JP7366639B2 - printing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing system including a plurality of printing units.

Conventionally, printing systems have been proposed that include a plurality of printing devices arranged in series in the transport direction of a print medium. In such a printing system, based on the count of the number of printed sheets of each printing device, one printing device whose consumables are being consumed is temporarily stopped, and the other printing device performs printing processing to prevent downtime. A method of reducing the time has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, it is known that printing apparatuses periodically perform cleaning operations. For example, in the case of an inkjet printing device, ink may stick to the ink ejection ports of the nozzles of the inkjet head, or dust such as paper dust may adhere to the inkjet head nozzles. If ink sticks to the ink ejection opening of the nozzle or paper dust accumulates on the ink ejection opening of the nozzle, ejection failure such as disturbance in the direction of ink ejection from the nozzle or non-ejection may occur.

In order to reduce such ejection failures, a cleaning operation is known in which, for example, ink is forcibly ejected from the nozzle of an inkjet head, so-called purge, and then the ink ejection opening of the nozzle is wiped with a wiper blade. .

Such a cleaning operation is also necessary in each printing device of the printing system described above. Generally, a cleaning operation is performed every time the number of sheets printed by a printing device reaches a preset threshold.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-201082

However, in a printing system equipped with a plurality of printing devices as described above, if the cleaning operation is performed based on the count of the number of printed sheets in each printing device, the cleaning operation will be performed on the upstream side rather than the downstream printing device. Since the counted number of printed sheets of the arranged printing apparatus reaches the threshold value first, the cleaning operation is started on the upstream printing apparatus before the downstream printing apparatus. 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining the flow of a series of processes when performing a cleaning operation based on the count of the number of printed sheets in each printing apparatus as described above.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, the upstream printing device and the downstream printing device are each schematically shown as a rectangle, and each straight line shown within the rectangle indicating the upstream printing device and the downstream printing device exists within each device. It shows the print media that will be used. Further, the numerical values in the small rectangles shown below the rectangles of the upstream printing device and the downstream printing device indicate the count number of the paper discharge counter of each device. Here, it is assumed that the cleaning operation is performed when the count number of the paper discharge counter reaches the threshold value "100".

FIG. 7A shows a state in which printing processing for the 97th print medium has been completed and the 97th print medium is being discharged from the downstream printing device. At this time, the 98th to 100th print medium S stays in the downstream printing device, and the 101st to 103rd print medium S stays in the upstream printing device. There is. The count number of the paper discharge counter of the downstream printing device is "97", and the count number of the paper discharge counter of the upstream printing device is "100". When the state of FIG. 7A is reached, the count number of the paper ejection counter of the upstream printing device has reached the threshold value "100", so the upstream printing device stops feeding paper as shown in FIG. 7B. Stop once. On the other hand, since the count number of the paper ejection counter has not reached the threshold value "100", the downstream printing device continues to perform the printing process.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, after all the print media are ejected from the upstream printing device, the upstream printing device starts the cleaning operation. On the other hand, in the downstream printing device, since the count number of the paper ejection counter has reached the threshold value "100", paper feeding is temporarily stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 7D, after all the print media are discharged from the downstream printing device, the downstream printing device starts the cleaning operation. At this time, the upstream printing device is in the cleaning operation.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the upstream printing device restarts paper feeding after completing the cleaning operation, but since the downstream printing device is in the cleaning operation at this time, the downstream printing device The print medium cannot be delivered to the printing device, and the upstream printing device needs to temporarily stop transporting the print medium and print processing, and needs to wait until the cleaning operation of the downstream printing device is completed.

Then, from the point at which the cleaning operation in the downstream printing device is completed, the printing process in the upstream printing device, the transfer of print media from the upstream printing device to the downstream printing device, and the printing process in the downstream printing device are restarted. Ru.

However, when such an operation is performed, the state of the upstream printing device (running, cleaning, stopped) may be different from the state of the downstream printing device, and as a result, the print media in the upstream printing device is Conveyance control becomes complicated, and output of print data to be printed on each print medium from the page memory also becomes complicated. As a result of such complicated transport control of print media and page management of print data, problems may occur.

Furthermore, in addition to the above-mentioned cleaning operation, maintenance operations such as parts replacement are also performed periodically, and at this time as well, it is necessary to temporarily stop the operation of each printing device, resulting in problems similar to those described above.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention makes it possible to simplify conveyance control of print media and page management of print data in a printing system that has a plurality of printing units and periodically performs maintenance operations on each printing unit. The purpose is to provide a printing system.

