JPH10814A - Composite recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a low-cost recorder executing outputs both for exclusively monochromatic print of high image quality, and for color print corresponding to a color image. SOLUTION: An electrophotographic type recording means for forming a toner image on a photosensitive drum 101 to transfer it to a recording sheet, and an ink jet recording means for directly ink jet recording the sheet by a recording head unit 125 are provided. Recording sheets 121 in a sheet supply cassette 120 are conveyed to both type recording means by a supply sheet pass switching mechanism 171. The respective recording means are simultaneously or alternately operated in response to a print request from a host system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a first recording means (mode) using a first recording process dedicated to a monochromatic monochrome (monochrome) and a second recording process corresponding to a plurality of colors. And a second recording device (mode) according to the present invention.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, along with the sophistication and cost reduction of computers, the spread of recording devices (output devices) such as printers has been remarkable. Especially in the printer field,
The flow of speeding up and colorization is rapid, and laser beam printing (LBP) and ink jet printers are known as typical printers.

As is well known, an LBP is a printer to which electrophotography is applied, and an ink jet printer performs printing by literally discharging ink from nozzles of a print head.

[0004] Both of these printers, of course, have their strengths and weaknesses. Due to its high speed and good image quality, LBP has a quality that is used in a network environment and is generally evaluated as an official document, but as known to those skilled in the art, due to the nature of the basic electrophotographic technology, The size of a data receiving buffer for interfacing with a host device is increased, and a large-capacity memory is also required as a print buffer for temporarily storing a recorded image. Further, in order to cope with colorization by the electrophotographic technique, there are disadvantages such as an increase in the size of the entire apparatus and an expensive cost.

[0005] In contrast, inkjet printers are simpler in construction than LBPs and can be implemented at lower cost. Although it is relatively easy to deal with colorization, although throughput and image quality are being improved day by day, due to factors such as water resistance, they have not yet been generally accepted as official documents.

In addition, a printer shared in a network environment can support not only monochrome output evaluated as an official document but also color output frequently used in recent applications in response to each user's request. It is desired that However, at present, there is no inexpensive printer that meets such needs. Conventionally, to meet these needs, users have to separately connect a monochrome printer such as LBP that provides high-quality monochrome output and a color printer that supports color at a moderate price to the network. Accordingly, it is common to select a printer driver corresponding to each printer on the host device.

[0007]

As described above, there is no conventional printing apparatus such as a printer which is inexpensive for both monochrome printing and color printing, and is separately connected to a network. There was a problem that it had to be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a high quality and high throughput monochrome output advantageous for monochrome documents such as black characters, and a color output capable of supporting a color image. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive composite recording apparatus that can provide both of them to a user equivalently.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a composite printing apparatus capable of simultaneously processing monochrome-only printing and color-compatible printing.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A composite recording apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows.

(1) First recording means for performing recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and second recording means for performing recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. And so on.

(2) In the apparatus of (1), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

(3) In the apparatus of (1) or (2), one of the recording by the first recording unit and the recording by the second recording unit is performed.

(4) In the apparatus of (1) or (2), both recording by the first recording means and recording by the second recording means can be performed simultaneously.

(5) In any one of the above-mentioned devices (1) to (4), the first recording means and the second recording means share at least a part of a recording paper feeding mechanism and a transporting mechanism. did.

(6) In any one of the above-mentioned apparatuses (1) to (4), the first recording means and the second recording means share a single recording paper feeding mechanism, and the recording paper is fed after the paper is fed. Has a path switching mechanism for selectively transporting the image data to either the first pass for the first printing process or the second pass for the second printing process.

(7) In any one of the above-mentioned devices (1) to (4), the first recording means and the second recording means have separate recording paper feeding mechanisms and transport mechanisms.

(8) In any one of the above-mentioned devices (1) to (4), the second recording means has a dedicated recording paper feeding mechanism.

(9) First recording means for performing recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and second recording means for performing recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. When one of the recording means is in operation and an operation request of the other recording means is made, both recording means are operated in parallel.

