JP2013049209A - Tandem continuous paper printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To eliminate wasteful consumption of toner used for mark printing, and to perform printing correctly in a second printing apparatus corresponding to the printing surface in the first printing apparatus.
In a tandem continuous paper printing apparatus comprising a first printer engine, a second printer engine, and a printer controller for controlling the first and second printer engines, the printer controller prints with the first printer engine. A display unit that displays a part of the print data to be displayed, and a part of the print data is displayed on the display unit so as to be selectable, and a part of the selected print data is set as page identification information 300b ′. When the first page 301 to be passed through is blank, the printing position of the first printer engine and the second printer engine of the first page 301 is aligned based on the selected page identification information 300b ′, and the subsequent pages Performs the print position alignment between the first and second printer engines based on the preset page identification information 300b to 300n. Yeah.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a tandem continuous paper printing apparatus that uses a continuous paper printing apparatus in a tandem connection configuration.

  With the configuration of two continuous paper printers (continuous paper printers) capable of single-sided printing, the operations of the first printing device (first printer engine) and the second printing device (second printer engine) are synchronized with each other. The first printing device prints by changing the color of the toner used in the first printing device and the second printing device and printing on the same surface or by inverting the paper between the first printing device and the second printing device. A tandem continuous paper printing device is known in which a second printing device prints on the back side of a printed paper.

  In such a tandem continuous paper printing apparatus, it is important to synchronize the pages printed by the first printing apparatus and the pages printed by the second printing apparatus.

  In order to solve this problem, it is already known that the page identification information is printed by the first printing apparatus, the page identification information printed by the first printing apparatus is read by the second printing apparatus, and the back side corresponding to the front side is printed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In addition, a configuration is known in which when the number of pages between the first and second printing apparatuses is N, printing is started after the second printing apparatus counts the number of pages N (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  However, as in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the page identification information such as a mark is printed for use only for page identification, and the method of reading this is necessary for the user to print the page identification information. There was a problem that no toner was wasted.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 2, when a user sets paper in the first and second printing apparatuses, the paper is loaded so that the number of pages N between them becomes a desired number of pages. For this reason, there may be a case where a user operation error occurs (that is, the user-desired page number and the actually loaded page number do not match). As a result, there has been a problem that the back side cannot be correctly printed on the front side of the paper.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a tandem continuous paper printing apparatus that eliminates wasteful consumption of toner used for mark printing and that can correctly perform printing with the second printing apparatus corresponding to the printing surface of the first printing apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve such an object, the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus (tandem continuous paper printer 100) of the present embodiment includes a first printing apparatus (first printer engine 110) that prints on one side of continuous paper, and a first printing apparatus. A second printing device (second printer engine 120) that prints on the same surface or the other surface of the printed continuous paper; and a print control means (printer controller 200) that controls the first printing device and the second printing device. In the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus provided, the print control means includes a display unit (display unit 215) for displaying a part of print data to be printed by the first printing device, and performs printing first by the first printing device. A part of the page of the print data is displayed on the display unit so as to be selectable, and a part of the selected print data is used as page identification information (page identification information 300b ′). When the first page to be passed through the printing apparatus (first page 301) is a blank sheet, the first printing apparatus and the first page of the page to be passed through first are based on the selected page identification information (page identification information 300b ′). The printing position is aligned with the two printing apparatuses, and the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus for the subsequent pages are based on the page identification information (page identification information 300b to 300n) set in advance for the same type of continuous paper. Printing position alignment.

  Further, the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus (tandem continuous paper printer 100) of the present embodiment includes a first printing apparatus (first printer engine 110) that prints on one side of continuous paper and a continuous paper printed by the first printing apparatus. Tandem continuous paper comprising a second printing device (second printer engine 120) for printing on the same surface or the other surface, and a printing control means (printer controller 200) for controlling the first printing device and the second printing device In the printing apparatus, the print control unit includes a display unit (display unit 215) that displays a part of print data to be printed by the first printing apparatus, and for a page of print data to be printed first by the first printing apparatus. A part of the print data is displayed on the display unit so that it can be selected, and a part of the selected print data is displayed as page identification information (page identification information 300b ', 300b-n). If the first page to be passed through the first printing device is a blank page, the first printing device and the first page of the page to be passed through first based on the selected one page identification information (page identification information 300b ′). Print alignment with the second printing device, and based on the selected other page identification information (page identification information 300b to 300n), print alignment between the first printing device and the second printing device of the subsequent pages is performed. Is what you do.

