Patent Publication Number: US-6708611-B2

Title: Printing control system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a printing control system for a printer such as a stencil printer in which two or more printing papers can be simultaneously present on its printing path. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In a printer such as a stencil printer, the printing action of the printer including supply of printing papers from a paper supply table to a printing mechanism, transfer of ink through a stencil on a printing drum in the printing mechanism and discharging printed papers from the printing drum to a paper discharge table is controlled by a printing control system provided in the printer. The printing control system executes mainly the steps of starting the paper feed mechanism, checking whether paper supply has been successfully performed, pressing the printing paper against the printing drum, checking whether paper discharge has been successfully performed, updating the total count of the numbers of prints and the like and controls these steps in sequence according to the status of sensors and/or the angular position of the printing drum. 
     In a single-drum stencil printer (a stencil printer having a single printing drum), one printing paper is fed to the printing drum each time the printing drum makes one rotation. Since the printing drum makes two rotations from the time each printing paper is fed from the paper supply table to the time the printing paper is discharged to the paper discharge table, two papers are simultaneously present on the printing path of the single-drum stencil printer in the steady state of printing, that is, except when a first printing paper is fed and when a last printing paper is fed. The “printing path of the printer” is a path along which the printing papers are fed from the paper supply table to the paper discharge table. In the case of a single-drum stencil printer, the “printing path” is a path between the paper feed table and the paper discharge table including the paper feed mechanism, the pressing mechanism, the printing drum, the paper discharge mechanism and the like. 
     In printers having two or more printing drums, more printing papers are simultaneously present on the printing path. 
     The printing control system must detect the paper jam for all the printing papers present on the printing path. From the viewpoint of the flow of the printing steps, the step of starting the paper feed mechanism for feeding the following printing paper and the step of checking whether supply of the following printing paper has been successfully performed should be done before the step of checking whether the preceding printing paper has been successfully discharged. Only this requisition complicates the processing by the printing control system. Requisition involved by the fact that since only one printing paper is present on the printing path in the period when a first printing paper is fed from the paper feed table and the period when a last printing paper is discharged to the paper discharge table, control processing different from that for the steady state of printing must be incorporated in order to deal with the periods and the fact that special situations, e.g., a situation where void feed (no printing paper is fed) is made, a situation where printing is to be made on longer printing papers, and the like, must be dealt with, further complicates the processing by the printing control system in order to realize proper paper jam detection. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing observations and description, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a printing control system which can make the printing control easily and precisely in a printer where two or more printing papers can be simultaneously present on its printing path. 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a printing control system for a printer comprising the same number of one-page control means as the number of printing papers which can be simultaneously present on the printing path of the printer at the maximum and a main control means which starts one of the one-page control means which are free each time a printing paper is supplied, wherein each of said one-page control means controls printing action on the corresponding printing paper from the step of supplying the corresponding printing paper to the step of discharging the corresponding printing paper and is made free when the printing action on the corresponding printing paper is successfully finished or when an error is detected during the printing action on the corresponding printing paper. 
     That is, in the printing control system of the present invention, unlike the convention printing control system where printing actions on all the printing papers present on the printing path are controlled in sequence by the printing control system, the printing action on each of the printing papers is controlled by one one-page control means and each one-page control means is started by the main control means each time one printing paper is supplied. Accordingly, control of the printing action is facilitated and accuracy in paper jam detection can be improved. 
     When said printing action is stencil printing, the one-page control means executes the steps of starting the paper feed mechanism, checking whether paper supply has been successfully performed, pressing the printing paper against the printing drum, checking whether paper discharge has been successfully performed, and the like. 
     It is preferred that the one-page control means provides a warning when it detects an error during the printing action on the corresponding printing paper. 
     The one-page control means may provide a warning, for instance, by displaying a message “paper jam” on a screen of a control panel of the printer or by outputting an error detection signal to the main control means to cause the main control means to display an error massage on a screen or to interrupt the printing. 
     In the printing control system of the present invention, since control of the printing action is distributed among the one-page control means and the main control means so that the main control means only has to check the timing of paper supply and check the signal from each one-page control means while each of the one-page control means only has to control printing action on a single printing paper, control of the printing action is facilitated in total and a situation where void feed is made, and a situation where printing is to be made on longer printing papers can be easily dealt with. 