(10) A first recording means for recording by a first recording process exclusively for monochrome printing, and a second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. When an operation request of the other recording means is made while one of the recording means is operating, the recording of the recording means by the later operation request is performed after the recording by the operating recording means is completed. did.

(11) In the apparatus according to (9) or (10), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

(12) In any one of the apparatuses (9) to (11), the recording speeds of both recording means are variably controlled.

(13) In any one of the above-mentioned devices (9) to (12), a memory area used as a buffer for receiving recording data from an external device is defined as a first area corresponding to a first recording process. It is fixedly assigned to the second area corresponding to the second recording process.

(14) In any one of the above-mentioned devices (9) to (12), a memory area used as a buffer for receiving recording data from an external device is defined as a first area corresponding to a first recording process. It is variably assigned to the second area corresponding to the second recording process.

(15) In the device of (14), when only one of the first recording means and the second recording means is operating, the entire memory area is used in the recording process, and the recording is performed. The memory area is allocated to a first area and a second area when an operation request of the other recording means is made during the operation of the means.

(16) In the apparatus according to any one of the above (9) to (15), a memory area for storing drawing data corresponds to a first area corresponding to a first recording process and a second area corresponding to a second recording process. It is fixedly assigned to the second area.

(17) In the apparatus according to any one of the above (9) to (15), a memory area for storing drawing data corresponds to a first area corresponding to a first recording process and a second area corresponding to a second recording process. It is variably assigned to the second area.

(18) In the apparatus of (17), when only one of the first recording means and the second recording means is operating, the entire memory area for storing drawing data is used in the recording process. The memory area is allocated to a first area and a second area when the operation of the other recording means is requested during the operation of the recording means.

(19) First recording means for recording by a first recording process exclusively for monochrome printing, and second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing And means for preferentially selecting the first recording means corresponding to monochrome printing, and means for preferentially selecting the second recording means corresponding to color printing.

(20) In the apparatus of the above (19), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

(21) First recording means for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing And means for defaulting the first recording means corresponding to monochrome printing, and means for defaulting the second recording means corresponding to color printing.

(22) In the apparatus of the above (21), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

(23) First recording means for performing recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and second recording means for performing recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. Means for preferentially selecting the first recording unit in response to a default monochrome print request from an external device, and a first print unit in accordance with the user selection in response to a user-selected monochrome print request from the external device. Means for selecting the recording means or the second recording means, and means for automatically selecting the second recording means in response to a color printing request from an external device.

(24) In the apparatus of the above (23), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

(25) In the apparatus according to the above (23) or (24), when a monochrome print request is issued during operation of one of the first recording means and the second recording means, In response, the operation of the other recording means is automatically started in parallel.

(26) First recording means for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing Means for designating the first recording means if the apparatus is in a standby state when a default designated monochrome print request is generated, and designating the second recording means if the first recording means is operating. And means for designating the second recording means when a color printing request is issued.

(27) In the apparatus of the above (26), the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process.

[0038]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The composite recording apparatus according to the present invention can cope with monochrome output by both the electrophotographic recording system and the ink jet recording system, and can cope with color output by the ink jet recording system. Therefore, each stage of charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing for realizing the electrophotographic recording process as the first recording process, and the stage for realizing the ink jet recording process as the second recording process, Is provided.

In the recording means (mode) for performing recording in each recording process, for example, a common paper feeding mechanism, a mechanism for switching a paper transport path after paper feeding, and ink jet recording in a fixing stage of the electrophotographic recording process. The conversion to drying means at the time is included.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the use recording method is automatically selected in response to the reception of a print request including the designation of a print mode from the host device.
Specifically, when the color mode is specified as the print mode, the ink jet recording method is automatically selected, and when the monochrome mode is specified, unless the user specification is set. (That is, in the case of default designation) Select the electrophotographic recording method.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a recording device shared in a network environment processes print requests from a plurality of host devices in parallel, and variably controls respective recording speeds as necessary. Thereby, the electrophotographic recording and the ink jet recording can be simultaneously operated.

