Patent Publication Number: US-11376871-B2

Title: Printing apparatus, notification control method and storage medium

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a printing apparatus, a notification control method and a storage medium. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Small-sized printing apparatuses include those without a discharge tray for placing a recording medium (printed material) after printing is completed. In order to prevent discharged printed materials from being scattered around such a printing apparatus, there has been proposed a printing apparatus which does not discharge a printed material completely from the apparatus but hold it at a discharge slot (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-106041). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In a case where a printed material is not completely discharged but held, it will be difficult for a user to check a status of a printing process or the printed material. However, the printing apparatus proposed by the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-106041 does not have a mechanism to notify a user of the status of the printing process or the printed material. 
     In light of the foregoing, it is desired to realize a mechanism to notify a user of a status of a printing process or a printed material in a printing apparatus that does not completely discharge a printed material but holds it. 
     According to an aspect, there is provided a printing apparatus including: a printing unit; a discharge unit configured to discharge a printed material on which the printing unit has performed printing and configured not to completely discharge but to hold the printed material; a detection unit configured to detect removal of the printed material that has been held by the discharge unit; and a control unit configured to control notification by a notification unit to a user. In response to detection by the detection unit of the removal of the printed material, the control unit is configured to control the notification unit to notify a user that the printed material has been removed. 
     Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an outer appearance of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a notification control process according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note, the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention. Multiple features are described in the embodiments, but limitation is not made an invention that requires all such features, and multiple such features may be combined as appropriate. 
     Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or similar configurations, and redundant description thereof is omitted. 
     1. CONFIGURATION OF APPARATUS 
       FIG. 1A  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing apparatus  100  according to an embodiment.  FIG. 1B  is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an outer appearance of the printing apparatus  100  according to the embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 1A , the printing apparatus  100  includes a CPU  101 , a storage device  102 , a memory  103 , an operation unit  104 , a notification unit  105 , a communication unit  106 , a feeding unit  107 , a printing unit  108 , a discharge unit  109  and a detection unit  110 . An internal bus  120  is a signal line which interconnects these elements of the printing apparatus  100 . 
     The CPU (Central Processing Unit)  101  is a processor that controls general operations of the printing apparatus  100 . The CPU  101 , for example, controls each of the elements shown in  FIG. 1A  by executing a computer program, which is stored in the storage device  102  in advance and loaded onto the memory  103  for execution. The storage device  102  includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and stores various programs and data used by the CPU  101 . The memory  103  is used as a work memory by the CPU  101  and temporarily stores a program and data during operation of the printing apparatus  100 . 
     The operation unit  104  receives an instruction or an information input from a user for the printing apparatus  100 . For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 1B , the printing apparatus  100  has a power supply button  104   a . When the power supply button  104   a  is pressed, the operation unit  104  outputs, to the CPU  101 , an input signal indicating that the power supply button  104   a  has been pressed. The CPU  101  interprets this input signal as an instruction for power-on or power-off of the printing apparatus  100 , for example. 
     The notification unit  105  is a module that notifies a user of a status of the printing apparatus  100  (for example, a status of a printing process or a printed material) in accordance with control by the CPU  101 . In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the notification unit  105  is configured to notify a user of various statuses using light. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 1B , the notification unit  105  has a first LED (Light-Emitting Diode)  105   a  and a second LED  105   b  as light-emitting units. The first LED  105   a  is used for notifying a user of a status of a printing process or a printed material. The second LED  105   b  is used for notifying a user of a status of a battery (not shown) of the printing apparatus  100 . For example, the CPU  101  controls the notification unit  105  to emit light from the first LED  105   a  in accordance with any one of a plurality of predetermined notification patterns. The plurality of notification patterns are different from each other in at least one of blinking states (for example, light-on/blinking/light-off), blinking cycles (also referred to as blinking speed), blinking patterns and emission colors. A specific notification pattern is associated with a specific status of a printing process by the printing apparatus  100  or a specific status of a printed material discharged from the printing apparatus  100 . A change in the notification patterns may also be considered as a kind of notification. Status notification performed by the notification unit  105  under control of the CPU  101  will be further described later. It should be noted that the number and types of light-emitting units of the notification unit  105  are not limited to the above-described examples. 
