JPH08202104A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a printer capable of automatically switching and quickly executing one-face simultaneous printing and both-face one-path printing and easy to handle, while reducing a plane installation space and increasing a printing speed. CONSTITUTION: Two printers 10U and 10D which include process means 21 respectively and are capable of printing operation and provided with a detecting part 1 or a part to be detected 2 are constituted to enable a vertical piling up arrangement. Discriminating means 71 and 72 and data inversion control means 71 and 72 are provided and it can be constituted so that the piling up arrangement state of both printers 10U and 10D, that is, the direction of the arrangement in the carrying direction of a paper sheet is automatically discriminated and the one-face simultaneous printing and both-face one-path printing can be automatically switched with the result of the discrimination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has two printers stacked vertically and detects the stacking direction, and automatically switches between single-sided simultaneous printing and double-sided one-pass printing. And a printing device that can be executed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In FIG. 5, each printer 10A, 10
The B and 10C are connected to the respective higher-level machines (for example, personal computers) 100A, 100B and 100C via the respective data communication lines 101A, 101B and 101C to form an independent type. Then, print data is received from each upper-level machine 100 and print processing is performed.

When each printer 10 is formed by an electrophotographic apparatus, it is formed by a controller 70 and an engine section 20. The engine unit 20 includes an engine controller 61 and an engine, which are connected to the controller 70 by a line 5. As shown in FIG. 6, this engine includes a process means 21 (image carrier 22, charging device 23, developing device 24, transfer device 25, etc.) and an optical unit 31 (light emitting device 32, motor 33, polygon mirror 34, mirror). And the like), a sheet conveying unit 41 (conveying rollers 42A to 42C, sheet guides 45A to 45C), and a fixing device 51. The process means 21 is unitized and can be attached to and detached from the main body 11 by opening the upper cover 11U. Reference numeral 47 denotes a paper discharge direction switching member, which discharges the paper P to the paper receiver 17 at the position shown in FIG. An operation panel 74 forming a part of the controller 70 is attached to the side of the main body 11.

The paper feed cassette 80 comprises a frame 81, a paper cassette 82, a pickup roller 83, a paper feed roller 84, and the like, and can feed the paper P one by one to the printer 10.

In the printer 10, the setting data (for example, font, top margin, side margin, line pitch, etc.) input by the key operation on the operation panel 74 is stored in the setting memory before the printing operation is started. Is common.

Thus, when the controller 70 receives the print data from the host computer 100, the controller 70 converts the print data into video data and transfers it to the engine section 20 together with the setting data. Then, the engine controller 6
1 performs print control by driving and controlling the engine at an appropriate time and based on the setting data and the video data.

[0007]

By the way, such printing apparatuses are no exception, and there is a strong demand for higher printing speed and easier handling.

However, in the above conventional structure, the image carrier 2
There is a limit to the speeding up of printing because of the relationship between the second form, the rotation speed, the rotation speed of the polygon mirror, and the like. Therefore, it is adopted that the number of installed machines is increased and the shared printing is performed. However, as the number of installed units increases, a large planar installation space must be secured. In addition, since it is necessary to collect printed sheets from each printer and arrange pages, this results in a loss of time and labor required, which hinders overall high-speed printing.

Further, with the diversification, in many cases, not only one side of one sheet but also double-sided printing is selectively performed. But,
In the above conventional structure, in the case of double-sided printing, the paper P printed on one side (front side) has to be set in the paper feed cassette 80 by reversing the front and back sides, and the print data is printed on the back side by the key operation on the operation panel. This is very troublesome because the data reversal setting work for reversing the print data before and after must be done. This point not only hinders high-speed printing but also makes handling difficult. Moreover, when returning to one-sided (front-side) printing, a data restoration setting operation for solving the data inversion setting of the print data is required, which is more troublesome.

Such a problem is caused by a plurality of (3) shown in FIG.
The same occurs even in the case of a common type in which one printer 10 is commonly connected to one host computer 100. Moreover, in this common type, since the data inversion setting work and the data restoration setting work for each printer 10 must be executed using one common operation panel, careful work is required, and a setting error still occurs. easy.