  Further, the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus (tandem continuous paper printer 100) of the present embodiment includes a first printing apparatus (first printer engine 110) that prints on one side of continuous paper and a continuous paper printed by the first printing apparatus. Tandem continuous paper comprising a second printing device (second printer engine 120) for printing on the same surface or the other surface, and a printing control means (printer controller 200) for controlling the first printing device and the second printing device In the printing apparatus, the print control unit includes a display unit (display unit 215) that displays a part of print data to be printed by the first printing apparatus, and for a page of print data to be printed first by the first printing apparatus. A part of the print data is displayed on the display unit so as to be selectable, and a part of the selected print data is used as page identification information (page identification information 300b ′), based on the page identification information. Te, and it performs printing position alignment between the first printer and the second printer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate unnecessary consumption of toner used for mark printing and to perform printing correctly in the second printing apparatus corresponding to the printing surface in the first printing apparatus.

It is a schematic block diagram of the tandem continuous paper printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of a printer controller. It is explanatory drawing of page identification information in case there exists print data in the first page printed with a 1st printer engine. It is explanatory drawing (1) of page identification information in case there is no print data in the first page printed with a 1st printer engine. It is explanatory drawing of the printing start position alignment in the surface and back surface of continuous paper. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a printing process executed by a tandem continuous paper printer. It is explanatory drawing (2) of page identification information in case there is no print data in the first page printed with a 1st printer engine.

  Hereinafter, a configuration according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

[First embodiment]
(Configuration of tandem continuous paper printer)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tandem continuous paper printer which is an embodiment of a tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to the present invention. The tandem continuous paper printer 100 includes a first printer engine 110, a second printer engine 120, and a printer controller 200, and performs printing based on print data transmitted from the host device 10. The tandem continuous paper printer 100 performs, for example, duplex printing by printing an odd page of a job on the front surface of a continuous paper and an even page of a job on the back surface.

  The first printer engine 110 includes a paper feeding unit 111, a printing drum 112, a fixing unit 114, and the like. Although not shown, around the printing drum 112, a charging means for charging the printing drum, an exposure means for exposing the surface of the printing drum, a developing means for developing by attaching toner, and a toner image on the paper There are provided electrophotographic processes such as a transfer means for transferring and a cleaning means for cleaning residual toner remaining without being transferred.

  In addition, the paper feeding unit 111 is provided with a folding type continuous paper in which pages are separated by perforations or the like. The continuous paper is supplied from the paper supply unit 111, and the toner is transferred by the printing drum 112. Thereafter, the toner on the sheet is fixed by the fixing unit 114. In this embodiment, an example in which a foldable continuous paper is used as the paper will be described, but roll paper or the like may be used as the paper.

  The second printer engine 120 includes a first detector 121, a second detector 122, a printing drum 123, a fixing unit 124, a paper discharge unit 125, and the like. The configurations and functions of the printing drum 123 and the fixing unit 124 are the same as those of the first printer engine 110, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  The sheet discharged from the first printer engine 110 is reversed by the sheet reversing unit 150 and enters the second printer engine 120. The second printer engine 120 includes a paper winding unit 160 that conveys the paper toward the printing drum 123. Thereafter, like the first printer engine 110, the image is supplied to the electrophotographic process by the printing drum 123 of the second printer engine.

  The printer controller 200 expands the image data received from the host apparatus 10 into print data, and print data of a predetermined page to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is displayed on the display unit 215 (see FIG. 2) of the printer controller 200 on the user. A part of the area is displayed to be selectable. The print data of the predetermined page displayed here is, for example, print data of a page that is first printed by the first printer engine 110.

(Configuration of printer controller)
Next, the printer controller will be described. FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the printer controller 200.

  The printer controller 200 includes a communication control unit 210, an image processing unit 211, a CPU 212, a memory 213, an abnormality detection unit 214, a display unit 215, a first engine control unit 216, a second engine control unit 217, and a page identification information detection control unit. 218 and the like, and controls the first printer engine 110 and the second printer engine 120.

  The communication control unit 210 receives image data from the host device 10 via a network or the like.

  The image processing unit 211 expands the image data received from the host device 10 into print data in the dot image data format, and writes the data in the memory 213 as the first printer engine data or the second printer engine data.

