JPH0781834A - Device and method for controlling sorting-out of output paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep a device from the influences of the smearing of ink due to unfixed ink droplets and the curling of recording paper by providing a variation means for varying the output position of output paper, and controlling the output position according to the characteristic of an image to be recorded or a recorded image. CONSTITUTION:In order to calculate the amount of ink used in images to be printed, print signals for the images to be printed are counted, and then in a step related to the output of printed paper, a paper output motor 309 is driven when a paper output sensor 310 detects that recording paper comes to a paper output starting position. When the amount of ink used is detected as being great, an output-tray motor 312 is driven to move an output tray in a predetermined direction; i.e., the direction of the previous movement of the output tray is stored in memory so as to move the output tray in the opposite direction; or the output tray is moved in the opposite direction for each drive by a mechanism. When images printed using a large amount of ink that does not fix well are outputted, the ink of the previously printed and output images is prevented from smearing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a discharged paper sorting control device and method, and more particularly to a recorded paper discharge sorting control device and method in a printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image recording system, various systems such as an electrophotographic system, a thermal recording system, a thermal transfer system, an inkjet system (including a bubble jet system) have been proposed, and a printer, a copying machine, a fax machine, etc. Is used for.

Among these methods, the ink jet method is drawing attention because of its compact size, quiet printing, printing performance on plain paper, and color printing.

In particular, the ink jet system is easily applied to color printing, and is being applied to office automation equipment such as color printers, color copying machines and color fax machines.

[0005]

However, the ink jet system has the following drawbacks depending on the properties of the ink used and the paper to be printed.

(1) Fixability is poor.

(2) The recording paper curls.

With regard to (1), for example, when a plurality of recording papers are discharged to the stacker, the recording papers that have been discharged subsequently come into contact with the recording papers that have already been discharged. At this time, if the previously ejected ink on the recording paper surface is in an unfixed state, the image may be disturbed.

With regard to (2), when the ink dries, the fibers of the recording paper are pulled so that the recording paper curls in the recording surface direction, and the storage stability of the recording paper deteriorates. There is.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when an image is recorded on a predetermined recording medium by ejecting ink droplets and ejected, the image is recorded.
Alternatively, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ejected paper sorting control device and method in which the ejection position is controlled in accordance with the characteristics of a recorded image to make it less susceptible to ink misalignment due to the effect of unfixed ink droplets and the influence of recording paper flexure. It is a thing.

In order to solve this problem, the discharged paper sorting control device of the present invention has the following structure. That is,
An ejected paper sorting controller in a printing apparatus for ejecting ink droplets to record an image on a predetermined recording medium and ejecting the ejected ejected paper. Change means for changing the position,
And a control unit that controls the changing unit based on the determination result of the determination unit.

Further, a discharged paper sorting control method characterized by the present invention includes the following steps. That is, an image is recorded on a predetermined recording medium by ejecting ink droplets,
A discharge paper sorting control method in a discharge printing apparatus, comprising: a step of determining characteristics of a recorded or recorded image; and a step of controlling a discharge position of the recording sheet based on a result of the determination. .

[0013]

In the construction or process of the present invention, the characteristics of the recorded or recorded image are judged and the position of the discharged paper is controlled based on the judgment result.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the image recording apparatus in the embodiment. In the figure, 100 is the main body of the image recording apparatus, and 1
Reference numeral 01 denotes a paper feed tray for holding the recording paper 103 (cut paper in this example), and the recording paper 103 is conveyed in its longitudinal direction by means (not shown) to print images such as characters on the recording paper, and the paper ejection tray 102. Discharged on top.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the discharge tray is provided with a swing function so that the recording papers are displaced from each other by an appropriate amount according to a predetermined condition.

Of these, the means for performing the swing tray is a means for moving the discharge tray shown in FIG. 1 in the lateral direction of the recording paper, and as shown in each stage of (a) to (c) of FIG. Further, the tray is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 and fixed for each determined sheet discharge, so that the position of the sheet discharge is shifted and stacked. For example, in the case of a printer, the discharge tray is moved every time one series (including plural page prints) is discharged, and when the image recording apparatus is used as a FAX, the discharge tray is moved every communication, thereby It is possible to easily sort and discharge paper with one paper discharge tray.