     It should be noted that, though  FIG. 1B  illustrates an example where the printing apparatus  100  is small-sized, portable and battery-powered apparatus, the example is not a limitation to the present embodiment. For instance, the printing apparatus  100  may be powered by a commercial power supply (AC power supply). The printing apparatus  100  may not have the second LED  105   b.    
     Instead of (or in addition to) the above-described light emitting units, the status notification may be performed using a display unit (not shown) disposed inside or outside the printing apparatus  100 . For example, the CPU  101  may control the notification unit  105  to display any one of a plurality of predetermined notification patterns (for example, icons or text messages) on a screen of an information processing apparatus that is connected to the printing apparatus  100  by wire or wirelessly. Instead of (or in addition to) the visual notification such as light emission or display, audible notification such as audio output (for example, alarm or speech output) or tactile notification such as vibration may be performed. 
     The communication unit  106  is a communication interface that facilitates communication by the printing apparatus  100  with external apparatuses. The communication unit  106  may, for example, receive image data for printing from an external apparatus via a network and output the received image data to the printing unit  108  in accordance with control by the CPU  101 . 
     The feeding unit  107  is a module that feeds printing paper from a paper tray (not shown) that contain the printing paper to the printing unit  108  one by one. 
     The printing unit  108  prints an image represented by the image data for printing on a piece of paper fed by the feeding unit  107  in accordance with control by the CPU  101 . In this specification, the piece of paper on which the printing unit  108  has performed printing is referred to as a printed material (regardless of whether the printing has been completed or not). As an example, the printing unit  108  may be a dye-sublimation printer unit. According to the dye-sublimation printing scheme, a printing operation is iteratively performed for each of a plurality of color materials. Thus, a printed material may be exposed to outside of the printing apparatus  100  during the printing process. However, the printing unit  108  may be a printer unit which adopts another printing scheme. 
     The discharge unit  109  is a module that discharges the printed material on which an image has been printed by the printing unit  108  from a discharge slot  109   a  of the printing apparatus  100  in accordance with control by the CPU  101 . In the present embodiment, the discharge unit  109  has a discharge roller pair  109   b  (discharging member) as illustrated in  FIG. 1B . The discharge roller pair  109   b  may also be utilized as a conveyance member that conveys a piece of paper during printing by the printing unit  108 . The discharge unit  109  conveys the piece of paper by rotating the discharge roller pair  109   b  with the piece of paper nipped between the rollers. Upon completion of the printing by the printing unit  108 , the printed material is discharged from the discharge slot  109   a  to outside of the printing apparatus  100 . However, in order to prevent printed materials to be scattered, the discharge unit  109  does not completely discharge the printed material but holds the trailing edge of the printed material at the discharge roller pair  109   b  until it is removed by a user. A user can manually remove (for example, pull out) the printed material held at the discharge roller pair  109   b.    
     The detection unit  110  is a sensor that detects whether a printed material is removed from the discharging member. For example, the detection unit  110  detects whether a printed material is held at the above-described discharge roller pair  109   b  and outputs the detection result to the CPU  101 . In response to the detection by the detection unit  110  that a printed material has been removed, the CPU  101  may control the notification unit  105  to notify a user that the printed material has been removed. In a case where there is an uncompleted print job, the CPU  101  further causes the printing unit  108  to start a next printing operation in response to the detection by the detection unit  110  that a printed material has been removed. It should be noted that the uncompleted print job herein may include: the same print job having a page subsequent to a page for which printing has been completed; and another new print job. Note that a print job is a job that instructs image printing. Hence, when there is an uncompleted print job, it means that there remains an image that has not been printed (there is an image left to be printed). Similarly, when there is no uncompleted print job, it means that there no longer remains an image that has not been printed (there is no image left to be printed). 
     2. CONTROL OF STATUS NOTIFICATION 
     As described above, the printing apparatus  100  does not completely discharge but holds a printed material at the discharge slot. If a user does not remove the printed material, the printing apparatus  100  will not proceed with printing of a next page. Therefore, it will be beneficial if the printing apparatus  100  can timely notify a user of a status, such as whether the printed material has been appropriately removed. 