  The CPU 212 is a control unit that controls the entire printer controller 200. In addition, a display control unit 220 is provided that causes the display unit 215 to display a part of a predetermined page of the print data expanded by the image processing unit 211 so that the user can select it. Further, the display control unit 220 performs control to display the next page when the predetermined page of the print data is blank.

  Further, the CPU 212 determines whether or not the continuous paper to be printed has the page identification information 300 (see FIGS. 3, 4, and 7) previously set in the memory 213. A paper type determination unit 221 that determines whether or not there is a paper type.

  In addition, the memory 213 is a rewritable memory for holding data even when the program executed by the CPU 212, other fixed data ROM, RAM for temporarily storing print data, etc., and the apparatus is powered off. A nonvolatile memory (NVRAM) or the like is used. Further, a page counter 222 that temporarily stores a count number obtained by counting the number of pages of continuous paper is configured in the memory 213.

  In general, the tandem continuous paper printer 100 is often used for a form printing job or the like. However, since the types of forms to be used are limited, continuous paper (forms) of the same format is often printed repeatedly. It will be. Therefore, it is preferable to store the format of the form once printed with the job and the page identification information 300 designated for the form in association with the position information. This associated information is stored as setting identification information 223 in the memory 213.

  The abnormality detection unit 214 detects when the page identification information detection control unit 218 has failed in page verification (paper alignment) and displays an error on the display unit 215 or controls for paper alignment (acceleration of the conveyance speed). / Deceleration) is instructed to the second engine control unit 217 (step S111 in FIG. 6).

  As described above, the display unit 215 displays the page identification information 300 for print data so that the user can select it, and is configured by a liquid crystal display, a liquid crystal panel, or the like.

(Page identification information setting)
The user can select a desired area (a part of the displayed characters or symbols) of the print data of the displayed page by using an input unit (mouse, tablet, etc.) connected to the controller 200. . The selected area is used as information (page identification information 300) for identifying a page.

  Here, the area (page identification information 300) selected by the user is preferably a part having a different print content corresponding to the designated area in a certain print job from the viewpoint of improving collation accuracy. For example, if one page is one form output, it is not an area where the same printing content is made at the same position on all pages as in the form name (issue slip, etc.) but different data for each page (for example, , A region corresponding to a name, an address, etc. in a form is selected.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of page identification information. The page identification information 300a designated by the user corresponds to a predetermined area of the printable area 310 on the sheet.

  For the selected page identification information 300a, the printer controller 200 sets the length in the paper feed direction from the upper end of the page identification information 300a to the page separation position as Y, and the length from the side edge to the left edge of the paper (or the right edge). The length X and Y, and the length a and the width b in the paper feed direction of the area set as the page identification information 300a are stored in the memory 213.

  Further, the page identification information 300b,..., 300n is set at each position on each page corresponding to the page identification information 300a set for the first page. That is, all the page identification information 300a, 300b,..., 300n have the same position and size in the printable area 310.

(Detection means)
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, on the upstream side in the sheet passing direction of the continuous sheet of the printing drum 123 of the second printer engine 120, detection means (for reading page identification information 300 printed by the first printer engine 110). A first detector 121 is installed as a first detector.

  The first detector 121 detects (reads) print data at the position of the page identification information 300 on the paper surface printed by the first printer engine 110. Moreover, it is preferable that the first detector 121 can detect a page break portion (perforation or the like) when the paper is a folding type continuous paper.

  The first detector 121 preferably uses a sensor having a length (width) over the entire width of the paper, but the page identification information 300 is obtained using a movable sensor having a predetermined width with respect to the paper width. It may be detected by moving to a set position in the paper width direction. In this case, it is preferable that detection is possible at least in the range of the width b or more of the set page identification information 300. For example, a CCD sensor can be used as the first detector 121.

  With the tandem continuous paper printer 100 described above, the first printer engine 110 first prints on the front side of each page of the continuous paper, and then the second printer engine 120 prints on the back side of the page to perform tandem printing. The continuous paper that has been subjected to double-sided printing is discharged to the paper discharge unit 125.

(Display control)
In the present embodiment, as described above, the image processing unit 211 of the printer controller 200 expands the image data received from the host device 10 into print data, and the display control unit 220 performs predetermined printing to be performed by the first printer engine 110. The page print data is displayed on the display unit 215 of the printer controller 200 so that a part of the area can be selected by the user.