     When the one-page control means is arranged to provide a warning when it detects an error during the printing action on the corresponding printing paper, the operator can be informed of an error earlier and can deal with the error more rapidly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DSCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a stencil printer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart for illustrating the main control task of the stencil printer shown in FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a flow chart for illustrating the one-page control task of the stencil printer shown in FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 4 is a timing chart for illustrating the timing of the one-page control task and the main control task of the stencil printer shown in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In FIG. 1, a single-drum stencil printer  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises a paper supply table  10  on which a stack of printing papers is stocked, a pair of paper supply rollers  20 , a supply paper sensor  30  for monitoring paper supply, a pair of guide rollers  40  which lead the supplied paper to a printing drum  60 , a press roller  50  which presses the supplied paper against the printing drum  60  into close contact therewith, the printing drum  60  which is provided with an ink supply mechanism (not shown) inside thereof and is rotated by a main motor (not shown) to transfer ink through a stencil (which has been made by a stencil making means not shown and has been wound around the printing drum  60 ) to the printing paper brought into close contact with the printing drum  60  by the press roller  50 , a discharge paper sensor  70  for monitoring paper discharge, a paper discharge table  80  on which discharged printed papers are stacked, a printing control section  90  which controls printing action from paper supply to paper discharge, and a drum position sensor  65  which detects the angle of rotation of the printing drum  60  by which the printing drum  60  is rotated from a reference position and outputs the position of the printing drum  60  to the printing control section  90 . The paper supply rollers  20  are connected to the main motor described above by way of a paper supply clutch (not shown) and the printing control section  90  is provided with a main control task  92  and first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b.    
     In the printing control section  90  of the single-drum stencil printer  100  of this embodiment, the main control task  92  is a task for controlling the general flow of the printing action and repeats, the same number of times as the designated number of prints, starting the one-page tasks ( 94   a  or  94   b ), and checking a printing termination signal or an error signal from the one-page task. The first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  are alternately started by the main control task  92 , and make a check on void feed errors, a check on paper supply errors, a check on longer paper supply errors and a check on paper discharge errors in sequence and controls the paper supply and pressing the printing paper against the printing drum  60  on the basis of the result of these checks. When printing on the corresponding printing paper has been done successfully without an error, the first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  send a one-page printing end signal representing that the corresponding printing paper has been successfully printed to the main control task  92  to update the total count of the numbers of prints and end their tasks, that is, are made free. To the contrast, when the first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  detect an error during the printing action, they send an error signal to the main control task  92  and end their tasks. The main control task  92  generates a warning sound, displays an error message on a liquid crystal panel of the stencil printer  100  and stops the printer  100  as soon as it receives an error signal from one of the active one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b.    
     The operation of the printing control section  90  of the stencil printer  100  of this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, hereinbelow. 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart for illustrating the operation which the overall printing control section  90  executes after the number of prints has been set, a printing mode (e.g., the regular printing mode or the long paper mode) has been selected and the printing start command has been output (e.g., the start button of the stencil printer  100  has been pushed). FIG. 3 is a flow chart for illustrating the operation which each of the first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  executes after the number of prints has been set, a printing mode (e.g., the regular printing mode or the long paper mode) has been selected and the printing start command has been output (e.g., the start button of the stencil printer  100  has been pushed). As shown in FIG. 2, the main control task  92  first starts the main motor upon receipt of the printing start command. (step S 10 ) The angular position of the printing drum  60  is detected by the drum position sensor  65  and a signal representing the angular position of the printing drum  60  is constantly input into the main control task  92  and the first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b , and the main control task  92  starts the first one-page task  94   a  when the printing drum  60  is rotated by 15°. (step S 12 ) When started, the one-page task  94   a  initiates control P by one-page task, and at the next cycle, the main control task  92  executes 15°-check to check whether an error signal is output from the first or second one-page task  94   a  or  94   b  which is active or whether a forced termination signal, which is output, for instance, when a stop key is depressed, is output. (step S 20 ) When an error signal or a forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints reaches the designated number of prints, the main control task  92  terminates the printing action (step S 22 →step S 34 ) and otherwise continues the printing action (step S 22 →step S 24 ). When it is determined in step S 22  that the printing action is to be continued, that is, when no error signal or forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints does not reach the designated number of prints yet, the main control task  92  first determines whether the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode. (step S 24 ) In this particular embodiment, the long paper mode is a mode in which printing is done on a printing paper longer than regular printing papers and in the long paper mode, the printing papers are fed every second rotation of the printing drum  60 . When it is determined in step S 24  that the printing mode has not been set to the long paper mode, the main control task  92  immediately starts a free one-page task (in the case of a second printing paper, the second one-page task  94   b ). (step S 26 ) The started one-page task initiates the one-page task control P. When the printing drum  60  is rotated to 150°, the main control task  92  executes 150°-check to check whether an error signal is output from the first or second one-page task  94   a  or  94   b  which is active, whether a forced termination signal is output or whether the count of the number of prints reaches the designated number of prints. (step S 30 ) When an error signal or a forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints reaches the designated number of prints, the main control task  92  terminates the printing action (step S 32 →step S 34 ) and otherwise, that is, when no error signal or forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints does not reach the designated number of prints yet, the main control task  92  continues the printing action and repeats the steps from step S 20 . 