As a result, the user who has issued the print request later does not have to wait until the currently processed recording is completely completed, as long as there is no inconsistency regarding the print mode with the currently processed request. You can fulfill your request immediately.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 101 is, for example, an OPC
(Organic Semiconductor: Organic Photo Conductor) X
Photosensitive drum rotating in the direction, 102 is a primary charging roller,
103 is a laser beam, 104 is a developing unit, 1
05 is a developing roller, 106 is toner in a developing device, 107
Denotes toner on the photosensitive drum 101, 108 denotes a transfer roller,
109 is a fixing unit, 110 and 111 are fixing rollers, 112 is residual toner on the photosensitive drum 101, 113
Is the cleaner unit, 114 is the cleaner blade,
115 is the toner in the cleaner container, 116 is the resist
Roller.

Reference numeral 117 denotes a paper feed path switching mechanism for switching the recording paper between the A direction and the B direction; 118, a paper feed roller rotating in the Y direction; 119, a paper feed guide; 120, a paper feed cassette; Reference numeral 125 denotes a recording sheet fed from here. 125 is an ink jet recording head
A unit 126, a recording head; 127, a discharge tray from which the paper 128 after inkjet recording is discharged;
Reference numeral denotes a discharge tray from which the paper 130 after toner fixing is discharged.

First, an electrophotographic process which is the basis of LBP will be described with reference to FIG. First, 1
Next, the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 is uniformly negatively charged by the next charging roller 102, and then the area corresponding to the recorded image is irradiated by the laser beam 103, and the charge in the irradiated area (bright area) is neutralized. Thus, a potential latent image is formed on the drum surface.

Subsequently, on the developing stage, negatively charged toner 106 is adhered from the developing roller 105 of the developing unit 104 to the light area on the surface of the drum, whereby the latent image on the drum becomes visible. It becomes an image. Next, in the transfer stage, the toner 107 on the drum is transferred to the recording paper 121 by the transfer roller 108 that is positively charged.

Finally, in the fixing stage, the toner transferred onto the recording paper by the fixing unit 109 is fixed by heat. Further, the toner 112 remaining on the drum without being transferred to the recording paper in the transfer stage is transferred to the cleaner unit 1 in the cleaning stage.
13 are removed by the cleaner blade 114 and housed in the cleaner container.

Here, the movement of the recording paper 121 is moved so as to match the above-described process. Specifically, the recording paper 121 is moved from the paper feeding cassette 120 until the leading end of the recording paper 121 hits the registration roller 116. (At this time, the registration roller is in a stopped state)
Sent out by

Then, the position of the leading edge of the recording paper is
The registration roller 116 starts rotating so that it coincides with the leading edge of the visible image on the image No. 01, and the recording paper is conveyed again. Thereafter, the recording paper follows the process described above.

In the present embodiment, in the electrophotographic recording mode, the paper feed path switching mechanism 117 is maintained in a state of falling downward as shown by the solid line in the figure. The above electrophotographic process is well known.

Next, the above-described paper feed path switching mechanism 117 which is one of the features of this embodiment will be described. The paper feed path switching mechanism 117 is a means for switching between electrophotographic recording and ink jet recording of the paper fed from the paper feed cassette 120. In order to feed the paper along, the switching mechanism 117 is controlled to a position shown by a solid line in the figure.

When ink jet recording is performed, the switching mechanism 11 is used to feed the paper along arrow B.
7 is controlled to the position indicated by the broken line. The switching of the position of the switching mechanism 117 is realized using a known solenoid (not shown) or the like.

Next, the ink jet process will be described. In the case of the ink jet recording mode, the above-described paper feed path switching mechanism 117 is fixed upward as shown by a broken line in the drawing, and the recording paper 121 fed from the paper feed cassette 120 is fed along the paper feed guide 119. Paper roller 1
The recording medium is conveyed to a position facing the recording head unit 125 by 18 and is recorded at that position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration around the recording head and the ink cartridge of the recording head unit 125 as viewed from the nozzles that eject ink.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a recording head (recording head 126), which is an ink jet recording head for discharging ink in accordance with a recording signal. Reference numeral 2 denotes an ink supply pipe, reference numeral 3 denotes an ink supply hole, and reference numeral 4 denotes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped ink cartridge (k) having black (K) ink therein.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped ink cartridge (c) containing, for example, yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) inks. Reference numeral 6 denotes a distributor, details of which will be described later.