  However, if there is no print data of a predetermined page displayed here (for example, print data of a page first passed by the first printer engine 110), that is, if the predetermined page is blank, the page identification information 300a. Cannot be selected correctly, the second printer engine 120 cannot recognize the page identification information 300a for correctly printing on the back side of a blank page, and the front side printing and the back side printing may not match. In this specification, “blank paper” refers to a page without print data to be printed by the tandem continuous paper printer 100, and a format such as a form name and ruled line is printed on the continuous paper (form) in advance. In some cases, “white paper” is included.

  In this way, the situation where the first page is blank is the case where one page is blank when printing sequentially from the first page of the job (normal order), but printing is performed sequentially from the last page of the job. If the total number of pages of the job is an odd number in the reverse order, the surface of the last page of the continuous paper (= the last page of the job) is printed by the second printer engine 120. The first page that is printed (passed) by the printer engine 110 is blank.

  Therefore, in the tandem continuous paper printer 100 according to the present embodiment, the display control unit 220 of the printer controller 200 displays predetermined print data that is processed by the image processing unit 211 on the display unit 215. When there is no page print data, the display unit 215 displays the print data of the page in which print data to be printed by the first printer engine first exists in subsequent pages. For example, when printing a job in the normal order, if the first page of the job is blank, the third page of the job (the front surface of the second page) is displayed.

  When displaying the print data on the display unit 215, the display control unit 220 displays the print data of the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 in a scrollable manner by the user, and this page is blank. In this case, the next page may be displayed according to the user's scroll operation.

(Page identification information setting for blank pages)
Next, FIG. 4 shows a case where the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank page, and page identification information is set for continuous sheets of the same format (that is, the corresponding setting identification information). FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of page identification information (when there is 223). In FIG. 4, the front surface of the first page 301 is blank, but print data exists on the back surface.

  The page identification information 300a to 300n is already set as in FIG. However, in the case of FIG. 4, since the front surface of the first page 301 is a blank sheet and collation based on the page identification information 300a cannot be performed, the front surface printing and the back surface printing may not match.

  Therefore, in this case, the second page (third page of the job) 302 is displayed on the display unit 215, and a part of the print data in the second page 302 is selected as the page identification information 300b ′.

  Further, the printer controller 200 sets the length in the paper feed direction from the upper end of the selected page identification information 300b ′ to the page break position in the paper feed direction Y ′, and the length from the side end to the left end of the paper (or the right end). As X ′, the lengths X ′ and Y ′ and the length a ′ and the width b ′ in the paper feed direction of the area set as the page identification information 300 a are stored in the memory 213.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a first detector 121 as a detection unit for reading the page identification information 300 printed by the first printer engine 110 is upstream of the printing drum 123 of the second printer engine 120. Although installed, a second detector 122 as a second detector is set upstream from the first detector 121 by one page or more in the continuous paper conveyance path. Note that the configuration of the second detector 122 may be the same as that of the first detector 121, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Since the second detector 122 is provided in this way, even if the first page (the front surface of the first page 301) to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is blank, the next page (second page). 302), the second detector 122 detects the page identification information 300b 'and recognizes the page identification information at a timing one page or more before. As described in detail below, the second printer engine At 120, it is possible to perform correct printing on the back side of the blank page.

(Print control)
First, print control when there is print data on the first page printed by the first printer engine will be described. The printer controller 200 outputs the print data developed into dot image data by the first engine control unit 216 to the first printer engine 110, and the first printer engine 110 performs printing on the surface of the paper based on the print data. Do. Similarly, the print data expanded into dot image data by the second engine control unit 217 is output to the second printer engine 120, and the second printer engine 120 performs printing on the back side of the paper based on the print data.

  At this time, the page identification information detection control unit 218 prints the print result at the position corresponding to the page identification information 300a to n printed by the first printer engine 110 detected by the first detector 121 and the page on the print data. The identification information 300a to 300n is collated with data corresponding to the set position. The collation process at this time may be a known or new technique and is not particularly limited.

  Here, the print data to be compared is a portion corresponding to the position where the page identification information 300a to 300n is set on the print data of each page. That is, in the case of folding type continuous paper, the first detector 121 detects the page break portion, and within the range of the length a and the width b specified by the lengths X and Y from the page break portion. is there. In the case of paper that cannot detect a page break such as roll paper, it may be specified on the print data based on the set page length.

  In this way, the print result detected by the first detector 121 can be detected as to whether or not it is a corresponding surface by only checking a partial area without checking the entire print data. Therefore, efficient collation is possible, and the second printer engine 120 can perform printing corresponding to the front surface on the back surface. As will be described later, in order to detect and correct the printing position deviation, it is preferable to perform collation in a range slightly wider than the set page identification information 300 (with a predetermined margin).