With the above operation, in the ink jet type image recording apparatus, especially when an image with poor fixing is recorded, the sorting means is operated to prevent the image from being disturbed due to the contact with the subsequently discharged paper. To do.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a main part of the image recording apparatus in the embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 300 is a main control unit such as a computer for controlling the entire apparatus.
Reference numeral 1 is a memory for storing data or programs (including programs corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 4 described later) of the main control unit 300, 302 is an I / O for interfacing with an external device (for example, a personal computer, etc.),
303 is a power supply unit. A recording paper presence / absence sensor 304 detects whether or not a recording paper is set in a paper feed tray (reference numeral 103 in FIG. 1), and a reference numeral 305 detects whether or not the recording paper is fed and conveyed to a paper feed end position. A paper feed sensor 310 is a paper ejection sensor for detecting whether the recording paper is at the paper ejection position or ejected. Thirty
Reference numerals 7, 309 and 312 denote paper feed motors, paper ejection motors, and paper ejection tray motors for operating the paper ejection tray 102, and motor drivers 306, 308, and 3 for the respective motors.
11 is attached. Reference numeral 314 is an inkjet printer head, which is driven by a driver 314 for this head. In addition to this, a motor or the like for causing the carriage carrying the recording head to perform a scanning movement is also provided.

The structure of the ink jet printer in the embodiment is shown in FIG.

In the figure, the spiral groove 500 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motor 5013.
The carriage HC having a pin (not shown) engaging with 4 is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An inkjet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. In the present embodiment, the ink jet cartridge IJC is integrally configured with a recording head IJH that ejects ink droplets from an ejection port by causing a state change in ink by using thermal energy, and an ink tank IT. In contrast, it is a disposable type that can be attached and detached. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate that holds the paper in the platen 50 across the carriage movement direction.
Press against 00. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. 5016 is a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head.
5015 is a suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by known transmission means such as clutch switching. To be done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. A desired operation may be performed at a timing.

Next, the contents of the first to third operation processes of the apparatus of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. It is possible to switch between these modes and the normal mode by selecting from an operation panel (not shown) or by sending a command by which the connected host computer can distinguish the print data.

I) Ejection position control by ink usage rate (FIG. 4).

First, the recording sheet presence / absence sensor 304 checks whether or not the recording sheet 103 is set in the paper feed tray 101 (step S1). If the recording sheet 103 is set, the process proceeds to the next step S2.

In step S2, the paper feed timing is determined according to the detection by the paper feed sensor 305, and the paper feed sensor 305 feeds the recording paper until it reaches the paper feed end position. The motor 307 is driven via the motor driver 306 (step S3), and when the paper feed end position is reached, the paper feed motor is stopped (step S3).
4).

As described above, the image is formed on the fed recording paper by a predetermined method. In this embodiment, the printing is performed as a means for counting the ink usage rate of the image to be printed. The print signal of a proper image signal (black print signal in the case of black and white) is counted. Also, the number of times the print head ejects ink may be counted.

In step S5, the amount of ink used for printing is counted by the above-mentioned means, and in step S6, a character image (image for one scan of the recording head) is printed on the recording paper.

Steps S7 to S10 are steps relating to the discharge of the recorded paper. When the recording paper reaches the discharge start position by the detection of the discharge sensor 310 (step S7), the discharge motor 309 is passed through the driver 308. When the recording paper is completely discharged (step S9), the paper discharge motor 309 is stopped (step S10).

Next, the end of printing is detected page by page (step S11), and if the printing of one page is not completed, steps S2 to S11 are repeated until the end of the page.

Next, when the page printing is completed, the ink usage rate is calculated by calculating the ink usage rate / the number of dots of the entire image using the ink usage rate counted in step S5. Is determined (step S12). For this determination, for example, the relationship between the fixing time of the printed image and the ink usage rate is checked in advance according to the fixability of the printed image, the threshold for determining the size is set, and this value is compared with the actual ink usage rate. Done by.

If it is judged from this judgment that the ink usage rate is high, the discharge tray motor 312 is set to the driver 3
It drives via 11 and moves the discharge tray 102 (step S13). For this movement direction, for example, a means for moving in the opposite direction by storing the previous movement direction,
This is performed by a mechanism that moves in the opposite direction each time it is driven by a mechanical mechanism.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is a page to be recorded (step S14). If there is a next page, the process returns to step S1. If there is no next page, the recording is terminated.

In this way, when a print image using a large amount of ink having poor fixing properties is output, the discharge tray is moved after the image is discharged, so that the discharge position of the next discharge paper is It is displaced, and the contact surface with the discharged paper becomes smaller. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the image printed and discharged before that from being disturbed by the contact with the succeeding discharged paper.