     In addition, in a case where the printed material remains held at the discharge slot even though printing has been completed, it will be difficult for a user to correctly recognize from when he or she can remove the printed material. In particular, an apparatus which exposes a printed material to the outside of the apparatus during printing operations may cause a risk for a user to misunderstand that the printing has been completed with the exposed printed material. In a case where the user accidentally tries to pull out the printed material before completion of the printing, the printing operation will be impeded and a trouble such as a printing failure, an operation error or a breakage may be caused. 
     Therefore, in the present embodiment, the CPU  101  of the printing apparatus  100  controls the notification unit  105  to notify a user of a status of a printing operation and a printed material in accordance with a notification pattern as described below. 
     &lt;2-1. Various Notification Patterns&gt; 
     (1) Notification Pattern P 1 : Notification of Printing Completed 
     The notification unit  105  performs notification to a user with a notification pattern P 1  after the printing unit  108  completed printing and until the detection unit  110  detects that the printed material is removed from the discharging member. The notification pattern P 1  is a pattern which indicates that the printed material is left at the discharging member. The notification pattern P 1  may indicate as well that the printing has been completed. As an example, the notification pattern P 1  may be a light emission pattern of the first LED  105   a  to blink in white more rapidly (in a shorter cycle) compared to the notification pattern P 2  described later. In response to detection by the detection unit  110  that the printed material has been removed, the notification unit  105  ends the notification with the notification pattern P 1 . The end of the notification pattern P 1  (for example, a change to a notification pattern P 4  described later) may be regarded as a notification to a user that the printed material has been removed. 
     (2) Notification Pattern P 2 : Notification of Executing Printing 
     The notification unit  105  performs notification to a user with the notification pattern P 2 , which is different from the notification pattern P 1 , during printing by the printing unit  108 . The notification pattern P 2  is a pattern which indicates that the printing is ongoing. As an example, the notification pattern P 2  may be a light emission pattern of the first LED  105   a  to blink at a normal rate (in a longer cycle than the notification pattern P 1 ) in white. In response to completion of the printing of each page, the notification unit  105  change the notification pattern P 2  to the notification pattern P 1  (or a notification pattern P 3  described later). The change from the notification pattern P 2  to such another notification pattern may be regarded as a notification to a user that the printed material has become removable. 
     (3) Notification Pattern P 3 : Alert for Removal 
     After the printing unit  108  completed printing and before the detection unit  110  detects that the printed material is removed from the discharging member, the notification unit  105  performs notification with the above-described notification pattern P 1  if there is no uncompleted print job (that is, there is no image left to be printed). Meanwhile, the notification unit  105  performs notification with the notification pattern P 3 , which is different from the notification pattern P 1 , if there exists an uncompleted print job (that is, there is an image left to be printed). For example, in a case where printing of a page other than the last page of a print job for a plurality of pages has been completed, the above-described notification pattern P 2  corresponding to notification of executing printing may be changed to the notification pattern P 3  without going through the notification pattern P 1 . In a case where the printing apparatus  100  receives a new print job while performing notification with the notification pattern P 1  (there remains a printed material that should be removed), the notification pattern P 1  may be changed to the notification pattern P 3 . The notification pattern P 3  is a pattern to alert a user that the next printing cannot be carried out because there remains the printed material that has not been removed. As an example, the notification pattern P 3  may be a light emission pattern of the first LED  105   a  to blink in red. In particular, difference in light emission color between the notification pattern P 3  and the other notification patterns can strongly prompt a user to remove the printed material, thereby the next printing can be started as early as possible. In other words, the notification pattern P 3  (alert for removal) is a pattern which indicates that the printing has been completed and that printing of a next image as instructed by a print job cannot be started (unable to print) because a printed material has not been removed and is held. 