     When it is determined in step S 24  that the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode, the main control task  92  does not immediately start but starts a free one-page task every second rotation of the printing drum  60  (step S 28 ) and when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 150° in that rotation, the main control task  92  executes 150°-check to check whether an error signal is output from the first or second one-page task  94   a  or  94   b  which is active, whether a forced termination signal is output or whether the count of the number of prints reaches the designated number of prints. (step S 30 ) When an error signal or a forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints reaches the designated number of prints, the main control task  92  terminates the printing action (step S 32 →step S 34 ) and otherwise, that is, when no error signal or forced termination signal is output or when the count of the number of prints does not reach the designated number of prints yet, the main control task  92  continues the printing action and repeats the steps from step S 20 . 
     Thus, in the case of the regular printing mode, the main control task  92  makes the 15°-check each time the printing drum  60  is rotated to 15° in each rotation, when the result of the 15°-check indicates that the printing action is to be continued, the main control task  92  starts a free one-page task to cause the one-page task to control printing action on the corresponding printing paper, then the main control task  92  makes the 150°-check when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 150° in that rotation, and the main control task  92  repeats the control described above when the result of the 150°-check indicates that the printing action is to be continued. To the contrast, in the case of the long paper mode printing, the operation of the main control task  92  is basically the same except that the steps from the 15°-check to the 150°-check are executed every second rotation of the printing drum  60 . 
     The main control task  92  generates a warning sound, displays an error message on a liquid crystal panel of the stencil printer  100  and stops the printer  100  as soon as it receives an error signal from one of the active one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b.    
     FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing in detail the operation of the one-page task ( 94   a  or  94   b ) of the stencil printer  100 . As described above, the one-page task initiates the one-page task control P when started by the main control task  92 . The first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  are alternately started. The started one-page task engages the paper feed clutch to initiate paper supply at an angular position of 60° of the printing drum  60 . (step S 100 ) Then the one-page task checks whether the supply paper sensor  30  is on, that is, whether the supply paper sensor  30  has detected a printing paper, at an angular position of 140° of the printing drum  60 . (steps S 110  and S 115 ) When it is determined in step S 115  that the supply paper sensor  30  is off (i.e., no printing paper has passed by the supply paper sensor), the one-page sensor executes void feed control (steps S 200  to S 240 ) to be described later. To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 115  that the supply paper sensor  30  is on, that is, a printing paper has been successfully fed, the one-page sensor  30  resets a void feed counter (step S 117 ), and determines whether the press roller  50  has been lifted (up) to be pressed against the printing drum  60  (step S 120 ). The one-page task lifts the press roller as required (if the press roller  50  has not been lifted) (step S 125 ), and the ink is transferred to the printing paper through the stencil on the printing drum  60  (the printing paper is printed). When the printing drum  60  is subsequently rotated to 180°, the one-page task disengages the paper feed clutch. (step S 130 ) As the printing progresses and the printing drum  60  is rotated to 350°, the one-page task checks whether the discharge paper sensor  70  is on, that is, whether the discharge paper sensor  70  has detected a printing paper. (steps S 135  and S 140 ) When it is determined in step S 140  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is off, the one-page sensor determines that the printing paper has not been successfully fed to the printing drum  60  or has not been successfully discharged from the printing drum  60 , and outputs a paper feed error/paper discharge error signal to the main control task  92  and causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60 . (step S 145 ) Then the one-page sensor ends its own task and becomes free. (step S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 140  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is on, the one-page sensor determines that the printing paper has been successfully fed to the printing drum  60  and has been successfully discharged from the printing drum  60  and continues controlling printing on the corresponding printing paper. Taking the rotation of the printing drum  60  at which the one-page task is started as a first rotation of the printing drum  60 , the one-page task checks the supply paper sensor  30  again when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 98° in its second rotation (that is, the time by which the trailing end of the printing paper should have passed by the supply paper sensor  30  if the printing paper which is being controlled by the one-page task is of the regular length and has been successively fed). (steps S 150  and S 155 ) When it is determined in step S 155  that the supply paper sensor  30  is off, the one-page task determines whether the printing mode is set to the long paper mode. (step S 300 ) When it is determined in step S 300  that the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode, that is the case where a printing paper of the regular length has been fed though the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode, the one-page sensor sends a mode error signal to the main task  92 , causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60  and ends its own task to become free. (steps S 310  and S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 300  that the printing mode has been set to the regular printing mode, the one-page sensor continues controlling printing on the corresponding printing paper. When the printing drum  60  is rotated to 290° in its second rotation (that is, the time by which the trailing end of the printing paper should have passed by the discharge paper sensor  70  if the printing paper is successfully discharged from the printing drum  60 ), the one-page task checks the discharge paper sensor  70  again. (steps S 320  and S 500 ) When it is determined in step S 500  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is on, the one-page task determines that a discharge error has occurred and sends a discharge error signal to the main control task  92 , causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60  and ends its own task to become free. (steps S 510  and S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 500  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is off, the one-page task sends one page printing end signal to the main control task  92  to increment the total count of the numbers of prints by one (step S 520 ), and ends it task (step S 530 ), that is, becomes free. 