  However, if the first page to be printed by the first printer engine is blank, the first detector 121 cannot detect the page identification information 300a of the first page 301, so the position of the back surface of the first page 301 Alignment may not be performed correctly.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when there is no print data on the first page printed by the first printer engine 110, print control is performed as follows. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the printing start alignment on the front and back surfaces of the continuous paper by the tandem continuous paper printer 100. FIG. 5 schematically shows a state in which the first printer engine 110 and the second printer engine 120 are loaded with folding type continuous paper as paper.

  The sheet length between the transfer unit 112a of the first printer engine 110 and the transfer unit 123a of the second printer engine 120 is preferably an integral multiple of the page length. By doing so, the writing timings of the first printer engine 110 and the second printer engine 120 can be made the same. However, it is not necessarily required to be an integral multiple of the page length. In this case, the first engine control unit 216 and the second engine control unit 217 set the write timings of the first printer engine 110 and the second printer engine 120. Each may be controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the first printer engine 110, in a state where the transfer point of the transfer device 112a and the page break portion (perforation) coincide with each other, the page identification information 300a is more in the paper feed direction than the transfer point of the transfer device 112a. In FIG. 4, when the first page to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is blank paper, the page identification information 300b ′ is fed by the paper from the transfer device 112a. In the direction, it is printed at the rear position by the distance Y ′.

  Also, the second printer engine 120 includes a first detector 121 and a second detector 122 that read the page identification information 300 printed by the first printer engine 110, with a distance t1 in the paper feed direction from the transfer device 123a, respectively. It is installed upstream by t2.

  Further, the second detector 122 is installed on the upstream side by one page or more than the first detector 121. That is, the relationship is t2-t1> 1 page length.

  The second printer engine 120 can detect the information of the print page of the first printer engine 110 by reading the page identification information 300a at a timing earlier than the transfer point of the transfer device 123a by the paper feed length of t1. it can. That is, by setting the position Y in the paper feed direction of the page identification information 300a selected by the user to be Y <t1, the second printer engine 120 recognizes the first page of the first printer engine 110 and corresponds to this page. The print data to be specified can be specified.

  However, when the first page to be printed by the first printer engine is blank, the first detector 121 cannot detect the page identification information 300a of the first page 301.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is blank, the first detector 122 first reads the page identification information 300b ′ of the second page 302, thereby The second page of the printer engine 110 is recognized.

  In this case, the first page (for example, the second page of the job) 301 to be printed by the second printer engine 120 is on the downstream side by one page length from this, so paper feed of the page identification information selected by the user By setting the direction position Y ′ to Y ′ <t2, the second printer engine 120 can recognize the first page 301 of the first printer engine 110 and specify the print data corresponding to this page. .

  As for the printing control for the second and subsequent pages in this case, the second printer engine is detected by detecting the page identification information 300b to n by the first detector 121 in the same manner as the first page when the first page is not blank. Reference numeral 120 can perform correct printing corresponding to a page printed by the first printer engine 110.

  The distance t1 between the first detector 121 of the second printer engine 120 and the transfer device 123a preferably has a length of one page. This is because it is assumed that the position Y in the sheet conveyance direction of the page identification information 300 is at most approximately one page from the page break position. However, when the distance of t1 is limited due to the configuration of the apparatus, the settable position of the page identification information 300 may be limited in the page length so that Y <t1 can be maintained. For example, when t1 can be obtained only about half of the page length, the settable position of the page identification information 300 may be limited to the upper half of the page.

(Print processing flow)
FIG. 6 is a flow of mark check (recognition of page identification information) and print processing by the second printer engine 120.

  The second printer engine 120 waits for page identification information 300a printed by the first printer engine 110 after starting printing (step S101), and when the first page 301 to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is not blank (step S102). : No), when the first identification information is detected by the first detector 121, it is checked whether or not it is the identification information of the first page, and it is determined whether or not they match (step S103).

  When the page identification information 300a of the first page is detected (step S103: YES), 1 is set in the page counter 222 (step S104), and printing corresponding to the back side of the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is performed. Is performed (step S105).