The above effect is more effective as the amount of movement of the discharged paper is larger, but in this embodiment, the amount of movement is not specified. Since the amount of movement affects the size of the entire apparatus, it should be determined in consideration of the image fixability and the size of the apparatus.

Further, the effect of preventing the curl of the paper according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 shows the paper discharge tray 102 when the simple sorting means in the embodiment is not used.
8 is a front view of the discharged paper 104, and FIG. 8 is a view when the operation of the above embodiment is performed.

In the case of ink jet printing, when the ink dries, a force is applied in the direction of shrinking the fibers of the paper, so the discharged paper tends to curl. This curled state is shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, similarly, curled papers are stacked, and the curl direction is emphasized and the curl size becomes large.

FIG. 8 shows a case in which the function of the embodiment is executed, and shows a state in which the discharged paper is sorted according to the ink usage rate of the discharged paper. When ejected and stacked, the paper position is different, so the force that emphasizes the curl direction is weakened, and due to the weight of the ejected paper, a force in the opposite direction to the curl direction is applied and curl of the ejected paper can be prevented.

As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the image disturbance due to the bad fixing property and at the same time prevent the discharged paper from curling.

Ii) Ejection Position Control by Print Image Type (FIG. 5) In this mode, the ejection position is controlled according to the print image type such as monochrome printing and color printing. This flow is shown in FIG. To simplify the description, the description of the same parts as those in FIG. 4 is omitted.

In FIG. 5, steps S21 to S24 correspond to steps S1 to S4 of FIG. 4, and steps S25 to S30 correspond to steps S6 to S11 of FIG.

Therefore, the difference between the operation up to step S30 in FIG. 5 and the operation up to step S11 in FIG.
It is only that there is no ink usage amount count in step S5.

Therefore, the steps after S31 will be described below.

When the image recording on one recording sheet is completed, the image type (monochrome (single color) image or color image) is determined in step S31. This judgment is performed according to the setting mode (black and white mode or color mode) of the device, and the image data to be recorded (including the commands in the print data).
Check (check the number of heads used for printing, etc.), in the case of a data transmission device such as FAX, its transmission mode (monochrome transmission mode OR color transmission mode) and image compression mode of image compression transmission (Huffman code OR JPE
There is a method according to G). Therefore, in this embodiment, the image type can be determined before printing, and the image type can be determined before step S21.

Further, in step S32, it is determined whether the image is a color image print.
Is moved (step S33).

Step S34 is the same operation as step S14 in FIG. 4, and it is judged whether or not there is a next page, and the process moves to the printing of the next page or the printing is finished.

In the case of a color image, Y (yellow), M
(Magenta), C (cyan), or Bk (black) is added to the multi-colored inks of 3 to 4 colors to express any color, so that the fixability of the image becomes very poor. . In this case, by changing the discharge position of the present invention,
It is possible to prevent the image distortion due to the subsequent discharged paper.
Further, the curl prevention effect of the discharged paper is the same as that of the above mode 1.

Iii) Ejection Position Control by Recording Paper Type (FIG. 6) Next, the third mode will be described. In this mode, the movement of the discharge tray is controlled according to the type of recording paper (whether it easily bleeds).

FIG. 6 shows the flow. Steps S41 to S50 in FIG. 6 are the same as steps S21 to S30 in FIG. 5, and steps S54 and S34 are also the same. Therefore, in the following, step S51.
~ Only step S53 will be described.

1 from step S41 to step S50
When the printing of the page is completed, the type of recording paper is determined in step S51. This type of recording paper is classified into ordinary paper such as plain paper and special paper with a surface coating.
Generally, ink jet printing can be performed on ordinary paper, but in this case, since the print fixing property is poor, special paper such as coated paper is prepared to improve this. Of course, the special paper has a higher unit price than the general paper, and the user switches between the special paper and the general paper depending on the importance of the print content.

In step S51, it is determined whether the paper is ordinary paper or special paper. As this means, a recording paper selection mode is set and the operator is made to select it. If there is a paper tray, the type of recording paper may be changed for each paper feed tray to detect which paper feed tray is selected. Alternatively, the type of recording paper can be automatically discriminated by providing a reflection type optical sensor in any one of the paper feeding unit, the printing unit and the paper discharging unit and detecting the difference in reflectance between recording papers. Therefore,
If the type of recording paper can be discriminated before printing, it is not necessary to make this discrimination in step S51, and it may be discriminated before printing (in extreme cases, before step S41).

