Multi-page circulation type double-sided printing method

Abstract

A multi-page circulating type double-sided printing method comprises the following steps: after printing the front surface of a first file on a printing unit, feeding the first file out of a first channel and feeding the first file back to a reversal channel; after the printing unit prints the front face of the second file, the second file is fed out from the second channel and fed back to the reversal channel; after the printing unit prints the front face of the third file, the third file is fed out from the first channel and fed back to the reversal channel; after the printing unit prints the back face of the first file, the first file is fed out from the second channel to the paper outlet box; after the printing unit prints the back face of the second file, the second file is fed out from the second channel to the paper outlet box; and after the printing unit prints the back face of the third file, the third file is fed out from the second channel to the paper outlet box, so that the printing speed is increased.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a multi-page circulation duplex printing method, in particular, to a multi-page circulation duplex printing method with optimized arrangement of the feeding path of a duplex printing device. BACKGROUND

[0002] Nowadays, when a laser printer performs duplex printing, the document needs to be flipped at least twice to maintain the order of the printed document. For example, after printing the first side of the document, the document needs to be temporarily fed out, then enters the flipping channel, and after the first flip, the second side of the document is printed, and then the document can be fed out to the paper tray. The printing speed of a printer can be expressed in terms of pages per minute (PPM) or images per minute (IPM). A duplex printer can also perform simplex printing. Generally speaking, a duplex printer with a simplex printing speed of up to 30 PPM, when performing simplex printing, the theoretical printing speed is also up to 30 IPM, but when performing duplex printing, since the paper needs to be flipped in the path, the actual speed usually cannot reach 15 IPM, for example, only 12 IPM or even lower.

[0003] US20220314643A1 discloses a transaction machine with a pivoting flipping guide mechanism, but does not further disclose how to improve the duplex printing speed of a duplex printing device. Therefore, how to improve the duplex printing speed of a duplex printing device is a problem to be solved by the present invention. SUMMARY

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-page circulation duplex printing method with optimized arrangement of the feeding path of a duplex printing device to improve the duplex printing speed.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a multi-page circulation duplex printing method for use in a duplex printing device, the multi-page circulation duplex printing method comprising at least the following steps: after a printing unit prints a front side of a first document, feeding the first document out from a first channel and back to a flipping channel; after the printing unit prints a front side of a second document, feeding the second document out from a second channel and back to the flipping channel; after the printing unit prints a front side of a third document, feeding the third document out from the first channel and back to the flipping channel; after the printing unit prints a back side of the first document, feeding the first document out from the second channel to a paper tray; after the printing unit prints a back side of the second document, feeding the second document out from the second channel to the paper tray; and after the printing unit prints a back side of the third document, feeding the third document out from the second channel to the paper tray.

[0006] Through the above-mentioned embodiments, the timing of printing, feeding out and feeding back can be controlled by the length of the cooperating channel, so as to shorten the waiting time and improve the double-sided printing speed.

[0007] To make the above content of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the following preferred embodiments are specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 A block diagram of a double-sided printing device according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0009] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a double-sided printing device. Figure 1

[0010] Figure 3 A timing diagram of a multi-page cycle double-sided printing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present application.

[0011] Figure 4 A flowchart of a multi-page cycle double-sided printing method. Figure 3

[0012] A flowchart of a variation of a multi-page cycle double-sided printing method. Figure 5 Figure 4 A flowchart of another variation of a multi-page cycle double-sided printing method.

[0013] Figure 6 Figure 4 A flowchart of another variation of a multi-page cycle double-sided printing method.

[0014] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0015] P1: first file;

[0016] P1A: front side;

[0017] P1B: back side;

[0018] P2: second file;

[0019] P2A: front side;

[0020] P2B: back side;

[0021] P3: third file;

[0022] P3A: front side;

[0023] P3B: back side;

[0024] P4: fourth file;

[0025] P5: fifth file;

[0026] S01-S21: steps;​​​

[0027] 10: printing unit;

[0028] 11, 12, 13, 14: image developing module;

[0029] 15: fixing module;

[0030] 20: first passage;

[0031] 30: reversing passage;

[0032] 31: portion;

[0033] 40: second passage;

[0034] 50: paper output tray;

[0035] 60: paper input tray;

[0036] 71, 72, 73: intersection point;

[0037] 74: feed roller;

[0038] 75: intermediate roller;

[0039] 80: manual paper input passage;

[0040] 100: duplex printing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The present application is mainly to print a group of multi-page documents by using the configuration of the path of a duplex printer, preferably to separate the multi-page documents by proper intervals in the paper feed passage of the duplex printer to avoid the documents from colliding with each other in the paper feed passage, so as to improve the printing speed. Although the following is described by taking a laser printer as an example, the present application is not limited thereto.

