, a plurality of single-function image forming units are combined so that a sheet fed from any sheet feeding cassette can be fed to any image forming unit. Is disclosed. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-220965 discloses that the sheet discharge port of one image forming unit is opposed to the sheet inlet of another image forming unit so that images are vertically overlapped and aligned. ing.

[0007]

In the field of offset printing technology using the above-mentioned printing plate, a computer is used to calibrate a printed image and the work of replacing the printing plate is automated to improve efficiency. There is. However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to directly print the information on the computer due to the intervention of the printing plate, which takes time and manpower. On the other hand, the one that directly prints a computer image without using the printing plate has problems such as a low printing speed, poor resolution, and difficulty in multicolor printing. The electrophotographic method improves the resolution, printing speed, etc. of the direct printing method.

The one-drum multi-rotation system in the electrophotographic system has a low recording speed, and the multiple-drum system has a relatively high recording speed, but since the entire calibration is fixed and controlled, for example, an additional color change is performed. However, when the number of colors increases, it takes time to transfer data to each color recording unit, and the recording speed decreases.

Further, since the printing unit price is cheaper in the ink type offset printing, there is a demand for a printing apparatus in which the offset printing and the electrophotographic method can be combined as needed, but both are different systems. It was difficult to combine because it was controlled by. It is an object of the present invention to provide a unit type printing apparatus which can combine an offset printing mechanism section using a printing plate and a direct image recording apparatus, and which can be easily replaced.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a recording operation is performed by determining a recording timing for a sheet sensor for detecting the entry of a sheet for each printing unit and a signal from the sheet sensor. A control unit should be provided.
Further, a device configuration storage means for storing the connection state among the paper feed unit, the printing unit, and the paper discharge unit in the print process control unit, a means for receiving image data from the outside, and an image from the outside. Data is distributed to the printing units, the number of prints is designated, printing start, end, interruption, etc. are instructed, and a printing process control means for monitoring abnormality of each printing unit is provided.

The printing process control means includes means for transmitting a paper type signal and a print number signal, and the paper feeding unit includes means for transmitting a paper discharge number or a paper discharge end signal and an abnormality occurrence signal. , The above-mentioned paper discharge unit has received the number of paper sheets or a paper reception end signal,
A means for transmitting the abnormality occurrence signal is provided. In addition, a means for storing image data for one page or more, a means for changing and adjusting the print start timing, and a paper buffer for temporarily holding the paper at the entrance side and / or the exit of the paper are provided in the printing unit. To

As described above, the printing unit holds the image data output by the printing process control means in the image data storage means, and the signal of the paper detection means after receiving the printing start signal from the printing process control means. The image data in the image data storage means is read out on the basis of, and the print number data instructed by the print process control means is recorded, and a record number or recording end signal is sent back to the print process control mechanism section.

Further, different printing methods such as electrophotographic method, thermal transfer method and offset printing, and printing units having different printing colors are combined and connected. Further, a paper bypass path and a paper transport path changing means controlled by a control signal from the printing process control means are provided in the printing unit so that the paper can be bypassed without image transfer. Paper is fed in and discharged through one paper entrance and exit.

Further, a plurality of printing mechanism units having different printing speeds or resolutions and a paper branching mechanism are provided in the printing unit, and the printing speed of the printing mechanism unit having a high printing speed is VH,
Let VL be the printing speed of the printing mechanism unit having a slow printing speed, and the number NL of printing mechanism units having a slow printing speed is NL = (VH / VL ) × NH, and further, the printing mechanism having a high printing speed outputs the discharged paper through a means for temporarily holding the paper.

[0015]

The control unit in the printing unit performs the recording operation by determining the recording timing based on the signal from the paper sensor. Further, the device configuration storage means in the print process control unit stores the connection state between each unit, and the print process control means uses the unit connection information to output the image data from the outside and the number of prints to each printing unit. The printing unit is instructed to start, end, and stop printing, and the printing unit is monitored for abnormalities.

Further, the printing process control means sends a paper type signal and a print number signal, the paper feeding unit sends a paper ejected number or a paper ejection end signal, and an abnormality occurrence signal, and the paper ejection unit ejects the paper. The number of received sheets or the sheet receiving end signal and the abnormality occurrence signal are transmitted. Also,
The printing unit stores image data for one page or more, changes and adjusts the print start timing, and further temporarily holds the conveyance of the sheet by the sheet buffer.