The recording head 1 has, for example, the following configuration.

That is, at the front end of the recording head 1, nozzle groups for Y, M, C, and K for ejecting ink as recording elements are arranged substantially in a straight line as shown in FIG. Lined up. Each nozzle group is Y
For M, C, for example, 24 nozzles, for K, for example, 64 nozzles
Each of the nozzle groups for Y, M, and C has an interval corresponding to, for example, eight nozzles, and the nozzle group for C and the nozzle group for K has an interval corresponding to, for example, 16 nozzles.

Further, an ink flow path communicating with each of the discharge ports is provided at the discharge port at the tip of the nozzle, and the ink flow path is located behind the portion where the ink flow path is provided. Is provided with a common liquid chamber.

The ink flow path is provided with an electrothermal converter for generating thermal energy used for discharging ink droplets from the discharge port, and an electrode wiring for supplying electric power to the electrothermal converter. . These electrothermal transducers and electrode wiring
It is formed by a film forming technique on a substrate made of silicon or the like. Further, the discharge port, the ink flow path, and the common liquid chamber are formed by laminating a partition made of resin or glass material, a top plate 1b, and the like on the silicon substrate.

Further behind, a drive circuit for driving the electrothermal transducer on the basis of a recording signal is provided on a printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board is mounted on the same aluminum plate (base plate) 1a together with the silicon substrate. Fixed.

The recording head 1 connects the ink supply pipes 2 provided for the respective colors to the ink supply holes 3 provided for the respective colors of ink on the end face of the ink cartridge (c) 5. Thus, the ink is supplied from the ink cartridge (c) 5.

That is, the ink cartridge (k) 4 and the ink cartridge (c) 5
And connected to the ink supply pipe 2 projecting substantially parallel to the aluminum plate 1a. The ink supply pipe 2 protrudes from, for example, a resin-made distributor 6 disposed substantially perpendicular to the aluminum plate 1a, and communicates with an ink flow path inside the distributor 6.
The ink flow path communicates with the common liquid chamber.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink flow paths in the distributor 6 are, for example, Y, M, C
And the ink supply pipe 2 are connected to the common liquid chamber and the ink supply pipe 2, respectively. In addition, since the ink cartridges are arranged separately for color (ink cartridge (c) 5) and black (ink cartridge (k) 4) on the left and right with respect to the aluminum plate 1a, the ink supply pipe 2 is also provided, for example. It is sorted into three and one.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of an ink jet recording mechanism according to this embodiment. The ink jet recording apparatus utilizes thermal energy using the above-described recording head 1, ink cartridges (k) 4, and ink cartridges (c) 5. Has become a printer.

In the figure, reference numeral 7 denotes a carriage to which the recording head 1 and the ink cartridge (k) 4 and the ink cartridge (c) 5 are fixed, and which have substantially cylindrical guides (a) 10 and guides (b) 11. And reciprocates in the direction of arrow S along both guides 10 and 11. During the movement of the carriage 7, a clearance of about 1 mm is always maintained between the ejection port of the recording head 1 and the recording paper 26.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a lead screw, one end of which is connected to a motor (not shown) and rotates. A lead pin (not shown) projecting from the carriage 7 is engaged with the lead screw 9, and the carriage 7 reciprocates in synchronization with the rotation of the lead screw 9.

Reference numeral 28 denotes a substantially columnar paper feed roller which sandwiches the recording paper 26 with a pinch roller (not shown) and feeds the recording paper 26 in the direction of arrow F.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a plurality of cylindrical discharge rollers, and the recording paper 26 sent by the paper feed roller 8 is driven by a substantially disk-shaped spur 16 corresponding to each of the discharge rollers 12. Pinch. The recording paper 26 is given a tension between the paper discharge roller 12 and the paper feed roller 8 and is held flat.

Next, a procedure for recording a color image by the recording head 1 of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a color image printing method according to the present embodiment, FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the same monochrome image printing method, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a monochrome image and a color image. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a printing method when images are mixed.

