JPH09311513A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of obtaining both characteristics of a monochrome laser printer and a color ink jet printer with the installation space of one printer. SOLUTION: The printer is provided with a first printing part for the monochrome laser printer, a second printing part for the ink jet printer printing part 8, a first paper carrying system reaching the second printing part from the first printing part and a second paper carrying system directly reaching the second printing part without passing through the first printing part. In the first and second paper carrying systems, as part of them, a sensor used for ejection and a resist 7, the ink jet printer printing part 8 and a paper ejecting tray 9 are used in common.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer having different printing units such as an electrophotographic system and an inkjet printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Monolithic laser printers capable of high-quality printing, high-speed printing and high resolution regardless of paper quality and color inkjet printers capable of color printing with low power consumption have hitherto been used as low-cost printers. Are used together.

[0003]

However, a monochrome laser printer of high print quality is used depending on the printing application (monochrome is acceptable but high print quality, high resolution, etc. are required, and color image printing is required). Also, it is necessary to own both color inkjet printers capable of color printing and use them properly according to the purpose. For this reason, there is a problem in that the installation space is equal to that of two units, which is a big economical disadvantage. In addition, high print quality and high resolution,
Although color laser printers that combine color image printing have also been commercialized, the current situation is that they are still not at a price that general users can purchase, and they are extremely large in space.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. A monochrome laser printer capable of high printing quality, high speed printing and high resolution regardless of paper quality and a color capable of color printing with low power consumption. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer which has both characteristics of an inkjet printer and which can be realized in a single installation space.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first printing section having electrophotographic printing means, a second printing section having inkjet printing means, and first printing. First paper transport system from the first printing unit to the second printing unit, a first paper feed tray that supplies paper to the first printing unit, and a second paper transporting directly to the second printing unit without passing through the first printing unit And a second paper feed tray that supplies paper to the second paper transport system, and the first and second paper transport systems are configured to share a part thereof. It can be realized in a single installation space that has both the characteristics of a monochrome laser printer capable of high-quality printing, high-speed printing and high resolution, and a color inkjet printer capable of color printing with low power consumption. Can provide a printer that can That.

Further, in the constitution in which the electrophotographic process section of the monochrome laser printer is driven and the drive for carrying the paper is carried out by one motor, the paper carrying speed switching control means for switching the motor speed only when printing the color ink jet printer is provided. By doing so, it is possible to reliably perform printing by inkjet.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a first printing section having an electrophotographic printing means, a second printing section having an inkjet printing means, and the first printing section. First paper transport system from a copy unit to the second printing unit, a first paper feed tray for supplying paper to the first printing unit, and a direct second printing unit without passing through the first printing unit It has a second paper transport system and a second paper feed tray for feeding paper to the second paper transport system, and the first paper transport system and the second paper transport system share a part thereof. The printer has the function of enabling printing by different printing means with one printer in response to a print request from an external device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first printing unit is a monochrome laser printer printing unit, the second printing unit is a color inkjet printing unit, and the first printing of the first paper transport system is performed. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the sheet passing through the unit is conveyed to the second printing unit, whereby a different printing unit responds to a print request from an external device. It has the function of enabling printing with a single printer.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the printer according to the first or second aspect, characterized in that the first paper feed tray is provided with a manual feed tray means.
This has the effect of making it possible to manually feed the paper.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the fixing section discharge timing is set in the downstream side of the first printing section of the first sheet conveying system and in the downstream area from the confluence with the second sheet conveying system. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a paper discharge sensor for detecting is provided and is also used as a registration sensor for detecting a leading edge position of the paper in the second paper transport system. This has the effect of sharing parts and reducing the size of the device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a driving means for driving each of the first sheet conveying system, the second sheet conveying system, the first printing section and the second printing section by a single driving source. And when the paper is printed by the second printing unit,
2. A speed switching control means for controlling the drive means so as to shift the paper transport speed is provided.
The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, whereby the printing speed (conveyance speed) of the laser printer which is the first printing unit is changed to the printing speed of the inkjet printer which is the second printing unit. Since the (conveyance speed) can be controlled to be slow, without providing an independent drive means,
It has an effect that printing by inkjet can be performed reliably (accurately).

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the percentage of the speed reduction ratio A / B between the printing speed A of the monochrome laser printer printing section and the color inkjet printing section speed B is about 1.
6. The amount is about 2% to 50%.
The printer described above has an effect of ensuring appropriate print quality.