It is an object of the present invention to simultaneously print on one side and to print on both sides 1 while reducing the space for installation on a plane and speeding up printing.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device which can be quickly and automatically switched between pass printing and easy handling.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, two printers including a process means, capable of printing operation, and provided with a detecting portion or a detected portion are formed so as to be vertically stackable, and the detecting portion is provided. And the detected portion, the determination means for determining the relative stacking arrangement direction of the two printers and the condition that the printers are determined to have the opposite stacking arrangement direction in advance Data inversion control means for inverting the print data of the printer on the upper side or the lower side that has been determined is provided.

[0013]

In the case of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, since two printers are vertically stacked, if the papers are arranged so that they are conveyed in the same direction, the same contents can be obtained on one side at the same time or on odd and even pages. Pages and pages can be printed individually on each side. In addition, if the paper conveyance directions are arranged so that they are different,
Double-sided printing can be done in one pass. Therefore, high speed printing can be achieved. The flat installation space may be small.

When the upper printer is stacked on the lower printer, the discriminating means uses, for example, the detection states of the detection portion attached to the upper printer and the detected portion attached to the lower printer, Determine the relative stacking orientation of the two printers. Then, when it is determined that the stacking arrangement directions of the printers are opposite, the data inversion control means inverts the print data of the predetermined upper side printer or the lower side printer before or after the printing operation.

Thus, the single-sided simultaneous printing and the double-sided one-pass printing are automatically switched without individually performing the data restoration / reversal setting work for designating whether the print data of each printer is kept as it is or is reversed. Printing operation can be performed quickly. It is also extremely easy to handle.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this printing apparatus includes two printers 10U and 10U including a process means 21 and capable of printing operation and equipped with a detection unit (1) or a detected unit (2).
D is formed so that it can be stacked vertically, and the determination means (71, 72) and the data inversion control means (71, 7) are also provided.
2) is provided, the stacking arrangement state of both printers 10U and 10D, that is, the arrangement direction with respect to the paper conveyance direction is automatically discriminated, and it is possible to automatically switch between single-sided simultaneous printing and double-sided one-pass printing based on the discrimination result. Is configured.

2 and 3, the basic structure of the printer 10 is the same as that of the conventional example (FIG. 6).
It is formed so that it can be stacked.

The state shown in FIG. 2 is the upper printer 10U.
And the lower side printer 10D have the same stacking arrangement direction, that is, the same sheet conveyance direction XL, and single-sided simultaneous printing is possible. Therefore, dedicated paper feed cassettes 80U and 80D are installed in both printers 10U and 10D.

Further, in this embodiment, the lower part 91IN is expanded to the lower printer 10D (the discharging part 19L), and the discharging / conveying guide 91 and the plural (four) discharging / conveying rollers 9 are provided.
A discharge / conveyance mechanism 90 in which 2A to 92D are housed in the frame main body 95 is provided, and the single-side printed sheet P discharged from the lower printer 10D can be conveyed and discharged to the paper receiver 17 of the upper printer 10U.

Therefore, as in the conventional example (FIGS. 5 and 7), it is possible to eliminate the trouble and time for collecting the printed sheets P from each printer 10 and organizing the pages, so that the overall printing speed can be further improved. At the same time, if, for example, the short distance upper printer 10U prints an odd page on the common paper receiver 17 and the long distance lower printer 10D prints an even page, page rearrangement can be automatically performed. .

On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 3, the two printers 10U and 10D are arranged in the opposite stacking direction. That is, the lower sheet conveyance direction is XR and the upper sheet conveyance direction is XL. Therefore, for example, so-called double-sided one-pass printing operation can be performed in which printing is performed on the front surface of the paper P on the lower side and printing on the back side on the upper side. In this embodiment, it is predetermined that the upper side printer 10U prints on the back side.

When the upper printer 10U is stacked on the lower printer 10D, the lower paper guide 45C is formed.
Has an upper end portion facing the lower end portion of the upper-side sheet guide 45A. Further, the discharge direction switching spring member 48 of the lower printer 10D is preliminarily switched and set so that the paper P from the transport roller 42B is not directed to the paper receiver 17 of the own machine but to the upper paper guide 45A.