As described above, the printing unit holds the image data output by the printing process control means in the image data storage means, and outputs the signal of the paper detection means after receiving the printing start signal from the printing process control means. As a reference, the image data in the image data storage means is read out, the print number data instructed by the print process control means is recorded, and the record number or recording end signal is sent back to the print process control mechanism section.

By combining the various printing units described above, different printings such as electrophotographic printing, thermal transfer printing and offset printing, and printings with different printing colors are optionally combined. Further, the sheet conveying path changing means bypasses the sheet in the printing unit as needed, and the sheet is supplied and discharged through a single sheet inlet and outlet.

Further, the respective numbers of the printing mechanism units provided in the printing unit and having different printing speeds are set so that the total printing speeds thereof are substantially equal to each other, and the means for temporarily holding the sheet is provided. Holds the paper temporarily to make the discharge speed more uniform.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a unit type printer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control system diagram in FIG. Figure 1
In the above, the paper fed from the paper feeding unit 9 sequentially passes through the plurality of printing units 10, and the respective color images are printed, and the paper is ejected to the paper ejection unit 11. Printing unit 1
Image data storage means 13 for temporarily storing respective image data recorded by each printing unit 10, paper detection / control means 14 for detecting paper entry and controlling the paper entry timing, and printing A mechanism unit 15 and a control unit 12 for controlling the devices in the printing unit 10 are included, and further, a mechanism unit 16 for delivering a sheet between the units is provided on the side surface of the device.

The printing process control unit 1 is based on an apparatus configuration storage unit 4 for storing the connection configuration among the image data storage unit 3, the paper feed unit 9, each printing unit 10 and the paper discharge unit 11, and the data thereof. Further, a printing process control means 2 for controlling each unit is provided. The process control unit 1 uses image data 5 transmitted from a computer or the like.
Is stored in the image data storage means 3, and the device configuration storage means 4 is stored.
The image data 6 is expanded / transferred 6 to the image storage means 13 of a predetermined printing unit 10 based on the device configuration information stored in the storage unit. The image data includes the presence / absence of a printed image, variable image information, and its control information as needed.

Next, the printing process control unit 1 includes a paper feeding unit 9, a paper discharging unit 11, and each printing unit 10.
A print start signal 7 is transmitted to. The printing start signal 7 includes the number of printed sheets, paper type data, etc. at any time. Upon receiving the print start signal 7, the paper feeding unit 9 feeds the paper to the adjacent printing unit 10 one by one, and the printing unit 1
0, based on the sheet entry signal detected by the sheet entry detection / control means 14, sends the image data developed in the image storage means 13 to the printing mechanism section 15 to record an image on the sheet,
Then, the sheet is sent to the adjacent printing unit via the mechanism section 16.

Each printing unit 10 independently carries out its printing operation based on the signal from the paper entry detection / control means 14. Further, in the printing process control mechanism unit 1, since each printing unit 10 independently performs each printing operation,
The image data storage means 3 is used to perform an allocation plan and data expansion of the next image data 5 transmitted from a computer or the like to each printing unit 10.

During the above printing operation, the paper feeding unit 9, the paper discharging unit 11, and the respective printing units 10 transmit the number of passing paper sheets or the print end signal 8 and the abnormal signal when an abnormality occurs to the printing process control unit 1. Thereby, the print process control unit 1 confirms the normal or abnormal operation of each unit. When the recording of a predetermined number of sheets is completed, the paper feeding unit 9, the paper discharging unit 11 and the printing units 10 are sequentially stopped, and the next image data 6 is transferred to the printing units 10.

If the mechanism section 16 for delivering the paper is configured to be connectable between the units, the paper is transferred in accordance with the transfer of the image data 6 by a predetermined electrophotographic method / inkjet method in the printing unit 10 row. Printing is sequentially performed by a printing unit 10 having a printing mechanism 15 such as. Further, the printing unit 10 can be arbitrarily connected and changed. When the same information is recorded for a long period of time, the image data 6 transferred from the printing process control unit 1 may be first stored and then printed by the offset printing printing mechanism unit 15. it can.