     (4) Notification Pattern P 4 : Notification of Standby 
     The notification unit  105  may perform notification with a notification pattern P 4  when printing by the printing unit  108  is not going on and there remains no printed material to be removed. The notification pattern P 4  is a pattern which indicates that the discharge unit  109  holds no printed material and next printing can be done by the printing unit  108 . As an example, the notification pattern P 4  may be a light emission pattern of the first LED  105   a  to light on in white. In a case where the printing apparatus  100  receives a new print job while notification with the notification pattern P 4  is being performed, printing based on the print job will be immediately started by the printing unit  108 . In order to enhance the effect of the above-described notification pattern P 3  as an alert, it is beneficial to set light emission colors of the notification patterns P 1 , P 2  and P 4  to be the same as each other (for example, white) and a light emission color of the notification pattern P 3  to be a different color (for example, red). For example, a difference in at least one of blinking states, blinking cycles and blinking patterns of the first LED  105   a  may be employed to distinguish between the notification patterns P 1 , P 2  and P 4 . 
     (5) Notification Pattern P 5 : Notification of Printing Completed (Upon Power-on) 
     After the printing apparatus  100  is powered on, the notification unit  105  may perform notification with a notification pattern P 5  in a case where the detection unit  110  detects that a printed material has not been removed from the discharge member. The notification pattern P 5  indicates that a printed material is left at the discharging member as in the case of the notification pattern P 1 . The notification pattern P 5  may be the same pattern as the notification pattern P 1  or may be a different pattern than the notification pattern P 1 . 
     It should be noted that the above-described notification patterns are mere examples. Some of the above-described notification patterns may be omitted, two or more of the notification patterns may be merged and another notification pattern may be additionally introduced. 
     &lt;2-2. Example of Process Flow&gt; 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a notification control process that may be performed by the printing apparatus  100  according to the present embodiment. This notification control process may be initiated in response to the printing apparatus  100  being powered on by a user and repeated until it is powered off. Note that ‘S (Step)’ in the following descriptions is an abbreviation of ‘process step’. 
     First, at S 201 , the detection unit  110  detects whether or not there remains a printed material that has not been removed from the discharge member. In a case where it is detected that there remains such a printed material, the process proceeds to S 207 . In a case where there remains no printed material, the process proceeds to S 202 . 
     At S 202 , the CPU  101  controls the notification unit  105  to perform notification of standby with the above-described notification pattern P 4 . For example, the first LED  105   a  lights on in white to indicate that the printing apparatus  100  is ready to start printing operation immediately. 
     While the notification unit  105  is performing the notification of standby, at S 203 , the CPU  101  waits for a printing instruction. A printing instruction may be received from an external apparatus via the communication unit  106 . Upon detection of the printing instruction, the process proceeds to S 204 . If no printing instruction is detected, the notification of standby at S 202  is continued. 
     At S 204 , the CPU  101  controls the notification unit  105  to perform notification of executing printing with the above-described notification pattern P 2 . For example, the first LED  105   a  blinks in white at a normal rate to indicate that the printing unit  108  is executing printing (thus, a user must not pull out the printed material). 
     S 205  may be performed substantially in parallel to S 204 . While the notification unit  105  is performing the notification of executing printing, at S 205 , the CPU  101  causes the printing unit  108  to execute printing operation(s). The notification of executing printing and the printing operation(s) continue until the printing is determined to be completed at S 206 . For example, in a case where the printing apparatus  100  is a dye-sublimation printer, image transfers to a piece of paper with a plurality of color materials (for example, four colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and overcoat) are sequentially performed per color material basis. The piece of paper reciprocates for the number of color materials in the printing apparatus  100  and a portion of the piece of paper may be partially exposed to outside from the discharge slot  109   a  between its motions. Upon completion of transfer with the last color material, the CPU  101  determines that the printing has been completed and the process proceeds to S 201 . At this point, the discharge unit  109  does not completely discharge the printed material but hold the trailing edge of the printed material at the discharging member. Immediately after the completion of printing, the printed material has not been removed yet and the process proceeds via S 201  to S 207 . 
     At S 207 , the CPU  101  determines whether there exists an uncompleted print job or not. In a case where there exists no uncompleted print job, the process proceeds to S 208 . Meanwhile, in a case where there is an uncompleted print job, the process proceeds to S 209 . 