Here, the upper printer 10U (main body 1)
A reflection type sensor (detection unit) 1 including a light emitter and a light receiver is fixed to the lower surface shown in FIG. 2 of 1), and a reflection mirror (detection target) is provided on the upper surface of the lower printer 10U (main body 11). Part 2) is fixed. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 2, the sensor 1 does not perform the detection operation, but in the state shown in FIG. 3, both the sensors 1 and 2 face each other, so the sensor 1 performs the detection operation.

The detecting section (1) and the detected section (2) are
The fixation may be reversed contrary to the above case. Further, it is not limited to the photoelectric detection type, but may be a magnetic detection type, an electrostatic detection type, or a mechanical detection type such as a limit switch.

In FIG. 1, the controller 70U of the upper printer 10U includes a CPU 71, a ROM 72, and a RAM.
73, operation panel (PNL) 74, display (IND) 7
5, an interface (I / F) 76 with the engine controller 61U, an interface (I / F) 77 connected to the host machine 100 via the data communication line 101,
Interfaces (I / F) 78 and 79 for data communication with another printer 10 via the line 7 are included, and print data received from the host computer 100 can be converted into video data and transferred to the engine controller 61U. Is formed in.

Controller 70 of lower printer 10D
D is also the same as the controller 70U. However, in the case of this embodiment, the print data is sent to the controller 7
Since it is received from 0U, it is not connected to the higher-level device 100. However, they may be connected as shown by a two-dot chain line.

That is, the controller 70U distributes the print data received from the host machine 100 to the own machine (10U) and the other machine (10D), for example, equally. Each printer 10
This is because the printing operation times of U and 10D are made uniform, the operation management is facilitated by adjusting the toner replenishment timing, and the situation in which even one sheet cannot be printed is completely prevented.

Each engine controller 61U (61D)
Includes a CPU 62, a ROM 63, a RAM 64, an input / output port (I / O) 66 for connecting an engine (21, etc.), and an interface (I / F) 67 connected to the controller 70 (76) via a line 5. , Drives the engine and prints according to the video data based on the setting data.

Here, the discriminating means utilizes the detection states of the detecting section (1) and the detected section (2) to detect the two printers 10.
A means for determining the relative stacking arrangement direction of U and 10D, and a ROM 72 and a CP that store a determination control program.
It is formed from U71 and is executed in ST11 and ST12 of FIG. In the case of this embodiment, the upper controller 70U
It is provided inside.

That is, when the battery-backed up RAM (memory) 73 is searched (ST11 in FIG. 4) and the opposite direction detection is stored (YES in ST12).
In addition, the stacking arrangement direction of both printers 10U and 10D is in the state shown in FIG. 3, that is, the paper transport direction is opposite (XL and XR).
To determine.

Prior to this, when the printer power is turned on, the CPU 71 checks the detection unit (1) several times at every constant cycle time (ST18), and the stacking arrangement is such that the paper transport directions are opposite. Whether or not this is detected is confirmed (YES in ST19) and stored in the memory (RAM 73) (ST20). However, print data is received (ST
After 10), the check may be performed before the printing operation. Furthermore, the discrimination means (71, 7
In step 2), the detection unit (1) may be directly checked and determined before the printing operation.

The data inversion control means is the printer 1.
Data reversal control is performed by means for reversing the print data of the upper printer 10U, which is determined in advance, on condition that it is determined that the stacking orientations of 0U and 10D are opposite (YES in ST12 of FIG. 4). It is formed of a ROM 72 and a CPU 71 in a controller 70U which stores a program, and is executed in ST13 of FIG.

That is, when there is a double-sided printing command from the host computer 100, the data inversion control means (71, 72) inverts the print data to be transferred to the upper printer 10U, that is, the engine controller 61U, before and after. In the upper printer 10U, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet P printed on the front side by the printer 10D is reversed upside down and conveyed in the XL direction, and the data is reversed accordingly.