  If the page identification information 300a of the first page cannot be detected (step S103: NO), a page identification information error is displayed on the display unit 215 or the like (step S111), and the printing is stopped (step S110). At this time, it is also preferable to perform control for accelerating / decelerating the sheet conveyance speed so as to detect the shift amount of the printing position in the paper feed direction based on the collation result and correct the shift amount (described later). .

  On the other hand, when the first page 301 to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is blank (step S102: Yes), when the second detector 122 detects the page identification information 300b ′ of the second page 302 ( In step S112: YES, 1 is set in the page counter 222 (step S113), and the print position on the back side of the previous blank page (= first page) is calculated (step S114). The back side of the page 301 is printed (step S115).

  If the page identification information 300b ′ of the second page cannot be detected (step S112: NO), a page identification information error is displayed on the display unit 215 or the like (step S111), and the printing is stopped (step S110). .

  After the back side of the first page is printed by the second printer engine 120 (S105, S115), when the first detector 121 detects the page identification information 300b to n of the next page (step S106: YES), the page counter 222 is detected. Is incremented (step S107), and the back side of the page is printed (step S108). If the page identification information 300b to 300n cannot be detected (step S106: NO), a page identification information error is displayed on the display unit 215 or the like (step S111), and the printing is stopped (step S110).

  If the print job has not ended (step S109: NO), the process returns to step S106, and the detection of the page identification information 300 is repeated (step S106). On the other hand, when the print job is completed (step S109: YES), the process is terminated after the printing is stopped (step S110).

  As described above, in the tandem continuous paper printer according to this embodiment, instead of printing the dedicated page identification information, a partial area of the print data is used as the page identification information. That is, the first printer A part of the data printed by the engine is used as page identification information, and the second printer engine detects the identification information and prints the back side.

  This eliminates the consumption of toner in printing the page identification information, and matches the number of pages between the first printer engine and the second printer engine based on a partial area (page identification information) of the print data. The second printer engine can accurately perform printing in correspondence with the printing surface of the first printer engine.

  Even if the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank page, the second printer engine 120 can correctly print on the back side of the blank page.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, other embodiments of the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described. In addition, the description about the same point as the said embodiment is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the first embodiment, when the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank page, and page identification information is set for continuous paper of the same format (corresponding setting identification information). However, in the case of a form to be printed first, the setting identification information 223 does not exist.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of page identification information when the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank sheet and there is no corresponding setting identification information 223. In FIG. 7, the front surface of the first page 301 is blank, but print data exists on the back surface.

  In the present embodiment, since the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank sheet, the display control unit 220 displays the second page (front surface) 302 on the display unit 215.

  At this time, the user selects and sets two pieces of page identification information, page identification information 300b detected by the first detector 121 and page identification information 300b ′ detected by the second detector 122, as page identification information. That's fine. Moreover, it is preferable that the display control part 220 also performs the display to that effect.

  Thereafter, printing control is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. That is, the front and back surfaces of the first page are aligned based on the page identification information 300b ′, and the front and back surfaces of the second and subsequent pages are aligned based on the page identification information 300b.

  As described above, even if the user sets the two page identification information for the second page, even if the first page to be printed by the first printer engine 110 is blank as in the first embodiment, The second printer engine 120 can perform correct printing on the back side of the blank page. Further, for the subsequent pages, the printing surface of the second printer engine 120 can be printed accurately in correspondence with the printing surface of the first printer engine 110.

[Third embodiment]
Similarly to the second embodiment, when the setting identification information 223 does not exist, the user selects and sets at least one page identification information 300 (300b or 300b ′) as the page identification information. May be.

  In this case, using only the second detector 122, the front and back surfaces of the first page are aligned based on one designated page identification information 300. Similarly, the second and subsequent pages are also the second page. The page identification information is detected by the detector 122, and is controlled in the same manner as printing the first page. The designated page identification information 300b ′ is set in the same manner for the third and subsequent pages (300c ′ to n ′).

  In the case of the present embodiment, the second printer engine 120 does not need to include the first detector 121, and only one detector (second detector 122) is used, as in the first to second embodiments. Even if the first page printed by the first printer engine 110 is a blank page, the second printer engine 120 can correctly print on the back side of the blank page. Further, for the subsequent pages, the printing surface of the second printer engine 120 can be printed accurately in correspondence with the printing surface of the first printer engine 110.

  In the first to third embodiments, an example in which there is no print data on the first page and print data on the next page has been described. However, the distance t2 from the transfer device 123a of the second detector 122 is represented by x. By setting the page length or longer, it is possible to apply to a job having no print data for x pages from the first page.