In this way, the recording paper type is determined in step S51, and it is determined in step S52 whether it is special paper or not.
If it is not special paper, move the paper output tray. Finally,
In step S54, the presence / absence of the next page is determined. If the next page is present, the printing is started. If the next page is not present, the printing operation is ended.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when printing is performed on recording paper having poor fixing properties, the paper discharge position is moved to prevent the disturbance of this image due to the subsequent paper discharge. further,
The curl prevention effect is the same as that of the other first and second modes.

[Description of Other Embodiments] Here, another embodiment of the discharged paper position moving means and the control of the moving means described in the above embodiment will be described.

(A) Discharging Paper Position Moving Means In the processing of the first to third modes, the above-mentioned moving means is constituted by means for moving the discharging tray in the direction perpendicular to the discharging direction. Is not limited to this configuration, and its moving direction may be parallel to the discharged paper, for example.

Further, although the moving means has been described by taking the movement of the paper discharge tray as an example, for example, a paper discharging roller may be used to skew the paper or move the paper discharging roller shaft in parallel. is there.

For example, the above-mentioned means is disclosed in JP-A-61-334.
59, JP-A-4-59557, JP-A-2-1781.
No. 67.

The gist of the present invention is to move the discharged paper position under the above conditions, and the various discharged paper position moving means can be applied.

(B) Control of Discharging Paper Position Moving Means In the above-described embodiment, the controlling of the moving means was performed after discharging the recording paper, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, description of the second and third mode processings will be given. As described above, when the necessity of operation of the moving means is known before the image recording, the discharge tray is moved before and after the recording paper is discharged (the tray is moved before the discharge, and the tray is discharged before the discharge. Returning to) may be performed. In this case, unlike the above-described embodiment, the discharge position of only the recording paper of the image having the poor fixing property is moved and stacked on the paper discharge tray, and the effect of the above embodiment is not impaired.

Further, in the above description, the movement amount of the moving means is not controlled. However, for example, the movement amount is controlled according to the amount of ink used (as the amount of ink used increases, the amount of movement increases). You can add a large amount). In this case, it is possible to prevent the disturbance of the image with the poorer fixing.

Further, the operation of the moving means is not limited to the case of printing the image with bad fixing, and for example, the moving may be carried out in a small width at all times, and the great movement may be carried out only with the image printing of bad fixing.

Further, the judgment conditions in the individual modes of the above embodiment are not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that a combination thereof may be used for the processing.

Further, in the embodiment, the printing apparatus is adapted, but it is also applicable to a copying machine or an apparatus having other printing means.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, an example in which the printing apparatus itself is adapted has been described, but it is provided as an independent apparatus interposed between the host computer and the printing apparatus and provided in the printing apparatus based on the above judgment. A signal for controlling the paper discharge tray may be generated. Alternatively, command data such as the above signals may be generated on the host computer side. In this case, the OS (operating system) printer driver operating on the host computer generates the signals and commands.

Therefore, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it can be easily guessed that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

The discharged paper and recording paper described in the embodiment are
It literally includes not only paper but also an object to which an ink droplet is attached to fix an image. Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment, the inkjet recording apparatus which forms recording by forming flying droplets by utilizing thermal energy among the inkjet recording methods has been described as an example, but a typical configuration and principle thereof For example, see US Pat. No. 4,723,12.
It is preferable to use the basic principle disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9 and Japanese Patent No. 47407796. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type. In particular, in the case of the on-demand type, it is arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path holding the liquid (ink). By applying at least one drive signal which gives a rapid temperature rise exceeding each boiling corresponding to the recorded information to the electrothermal converter, thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal converter, and This is effective because film boiling is caused on the heat acting surface, and as a result, bubbles can be formed in the liquid (ink) that correspond one-to-one to this drive signal. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal into a pulse shape because bubbles can be immediately and appropriately grown and contracted, so that liquid (ink) ejection with particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. still,
If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the temperature information rate of the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed. As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination configuration of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned specifications, the thermal action U.S. Pat. No. 4, which discloses a configuration in which the portion is located in the region of flexion
A configuration using the specification of 558333 and the specification of US Pat. No. 4,559,600 may be used.