The printing system of the present invention includes a first print processing section that performs printing processing on a print medium based on first print data, and the print system performs print processing on a print medium based on the number of sheets of print medium ejected from the first print processing section. , a first printing section that performs maintenance operations by temporarily stopping the supply of print media to the first print processing section; has a second print processing unit that performs printing processing on print media, and temporarily stops supplying the print media to the second print processing unit based on the number of print media discharged from the second print processing unit. It includes a second printing section that is stopped to perform maintenance operations, and a control section that controls the first printing section and the second printing section, and the control section counts the number of sheets discharged from the first printing processing section and controls the count. The number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing unit is added to the number of sheets, and when the added value reaches a preset threshold, the supply of print media to the first print processing unit is temporarily stopped, and the second printing The number of sheets discharged from the processing section is counted, and the maintenance operation of the first printing section and the maintenance operation of the second printing section are started simultaneously when the counted number reaches the threshold value.

According to the printing system of the present invention, the number of sheets discharged from the first print processing section of the first printing section is counted, and the number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing section is added to the counted number, and the added value is calculated in advance. When the set threshold is reached, the supply of print media to the first print processing section is temporarily stopped, and the number of sheets discharged from the second print processing section of the second printing section is counted, and the counted number is set to the above-mentioned threshold. Since the maintenance operation of the first printing section and the maintenance operation of the second printing section are started at the same time based on the point in time when , the operating state of the first printing section and the second printing section is This makes it possible to simplify transport control of print media and page management of print data.

A diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a printing system of the present invention A block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the control system of the printing system shown in FIG. An explanatory diagram for explaining a method of controlling a cleaning operation in the printing system shown in FIG. 1 Flowchart for explaining a method of controlling cleaning operation in the printing system shown in FIG. 1 Explanatory diagram for explaining the process when a jam occurs in the second printing device Explanatory diagram for explaining the process when a jam occurs in the second printing device Explanatory diagram for explaining how to control cleaning operation in a conventional printing system Explanatory diagram for explaining how to control cleaning operation in a conventional printing system

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the printing system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system 1 of this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the printing system 1 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 of this embodiment includes a paper feeding device 10, a first printing device 20, a first reversing device 30, a second printing device 40, a second reversing device 50, A paper discharge device 60 is provided.

The printing system 1 receives first print data for the first printing device 20 and second print data for the second printing device 40 from a printing control device 100 (see FIG. 2) such as a personal computer that functions as a RIP controller. do. The first print data and the second print data are print jobs that include image data to be printed and printing conditions. Note that in this embodiment, the first printing device corresponds to the first printing section of the invention, and the second printing device corresponds to the second printing section of the invention.

The paper feeding device 10, the first printing device 20, the first reversing device 30, the second printing device 40, the second reversing device 50, and the paper ejecting device 60 are arranged in series on the conveyance path of the print medium S (for example, paper). has been done. Note that at least two of the paper feeding device 10, the first printing device 20, the first reversing device 30, the second printing device 40, the second reversing device 50, and the paper ejecting device 60 are arranged integrally in a common housing. You can leave it there.

In FIG. 1, the straight transport routes R1, R4-1, R5, and R6-1 and the discharge route R7 of the print medium S are shown by solid lines, and the reverse transport routes R4-2 and R6-2 are shown by broken lines.

The paper feeding device 10 has a paper feeding tray 11 on which print media S before printing are loaded. Although not shown in the drawings, the paper feed device 10 includes a paper feed roller that feeds and conveys the uppermost print medium S among the plurality of print media S stacked on the paper feed tray 11, and this paper feed roller. A supply drive means (actuator) such as a motor is arranged to drive the supply drive means (actuator).

As shown in FIG. 1, the first printing device 20 includes a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 21, a first print processing section 22, a suction conveyance section 23, and a first cleaning section 33. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the first printing device 20 includes a control section 28, a storage section 29a, an interface section 29b, a first medium detection section 34, and a first jam detection section 35.

A plurality of pairs of conveyance rollers 21 are arranged in the first printing device 20 and convey the print medium S while nipping it.

The first print processing unit 22 performs single-sided printing on the print medium S based on the first print data received from the print control device 100. The first print processing unit 22 performs printing processing on the print medium S using basic color inks such as CMYK and gray. The first print processing section 22 has, for example, a line head type inkjet head that discharges ink of each color. In addition, in this embodiment, the inkjet method is adopted as the printing method of the first print processing section 22, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a laser method or a stencil printing method may be adopted.

The suction conveyance section 23 is arranged to face the first print processing section 22 . The suction conveyance unit 23 conveys the print medium S using a belt while suctioning the print medium S.

The first cleaning section 33 performs a cleaning operation for the inkjet head of the first print processing section 22 . Specifically, the first cleaning section 33 includes a cleaning tank in which wiper fluid is stored, a wiper blade, and the like. The first cleaning unit 33 performs a cleaning operation by immersing the wiper blade in a cleaning tank and then sliding the tip of the wiper blade coated with the wiper liquid on the ink ejection surface of the inkjet head. .