  Further, it is preferable that the transfer device 123a of the second printer engine 120 is close to the detector that detects the page identification information. This is because the smaller the conveyance distance after alignment, the smaller the error, and the higher the alignment accuracy. Therefore, as in the third embodiment, the first and second are compared with the case where the front and back surfaces of all pages are aligned using only the detector (second detector 122) that is separated from the transfer device 123a. As described in the embodiment, the detection by the second detector 122 is only the first page, and the second and subsequent pages are positioned by aligning the front and back surfaces using the first detector 121. The alignment accuracy can be improved.

[Other embodiments]
(Deviation detection, correction control)
As described above, it is also preferable that the amount of deviation is detected at the time of collation to detect the amount of deviation and correct the printing deviation. Hereinafter, the shift amount detection process will be described. It should be noted that in the detection of the deviation amount, the paper feed control for the paper with the feed hole and the paper such as the roll paper without the feed hole has different control contents, and each will be described.

  First, in the case of paper with feed holes (feed holes are fed with pins corresponding to motor rotation), the paper feed amount is determined by the rotation speed of the paper feed motor. By rotating at a speed, paper can be fed at a constant speed.

  In this case, when two printer engines are connected in tandem, a clock error may occur in each engine as a machine difference, and this error may accumulate and a deviation may occur. Accordingly, the correction of the shift amount in this case can be reset by temporarily stopping and restarting the two printer engines at the page end.

  On the other hand, in the case of paper feed of continuous paper (roll paper, etc.) without a feed hole, it is possible that the rotation speed of the paper feed motor and the paper feed amount do not match due to paper slippage. In many cases, the speed is variable.

  Therefore, in this case, by accumulating the paper feed speed of the second printer engine 120 according to the timing of the user data detected by the second printer engine 120, accumulation of deviation amounts can be prevented.

  Specifically, for example, since the user data is Y behind from the page boundary, the time required to feed paper by Y from the top of the page is T (Y), and the detector 123a of the second printer engine 120 is used. When the time from the beginning of the page to detecting user data is T (t1), the speed of the second printer engine 120 is controlled so that the difference between T (Y) and T (t1) is constant. That's fine. By controlling in this way, accumulation of deviation amounts can be prevented.

(Various controls related to verification)
As described above, the page identification information 300 is preferably set in different portions of the print contents of each page in the job. However, a large amount of two-page jobs (one sheet for duplex printing) is printed. In the case where the print contents of each page are the same as in the case where the page identification information 300 is set in a part (for example, a form title) having the same print contents in all pages in a job, the page identification Verification by the information detection control unit 218 becomes difficult.

  Therefore, in the printing process shown in FIG. 6, in the printer controller 200, before step S101, whether or not the designated page identification information 300 is correctly set in a different part between pages is determined. A process for confirming the first predetermined number of pages (for example, 10 pages) is performed, and if different parts are set correctly between pages, the subsequent processes are performed according to the flowchart of FIG. In the case where it is set to a part, the page counter 222 may count the number of printed sheets, and the back side may be printed based on the counted number. In addition, the fact may be displayed on the display unit 215 so that the user can select the page identification information 300 again.

  In particular, in the case where the collation range is expanded or the like, if there is print data that is the same (or similar) as the portion in which the page identification information 300 is set in the same page, there is a possibility that erroneous detection in collation may occur. . Therefore, the printer controller 200 determines whether or not the setting range by the user is appropriate, and if there is similar data in the same page (especially around the designated area), notifies the display unit 215 or the like to that effect. It is also preferable to do so. This determination may be made by the printer controller 200 for the first few pages of each job.

  Furthermore, when the setting range of the page identification information 300 becomes the same print content from the middle of the job, or the same (or similar) print data as the portion where the page identification information 300 is set in the same page from the middle of the job. Since it may occur, the printer controller 200 preferably performs the above determination for each predetermined page.