In FIG. 5, the first pass, the second pass,... Are obtained by numbering the scanning of the recording head 1 in the width direction of the recording paper 26, that is, the main scanning, and the recording paper 26 is provided for each pass.
Is fed in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning, that is, in the sub-scanning direction, for example, by 24 nozzles (1.69 mm). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, only the first 24 nozzles of the K nozzle group are used for black printing, and the latter 40 nozzles are not used.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, when printing a text document, etc.
The nozzle group for C is not used, and only the K nozzle group is used. Therefore, for example, printing is performed for a width of 64 nozzles in one pass, and paper feeding is performed for, for example, 64 nozzles (4.51 [m
m]).

As is clear from the above, in this embodiment,
The printing speed of monochrome printing is about 2.7 times (64/24) the printing speed of color printing.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, when a monochrome image and a color image coexist, for example, when there are no pixels in both Y, M and C in the next 64 rasters, for example, (When Y, M, and C data are all 0), for example, after printing 64 rasters in one pass using all the nozzles of the K nozzle group, for example, paper feed for 64 nozzles is performed. That is, in this case, the printing operation is the same as that for printing a monochrome image, and the printing speed can be increased.

Next, a method of selecting a recording mode of the printer of the present embodiment in a host device (not shown) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 shows a display screen provided for setting a printer driver, which is one of the device drivers in the host device.

A printer driver is code that is installed in a host device and controls the printer device by directly interacting with the printer device. On the screen of FIG. 8, a printer selection menu 201 is shown, and in the case of a monochrome image, 2 is displayed.
02 and 206 for a color image.

Further, corresponding to the monochrome image, LBP priority 203, LBP designation 204, and inkjet designation 2
05 can be selected. In the figure, LBP priority 2
03 indicates that it has been selected. When the LBP priority 203 is selected, printing in the electrophotographic recording mode is started when the print request is issued to the printer, unless the electrophotographic recording mode is already used.

However, if the electrophotographic recording mode is already used and the ink jet recording mode is not used, printing in the ink jet recording mode is started instead. If both modes are in use, this is transmitted to the user as a message, and the user is forced to wait for printing.

When the LBP designation 204 or the ink jet designation 205 is selected, recording in those modes is started unless the electrophotographic recording mode or the ink jet recording mode is in use, respectively. The user is forced to wait for printing unconditionally.

On the other hand, for a color image, ink jet priority 207, ink jet designation 208, and LB
A P designation 209 is prepared, and the drawing shows that the inkjet priority 207 is selected. When the ink jet priority mode 207 is selected, printing is started in the ink jet recording mode when the print request is issued to the printer, unless the ink jet recording mode is already used.

However, if the ink jet recording mode is already used and the electrophotographic recording mode is not used, printing in the electrophotographic recording mode is started instead. In this case, monochrome printing is forcibly performed instead of color printing. If both modes are in use, this is transmitted to the user as a message, and the user is forced to wait for printing. When the inkjet designation 208 or the LBP designation 209 is selected, recording is started in those modes unless the inkjet recording mode or the electrophotographic recording mode is used, respectively. Is forced to wait for printing unconditionally.

Further, whether or not the recording resolution (for example, 180 dpi or 360 dpi) or the gradation can be set by using the other setting menu 210 shown in FIG. 8 will be omitted here.

Next, the above-described print request processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
This process is started in step S1, and it is determined in step S2 whether a print request has been received from a host device (not shown). If the print request has not arrived, the control returns to step S2, and if the print request has arrived, the process shifts to step S3 to determine whether the print request is a color print request or a monochrome print request. .

In the case of a color print request in step S3, the flow shifts to step S4 to check whether ink jet has priority or ink jet designation. Affirmative (Y
In the case of (ES), the flow shifts to step S5 to check whether or not the ink jet mode is in use. If it is not in use, the inkjet recording sequence is started in step S6. This ink jet recording sequence is as described above. Thereafter, the print request processing procedure ends in step S17.

If it is determined in step S5 that the ink jet mode is in use, it is checked in step S7 whether or not ink jet has been designated.
And send the message “Printer in use” to the user,
The user is forced to wait for printing and returns to step S2.