When performing a cleaning operation, the first cleaning section 33 is disposed between the suction conveyance section 23 and the first print processing section 22 and performs the above-mentioned cleaning operation, thereby controlling the print processing by the first print processing section 22. In some cases, it is placed at a standby position that is evacuated from the conveyance path of the print medium S.

In the present embodiment, the cleaning operation is performed by wiping the inkjet head, but if the first print processing section 22 is of a laser type, for example, an IH (Induction Heating) type fixing section may be used. When used, if the toner is repeatedly fixed, the wax agent contained in the toner accumulates on the fixing portion, which affects the fixing performance. Therefore, in the case of the laser method, as a cleaning operation, the fixing section is melted and heated to melt and flow out the wax agent.

In addition, when the first printing processing section 22 uses a stencil printing method, the cleaning operation is not performed, but when printing one manuscript for more than the number of stencil sheets that can be printed, the stencil paper that has been used Similar to the cleaning operation, re-stencil making, in which the stencil is discharged and a new stencil is made, is performed periodically as a maintenance operation.

The first medium detection unit 34 shown in FIG. The print medium S discharged to the device 30 is detected. Then, the detection signal of the first medium detection section 34 is output to the control section 28. The control unit 28 has a paper discharge counter, and counts the input detection signal with the paper discharge counter to determine the number of sheets of the print medium S discharged from the first printing device 20 to the first reversing device 30. count.

Then, the control section 28 controls the first cleaning section 33 to perform a cleaning operation based on the count number of the paper discharge counter, and the start timing of the cleaning operation will be described in detail later.

The first jam detection unit 35 shown in FIG. 2 detects a jam of the print medium S in the first printing device 20. Specifically, the first jam detection unit 35 includes a plurality of optical sensors provided on the conveyance path of the print medium S of the first printing device 20. Then, the presence or absence of conveyance of the print medium S is detected by each optical sensor of the first jam detection section 35, and a detection signal thereof is output to the control section 28. The control unit 28 detects a jam in the print medium S based on the presence or absence of a detection signal and the input timing of the detection signal. The control unit 28 temporarily stops the entire operation of the first printing device 20 when a jam is detected by the first jam detection unit 35. Then, the control unit 28 displays, for example, the occurrence of a jam on a display panel (not shown) provided in the first printing device 20, and displays a message urging the user to clear the jam and a procedure for clearing the jam.

The control unit 28 includes a processor (for example, a CPU: Central Processing Unit) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit, and controls the operation of each unit of the first printing device 20 .

The printing system 1 includes a control unit 28 of the first printing device 20, a control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 (described later), a control unit 64 of the sheet discharging device 60 (described later), etc., but these can be printed together or individually. It can be called the control section of the system 1. Note that a control unit may be provided that performs processing of at least two of the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20, the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40, and the control unit 64 of the paper ejecting device 60. good. Further, the processing of the control unit of the present invention may be performed by any one of the control unit 28, the control unit 44, and the control unit 64, or these control units may perform the processing in cooperation with each other. A control unit other than these control units 28, 44, and 64 may be provided and the control may be performed by that control unit.

The storage unit 29a may be, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is recorded in advance, or a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. It includes a RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a semiconductor memory that can be written to and read from at any time.

Further, the RAM of the storage unit 29a functions as a page memory, and stores image data of each page included in the first print data input to the first printing device 20. The RAM of the storage unit 29a has a capacity capable of storing multiple pages of image data, and the control unit 28 controls storage of each page of image data in the RAM and reading from the RAM.

The interface section 29b exchanges various information with the printing control device 100, each section of the printing system 1, and the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the first reversing device 30 is disposed on the downstream side of the first printing device 20 in the conveyance direction of the print medium S. The first reversing device 30 includes a plurality of transport roller pairs 31 and a first reversing section 32 . The transport roller pair 31 transports the print medium S discharged from the first printing device 20 while nipping it.

The first reversing device 30 is equipped with a conveyance path switching mechanism (not shown), and the conveyance path switching mechanism is a straight conveyance path R4 that conveys the print medium S discharged from the first printing device 20 as it is to the second printing device 40. -1 and a reversal conveyance path R4-2 for reversing the front and back of the print medium S. A first reversing section 32 is provided on this reversing conveyance path R4-2. The first reversing section 32 includes a pair of switchback rollers and a reversing drive section that drives the pair of switchback rollers. The reversal drive unit is composed of a known actuator.