[0042] Figure 1 A block diagram of a duplex printing device 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the duplex printing device 100. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the duplex printing device 100. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the duplex printing device 100. Figure 2As shown, the duplex printing apparatus 100 includes a printing unit 10 (which has corresponding printing channels), a first channel 20, a reversing channel 30, a second channel 40, an output tray 50, and an input tray 60. The input tray 60 stores documents (e.g., P1 to P5). The printing unit 10 executes the printing program on the documents. In this embodiment, it includes C, M, Y, K imaging and developing modules 11, 12, 13, and 14, and a fixing module 15. The details are easily understood by those skilled in the art and therefore will not be elaborated further. The printing unit 10 is connected to the first channel 20, the second channel 40, and the reversing channel 30 via an intersection point 71. The printing unit 10 is connected to the reversing channel 30 and the input tray 60 via intersection points 73 and 72. A manual paper feed channel 80 is connected to the printing unit 10 via an intersection point 73, allowing the user to manually feed paper to the feed roller 74 for printing. In this embodiment, the first channel 20 is located above the second channel 40, so the first channel 20 can also be referred to as the upper channel, and the second channel 40 as the lower channel. The intersection point 71 may be provided with an active and / or passive switching mechanism. For details of one non-limiting embodiment, please refer to US20220314643A1, which will not be repeated here.

[0043] Figure 3 This is a timing diagram of a multi-page cyclic duplex printing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein there are clockwise and counterclockwise symbols to represent the direction of rotation of the middle roller 75, a hollow arrow to the right to represent the middle roller 75 feeding the document out (paper output), and a hollow arrow to the left to represent the middle roller 75 feeding the document back (paper retraction). Figure 4 for Figure 3 A flowchart of a multi-page, cyclic, duplex printing method. (See attached flowchart.) Figures 1 to 4 As shown, the multi-page cyclic duplex printing method for the duplex printing apparatus 100 includes at least the following steps S01 to S13.

[0044] First, in step S01, the processor (not shown in the figure) of the duplex printing device 100 detects the printing information represented by the printing signal after receiving it. For simplicity, the printing information in this example represents printing three pages of duplex printing. The processor groups the first file P1 to the third file P3 into a group and performs a three-page cyclic duplex printing operation, that is, to print six pages of images. In another embodiment, the printing information represents printing fewer than three pages of duplex printing, and the printing method of the present invention is not executed. In another embodiment, the printing information represents printing more than three pages of duplex printing, and in addition to executing the printing method of the present invention, other printing methods are additionally executed. Therefore, the processor prints the files corresponding to the total number of printable files of the printing signal in groups of three, for example, the first to third files are in the first group, the fourth to sixth files are in the second group, and so on.

[0045] At step S02, the printing unit 10 prints the front side PIA of the first document PI. Then, at step S03, the first document PI is fed out from the first path 20 and fed back to the reversing path 30. It is understood that the action of feeding out and feeding back means that the document does not leave the intermediate roller 75, that is, the document is sandwiched between the intermediate roller 75 and the adjacent roller.

[0046] At step S04, the printing unit 10 prints the front side P2A of the second document P2. Then, at step S05, the second document P2 is fed out from the second path 40 and fed back to the reversing path 30.

[0047] At step S06, the printing unit 10 prints the front side P3A of the third document P3. Then, at step S07, the third document P3 is fed out from the first path 20 and fed back to the reversing path 30.

[0048] At step S08, the printing unit 10 prints the back side PIB of the first document PI. Then, at step S09, the first document PI is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper outlet 50.

[0049] At step S10, the printing unit 10 prints the back side P2B of the second document P2. Then, at step SIl, the second document P2 is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper outlet 50.

[0050] At step S12, the printing unit 10 prints the back side P3B of the third document P3. Then, at step S13, the third document P3 is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper outlet 50. At this point, the duplex printing of the three-page document has been completed, and thus the printing is finished.