If the ink jet is not designated in step S7, that is, if priority is given to ink jet,
In step S8, it is checked whether or not the electrophotographic mode is in use. If the mode is in use, the process proceeds to step S16. Then, a "printer in use" message is transmitted to the user, and the process returns to step S2.

If the electrophotographic mode is not in use in step S8, an electrophotographic recording sequence is started in step S9. This electrophotographic sequence is as described above. Thereafter, the print request processing procedure ends in step S17. Step S
If the answer is 4 (NO), the LBP has been designated, so the flow shifts to step S8 to execute the above-described procedure.

If it is not a color print request in step S3, that is, if it is a monochrome print request, the process shifts to step S10 to check whether LBP priority or LBP designation has been made. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S11 to check whether the electrophotographic mode is in use. If the electrophotographic mode is not in use, the process proceeds to step S9 to start the electrophotographic recording sequence.
If the electrophotographic mode is in use, it is checked in step S13 whether or not LBP has been designated. If the LBP has been designated, a "printer in use" message is transmitted to the user in step S16, and printing is waited. Compulsion, step S2
Return to

If the determination in step S13 is negative, that is, L
If the priority is BP, it is checked in step S14 whether or not the ink jet mode is in use. If not, the flow shifts to step S6 to start the ink jet recording sequence. If the ink jet mode is also being used, the process proceeds to step S16 to execute the above-described procedure. If the determination in step S10 is negative, that is, if the inkjet is designated, the process proceeds to step S14, and the above-described procedure is executed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 10, elements that perform the same functions as the elements in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same numbers. In the present embodiment, a lower sheet feeding mechanism is added as compared with the apparatus of FIG. The additional paper feed mechanism includes a paper feed roller 151, a cassette 154, and a paper passing path 152.

The lower paper feed mechanism is dedicated to electrophotographic printing, while the upper paper feed mechanism supports both electrophotographic printing and ink jet printing, as described in connection with FIG.

That is, in the case of the configuration of FIG. 10 as compared with the configuration of FIG. 1, if it is determined that the normal paper feeding for the electrophotographic recording is performed using the lower paper feeding mechanism, the electronic Even if an ink jet recording request arrives during execution of photographic recording, the recording can be realized in parallel using the upper paper feed mechanism. Of course, the reverse is also possible.

As described above, the configuration shown in FIG. 10 is advantageous in an environment where a plurality of users can simultaneously issue a print request, such as a shared printer connected to a network. Another advantage of the configuration of FIG. 10 is that when the size of the paper stored in the upper cassette 120 and the size of the paper stored in the lower cassette 154 are the same, paper shortage occurs in one of the cassettes, particularly in electrophotographic recording. However, by supplying paper from the other cassette, it is possible to save the user from preparing the paper.

Further, the paper size stored in the upper cassette 120 and the paper size stored in the lower cassette 154 may be different. In this case, two types of paper sizes (for example, A4 size) are used in electrophotographic recording. And A3 size).

Next, an outline of data control of this embodiment will be described with reference to a data control block diagram shown in FIG. This printer device has an interface (I / F)
A unit 301 receives a print request, a control signal, and print data from a host device. In addition, this apparatus is useful especially for various communication protocols (for example, CCITT recommendation X.25 protocol) based on a packet communication method in order to enable simultaneous and parallel processing of electrophotographic printing and ink jet printing. That is, in these protocols, data is transmitted in packet units, so that data from a plurality of users can be alternately received according to the convenience of the receiving device, and therefore, it is necessary for the two types of recording of this device. Data can be appropriately received.

The received data is temporarily stored in the receiving buffer 302. For example, received data for electrophotographic recording is stored in the receiving buffer (1) 303, and received data for ink jet recording is stored in the receiving buffer (2).
Stored in 304. These reception buffers 303 and 3
04 is stored in the drawing processing unit (1).
Processing is performed by 305 and (2) 306 and stored in the drawing buffer 307.