The first reversing device 30 is controlled by the control unit 28, and switches between the straight conveyance path R4-1 and the reverse conveyance path R4-2 as appropriate depending on whether or not printing is performed on the front and back sides of the print medium S.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the second printing device 40 is disposed on the downstream side of the first reversing section 32 in the conveyance direction of the print medium S. The second printing device 40 includes a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 41 , a second print processing section 42 , a suction conveyance section 43 , and a second cleaning section 47 . Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the second printing device 40 includes a control section 44, a storage section 45, an interface section 46, a second medium detection section 48, and a second jam detection section 49.

A plurality of pairs of conveyance rollers 41 are arranged within the second printing device 40 and convey the print medium S while nipping it.

For example, the second print processing unit 42 performs single-sided printing on the back side of the print medium S, which has been printed on the front side and is conveyed from the first printing device 20, based on the second print data received from the print control device 100. The second print processing unit 42 performs printing processing on the print medium S using basic color inks such as CMYK and gray. As a result, compared to the case where double-sided printing is performed using only the first printing device 20, it is not necessary to provide a circulation path in the first printing device 20 for conveyance, so productivity can be improved.

Note that the second print processing unit 42 may print on the print medium S using magnetic ink such as MICR ink. The second print processing unit 42 may print on the print medium S using special color ink of a color other than the basic color such as transparent color ink, UV ink, or the like. The ink such as magnetic ink used in the second print processing section 42 is an example of a different type of ink from the ink used in the first print processing section 22 (basic color ink such as CMYK). Note that when the ink used in printing by the second print processing section 42 is magnetic ink, a mechanism for stirring the ink may be disposed in order to suppress sedimentation of components.

The second print processing section 42 has a line head type inkjet head. In addition, in this embodiment, the inkjet method is adopted as the printing method of the second print processing section 42, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a laser method or a stencil printing method may be adopted.

The suction conveyance section 43 is arranged to face the second print processing section 42 . The suction conveyance section 43 conveys the print medium S using a belt while suctioning the print medium S.

Note that, like the first printing device 20, the second printing device 40 also has first and second conveyance path switching units 24, 25, a pair of switchback rollers 26, a paper ejection tray 27, etc. It may be possible to perform double-sided printing.

The second cleaning section 47 performs a cleaning operation for the inkjet head of the second print processing section 42 . The specific configuration and operation of the second cleaning section 47 are similar to those of the first cleaning section 33 of the first printing device 20.

The second medium detection unit 48 shown in FIG. The print medium S discharged to the device 50 is detected. Then, the detection signal of the second medium detection section 48 is output to the control section 44. The control unit 44 has a paper discharge counter, and counts the input detection signal with the paper discharge counter to determine the number of sheets of the print medium S discharged from the second printing device 40 to the second reversing device 50. count.

Then, the control section 44 controls the second cleaning section 47 to perform a cleaning operation based on the count number of the paper discharge counter, and the start timing of the cleaning operation will be described in detail later.

The second jam detection unit 49 shown in FIG. 2 detects a jam of the print medium S in the second printing device 40. Specifically, the second jam detection section 49 includes a plurality of optical sensors provided on the conveyance path of the print medium S of the second printing device 40. The presence or absence of conveyance of the print medium S is detected by each optical sensor of the second jam detection section 49, and the detection signal is output to the control section 44. The control unit 44 detects a jam in the print medium S based on the presence or absence of a detection signal and the input timing of the detection signal. When the second jam detection section 49 detects a jam, the control section 44 temporarily stops the operation of the entire second printing device 40 . Then, the control unit 44 displays, for example, the occurrence of a jam on a display panel (not shown) provided in the second printing device 40, and displays a message urging the user to clear the jam and a procedure for clearing the jam.

The control unit 44 includes a processor (for example, a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit, and controls the operation of each part of the second printing device 40, and also determines whether or not the second reversing device 50 performs a reversing operation. Control behavior.

The storage unit 45 includes, for example, a ROM which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is recorded in advance, and a ROM which is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. This includes RAM, which is a readable semiconductor memory.

Further, the RAM of the storage unit 45 functions as a page memory, and stores image data of each page included in the second print data input to the second printing device 40. The RAM of the storage unit 45 has a capacity capable of storing multiple pages of image data, and the control unit 44 controls storage of each page of image data in the RAM and reading from the RAM.

The interface section 46 exchanges various information with the printing control device 100 and each section of the printing system 1.

The second reversing device 50 is arranged downstream of the second printing device 40 in the conveyance direction of the print medium S. The second reversing device 50 includes a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 51 and a second reversing section 52, as shown in FIG. The conveyor roller pair 51 conveys the print medium S discharged from the second printing device 40 while nipping it.