(Embodiment 1) With respect to the printer configured as described above, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a photoconductor of a monochrome laser printer (hereinafter referred to as a photoconductor) that constitutes a first printing unit that performs electrophotographic printing, and 2 is a monochrome laser printer that contains an electrophotographic developing device, toner, and a toner transport mechanism. Process unit (hereinafter,
Process unit) 3 is a laser unit as an exposure unit that emits a laser beam. Reference numeral 4a is a first paper feed tray for supplying the paper 5a to the first printing unit, and 4b is a second paper feed tray for directly supplying the paper 5b to the second printing unit. Reference numeral 4c is a manual feed tray provided in the middle of the paper feed path of the first paper feed tray 4a. 10 is a paper feed tray 4a
The paper 5a fed from the transfer device is a transfer device for transferring the toner image formed on the photoconductor 1 to the surface of the paper 5a while being pressed against the photoconductor 1.
Then, the toner image is fixed on the sheet by passing through a fixing device 6 composed of a pressure contact roll 12. The first printing unit is configured by a series of these mechanisms. Reference numeral 7 is a sensor for detecting paper discharge. After detecting the leading edge of the sheet 5a that has passed through the fixing device 6, the passage timing of the trailing edge of the sheet is detected to confirm that the sheet has passed without jumping. It detects and emits a signal to a central control means (not shown). Reference numeral 8 denotes an ink jet printer printing section as a second printing section having an ink jet type printing means, which is capable of color printing. Regarding the detailed configurations of the first printing section and the second printing section, the respective printing means according to the known technology are used, and the detailed description is omitted here. Reference numeral 9 is a paper discharge tray for discharging printed paper, and 13 is a registration sensor. Here, the paper transport path from the first paper feed tray 4a to the paper discharge sensor 7 via the transfer device 10 and the fixing device 6 forms a first paper transport system. Further, a path from the second paper feed tray 4b through the paper ejection sensor 7 to the ink jet printer printing unit 8 which is the second printing unit and the paper ejection tray 9 forms a second paper conveyance system. In this way, the paper discharge sensor 7 is arranged slightly downstream of the confluence of the first paper transport system and the second paper transport system, and the paper transport system from the paper discharge sensor 7 to the paper discharge tray 9 Is the first
The sheet 5a from the sheet feed tray 4a and the sheet 5b from the second sheet feed tray 4b are commonly used as a transport system.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing an arrangement of driving gears of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 14
Is a main motor as a drive source for transmitting drive force to each drive system. The rotational driving force from the main motor 14 is
The first paper feed / conveyance system drive unit 1 which is a drive system from the first paper feed tray 4a to the first printing unit by the illustrated gear series.
5, a monochrome laser printer process unit driving unit 16 that drives each mechanism of the first printing unit, a second paper feeding / conveying system driving unit 17 that is a driving system from the second paper feeding tray 4b to the paper ejection sensor 7, and The driving force is transmitted to the color inkjet printer driving unit 18 which is a driving system from the inkjet printing unit 8 as the second printing unit to the paper discharge tray 9.

The operation of the printer thus configured will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the printing operation of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.
First, when the printer receives a print request from the host computer, it is determined whether the print request includes monochrome laser printing (step 301). When it is included (YES), it is further determined whether or not color printing is included (step 302). Here, when both print requests (monochrome print data and color print data) are included (YES)
Is ready for printing in both the first printing section and the second printing section (inkjet printer printing section 8). When the preparation for printing is completed, the paper 5a is fed from the first paper feed tray 4a (step 303), and the registration sensor 13 causes the paper 5
The alignment between the leading edge of a and the print start position is adjusted (step 304). Next, the monochrome print data portion of the print data is printed (printed) on the paper 5a in the first printing unit (step 305). When the paper discharge sensor 7 detects the leading end of the paper 5a that has passed through the fixing device 6 (step 306), a paper transport speed switching means (not shown).
As a result, the paper transport speed is reduced to a speed lower than that of the first printing unit (step 307). The decelerated paper 5a is the second
Color printing data is printed in the inkjet printer printing unit 8 which is the printing unit (step 30).
8). The printed paper 5a is discharged to the paper discharge tray 9 (step 309).

Here, regarding switching of the sheet conveying speed, FIG. 4 shows a printing speed comparison table of each printing unit mounted in the same housing in the embodiment of the present invention. From this table, in a combination of a small monochrome laser printer and a color inkjet printer, which are desired to be made compact, the reduction ratio (reduction is represented by Δ) is 12% to
It has been confirmed from another experiment that about 50% is suitable for ensuring the print quality. Further, if the paper is set in the manual paper feed tray 4c, the paper is fed from the manual paper feed tray 4c in preference to the paper feed from the first paper feed tray 4a, and the paper is similarly fed by the monochrome laser. The sheet passes through the photoconductor 1 in the printer printing section and the inkjet printer printing section 8 in the subsequent stage, and is discharged to the discharge tray 9.