The drawing buffer 307 includes a drawing buffer (1) 308 for electrophotographic recording and a drawing buffer (2) 309 for ink jet recording. In these drawing buffers 308 and 309, the image recorded in the next stage is restored as it is. When the recording image data is prepared in the drawing buffers 308 and 309, the image data is transferred by the data transfer processing unit (1) 310 in the case of electrophotographic recording.
Data transfer processing unit (2) in the case of inkjet recording
311 and transferred to a laser diode 312 or an inkjet recording head 313, respectively.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 11, even if the receiving buffer (1) 303 and the receiving buffer (2) 304 included in the receiving buffer 302 are physically separate memories, Another address space may be used. The same applies to the drawing buffer 307.

Next, a method of using the reception buffer and the drawing buffer, which is one of the features of the present embodiment, will be described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the receiving buffer 302 of FIG. As described above, the reception buffer (1) 303 is a buffer for recording an electrophotograph, and the reception buffer (2) 3
Reference numeral 04 denotes a buffer for inkjet recording. In general, electrophotographic recording is performed by recording control in units of pages, and ink jet recording is performed by recording control in units of lines. Therefore, electrophotographic recording requires a larger receiving buffer than ink jet recording.

According to the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, as described above, it is possible to simultaneously operate the electrophotographic recording and the ink jet recording. For example, when only the electrophotographic recording is in operation, the receiving buffer (1) for electrophotographic recording 3
03 is used up to the boundary (1) indicated by the arrow 401.

On the other hand, when the electrophotographic recording and the ink jet recording are operated in parallel, the receiving buffer (1) 303 usable for the electrophotographic recording is provided in order to maintain both recording throughputs at an appropriate level. It is reduced to the boundary indicated by arrow 402. However, it is desirable that the switching of the buffer area be performed for each page of the electrophotographic recording.

This is because the recording throughput can be reduced by reducing the buffer area, that is, it is necessary to reduce the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 101 in FIG. 10. This is because it is difficult to realize the recording paper without deteriorating the recording quality during recording. Conversely, when only the inkjet recording is in operation, the use of the reception buffer (2) 304 for the inkjet recording up to the boundary (2) of the arrow 402 is permitted, and the maximum throughput can be ensured.

When electrophotographic recording is requested during the operation of ink jet recording, the receiving buffer (2) 304 for ink jet recording is reduced to the arrow 401, and the remaining buffer portion is used as a receiving buffer for electrophotography.
The switching of the buffer use is performed at the boundary (1) and the boundary (2).
At the time when the data for inkjet recording was used,
It can be implemented immediately.

Because, in the case of ink jet recording,
This is because, as described above, since recording is performed in units of lines, unlike electrophotographic recording, the throughput can be changed from the end of recording of a certain line. That is, it is relatively easy to change the recording speed.
Of course, the assignment method may be a different assignment method from the assignment method of FIG. 12. For example, when only one of the recording modes is operating, the entire buffer area is occupied for the recording, and
When the other recording mode is requested at the same time, a buffer may be allocated for each recording mode at an appropriate timing.

Also, like the reception buffer, the drawing buffer can dynamically change the area to be used. However, since this is the same as the above-mentioned procedure, the description is omitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, monochrome recording corresponds to both electrophotographic recording and ink jet recording, and color recording corresponds to ink jet recording. An operable and inexpensive printer device can be provided.

[0108]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is an effect that it is possible to provide an inexpensive multifunction printer capable of outputting both a high-quality monochrome output and a color image-compatible color output.

Further, there is an effect that it is possible to provide a composite recording apparatus capable of performing monochrome-only recording and color-compatible recording in parallel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a recording head.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a nozzle configuration of the recording head of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an inkjet recording unit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a procedure of color recording by ink jet recording.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a procedure of monochrome recording by inkjet recording.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a recording procedure in a case where a monochrome image and a color image are mixed.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a printer setting display screen on the host device side.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of a print request process.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a data control unit according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of using a reception buffer according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 photosensitive drum 103 laser beam 104 developer unit 117 paper feed path switching mechanism 120 paper feed cassette 125 recording head unit

Claims (27)

