Print Control Unit Discarding Image Data During Double-Sided Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional printing apparatuses face challenges in performing high-speed double-sided printing triggered by the detection of the edge position of a fed print medium, requiring both software and hardware control to manage increasing print data volumes efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus and method that includes a storage unit for image data, a detection unit for medium presence, a print unit for image printing, a hold unit for double-sided printing, and a control unit to manage image data and conveyance during medium runout, enabling high-speed print control by discarding data for runout media and printing on the second surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If software control is used to manage double-sided printing and medium runout, then printing quality and control precision are improved, but processing speed decreases due to increased data volume
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into hardware components (detection unit, hold unit, conveyance unit) that handle real-time medium detection and physical operations, while the storage unit handles data management. This segmentation allows software to focus on precision control tasks while hardware handles time-critical operations, resolving the speed-precision tradeoff.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a storage unit as an intermediary between the detection unit and print unit. This intermediary buffers image data and coordinates with the detection unit to determine whether to discard or process data based on medium presence, enabling efficient data management without compromising processing speed.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If image data is retained in storage during medium runout, then printing continuity is maintained, but memory resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The storage unit receives feedback from the detection unit regarding medium presence and dynamically adjusts data retention decisions. When runout is detected, the storage unit discards image data for affected media while preserving data for media that are still present, optimizing both printing continuity and memory resource utilization through feedback-driven adaptive control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements selective discarding of image data in the storage unit when medium runout is detected. By discarding data only for runout media while preserving data for media that are still available, the system recovers memory resources efficiently without compromising printing continuity for valid media.
3Productivity
If double-sided printing is performed with edge position detection triggering, then printing efficiency is improved, but control complexity increases due to high-speed processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex software-based control with a hardware-based control system that uses dedicated detection units, hold units, and conveyance units. This mechanical/electrical substitution simplifies the control architecture by distributing functions across specialized hardware components, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high-speed printing efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus includes a hold unit holds a print medium, with an image being printed on a first surface, to print on a second surface, as a back surface of the first surface, in double-sided printing. If a detection unit detects that a print medium fed from a feeding unit runs out, while the hold unit holds the print medium, with the image being printed on the first surface by a print unit, during execution of double-sided printing, a control unit controls data reading so as to read and to discard image data, corresponding to an image to be printed on the runout print medium, from a storage unit, to cause a conveyance unit to convey the held print medium from the hold unit to the print unit, and to cause the print unit to print an image on the second surface of the held print medium.