[0051] In the present embodiment, the timing of feeding back the first document PI to the reversing path 30 and feeding out the second document P2 to the second path 40 overlaps (interleaves). In addition, the timing of feeding back the third document P3 to the reversing path 30 and feeding out the first document PI to the paper outlet 50 overlaps (interleaves). The above-mentioned overlap can be a partial overlap or a full overlap. Thereby, the waiting time can be shortened, and the duplex printing speed can be increased. It is understood that it can also be designed without overlap to ensure that the documents do not collide.

[0052] In addition, to ensure that the documents do not collide in the passages, the second document P2 can be fed back to the reversing passage 30 with a first interval from the timing at which the third document P3 is fed out from the first passage 20 (temporarily to above the paper tray 50), the first document P1 is fed out to the paper tray 50 with a second interval from the timing at which the second document P2 is fed out to the paper tray 50, and the second document P2 is fed out to the paper tray 50 with a third interval from the timing at which the third document P3 is fed out to the paper tray 50. Depending on the length of the passages and the information of the intersection points, the first to third intervals can be designed to be equal or unequal, which is not particularly limited herein.

[0053] To optimally use the total length of the passages, the first document P1, the second document P2, and the third document P3 can be designed to partially or wholly exist in the passages outside the paper tray 60 of the double-sided printing device 100 at the same time in a period, so that the printing speed can be increased. In an embodiment, the total length of the passages excluding the manual paper feeding passage 80 is between 1000 and 1200 mm, the length of each A4 size document is 297 mm, and the gap between adjacent documents is 50 mm, so that the occupied passage length is 297 x 3 + 50 x 2 = 991 mm, which proves that such a design is feasible, and the effect of increasing the optimized printing speed can be achieved by adjusting the feeding and processing timing. Since the color double-sided printing device requires a longer printing passage, the multi-page loop double-sided printing method can be performed to improve the printing speed by using this feature. In addition, a part 31 of the reversing passage 30 can be located above the paper tray 60, but when there is a need to increase the length of the passage, the part 31 can be located below the paper tray 60 as shown in FIG. 1. When the paper tray 60 is pulled out, the reversing passage 30 is disconnected, so when a paper jam occurs near the part 31, it is also beneficial for the user to pull out the paper tray 60 to perform the action of removing the paper jam. Of course, the application of the multi-page loop double-sided printing method is not limited to the color double-sided printing device, but can also be used as long as the length of the passage is appropriate. For example, a monochrome double-sided printing device and a color double-sided printing device can share a housing, so they have the same passage length that can be used. Figure 2

[0054] Figure 5 For the multi-page loop double-sided printing method, a flowchart of a variation embodiment is shown in FIG. 14. After the first to third documents are grouped in step S01, the fourth document is left, and the following steps S14, S15, S18, and S19 can be performed after the third document P3 is fed out to the paper tray 50. Figure 4 In step S14, the printing unit 10 prints the front side of the fourth document P4. Then, in step S15, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the first passage 20 and fed back to the reversing passage 30.

[0055]

[0056] ​​At step S18, the print unit 10 prints the back side of the fourth document P4. Then, at step S19, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper tray 50. Then, the printing is ended.

[0057] The fourth document of the above embodiment is printed in the manner of being fed out by the upper path, fed back by the upper path, and fed out by the lower path. In another embodiment, the fourth document can also be printed in the manner of being fed out by the lower path, fed back by the lower path, and fed out by the lower path. Since the document is fed out, fed back, and fed out by the lower path, the feeding manner is different from that of the first document. Therefore, if the user is in a hurry to take the documents, he or she can easily recognize that the printing of the documents is close to being ended and can wait for a while. In other words, through such an arrangement, when the user sees that the document is temporarily fed out and then fed back by the lower path (instead of the upper path) and no other document is fed back when the document is fed out (no two documents overlap in the upper and lower paths), he or she knows that this is the last document to be printed. Therefore, the user can take the whole stack of printed documents after waiting for the fourth document to be printed on the second side (back side) again. That is, according to the control method of another variant embodiment, after the print unit 10 prints the front side, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the second path 40 and fed back to the reversing path 30. After the print unit 10 prints the back side, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper tray 50.