Here, the print data forward / backward reversal means that in the horizontal writing style, the printing start end (front) and the printing end end (rear) for each one line are reversed, or in the case of the daily calendar style printing. , The front end side (front) and the rear end side (rear) of the paper P are reversed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the device power is turned on, the CP in the upper controller 70U
U71 checks the detection unit (1) via the engine controller 61U (ST18 in FIG. 4). When the two printers 10U and 10D are stacked in the same direction as shown in FIG. 2, the detection unit (1) does not perform the detection operation, so that nothing is done (NO in ST19). But,
As shown in FIG. 3, when the paper conveyance directions of the printers 10U and 10D are opposite (XL and XR), that is, when the stacking arrangement directions are opposite, the opposite direction is detected in the memory (RAM 7).
It is stored in 3) (YES in ST19, ST20).

Then, when the upper controller 70U receives the print data from the host machine 100 (YES in ST10), the discriminating means (71, 72) searches the memory (73) (ST11) and the opposite direction is detected. It is determined whether or not it is stored, that is, whether or not the stacked arrangement directions of both printers 10U and 10D are opposite (ST12).

When the determination is NO (NO in ST12), the controller 70U equally divides the received print data (quantity) and transfers it as normal print data to its own engine controller 61U (ST15), and at the same time, the line 5 to the lower printer 10D (70D) via ST5 (ST1
6) Do. The controller 70D transfers it to the engine controller 61D. Any printer 10U, 10
Even in D, there is no need to perform data restoration setting work.

Thus, both printers 10U and 10D are
Printing processing (ST17) is performed on each. That is, the upper printer 10U conveys the paper P supplied from the paper feed cassette 80U in the XL direction, prints on the surface of the paper P, and ejects the paper P from the ejection unit 19U to the paper receiver 17. The lower printer 10D also prints similarly. The printed sheet P is conveyed and ejected from the ejecting section 19L to the upper sheet receiver 17 by the ejecting and conveying mechanism 90.

Therefore, if both printers 10U and 10D are printed on the front surface at the same time, the printing speed can be doubled and the paper can be discharged to the common paper receiver 17. Since the front and back of the sheets are automatically united, it is possible to eliminate the dead time in the conventional example (FIGS. 5 and 7) such as the sheet collecting operation and the front and back unifying operation. Therefore, from this point as well, it is possible to accelerate the printing speed, and the handling becomes much easier.

Further, if the odd-numbered page printing by the upper printer 10U and the even-numbered page printing by the lower printer 10D are performed at the same time, not only the speed is doubled but also the odd-numbered pages of a short distance to the common upper paper tray 17 are shared. Are first discharged to the paper receiver 17, and even long-distance even pages are discharged later via the discharge / conveyance mechanism 90, so that page sorting is automatically performed. From this point as well, the overall printing speed can be increased.

The discriminating means (71, 72) discriminates that the stacking arrangement directions are opposite (YES in ST12).
Then, the data inversion control means (71, 72) inverts the print data for the upper printer 10U before and after (ST13).
To do. Then, the data is transferred to the own engine controller 61U (ST14). The data inversion setting work for double-sided printing is automatically performed. Note that the normal (front) print data is transferred to the lower printer 10D (S).
T16).

Thus, referring to FIG. 3, in the lower printer 10D, the paper P supplied from the paper feed cassette 80 is used.
Is printed on the surface while being conveyed in the XR direction. The sheet P is turned upside down while passing through the sheet guide 45C, and then discharged to the sheet guide 45A of the upper printer 10U.

In the upper printer 10U, the paper P is conveyed in the XL direction and is printed on the back surface thereof based on the print data that has been reversed in the future. At this time, the lower printer 10D
Then, the front surface of the next paper P is printed. After that,
The paper is discharged to the paper receiver 17. Thus, double-sided printing can be performed at high speed with one pass.