The second reversing device 50 is equipped with a conveyance path switching mechanism (not shown), and the conveyance path switching mechanism is a straight conveyance path R6-- which conveys the print medium S discharged from the second printing device 40 as it is to the paper discharge device 60. 1 and a reversal conveyance path R6-2 for reversing the front and back of the print medium S. A second reversing section 52 is provided on the reversing conveyance path R6-2. The second reversing section 52 includes a pair of switchback rollers and a reversing drive section that drives the pair of switchback rollers. The reversal drive unit is composed of a known actuator.

The second reversing device 50 is controlled by the control unit 44, and the second reversing device 50 appropriately selects the straight conveyance path R6-1 and the reverse conveyance path depending on whether the print medium S that has been printed is discharged face-up or face-down. Switch route R6-2.

Next, the paper ejection device 60 includes a paper ejection tray 61, a top surface detection sensor 62, and a paper ejection tray elevation drive section 63 (see FIG. 2).

Print media S discharged from the second reversing device 50, that is, print media S subjected to printing processing, are sequentially stacked on the paper discharge tray 61. The paper ejection table 61 is raised and lowered by driving of the paper ejection table elevating drive unit 63. Note that the paper ejection table 61 may be a paper ejection table having a conveyance unit such as a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor on which the print medium S is loaded.

The top surface detection sensor 62 detects the height of the stacking surface of the paper delivery tray 61, that is, the height of the topmost print medium S (the height of the top surface of the paper delivery tray 61 when no printing medium S is loaded). This is a sensor for detection. The upper surface detection sensor 62 includes, for example, a light emitting section that emits light (shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1) horizontally to a height that is a desired loading surface, and a light receiving section that receives this light. When the light emitted by the light emitting section of the top surface detection sensor 62 is blocked by the print medium S and the light receiving section of the top surface detection sensor 62 does not receive the light, the control section 64, which will be described later, controls the paper ejection table 61, for example, by adjusting the number of print media S. The paper ejection tray lift drive unit 63 is controlled to lower the paper ejection tray by the height corresponding to the number of sheets.

The paper ejection table elevating drive unit 63 shown in FIG. 2 raises and lowers the paper ejection table 61. The paper ejection table lifting/lowering drive section 63 is, for example, an actuator such as a motor.

The control unit 64 includes a processor (for example, a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing device, and controls the operation of each unit of the paper ejecting device 60.

The storage unit 65 includes, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is recorded in advance, and an optional write-in memory that is used as a working storage area as necessary when the processor executes various control programs. This includes RAM, which is a readable semiconductor memory.

The interface unit 66 exchanges various information with the print control device 100, each unit of the printing system 1, and the like.

Next, the start timing of the cleaning operation in the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 of the printing system 1 of this embodiment will be explained.

In the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 of this embodiment, as described above, the timing to start the cleaning operation is determined based on the count number of each paper discharge counter. At this time, if the cleaning operation is started when the count number of each of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 reaches a preset threshold value, the start timing of the cleaning operation is The first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 will be misaligned.

If the start timing of the cleaning operation is shifted in this way, the transportation control of the print medium S and the page management of the print data become complicated, as described above, and problems may occur.

Therefore, in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment, by matching the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40, transport control of the print medium S and page management of print data are simplified.

Hereinafter, a method for controlling the cleaning operation in the printing system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Note that here, as a prerequisite, it is assumed that a print job with a print count of 150 sheets is to be printed, and the paper ejection counters of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 are set at the time of printing start of the print job. Assume that the value is zero. The threshold value for controlling the start timing of the cleaning operation is set to "100".

In FIG. 3, the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 are each schematically shown as a rectangle, and each straight line shown within the rectangle showing the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 is connected to the inside of each device. An existing print medium S is shown. In the present embodiment, the length of the transport path of the print medium S of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 is such that a maximum of three print media S can stay therein. Note that the length of the conveyance path of the first printing device 20 here is the length of the straight conveyance path R1 shown in FIG. The length of the transport route R5 is assumed to be the length of the transport route R5. Further, the numerical values in the small rectangles shown below the rectangles of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 indicate the count numbers of the paper discharge counters of the respective devices. Also, here, a method of controlling the cleaning operation when performing single-sided printing in the first printing device 20 will be described.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the printing process for the 94th print medium S has been completed and the 94th print medium S is being discharged from the second printing device 40. At this time, the 95th to 97th print media S stay in the second printing device 40, and the 98th to 100th print media S stay in the first printing device 20. It stays. The count number of the paper discharge counter of the second printing device 40 is "94", and the count number of the paper discharge counter of the first printing device 20 is "97".

Here, the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40 (the number of sheets that can stay) is set in advance in the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20. In the case of this embodiment, "3", which is the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40, is preset in the control unit 28 as described above. The number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing device 40 is the maximum number of print media S that can be stored in the second printing device 40 .