Further, as the printing unit 10, it is also possible to use a four-drum type electrophotography, an offset printing apparatus composed of a plurality of drums, and one having a multi-color printing mechanism such as a color ink jet. If the entire apparatus is relatively small, one or more printing units 10
It is also possible to omit the print process control unit 1 by substituting the function of the print process control unit 1 by the control unit 12 and the image data storage means 13 therein.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention for explaining the sheet conveying operation between mutually connected units.
The other printing unit, the paper feeding unit 9, etc. are connected to the left side of the printing unit 10, and the other printing unit, the paper discharge unit 11 etc. are connected to the right side. The opening width of the paper guide 19 of the printing unit 10 is set wider than that of the paper guide 20 of the paper ejection portion of the left side unit 25, and the paper 23 discharged by the left side unit 25 is reliably received.

The paper sensor 21 in the printing unit 10 detects the entrance of the paper 23. The sheet that has entered the printing unit is stored in the sheet buffer 22 and then printed by the printing mechanism unit 15.
And the image is recorded at the same recording timing. If it is necessary to align the paper position with the image writing timing, as in offset printing, the paper buffer 2
2 is always necessary, and is also necessary to absorb subtle variations in printing speed between units. Further, at the exit of the paper buffer 22 or the entrance of the printing mechanism unit 15, a highly accurate paper position detecting means 37 and a registration mechanism unit for aligning the paper are provided to align the recorded image on the paper 23. To do. In FIG. 3, the roller at the exit of the paper buffer also serves as the registration mechanism section.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the printing unit having the bypass path 30. In a printing apparatus including a plurality of printing units 10, a printing unit that does not print an image is generated. Therefore, the bypass path 30 is used to bypass the paper and prevent paper stains and consumption of parts of the printing mechanism. To do so. If you want to bypass the paper,
The control means 12 controls the conveyance path changing means 29 provided between the paper sensor 21 and the paper detection control means 14 in accordance with the printing start signal 7 or the print end signal 8 from the printing process control unit 1 to remove the paper 23. Send it to the next unit via the bypass route.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention in which the speed of a printing unit having a low speed in the printing apparatus is set to be as high as that of another printing unit. In FIG. 5, the printing unit 10 is provided with a plurality of printing mechanism sections 151, 152 and the like, paper detection control means 141, 142 and the like corresponding thereto, a control means 12, an image data storage means 13 and the like. The paper sensor 21 detects the paper entering at the transport speed V,
The sheet detection control means sorts and conveys the sheet to the printing mechanism section 15 corresponding to the printing speed.

The paper 23 is held in the paper buffer 22 in the paper detection control means for a predetermined time in accordance with the printing speed, and then sent to the printing mechanism unit 15, and the paper after recording is passed through the discharge paper buffer 35. It is delivered to the next unit at the sheet speed V. When the number of printing mechanism units is N, the paper speed Vw at the time of recording is Vw = V × N.

The printing unit is provided with a unit integrated control means 31, and sends a distribution signal 27 of the paper 23, a paper branching signal 28, a paper detection signal 33, a paper discharge signal 34, etc. to each printing mechanism section. The printing start control signal 7 from the printing process control unit 1 is transmitted to and received from the printing process control unit 1 and is transmitted to the control means 12 of each printing mechanism section. An error occurrence signal 17, a print end signal / a print number signal 8 and the like are transmitted and received.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically change the connection of the printing units based on different recording methods as needed, and freely perform overprinting, multicolor printing, etc. by different recording methods. Further, in the printing system described above, it is possible to automatically feed the input paper sheet by bypassing the unnecessary printing unit.

