Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US8152154?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2015-05-05 07:50:24
Document Index: 397818456

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 110', 'art 120', 'art 110', 'art 111', 'art 120', 'art 121', 'art 110', 'art 113', 'art 120', 'art 123', 'art 110', 'art 114', 'art 120', 'art 124', 'art 114', 'art 124']

Patent US8152154 - Tab sheet insertion apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn image forming apparatus has a tab sheet supply unit and a control unit. The tab sheet supply unit supplies tab sheets of an identical type from an identical sheet supply tray as a chapter tab sheet to be inserted at a breakpoint of a first level of classification of a document to be printed, as well...http://www.google.com/patents/US8152154?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8152154 - Tab sheet insertion apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS8152154 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 13/183,951Publication dateApr 10, 2012Filing dateJul 15, 2011Priority dateFeb 21, 2007Also published asUS8002258, US20080197556, US20100019436, US20110266740Publication number13183951, 183951, US 8152154 B2, US 8152154B2, US-B2-8152154, US8152154 B2, US8152154B2InventorsMichihiro Nakagawa, Tamotsu Sakuraba, Toshimi Shinchi, Yukihiko IchikawaOriginal AssigneeKonica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (13), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (2), Classifications (11) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetTab sheet insertion apparatus
Incidentally, if a printed matter consists of �chapters� and �sections,� it is desirable from the viewpoint of easy and quick browsing of the printed matter to be able to differentiate the tab sheet to be used at the breakpoints of �chapters� from the tab sheet to be used at the breakpoints of �sections.�
However, in the printing apparatus disclosed in the abovementioned patent document, the tab sheets of the same type are supplied from the same sheet supply tray. In other words, tab sheets as constituents with sequentially offset tab positions are supplied and inserted into the printed matter in the sequential order of their stacking in the sheet supply tray. As a result, there was a problem that it is impossible to use tab sheets by dividing them into tab sheets for major divisions and tab sheets for minor divisions, such as tab sheets used at breakpoints of �chapters� and tab sheets used at breakpoints of �sections.�
The printing system 4 consists of a printer controller 2 and a printer 3 as an image forming apparatus and also as a tab sheet insertion apparatus, which are locally connected with each other. This local connection can be accomplished by means of various local connection interfaces, such as serial interfaces, e.g. , USB and IEEE 1394, parallel interfaces, e.g., SCSI and IEEE 1284, wireless communication interfaces, e.g., Bluetooth�, IEEE 802.11, HomeRF�, IrDA�, etc. However, the printer controller 2 and the printer 3 can be connected via the network 5.
An application program for generating document files and a printer driver for converting the document files into PDL data described in a Page Description Language (�PDL�) understood by the printing system 4 are installed on the hard disk 14. The printer driver is capable of providing instructions for printing document files prepared with the use of applications, setting up printing output conditions, and setting up tab sheet related matters. The printer drive contains programs for executing these settings.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing tab sheets used in this embodiment, for example, five-tab sheets 600. Tab sheets are also called index sheets. As shown in FIG. 6, the tab sheet 600 is a set consisting of five sheets 611-615 and is called a �five-tab.� Each of the tab sheets 611-615 has a flat rectangular main body and a tab 621-625 respectively protruding at a specified position on a side of said may body.
The tab sheet setting screen 100 has a first tab sheet insertion setting part 110 for setting up the insertion of chapter tab sheets as the major division tab sheets to be inserted at the breakpoints of �chapters,� i.e., the first level breaks of a document, which is the object of printing, and a second tab sheet insertion setting part 120 for setting up the insertion of section tab sheets as the minor division tab sheets to be inserted at the breakpoints of �sections,� i.e., the second level breaks of the document.
The first tab sheet insertion setting part 110 includes a first insertion page position setting part 111 which the user can use to specify the insertion page position where a tab sheet is inserted, and the second tab sheet insertion setting part 120 includes a second insertion page position setting part 121 which the user can use to specify the insertion page position where a section tab sheet is to be inserted. Here the term �page� signifies a page of a document which is the object of the printing process and is a notion that does not include the tab paper. In the present embodiment, the tab sheet is inserted behind the page designated as the insertion page position in the setting process. However, the tab sheet can be inserted in front of the page designated as the insertion page position in the setting process.
The first tab sheet insertion setting part 110 also includes a first tab printing setting part 113 for setting up whether any printing is to be executed on the tab of the tab sheet, and the second tab sheet insertion setting part 120 includes a second tab printing setting part 123 for setting up whether any printing is to be executed on the tab of the tab sheet The available options here are �Print� and �Blank,� where selecting �Print� causes the tab to be printed and selecting �Blank� causes the tab not to be printed.
