JPH08174968A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To print efficiently on a plularity of papers without sticking the printing papers with each other or blotting. CONSTITUTION: A device is provided with a humidity sensing section 5 for sensing the peripheral relative humidity at the time of printing and a time delay computing section 6 for computing the time until starting the printing on a following paper performed based on the drying speed of printing ink at the time of relative humidity sensed by the temperature sensing section 5, and the print interval is controlled by a control section 2 based on the time computed by the delay time computing section 5 thus the printing on the following paper is continued.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which continuously prints ink such as characters and images (hereinafter referred to as printing) on a plurality of recording sheets as a recording medium based on input image data. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printing apparatus for printing with a printer, a copying apparatus, a facsimile apparatus or the like, when printing on the basis of image data for a plurality of pages, prints the next sheet at a fixed time interval. It was configured to continue printing on the next sheet.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus, when the surrounding relative humidity is high, the next sheet is discharged and overlaid before the ink adhered to the sheet is dried to a predetermined degree. Because of this, the printing papers stick to each other or get dirty. In order to avoid such a problem, if the waiting time until printing on the next sheet is lengthened, there is a problem that the printing time of a plurality of pages may become longer than necessary.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to efficiently continue printing on a plurality of sheets of paper without sticking or smearing the recording sheets. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0005]

Therefore, the printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that continues printing on a plurality of sheets based on the input image data, and determines the relative humidity of the surroundings at the time of printing. A humidity detecting means for detecting, and a delay time calculating means for calculating a time until the printing on the next paper is continued based on the drying speed of the printing ink at the relative humidity detected by the humidity detecting means, It is an object of the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned object by a configuration characterized in that the printing interval is controlled based on the time calculated by the delay time calculating means to perform printing on a plurality of sheets.

Further, the storage means has a capacity capable of storing image data for at least one surface area of a sheet of paper to be printed, thereby achieving the above object.

[0007]

With the above construction, when printing on a plurality of sheets as recording media based on the input image data, the humidity detecting means detects the relative humidity at the time of printing, and the delay time calculating means detects It is possible to calculate the time to start printing on the next paper to be continued based on the detected drying speed of the printing ink at the relative humidity of the surroundings, and to print based on the appropriate time calculated by this delay time calculation means. By controlling the interval and continuing printing, it is possible to efficiently print on a plurality of sheets without sticking or smearing the printing sheets. Further, the storage means has a capacity capable of storing image data for at least one surface area of the sheet to be printed, so that the above operation can be smoothly performed.

[0008]

EXAMPLES A printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described by way of examples.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a characteristic configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a control unit, which controls the entire apparatus according to a procedure written in an internal memory (not shown). A printer unit 3 prints characters and images on paper. A storage unit 4 stores a character font, character data, image data, and the like.

Reference numeral 5 is a humidity detector for detecting the relative humidity of the surroundings.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a delay time calculation unit for calculating the next print start time based on the humidity detected by the humidity detection unit 5.

An external interface 1 is connected to a computer, for example, to transfer character code data, and to send and receive signals for controlling the printing apparatus.

Next, the printing operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an external interface 1 for the printing apparatus.
9 is a flowchart in the case where an external control device (not shown), for example, a personal computer or the like is connected via, and control information or character data is transferred from the external control device.

First, when a print start signal is transferred from an external control device (not shown) to the control unit 2 via the external interface 1 (S1), the control unit 2 can print the state of the printer unit 3. It is checked (S2a, 2b). At this time, if the printer unit 3 cannot print for some reason, an error code indicating the reason is transferred to an external control device (not shown) via the external interface 1 (S).
3). In this case, the next print request cannot be accepted until the cause of the fact that the printing device cannot print is eliminated. For example, when printing is in progress, an error code indicating that the main body is printing is transferred each time a print request arrives until the current printing is completed.

If the printer unit 3 can print in step 2b, the control unit 2 conveys the paper to be printed. next,
The humidity detecting unit 5 detects the relative humidity of the surroundings by an existing method, and stores this humidity information in the storage unit 4 (S4). Then, in step S5, the control unit 2 causes the delay time calculation unit 6 to
The delay time calculation unit 6 calculates the delay time based on the humidity information stored in the storage unit 4.

The method of calculating the delay time in step S5 will be described.

As a result of actually measuring how many seconds the delay time is set with respect to the ambient relative humidity (%), the ink on the printed paper is dried and sticking between the papers does not occur. It was possible to obtain the relationship table between relative humidity and delay time as shown in FIG. Based on this table, the delay time can be set according to the detected relative humidity.

Next, returning to the flow chart shown in FIG.
In step S6, the control unit 2 transfers a signal indicating that the printing is ready to the external control device (not shown) via the external interface 1. Then, the control unit 2 controls the printing paper 1 from an external control device (not shown).
Character data to be printed on the surface (character type, character size, character code data, printing position, character color, etc.) is received via the external interface 1 and stored in the storage unit 4 (S
7).

Next, the control unit 2 transfers the data such as characters stored in the storage unit 4 to the printer unit 3 and prints it out (S8).

Then, it is judged whether or not the number of prints reaches a predetermined number (S9), and if No, the next printout is executed after waiting for the print delay time (S10) (S8). The printout is repeated until the number of prints reaches the predetermined number, and when the number of prints reaches the predetermined number (Yes in S9), the control unit 2 sends the print end code to the external device (not shown) via the external interface 1. (S11).

With the above arrangement, the printing on a plurality of sheets of paper is continued based on the delay time corresponding to the printing ink drying speed at the relative humidity of the surroundings, so that the ink-printed paper is stuck or stained. Can be prevented. Moreover, the printing is not delayed more than necessary.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Detecting the relative humidity of the surroundings when printing, calculating the delay time based on that relative humidity information, determining the next print start time and starting printing, the relative humidity is high and the paper dries during printing. Even when the printing speed is slow, it is possible to prevent sticking and stains between the printed sheets, and it is possible to prevent the printing from being delayed more than necessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an example.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a table showing the relationship between relative humidity and delay time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 External Interface 2 Control Section 3 Printer Section 4 Storage Section 5 Humidity Detection Section 6 Delay Time Calculation Section

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for continuing printing on a plurality of sheets of paper based on input image data, comprising: humidity detecting means for detecting relative humidity of the surroundings at the time of printing; and relative humidity detected by the humidity detecting means. A delay time calculating unit for calculating a time until the start of printing on the next sheet based on the drying speed of the printing ink at the time of humidity is provided, and the printing interval is controlled based on the time calculated by the delay time calculating unit. A printing apparatus, which performs printing on a plurality of sheets of paper. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit has a capacity capable of storing image data for at least an area corresponding to one surface of a sheet to be printed.