Then, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 adds the number of sheets that can be retained in the second printing device 40, “3 sheets,” to the current count of the paper discharge counter, and combines the added value with the above-mentioned threshold value “3 sheets.” 100'' (S10 in FIG. 4).

In S10 of FIG. 4, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 and the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 determine that if the added value has not reached the threshold “100” (S10 of FIG. 4, NO) The printing process is continued by reading the print data of each print medium from the page memory of the storage unit 29a and the storage unit 45, and outputting it to the first print processing unit 22 and the second print processing unit 42, respectively.

On the other hand, when the printing process of the print medium S has progressed to the state shown in FIG. 3A, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 determines that the added value has reached the threshold value "100" ( S10, YES). Then, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 temporarily stops feeding the print medium S from the paper feeding device 10 to the first printing device 20 when the added value reaches the threshold value “100” (see FIG. 4 S12).

Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the three print media S (95th to 97th) staying in the second printing device 40 are discharged from the second printing device 40, and The three print media S (98th to 100th) staying in the first printing device 20 are transported toward the second printing device 40 after the printing process (S14 in FIG. 4).

Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 controls the control unit 28 at any time, although paper feeding is temporarily stopped after the print medium S staying in the first printing device 20 is ejected. The state is such that paper feeding and printing processing can be resumed. Hereinafter, this state will be referred to as an operating status.

Then, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 controls the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 until all the printing media S are discharged from the second printing device 40. Maintain the operating status until the transport time elapses (S16, NO, S18 in FIG. 4),

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3C, when the printing process for the 100th print medium S is finished in the second printing device 40 and the paper is ejected from the second printing device 40, the first printing device 20 The count number of the paper discharge counter and the paper discharge counter of the second printing device 40 reaches the threshold value of 100 sheets.

Then, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 changes to the stop status (S20 in FIG. 4) when all the print media S in the second printing device 40 are discharged (S16, YES in FIG. 4). Immediately after that, the first cleaning section 33 is controlled to start the cleaning operation (S22 in FIG. 4). Further, at this time, as shown in FIG. 3C, the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 enters the stop status at this point because the count of the number of print media S reaches the above-mentioned threshold “100”. (S20 in FIG. 4), and immediately after that, the second cleaning section 47 is controlled to start the cleaning operation (S22 in FIG. 4).

That is, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 controls the output from the second printing device 40 from the time when the sum of the count number of the paper discharge counter and the number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing device 40 reaches the above-mentioned threshold value. Paper feeding is stopped until all print media S are ejected, and the time point when all print media S are ejected from the second printing device 40, that is, the count number of the paper ejection counter of the second printing device 40. Since the cleaning operation is started based on the point in time when the threshold value is reached, the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 can start the cleaning operation at the same time. That is, the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 can be made the same. This makes it possible to align the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 after the cleaning operation, which simplifies conveyance control of the print medium S and page management of print data, resulting in stable It can be in an operational state.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit 28 of the first printing apparatus 20 is in a state where paper feeding is possible at any time in the in-operation status after paper feeding is once stopped. Therefore, for example, even if a jam occurs in the second printing device 40 during a period when the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 is in the operating status, the number of paper feeds equal to the number of print media S removed by the jam processing is This can be done promptly.

5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining processing when a jam occurs in the second printing device 40 during the conveyance of the print medium S shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C. In FIG. 5A, after paper feeding to the first printing device 20 is temporarily stopped, if the 99th print medium S remaining in the second printing device 40 jams as shown in FIG. 5B, the second The second jam detection section 49 of the printing device 40 detects the jam.

The control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 temporarily stops the entire operation of the second printing device 40 when the second jam detection unit 49 detects a jam. Then, the control unit 44 displays, for example, the occurrence of a jam on a display panel (not shown) provided in the second printing device 40, and displays a message urging the user to clear the jam and a procedure for clearing the jam.

If the 99th print medium S jams as shown in FIG. 5B, the user can check the 99th print medium S and the upstream print medium Jam processing is performed to remove the print medium S) from inside the second printing device 40.

When the user clears the jam, the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 detects that the jam has been cleared, and the control unit 44 restarts the operation of the second printing device 40, as shown in FIG. 5C. , discharges the 98th sheet of print medium S remaining in the second printing device 40. Further, the control unit 44 outputs the number of print media S removed by the current jam processing to the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20.

When the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 receives the number of print media S from the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40, it immediately outputs a control signal to the paper feeding device 10 and The number of print media S is supplied. That is, the control unit 28 causes the 99th and 100th print medium S to be supplied, as shown in FIG. 5D.

The printing medium S re-fed from the paper feeding device 10 is subjected to printing processing in the first printing device 20, and then supplied to the second printing device 40 as shown in FIG. 6A, and then printed as shown in FIG. 6B. After being subjected to printing processing in the second printing device 40, the paper is discharged.