In addition, JP-A-59-123670 discloses a structure in which a common slit is used as a discharge portion of the electrothermal converter for a plurality of electrothermal converters, and a pressure wave of thermal energy is absorbed. A configuration based on Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-138461, which starts the configuration in which the opening corresponds to the ejection portion, may be adopted. Furthermore, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording device, the length is satisfied by the combination of a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either the structure or the structure as one recording head integrally formed may be used.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. The present invention is also effective when a cartridge-type recording head provided with an ink tank is used. Further, it is preferable to add recovery means, preliminary auxiliary means, etc. to the recording head because the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. Specific examples of these are capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the recording head, an electrothermal converter, or separately a preheating means by a heating element or a combination thereof, and recording. It is also effective to perform a stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which another discharge is performed.

In the present embodiment described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but the ink solidifies at room temperature or lower and softens at room temperature, or is a liquid, or the above-mentioned. In the inkjet method, since the temperature of the ink itself is adjusted within a range of 30 ° C. or higher and 70 ° C. or lower, the temperature of the ink is controlled so that the viscosity of the ink is in a stable ejection range. Any liquid may be used as long as the ink is liquid.

In addition, it is possible to prevent the temperature from being positively used by heat energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from a solid state to a liquid state, or to solidify the ink in a standing state for the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink. In any case, the ink is liquefied by applying the thermal energy according to the recording signal and ejected as a liquid ink, or when the ink reaches the recording medium, it already begins to solidify, etc. It is also possible to use an ink that has the property of being liquid for the first time by heat energy as described above. In such a case, the ink is retained as a liquid or a solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. In this state, the electrothermal converter may be opposed to the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective method for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

In addition, as the form of the recording device, other than the one provided integrally or separately as an image output terminal of information processing equipment such as a word processor or a computer,
It may be in the form of a copying machine combined with a reader or the like, or a facsimile machine having a transmission / reception function. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to the inkjet system utilizing thermal energy but also to the inkjet system requiring a piezo element or the like.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an image is recorded on a predetermined recording medium by ejecting ink droplets and ejected, the eject position is recorded according to the characteristics of the recorded or recorded image. Can be controlled so that it is less likely to be affected by ink misalignment due to the effect of unfixed ink droplets and the effect of bending of the recording paper.

[0074]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation of a discharged paper sorting tray in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus of an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a first mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a second mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a third mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how a discharged sheet is curled.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how curling is prevented.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a mechanism portion of an inkjet printer to which the embodiment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Image Recording Device Main Body 101 Paper Feed Tray 102 Operating Paper Ejection Tray 102 Ejection Paper 103 Recording Paper 300 Main Control Unit 312 Ejection Tray Motor

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical display area G06F 3/12 M

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A discharge paper sorting control device in a printing device for recording and discharging an image on a predetermined recording medium by ejecting ink droplets, and a determining means for determining characteristics of a recorded or recorded image. An ejected paper sorting control device comprising: a changing unit that changes the ejected position of the ejected paper; and a control unit that controls the changing unit based on the determination result of the determining unit. 2. The discharged paper according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the amount of change of the discharge position by the changing means in multiple stages according to the judgment result of the judging means. Sorting control device. 3. The changing means includes moving means for moving a paper discharge tray of the printing apparatus.
The discharged paper sorting control device according to item 2 or item 3. 4. The discharge according to claim 1, wherein the determination means includes means for detecting the amount of ink droplets to be recorded or used for recording an image. Paper sorting control device. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination means includes means for detecting the number of types of ink droplets to be printed or used for a printed image. Output paper sorting control device. 6. The discharged sheet sorting control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit includes a unit that identifies a type of the recording medium. 7. A discharge paper sorting control method in a printing apparatus for recording an image on a predetermined recording medium by ejecting ink droplets and discharging the image, the step of determining a characteristic of the recorded or recorded image, And a step of controlling the discharge position of the recording paper based on the result of the determination. 8. The discharged paper sorting control method according to claim 7, wherein the control step controls the change amount of the discharge position in multiple stages in accordance with the judgment result of the judging means. . 9. The discharged paper sorting according to claim 7, wherein the control means controls a predetermined means for moving a predetermined paper discharge tray provided in the printing apparatus. Control method. 10. The determination step attempts to record,
10. The discharged paper sorting control method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of detecting the amount of ink drops used for the recorded image. 11. The determination step attempts to record,
10. The discharged paper sorting control method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of detecting the number of types of ink drops used for the recorded image. 12. The discharged sheet sorting control method according to claim 7, wherein the determining step includes a step of identifying a type of the recording medium.