     When it is determined in step S 155  that the supply paper sensor  30  is on, the one-page task determines whether the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode. (step S 400 ) When it is determined in step S 400  that the printing mode has not been set to the long paper mode, the one-page task determines that a long paper mode error has occurred and sends a long paper mode error signal to the main control task  92 , causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60  and ends its own task to become free. (steps S 410  and S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 400  that the printing mode has been set to the long paper mode, the one-page task determines that the printing action has been successfully done on the corresponding printing paper and continues controlling printing on the corresponding printing paper. Then, the one-page task checks the supply paper sensor  30  again (third check) when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 98° in its third rotation. (steps S 420  and S 430 ) When it is determined in step S 430  that the supply paper sensor  30  is on, which is the case, for instance, when a printing paper longer than a predetermined length is used, the one-page task determines that a long paper mode error has occurred and sends a long paper mode error signal to the main control task  92 , causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60  and ends its own task to become free. (steps S 410  and S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 430  that the supply paper sensor  30  is off, the one-page sensor continues controlling printing on the corresponding printing paper and when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 290° in its third rotation (that is, the time by which the trailing end of the long printing paper should have passed by the discharge paper sensor  70  if the long printing paper is successfully discharged from the printing drum  60 ), the one-page task checks the discharge paper sensor  70  again. (steps S 440  and S 500 ) When it is determined in step S 500  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is on, the one-page task determines that a discharge error has occurred and sends a discharge error signal to the main control task  92 , causes the press roller  50  to be moved downward away from the printing drum  60  and ends its own task to become free. (steps S 510  and S 530 ) To the contrast, when it is determined in step S 500  that the discharge paper sensor  70  is off, the one-page task sends one page printing end signal to the main control task  92  to increment the total count of the numbers of prints by one (step S 520 ), and ends it task (step S 530 ), that is, becomes free. 
     Though one-page control on the regular printing mode and the long paper mode have been described above, the one-page control on the void feed control will be described in detail, hereinbelow. As described above, steps S 200  to S 240  are for the void feed control. In this particular embodiment, that a void feed error occurs is not determined until void feed is detected in three successive rotations of the printing drum  60 . That void feed occurs is detected by checking whether the supply paper sensor  30  is on at an angular position of 140° of the printing drum  60  in each rotation thereof. That is, the one-page task disengages the paper supply clutch, moves downward the press roller  50  away from the printing drum  60  and refers to a void feed count (steps S 200  and S 205 ) immediately after detecting in step S 115  that the supply paper sensor  30  is off at an angular position of 140° of the printing drum  60  in its first rotation. When it is determined in step S 205  that the void feed count is 2, representing that the void feed has been detected in three successive rotations of the printing drum  60  including the rotation at that time, the one-page task sends a void feed error signal to the main control task  92  to reset the void feed count (steps S 230  and S 240 ), and ends its own task to become free (step S 530 ). When it is determined in step S 205  that the void feed count is 0 or 1, the one-page task does not send a void feed error signal to the main control task  92  and increments the void feed count (step S 220 ). Thereafter the one-page task ends its own task to become free (step S 530 ). 