[0058] Figure 6 For Figure 4 the flowchart of another variant embodiment of the multi-page looped double-sided printing method. After the first to third documents are grouped in step S01, the fourth and fifth documents are left. After the third document P3 is fed out to the paper tray 50, the following steps S14 to S21 are further performed.

[0059] At step S14, the print unit 10 prints the front side of the fourth document P4. Then, at step S15, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the first path 20 and fed back to the reversing path 30.

[0060] At step S16, the print unit 10 prints the front side of the fifth document P5. Then, at step S17, the fifth document P5 is fed out from the second path 40 and fed back to the reversing path 30.

[0061] At step S18, the print unit 10 prints the back side of the fourth document P4. Then, at step S19, the fourth document P4 is fed out from the second path 40 to the paper tray 50.

[0062] In step S20, the back of the fifth file P5 is printed by the printing unit 10. Then, in step S21, the fifth file P5 is fed out from the second channel 40 to the paper tray 50. Then, the printing is ended. Therefore, it can be concluded that, in addition to the first file P1 to the third file P3, only when the third file P3 is fed out from the second channel 40 to the paper tray 50, other files can be printed.

[0063] By the multi-page cycle double-sided printing method of the above embodiment, the originally designed optimized channel length can be used to arrange multiple pages of files to enter the double-sided printing device for printing, and by controlling the timing of feeding out and feeding back, the double-sided printing speed can be improved. For example, a double-sided printer with a single-sided printing speed of 30 PPM, when performing single-sided printing, the theoretical printing speed is also up to 30 IPM. According to the three-page cycle double-sided printing method of the above embodiment, when performing double-sided printing, the actual speed can reach 24 IPM, which is much greater than the 15 IPM of the prior art.

[0064] The specific embodiments proposed in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments are only used to facilitate the description of the technical content of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application to the above embodiments. Any changes made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application are within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A multi-page cyclic duplex printing method, characterized in that, For use in a duplex printing apparatus, the multi-page cyclic duplex printing method includes at least the following steps in sequence: After the printing unit prints the front side of the first document, the first document is fed out from the first channel and fed back to the reverse channel; After the printing unit prints the front side of the second document, the second document is fed out from the second channel and fed back to the reverse channel; After the printing unit prints the front side of the third document, the third document is fed out from the first channel and fed back to the reverse channel; After the printing unit prints the back side of the first document, the first document is fed out from the second channel to the output tray; After the printing unit prints the back side of the second document, the second document is fed out from the second channel to the output tray; as well as After the printing unit prints the back side of the third document, the third document is fed out from the second channel to the output tray. Other documents, except for the first document, the second document, and the third document, are printed only after the third document is fed out from the second channel to the output tray.

2. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The timing of feeding back the first file to the inverted channel and feeding out the second file to the second channel overlaps.

3. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The timing of feeding back the third document to the reverse channel and feeding out the first document to the output tray overlaps.

4. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, There is a first interval between the timing of feeding the second document to the reverse channel and feeding the third document out of the first channel, a second interval between the timing of feeding the first document to the output tray and feeding the second document to the output tray, and a third interval between the timing of feeding the second document to the output tray and feeding the third document to the output tray.

5. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The first document, the second document, and the third document are simultaneously present in the passage outside the paper feed tray of the duplex printing device at one time period.

6. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: The files corresponding to the total number of printable files for each print signal are printed in groups of three.

7. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, After feeding the third document to the output tray, the process further includes the following steps: After the printing unit prints the front side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed out from the first channel and fed back to the reverse channel; as well as After the printing unit prints the back side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed from the second channel to the output tray; and End printing.

8. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: After the printing unit prints the front side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed out from the second channel and fed back to the reverse channel; and After the printing unit prints the back side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed from the second channel to the output tray; and End printing.

9. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, After feeding the third document to the output tray, the process further includes the following steps: After the printing unit prints the front side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed out from the first channel and fed back to the reverse channel; After the printing unit prints the front side of the fifth document, the fifth document is fed out from the second channel and fed back to the reverse channel; After the printing unit prints the back side of the fourth document, the fourth document is fed out from the second channel to the output tray; After the printing unit prints the back side of the fifth document, the fifth document is fed from the second channel to the output tray; and End printing.

10. The multi-page cyclic duplex printing method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The duplex printing device mentioned above is a color duplex printing device.

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