Further, by providing a plurality of printing mechanism units having a low printing speed in the printing unit and operating them in parallel, the printing speed can be adjusted to the other printing units having a high printing speed. Further, one printing unit can be made multi-functional by appropriately providing a printing mechanism unit having a slow printing speed and a printing mechanism unit having a high printing speed in the printing unit. Also,
The various printing units described above can be collectively controlled by the printing process control unit. As described above, it is not necessary to change the connection of the printing unit for each print content, and for example, the printing process can be remotely controlled by an external computer to improve efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. 2 is a control system diagram in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention for explaining the paper transport operation between the units connected to each other. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a printing unit embodiment having a bypass path 30. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention in which the speed of the printing unit having a low speed is set to be as high as that of another printing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Print process control unit, 2 ... Print process control means, 3 ... Image data storage means, 4 ... Device configuration storage means, 5, 6 ... Image data, 7 ... Printing start signal, 8 ... Printing end signal / number of printed sheets Signals, 9 ... Paper feeding unit, 10 ... Printing unit, 11 ... Paper discharging unit, 12 ... Control section, 13
... image data storage means, 14 ... paper detection control means, 15
... Printing mechanism section, 16 ... Paper discharge section, 17 ... Abnormality occurrence signal, 19 ... Paper receiving guide, 20 ... Paper ejecting guide,
21 ... Paper sensor, 22 ... Paper buffer, 23 ... Paper,
24 ... Paper discharge roller, 25 ... Upstream unit, 26 ... Downstream unit 27, 27 ... Paper detection signal, 28 ... Paper branch signal, 29 ... Paper path changing means, 30 ... Bypass path,
31 ... Unit integrated control means, 32 ... Paper sensor, 33
... Paper detection signal, 34 ... Paper ejection signal, 35 ... Ejection paper buffer, 36 ... Printing mechanism control signal.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinya Kobayashi 4026 Kuji Town, Hitachi City, Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hiritsu Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A printing mechanism in which a mutually connectable printing unit for image recording is combined and connected between a paper feeding unit for feeding paper and a paper discharging unit for storing printed paper, and In a unit-type printing apparatus including a printing process control unit that controls a printing mechanism, a paper sensor that detects the entry of paper for each of the printing units,
A unit-type printing apparatus comprising a control unit that determines a recording timing based on a signal from the paper sensor and performs a recording operation. 2. The unit type according to claim 1, further comprising: device configuration storage means for storing a connection state among the paper feed unit, the printing unit, and the paper discharge unit in the print process control unit. Printing device. 3. The printing process control unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printing process control unit allocates image data from the outside to the printing unit and specifies the number of prints. In addition, the unit type printing apparatus is further provided with a printing process control means for instructing printing start, end, interruption, etc., and monitoring the abnormality of each printing unit. 4. The printing process control means according to claim 3, further comprising means for transmitting a paper type signal and a print number signal, and the paper feeding unit sends a paper discharge number or a paper discharge end signal and an abnormality occurrence signal. A unit-type printing apparatus comprising means for transmitting. 5. The printing process control means according to claim 3, further comprising means for transmitting a paper type signal and a print number signal, and the paper discharge unit having a paper reception number or a paper reception end signal, and an abnormality occurrence signal. A unit-type printing apparatus, characterized in that it comprises means for transmitting 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A unit-type printing apparatus comprising a means for storing image data for one page or more in the printing unit. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A unit type printing apparatus, characterized in that means for changing and adjusting a print start timing is provided in the printing unit. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A unit type printing apparatus, wherein a sheet buffer for temporarily holding a sheet is provided on the sheet inlet side and / or outlet side of the printing unit. 9. The method according to claim 6, wherein
The printing unit holds the image data output by the printing process control means in the image data storage means, and the image data based on the signal of the paper detection means after receiving the printing start signal from the printing process control means. A unit-type printing apparatus, which reads out image data from a storage unit, records the print number data instructed by the print process control unit, and sends back a print number or a print end signal to the print process control mechanism unit. 10. A unit-type printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein printing units having different printing colors are combined and connected. 11. The electrophotographic system according to claim 10,
A unit-type printing apparatus characterized in that printing units using different printing methods such as a thermal transfer method and offset printing are combined and connected. 12. The printing unit according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the printing units comprises a paper bypass path and a paper transport path changing means controlled by a control signal from the printing process control means. In addition, the unit type printing apparatus is characterized in that the sheet can be bypassed without transferring an image. 13. The printing unit according to claim 12, comprising the paper bypass path and the paper transport path changing means, having a single paper entrance and a single paper exit. Unit type printing device. 14. The printing unit according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the printing units is provided with a plurality of printing mechanism units having different printing speeds or resolutions and a paper branching mechanism. Characteristic unit type printing device. 15. The printing mechanism having a slow printing speed according to claim 14, wherein the printing speed of the printing mechanism unit having a high printing speed is VH and the printing speed of the printing mechanism unit having a slow printing speed is VL. The unit type printing apparatus is characterized in that the number of copies NL is set to be NL = (VH / VL) × NH with respect to the number NH of printing mechanisms having a high printing speed. 16. The unit type printing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the printing mechanism having a high printing speed outputs the discharged paper through a means for temporarily holding the paper.