According to this embodiment, however, the two printers 10U, 10 including the process means 21 and capable of printing operation and equipped with the detecting section (1) or the detected section (2).
D is formed so that it can be stacked vertically, and the determination means (71, 72) and the data inversion control means (71, 7) are also provided.
2) is provided, the stacking arrangement state of both printers 10U and 10D, that is, the arrangement direction with respect to the paper conveyance direction is automatically discriminated, and it is possible to automatically switch between single-sided simultaneous printing and double-sided one-pass printing based on the discrimination result. Since it is configured as described above, it is possible to drastically reduce the installation space on a plane, and perform high-speed operation by automatically switching between single-sided simultaneous printing and double-sided one-pass printing. Since the data reversal setting work and the data restoration setting work for each printer 10 can be eliminated, the printing speed can be further increased and the handling is very simple.

Further, the detection unit (1) is attached to the main body 11 of the upper printer 10U and the controller 7
Since the discrimination means (71, 72) is provided in 0U, the discrimination can be processed at high speed.

Since the upper printer 10U is provided with the data distribution function, the load of the data inversion control means (71, 72) in the controller 10U can be reduced and the processing can be performed quickly.

Further, since the upper controller 70U and the lower controller 70D are connected by the line 7 and the upper printer 10U is provided with a function of distributing the print data amount received from the upper printer 100, both printers 10U and 10D. The operating time can be made uniform. Therefore, it is possible to completely prevent the situation where one printed matter cannot be obtained, and it is possible to adjust the toner replenishment timing and the like, which facilitates operation management.

Further, when both the printers 10U and 10D are arranged in the same stacking direction, a discharging / conveying mechanism 9 can be additionally provided.
Since 0 is provided and the paper P discharged from both printers 10U and 10D is discharged to the common paper receiver 17, the front and back of the paper P can be automatically aligned. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate dead time in the conventional example (FIGS. 5 and 7) such as the paper collecting work and the front and back unification work. Therefore, from this point as well, it is possible to accelerate the printing speed, and the handling becomes much easier.

Further, since the discharge / conveyance mechanism 90 is provided, if the odd-numbered page printing by the upper printer 10U and the even-numbered page printing by the lower printer 10D are performed at the same time, not only double speed but also common The odd-numbered pages having a short distance to the upper-side sheet receiver 17 are first discharged to the sheet receiver 17, and the even-numbered pages having a long distance are discharged later via the discharge / conveyance mechanism 90, so that the pages are automatically arranged. . From this point as well, it is possible to further improve the overall printing speed.

[0050]

According to the present invention, two printers including process means, which are capable of printing operation, and which are provided with a detecting portion or a detected portion are formed so as to be vertically stackable, and the determining means and the data can be arranged. A reversing control means is provided to automatically determine the stacking arrangement state of both printers, that is, the arrangement direction with respect to the sheet conveying direction, and based on the result of determination, it is possible to automatically switch between single-sided simultaneous printing and double-sided one-pass printing. As a result, the installation space on the plane can be significantly reduced, and simultaneous single-sided printing and double-sided 1-pass printing can be automatically switched to perform high-speed printing. Since the data reversal setting work and the data restoration setting work for each printer can be eliminated, the printing speed can be further increased and the handling is very simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view when both printers have the same stacking arrangement direction.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a case where the two printers have different stacking arrangement directions.

FIG. 4 is likewise a flowchart for explaining the operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional example (independent type).

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional example (common type).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 sensor (detection part) 2 reflection mirror (detection part) 5 line 7 line 10 printer 20 engine part 21 process means 22 image carrier 31 optical unit 41 paper conveyance means 51 fixing device 61 engine controller 70 controller 71 CPU (determination means) , Data inversion control means) 72 ROM (discrimination means, data inversion control means) 73 RAM 74 operation panel 75 display 78 interface 79 interface 100 host machine 101 data communication line

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer including two printers including a process means, capable of printing operation, and provided with a detection portion or a detection portion, which can be stacked vertically, and a detection state of the detection portion and the detection portion. Determination means for determining the relative stacking arrangement direction of the two printers, and the upper side or the lower side predetermined on the condition that it is determined that the stacking arrangement direction of the printers is opposite. And a data reversal control means for reversing the print data of the printer of FIG.