Note that when paper is re-fed from the paper feeding device 10 to the first printing device 20, the count of the number of print media S by the first medium detection unit 34 is not increased. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, the count number of the first printing device 20 and the count number of the second printing device 40 can be made equal at the time when all the print media S are discharged from the second printing device 40. Can be done.

Further, in FIG. 3 of the above embodiment, in a state where three print media S that can stay in the first printing device 20 exist, the count number of the number of print media S in the first printing device 20 and the Although an example has been described in which the sum of the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40 (three sheets) reaches the threshold value "100", at the time when the threshold value "100" is reached, the first printing device The number of print media S present in the print media 20 is not necessarily limited to three, but may be zero, one, or two.

For example, if the number of print media set for the print job is 97, the number of print media S remaining in the first printer 20 is zero, and a new print media S is added to the first printer 20. Paper feeding is stopped, and the first printing device 20 enters the operating status described above. Then, the first printing device 20 remains in the operating status until the transport time for the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40 (three) has elapsed. Then, at the time when all the print media S have been ejected from the second printing device 40, both the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 enter the stopped status.

Therefore, also in this case, the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 can be matched. In this case, since the number of print media S has not reached the threshold value "100", the cleaning operation is performed by the first printing device under the same control as in the above embodiment during the print processing of the next print job. 20 and the second printing device 40 simultaneously.

Further, for example, if the number of print sheets set for the print job is 98, a new print medium is sent to the first printing device 20 while only one print medium S remains in the first printing device 20. The feeding of the paper S is stopped, and the first printing device 20 enters the above-mentioned operating status. Then, from the time when one print medium S is discharged from the first printing device 20 to the time when the transport time for the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40 (3 sheets) has elapsed, the first The printing device 20 becomes in operation status. Then, at the time when all the print media S have been ejected from the second printing device 40, both the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 enter the stopped status.

Therefore, also in this case, the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 can be matched. In this case as well, since the number of print media S has not reached the threshold value "100", the cleaning operation is performed during the print processing of the next print job using the same control as in the above embodiment. It is started on the device 20 and the second printing device 40 at the same time.

Further, for example, if the number of print sheets set for the print job is 99, the number of print media S remaining in the first printing device 20 is two, and a new print medium is sent to the first printing device 20. The feeding of the paper S is stopped, and the first printing device 20 enters the above-mentioned operating status. Then, from the time when two print media S are discharged from the first printing device 20 to the time when the transport time for the number of print media S that can stay in the second printing device 40 (3) has elapsed, the first The printing device 20 becomes in operation status. Then, at the time when all the print media S have been ejected from the second printing device 40, both the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 enter the stopped status.

Therefore, also in this case, the operating states of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 can be matched. In this case as well, since the number of print media S has not reached the threshold value "100", the cleaning operation is performed during the print processing of the next print job using the same control as in the above embodiment. It is started on the device 20 and the second printing device 40 at the same time.

Note that in the above description, the cleaning operation is performed during the printing process of the next print job, but the cleaning operation is not limited to this. If the count number N of the number of discharged sheets of 40 is close to the threshold value 100, for example, when 100 - number of sheets that can be stored < N < 100, and it is predicted that the cleaning operation will be performed during the processing of the next print job, , the cleaning operation of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 may be started at the same time when the processing of the print job is completed. Thereby, it is possible to avoid making the user who processes the next print job wait for the cleaning operation time.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing device 40 is set to 3, but the number of sheets that can be stored depends on the model of the second printing device 40 and the size of the print medium S. It's going to change.

Therefore, for example, the control unit 28 of the first printing device 20 acquires the model of the second printing device 40 and the size information of the print medium S, and automatically changes the number of sheets that can be stored based on that information. Good too. Specifically, for example, the control unit 28 has a table that associates the model of the second printing device 40 or the size information of the print medium S with the number of sheets that can be stored in the second printing device 40, and uses the table to The number of sheets that can be stored may be changed automatically.

Regarding the model information of the second printing device 40, for example, the control unit 28 may acquire the model information inputted by the user, or the model information may be stored in the storage unit 45 of the second printing device 40. may be stored in advance, and the control unit 44 of the second printing device 40 may read this and output it to the control unit 28. Further, regarding the size information of the print medium S, for example, the control unit 28 may acquire size information set and input by the user, or may be acquired from the printing conditions of the print job.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, a control method was described when cleaning an inkjet head in the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 of the printing system 1. In the second printing device 40, not only the cleaning operation of the inkjet head but also maintenance operations such as cleaning the rollers that convey the print medium and replacing parts that are consumables are performed periodically based on the count of the number of discharged sheets. At this time, as in the inkjet head cleaning operation described above, it is necessary to temporarily stop the operations of the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40.