     At S 208 , the CPU  101  controls the notification unit  105  to perform notification of printing completed with the above-described notification pattern P 1  because there exists no uncompleted print job but there remains a printed material to be removed. For example, the first LED  105   a  blinks rapidly in white to indicate that there is a printed material left at the discharging member. A user can recognize that the printed material has become removable based on the change from the notification pattern P 2  (notification of executing printing) to the notification pattern P 1  (notification of printing completed). In a case where the detection unit  110  detects removal of the printed material while the notification of printing completed with the notification pattern P 1  is being performed at S 208 , the process proceeds to the branch of ‘NO’ at S 201  and the notification of standby is performed at S 202 . 
     At S 209 , the CPU  101  controls the notification unit  105  to perform alert for removal with the above-described notification pattern P 3  because there exists an uncompleted print job and there remains a printed material to be removed. For example, the first LED  105   a  blinks in red to indicate that the next printing cannot be carried out because there remains the printed material that has not been removed. A user can recognize that the printed material has become removable and that it is desirable to remove the printed material as soon as possible based on the change from the notification pattern P 2  (notification of executing printing) to the notification pattern P 3  (alert for removal). In a case where the detection unit  110  detects removal of the printed material while the alert for removal with the notification pattern P 3  is being performed at S 209 , the process proceeds through S 202  to the branch of ‘YES’ at S 203  and the notification of executing printing is performed at S 204 . In parallel to the notification of executing printing, printing operation(s) are also performed at S 205 . In this case, the notification of standby at S 202  may be skipped. 
     The notification of printing completed at S 208  and the alert for removal at S 209  will end if the detection unit  110  detects that the printed material has been removed from the discharging member at S 201  and the notification pattern may change to the notification of standby at S 202  (or the notification of executing printing at S 204 ). A user can recognize for sure from this change that the removal of the printed material has been detected by the printing apparatus  100 . 
     3. CONCLUSION 
     As above, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail using  FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2 . According to the foregoing embodiments, in a printing apparatus which is configured not to completely discharge but to hold a printed material on which printing has been performed, notification to a user is performed in response to detection that the printed material has been removed. Such a configuration allows the user to timely recognize a status of removal of the printed material. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, during a period from completion of the printing to detection of the removal of the printed material, notification to a user may be performed with a first notification pattern that the printed material is left at the discharging unit. According to such a configuration, the user can correctly recognize the timing to remove the printed material from the printing apparatus  100  by being aware of the first notification pattern. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, while printing is ongoing, notification to a user may be performed with a second notification pattern that is different from the first notification pattern, and the second notification pattern may be changed to the first notification pattern in response to completion of the printing. According to such a configuration, a situation that a trouble is caused by the user accidentally trying to pull out the printed material before completion of printing will be suppressed by the notification with the second notification pattern. In addition, the user can quickly recognize by being aware of the change from the second notification pattern to the first notification pattern that the printed material has become removable in response to completion of the printing. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, after completion of the printing and before detection of the removal of the printed material, notification not with the first notification pattern but with a third notification pattern may be performed in a case where there is an uncompleted print job. According to such a configuration, a user can recognize presence of a subsequent page or a subsequent job from the difference between the first and third notification patterns, and it is possible to remove the printed material at an early timing especially when there exists the subsequent page or the subsequent job. Therefore, a probability of delay in printing operations as a whole by the printing apparatus  100  will be reduced. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, after the printing apparatus is powered on, notification to a user may be performed with a fourth notification pattern that may be the same as or different from the first notification pattern in a case where it is detected that a printed material has not been removed from the discharging unit. According to such a configuration, it is possible to promptly dissolve, by the notification to a user, a situation that a printing operation cannot be started due to the remaining printed material though the printing apparatus is powered on. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, an light-emitting unit may emit light in accordance with any one of a plurality of predetermined notification patterns where the plurality of notification patterns may be different from each other in at least one of blinking states, blinking cycles, blinking patterns and emission colors of the light-emitting unit. According to such a configuration, a user can recognize the status of the printing process (or the printed material) easily in a visual way without touching a printed material which might be possibly before completion of printing. 
     4. OTHER EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions. 
     This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-162360, filed on Sep. 5, 2019 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.