Next, in step 301, when the print data for the monochrome laser is not included in the print request (NO: that is, only for the color print data).
The paper 5b is fed from the second paper feed tray 4b (step 311) so as to be printed only by the inkjet printer printing unit 8 (step 310), and is conveyed via the second paper conveyance system. Here, when the front end of the paper 5b reaches the paper discharge sensor 7, the paper discharge sensor 7 detects the front end of the paper 5b (step 312), and the alignment between the paper front end and the print start position is adjusted. That is, the paper discharge sensor 7 functions as a registration sensor in the second paper transport system. When the paper discharge sensor 7 detects the leading edge of the paper, the paper transport speed is switched (decelerated) (step 3
13), the sheet conveying speed is switched to a speed suitable for printing by the inkjet printer printing unit 8, and the color printing data is printed by the inkjet printer printing unit 8 (step 314).

Next, at step 302, if the print request data from the host is only monochrome data (step 31
In 5), the paper 5a is fed from the first paper feed tray 4a (from the manual paper feed tray 4c in the case of manual feeding) (step 316), and the same process as step 303 to step 306 is performed. Here, the paper discharge sensor 7 is used for the paper 5a.
Even if the leading edge of the sheet is detected (step 319), the inkjet printer printing unit 8 does not need to print, so the inkjet printer printing unit 8 does not move and is discharged (without shifting) to the discharge tray 9. (Step 309).

In this way, the monochrome laser printing section and the color printing section are arranged in a cascade, and the color printing is superimposed on the monochrome laser printing by the judgment function of the print information and the proper arrangement of the paper feed tray. Also, the selective printing function means for only monochrome laser printing and color printing can be formed compactly, and the intended purpose can be achieved.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a monochrome laser printer capable of high printing quality, high speed printing and high resolution regardless of paper quality, and a color ink jet printer capable of color printing with low power consumption are provided. Both characteristics can be realized in a single installation space, and the printer can be downsized and the printing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing an arrangement of drive gears of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a print speed comparison table of each printing unit mounted in the same housing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Monochrome Laser Printer Photosensitive Body 2 Monochrome Laser Printer Process Unit 3 Laser Unit 4a First Paper Feed Tray 4b Second Paper Feed Tray 4c Manual Paper Feed Tray 5a Paper 5b Paper 5c Paper 6 Fixer 7 Discharge and Registration / Sensor Sensor 8 Inkjet Printer Printing Section 9 Paper Ejection Tray 10 Transfer Device 11 Heat Roll 12 Pressure Contact Roll 13 Registration Sensor 14 Main Motor 15 First Paper Feeding / Conveying System Driving Section 16 Monochrome Laser Printer Process Section Driving Section 17 Second Paper Feeding / Conveying System Drive unit 18 Color injection printer drive unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A first printing unit having an electrophotographic printing unit, a second printing unit having an inkjet printing unit, and a first sheet conveying system from the first printing unit to the second printing unit. A first paper feed tray that supplies paper to the first printing unit, a second paper transport system that directly reaches the second printing unit without passing through the first printing unit, and a second paper transport system. A printer having a second paper feed tray for feeding paper, wherein the first paper transport system and the second paper transport system share a part thereof. 2. The first printing unit is a monochrome laser printer printing unit, the second printing unit is a color ink jet printing unit, and the paper passing through the first printing unit of the first paper transport system is the paper. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is conveyed to the second printing unit. 3. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said first paper feed tray is provided with a manual feed tray means. 4. A paper ejection sensor for detecting a paper ejection timing of the fixing unit is provided in a downstream portion of the first printing unit of the first paper transportation system and in a downstream region from a confluence point with the second paper transportation system. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printer is also used as a registration sensor for detecting a leading edge position of the sheet in the second sheet transport system. 5. A drive unit for driving each of the first paper transport system, the second paper transport system, and the first printing unit and the second printing unit by a single drive source, 5. The speed switching control means for controlling the drive means to change the paper transport speed when the sheet is printed by the second printing section. The printer described in. 6. A / A of the printing speed A of the monochrome laser printer printing section and the color inkjet printing section speed B /
6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the percentage of the reduction ratio of B is about 12% to 50%.