Therefore, the same control method as the cleaning operation control method of the above-described embodiment can be performed also for such a maintenance operation control method, and thereby the same effects as the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Note that in this specification, the maintenance operation includes the above-mentioned inkjet head cleaning operation. Further, regarding the above-described maintenance operations such as cleaning the rollers and replacing parts, the printing process in the first printing device 20 and the second printing device 40 is automatically restarted after the maintenance operations are completed.

Regarding the printing system of the present invention, the following additional notes are further disclosed.
(Additional note)

In the printing system of the present invention, the first printing section may include a first cleaning section that performs a cleaning operation of the first printing processing section as a maintenance operation, and the second printing section may perform a cleaning operation of the first printing processing section as a maintenance operation. It is possible to have a second cleaning section that performs a cleaning operation of the section.

In the printing system of the present invention, the control unit controls the first printing unit from the time when the supply of printing media to the first printing unit is temporarily stopped until all the printing media are discharged from the second printing unit. The operating state in which the print medium can be conveyed can be continued.

In the printing system of the present invention, the second printing section can include a jam detection section that detects a jam of the print medium in the second printing section, and the control section temporarily stops the supply of the print medium to the first print processing section. If a jam is detected by the jam detection section after the stop, the jam is cleared and the print media are transported from the first printing section to the second printing section by the number of sheets of print media that have been removed. be able to.

1 Printing system 10 Paper feeding device 11 Paper feeding table 21, 31, 41, 51 Conveyance roller pair 23, 43 Adsorption conveyance section 28, 44, 64 Control section 29a, 45, 65 Storage section 29b, 46, 66 Interface section 60 Ejection Paper device 61 Paper ejection tray 62 Top surface detection sensor 63 Paper ejection tray elevation drive section 100 Printing control device R1, R4-1, R5, R6-1 Straight conveyance path R4-2, R6-2 Reverse conveyance path R7 Ejection path S Print medium

Claims (4)

a first print processing section that performs printing processing on a print medium based on first print data; a first printing unit that performs a maintenance operation by temporarily stopping the supply of the print medium to the processing unit;
a second printing processing section that is disposed downstream of the first printing section in the transport direction of the printing medium and performs printing processing on the printing medium based on second printing data; Perform maintenance by temporarily stopping the supply of the print medium to the second print processing section based on the number of sheets of the print medium that can be retained and ejected from the second print processing section. a second printing section that performs the operation;
a control unit that controls the first printing unit and the second printing unit,
The control unit counts the number of sheets discharged from the first print processing unit, adds the number of sheets that can be retained in the second printing unit to the counted number, and the added value reaches a preset threshold value. At that point, the supply of the print medium to the first print processing unit is temporarily stopped, and the number of sheets discharged from the second print processing unit is continuously counted, and the time when the counted number reaches the threshold value is determined. A printing system that starts maintenance operations for the first printing section and maintenance operations for the second printing section at the same time as a reference. The first printing unit includes a first cleaning unit that performs a cleaning operation of the first print processing unit as the maintenance operation,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the second printing section includes a second cleaning section that performs a cleaning operation of the second print processing section as the maintenance operation. a first print processing section that performs printing processing on a print medium based on first print data; a first printing unit that performs a maintenance operation by temporarily stopping the supply of the print medium to the processing unit;
a second printing processing section that is disposed downstream of the first printing section in the transport direction of the printing medium and performs printing processing on the printing medium based on second printing data; Perform maintenance by temporarily stopping the supply of the print medium to the second print processing section based on the number of sheets of the print medium that can be retained and ejected from the second print processing section. a second printing section that performs the operation;
a control unit that controls the first printing unit and the second printing unit,
The control unit counts the number of sheets discharged from the first print processing unit, adds the number of sheets that can be retained in the second printing unit to the counted number, and the added value reaches a preset threshold value. At that point, the supply of the print medium to the first print processing unit is temporarily stopped, and the number of sheets discharged from the second print processing unit is counted, and the time when the counted number reaches the threshold value is set as a reference, The maintenance operation of the first printing section and the maintenance operation of the second printing section are started simultaneously, and from the time when the supply of the printing medium to the first printing processing section is temporarily stopped, all the maintenance operations from the second printing section are started. A printing system that continues an operating state in which the print medium can be conveyed in the first printing unit until the print medium is discharged. The second printing unit includes a jam detection unit that detects a jam of the print medium in the second printing unit,
If a jam is detected by the jam detection unit after the control unit temporarily stops supplying the print medium to the first print processing unit, after the jam is cleared, the print medium that has been removed is 4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the printing medium is conveyed from the first printing section to the second printing section by the number of sheets.