     Though operation of the main control task  92 , and the first and second one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  of the stencil printer  100  of this embodiment has been described in detail, operation of the control section  90  will be described in more detail with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the operation of each task of the printing control section  90  from the time immediately before the first one-page task  94   a  is started to the time the first one-page task  94   a  becomes free during the regular mode printing assuming that the printing action is successfully done without an error, a forced termination or the like. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, at an angular position of  150  of the printing drum  60 , the main control task  92  executes the 15°-check and starts the first one-page take  94   a  immediately thereafter. The started one-page task  94   a  causes the paper supply clutch to engage at an angular position of 40° of the printing drum  60 . When the printing drum  90  is rotated to 98° (in a first rotation of the printing drum  60  for the first one-page task  94   a  and in a second rotation of the printing drum  60  for the second one-page task  94   b ), the second one-page task  94   b  checks the supply paper sensor  30 . When the printing drum  90  is rotated to 140°, the first one-page task  94   a  checks the supply paper sensor  30  in order to detect void feed. At an angular position of 150° of the printing drum  60 , the main control task  92  executes the 150°-check. As the printing drum  60  is further rotated to 180°, the first one-page task  94   a  causes the paper supply clutch to disengage. As the printing drum  60  is further rotated to 290°, the second one-page task  94   b  checks the discharge paper sensor  70 , and when there is detected no error, the second one-page task  94   b  increments the total count of the numbers of prints by one and ends it task, that is, becomes free. When the printing drum  60  is rotated to 350° the first one-page task  94   a  checks the discharge paper sensor  70  to detect a paper supply error. Thereafter the printing drum  60  further makes a rotation which is a second rotation for the first one-page task  94   a  and a first rotation for the second one-page task  94   b . At an angular position of 15° of the printing drum  60  in its second rotation for the second one-page task  94   b , the main control task  92  executes the 15°-check and starts the second one-page take  94   b  which is free at that time. The started one-page task  94   b  causes the paper supply clutch to engage and starts paper supply when the printing drum  60  is rotated to 40° in that rotation thereof. When the printing drum  90  is further rotated to 98°, the first one-page task  94   a  checks the supply paper sensor  30  to detect a long paper error. When the printing drum  90  further rotated to 290°, the first one-page task  94   a  makes a second check on the discharge paper sensor  70  in order to detect a paper discharge error and when there is detected no error, the first one-page task  94   a  increments the total count of the numbers of prints by one and ends it task, that is, becomes free. At an angular position of 140° of the printing drum  60  in that rotation, the second one-page task  94   b  checks the supply paper sensor  30  to detect a void feed, at an angular position of 150° of the printing drum  60  in that rotation, the main control task  92  makes the 150°-check and, at an angular position of 180° of the printing drum  60  in that rotation, the second one-page task  94   b  disengages the paper supply clutch. 
     While the first one-page task  94   a  is waiting, i.e., being free, the printing drum  60  is kept rotated, and when the printing drum  90  is rotated to 350°, the second one-page task  94   b  checks the discharge paper sensor  70  to detect a paper supply error. 
     As can be understood from the description above, in the printing control section  90  of the stencil printer  100  of this embodiment where a plurality of printing papers can be simultaneously present on the printing path, control of the printing action is distributed among the one-page control tasks  94   a  and  94   b  and the main control task  92  so that the main control task  92  starts one free one-page task each time a printing paper is to be fed, and each of the one-page tasks  94   a  and  94   b  controls printing action on one printing paper from the time the printing paper is supplied to the time the printing paper is discharged. Accordingly, the main control task  92  only has to check the timing of paper supply and check the signal from each one-page task and each of the one-page control means only has to control printing action on a single printing paper, whereby the one-page task can easily catch behavior of the printing paper, control of the printing action is facilitated, and a situation where void feed is made or where printing is to be made on longer printing papers can be easily dealt with. 
     Though, in the embodiment described above, the present invention is applied to a stencil printer, the present invention can be applied to various printers other than the stencil printer where a plurality of printing papers can be simultaneously present on the printing path thereof. 
     Further, in the embodiment described above, the present invention is applied to a single-drum stencil printer where only a pair of printing papers can be simultaneously present on the printing path, the present invention can be applied also to a multi color stencil printer where two or more printing drums are simultaneously provided and three or more printing papers can be simultaneously present on the printing path and can further facilitate the control. 
     Further, in the embodiment described above, the printing control section is arranged so that the main control task starts one of the one-page tasks and the paper supply clutch is engaged by the started one-page task at an angular position of 40° of the printing drum, the printing control section may be arranged so that the main control task starts one of the one-page tasks immediately before the printing drum is rotated to 40° while the paper supply clutch is engaged by the main control task when the printing drum is rotated to 40°. When a special paper supply unit is mounted on the printer, the printing control section may be arranged so that only paper supply is controlled by a separate task. With this arrangement, since each one-page task can be released from control of paper supply and only has to execute the void feed error check, the paper supply error check, the long paper error check, and the paper discharge error check in this order, load on each one-page task can be lightened.