[Claims] 1. A first recording means for recording by a first recording process exclusively for monochrome printing, and a second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing. A composite recording apparatus comprising: 2. The multi-function printer according to claim 1, wherein the first printing process is an electrophotographic process, and the second printing process is an ink jet printing process. 3. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of recording by the first recording unit and recording by the second recording unit is performed. 4. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein both recording by the first recording unit and recording by the second recording unit can be performed simultaneously. 5. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first recording means and the second recording means share at least a part of a recording paper feeding mechanism and a transporting mechanism. . 6. The first recording means and the second recording means share a single recording paper feed mechanism, and after the paper is fed, the recording paper is fed to a first pass or a second pass for a first recording process. 5. The composite printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a path switching mechanism for selectively transporting the sheet to one of the second passes for the printing process. 7. The composite recording according to claim 1, wherein the first recording means and the second recording means have separate recording paper feeding mechanisms and transporting mechanisms, respectively. apparatus. 8. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second recording means has a dedicated recording paper feeding mechanism. 9. A first recording means for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing. A composite recording apparatus comprising: when one of the recording means is operating, and when an operation request of the other recording means is made, both recording means are operated in parallel. 10. A first recording unit for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording unit for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing. When an operation request of the other recording means is made while one of the recording means is operating, after the recording by the operating recording means is completed, the recording of the recording means by the subsequent operation request is performed. Composite recording device. 11. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process. 12. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recording speeds of both recording means are variably controlled. 13. A memory area used as a buffer for receiving recording data from an external device is fixed to a first area corresponding to a first recording process and a second area corresponding to a second recording process. The composite recording apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the composite recording apparatus is assigned to a recording medium. 14. A memory area used as a buffer for receiving recording data from an external device can be variably changed into a first area corresponding to a first recording process and a second area corresponding to a second recording process. The composite recording apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the composite recording apparatus is assigned to a recording medium. 15. When only one of the first recording means and the second recording means is operating, the entire memory area is used in the recording process, and the other recording is performed during the operation of the recording means. 15. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said memory area is allocated to a first area and a second area when an operation request of said means is made. 16. A memory area for storing drawing data in a first area
16. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a fixed area is allocated to a first area corresponding to the recording process and a second area corresponding to the second recording process. 17. A memory area for storing drawing data in a first area
16. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a first area corresponding to the first recording process and a second area corresponding to the second recording process are variably assigned. 18. When only one of the first recording means and the second recording means is operating, the whole memory area for storing drawing data is used in the recording process, and 18. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 17, wherein when an operation request of another recording unit is issued, the memory area is allocated to a first area and a second area. 19. A first recording means for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording means for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing. And means for preferentially selecting the first recording means corresponding to monochrome printing, and means for preferentially selecting the second recording means corresponding to color printing. Composite recording device. 20. The composite printing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the first printing process is an electrophotographic process, and the second printing process is an inkjet printing process. 21. A first recording unit for recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording unit for recording by a second recording process capable of both monochrome printing and color printing. And a means for defaulting a first recording means corresponding to monochrome printing and a means for defaulting a second recording means corresponding to color printing. apparatus. 22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process. 23. A first recording means for performing recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording means for performing recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. Means for preferentially selecting the first recording unit in response to a default monochrome print request from an external device, and a first print unit in accordance with the user selection in response to a user-selected monochrome print request from the external device. A composite recording apparatus, comprising: recording means or means for selecting a second recording means; and means for automatically selecting the second recording means in response to a color printing request from an external device. 24. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the first recording process is an electrophotographic process, and the second recording process is an ink jet recording process. 25. When a monochrome print request is issued during operation of one of the first recording means and the second recording means, the operation of the other recording means is automatically performed in response to the print request. 25. The composite recording apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the processing is started in parallel. 26. A first recording means for performing recording by a first recording process dedicated to monochrome printing, and a second recording means for performing recording by a second recording process capable of performing both monochrome printing and color printing. Means for designating a first recording means if the apparatus is in a standby state at the time of occurrence of a default designated monochrome print request, and designating a second recording means if the first recording means is operating. And a means for designating a second recording means when a color printing request is issued. 27. The multifunction printing apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the first printing process is an electrophotographic process, and the second printing process is an ink jet printing process.