  In the above embodiment, the tandem continuous paper printer 100 that performs single-sided printing with the first printer engine 110 and backside printing with the second printer engine 120 has been described as an example. The same effect can be obtained by applying the above printing process to a tandem continuous paper printer that performs single-sided printing with the first printer engine 110 and prints with the second printer engine 120 with different colors on the same surface. Can be obtained. In this case, the detector (sensor) needs to detect the side facing the transfer portion of the second printer engine 120. Therefore, in addition to (or instead of) the detectors 121 and 122 shown in FIG. In addition, another detector 121 ′, 122 ′ may be installed on the side facing the conveyance path.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10 Host device 100 Tandem continuous paper printer (tandem continuous paper printer)
110 First printer engine (first printing device)
111 Feeder 112, 123 Printing drum 112a, 123a Transfer device 114, 124 Fixing unit 120 Second printer engine (second printing device)
121, 121 ′ first detector (first detecting means)
122, 121 ′ second detector (second detection means)
125 Paper discharge unit 150 Paper reversing unit 160 Paper winding unit 200 Printer controller (printing control means)
210 Communication control unit 211 Image processing unit 212 CPU
213 Memory 214 Abnormality detection unit 215 Display unit 216 First engine control unit 217 Second engine control unit 218 Page identification information detection control unit 220 Display control unit 221 Paper type determination unit 222 Page counter 223 Setting identification information 300 Page identification information 310 Print Possible area

JP 2008-149657 A JP 7-237336 A

Claims (9)

A first printing device for printing on one side of continuous paper;
A second printing device for printing on the same side or the other side of the continuous paper printed by the first printing device;
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that controls the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus;
The print control means includes
A display unit for displaying a part of print data to be printed by the first printing apparatus;
About a page of print data that is first printed by the first printing device, a part of the page is selectably displayed on the display unit, and a part of the selected print data is used as page identification information.
When the first page that passes through the first printing device is a blank page,
Based on the selected page identification information, the printing position of the first printing device and the second printing device of the first page to be passed is performed,
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus that performs printing alignment between the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus for subsequent pages based on page identification information set in advance for continuous paper of the same type. A first printing device for printing on one side of continuous paper;
A second printing device for printing on the same side or the other side of the continuous paper printed by the first printing device;
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that controls the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus;
The print control means includes
A display unit for displaying a part of print data to be printed by the first printing apparatus;
About the page of print data that is first printed by the first printing apparatus, a part of the page is displayed on the display unit so that two parts can be selected, and a part of the selected print data is used as page identification information,
When the first page that passes through the first printing device is a blank page,
Based on the selected one page identification information, the printing position of the first printing device and the second printing device of the first page to pass through is adjusted,
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus that performs printing alignment between the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus for subsequent pages based on the selected other page identification information. A first printing device for printing on one side of continuous paper;
A second printing device for printing on the same side or the other side of the continuous paper printed by the first printing device;
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that controls the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus;
The print control means includes
A display unit for displaying a part of print data to be printed by the first printing apparatus;
About a page of print data that is first printed by the first printing device, a part of the page is selectably displayed on the display unit, and a part of the selected print data is used as page identification information.
A tandem continuous paper printing apparatus that performs printing alignment between the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus based on the page identification information. The second printing apparatus includes:
First detection means for detecting the preset page identification information;
A second detection means for detecting the selected page identification information on the upstream side of the first detection means in the sheet passing direction;
The print control means includes
Based on the selected page identification information of the first page printed by the first printing device detected by the second detection means, printing on the back side of the page that first passed through the first printing device. Control
The subsequent printing of the back side of the page is controlled based on the preset page identification information of the page printed by the first printing device detected by the first detection unit. The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to 1. The second printing apparatus includes:
First detection means for detecting the selected one page identification information;
Second detection means for detecting the selected other page identification information on the upstream side of the first detection means in the sheet passing direction;
The print control means includes
The back side of the page that first passed through the first printing device based on the selected one page identification information of the page that was printed first by the first printing device detected by the second detection means Control the printing of
The printing on the back side of the subsequent page is controlled based on the selected other page identification information of the page printed by the first printing device detected by the first detection unit. Item 3. The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to Item 2. The second printing apparatus includes:
A detection means for detecting the page identification information;
The print control means includes
By comparing the page identification information of the page printed by the first printing device detected by the detection means with the data in the area corresponding to the page identification information in the print data, The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein printing positions of the printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus are aligned.   6. The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second detection unit is provided more upstream than the first detection unit by one page length of the continuous paper and upstream in the sheet passing direction. The print control means includes
When collating the page identification information with data in an area corresponding to the page identification information in the print data,
The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an area corresponding to the page identification information in the print data is wider than the selected page identification information. The print control means includes
When the page identification information is the same for each page of the print data, the print alignment between the first printing apparatus and the second printing apparatus is performed based on the count result by the page counter provided in the print control means. The tandem continuous paper printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tandem continuous paper printing apparatus is performed.

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