The first tab sheet insertion setting part 110 includes a first sheet supply tray setting part 114 that the user can use for selecting a chapter tab sheet supply tray, and the second tab sheet insertion setting part 120 includes a second sheet supply tray setting part 124 that the user can use for selecting a section tab sheet supply tray. The first sheet supply tray setting part 114 and the second sheet supply tray setting part 124 each displays a plurality of options for selecting sheet supply trays. Here �Tray 1� designates a sheet supply tray 51 and �Tray 2� designates a sheet supply tray 52 (see FIG. 5).
On the other hand, if there is a tab sheet insertion request (S402: Yes), the tab flag is set to �1� (S403). At this point, the tab flag is set to �1� in case of a chapter tab sheet, and �0� in case of a section tab sheet. Also, the tab position of the top tab sheet in the sheet supply tray (�current tab position�) is grasped. A case when the leading tab position (e.g., ⅕ of the five-tab), which is the default value, is grasped as the �current tab position� will be described here. Also, the same value as the �current tab position� is set for the �chapter tab position�) here. Incidentally, the �current tab position� and the �chapter tab position� are stored in the memory unit such as the RAM 33 of the printer 3.
If it is judged to be a chapter tab sheet (S501: chapter tab sheet), a judgment is made whether the �current tab position� is the same as the �chapter tab position� or not (S502).
For example, if it is judged that the �current tab position� is the same as the �chapter tab position� (S502: Yes) as in the case of a chapter tab sheet, which is to be inserted at the start of a printed matter, the program advances to step S504.
On the contrary, if it is judged that the �current tab position� is not the same as the �chapter tab position� (S502: No) as in the case of a chapter tab sheet, which is to be inserted in the second time in a printed matter and a section tab sheet exists before it, the program advances to step S503.
In step S503, the tab sheet discharge process 1 is executed. In other words, the tab sheets contained in the sheet supply tray 51 are discharged as unnecessary tab sheets until the tab position of the tab sheet to be supplied next from the sheet supply tray matches with the tab position of the chapter tab sheet to be inserted next. Here, the unnecessary tab sheet means tab sheet that became no longer necessary. At this point, the unnecessary tab sheets are discharged to a discharge tray which is different from the discharge destination of the printed matter based on normal pages of a printing job. Also, the �current tab position� is updated, i.e., incremented by 1/Tab number equivalent to the number of discharges of the tab sheets as unnecessary tab sheets. In this case, the Tab number is the number of tab sheets of one set whose tab positions are different, and it is also called as the index number. If the tab position exceeds �1,� it is determined as the leading tab position (hereinafter the same).
In step S504, the �chapter tab position� is incremented.
Next, the tab flag is set to �1� (S505), and the program advances to step S506.
In step S506, a tab sheet is supplied from the specified sheet supply tray (sheet supply tray 51 in case of FIG. 8), and inserted in the specified page position. When there is a printing instruction for the tab, this tab sheet is discharged to the same sheet discharge tray as the one for the printed matter based on normal pages of the printing job after the particular printing is finished. Next, the �current tab position� is incremented by 1/Tab number, and returns to the flow chart shown in FIG. 11.
On the other hand, if it is judged that it is a section tab sheet in step S501 (S501: section tab sheet), a judgment is made as to whether the tab flag is �1� or not (S507).
For example, if the tab flag is not �1� in step S507 as in the case of inserting a section sheet following the insertion of section tab sheet in the previous time, the program advances to step S510.
For example, if the tab flag is judged to be �1� in step S507 as in the case of the tab sheet to be inserted next changes from a chapter tab sheet to a section tab sheet, the program advances to step S508.
In step S509, the tab sheet discharge process 2 is executed. In other words, the tab sheets contained in the sheet supply tray 51 are discharged as unnecessary tab sheets until the tab position of the tab sheet to be supplied next from the sheet supply tray matches with the tab position of the chapter tab sheet to be inserted next just prior to a change from a chapter tab sheet to a section tab sheet. At this point, the unnecessary tab sheets are discharged to a discharge tray which is different from the discharge destination of the printed matter based on normal pages of a printing job. Also, the �current tab position� is updated, i.e., incremented by 1/Tab number equivalent to the number of discharges of the tab sheets as unnecessary tab sheets.
Next, the tab flag is set to �0� (S510), and the program advances to step S506.
For example, the job header 310 in FIG. 16 contains the setting information concerning the tab sheets consisting of the following contents. In other words, the supply source of the tab sheets (chapter tab sheets and section tab sheets) is �Tray 1� (sheet supply tray 51 of FIG. 5), the tab sheet type is five-tab, and the insertion page positions for the tab sheets are pages 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 14. Also, the range of the tab position of the tab sheets to be used as the chapter tab sheet is ⅕-⅖, and the insertion page position of the tab sheets to be used as the chapter tab sheet are pages 1 and 10. Also, the range of the tab position of the tab sheets to be used as the section tab sheet is ⅗-⅖, and the insertion page position of the tab sheets to be used as the section tab sheet are pages 2, 4, 6, 11, 12 and 14.
Moreover, in the page header 320 of FIG. 16, �P1,� �P2,� . . . are the common page numbers of the document to be printed. �Tray 1� is the sheet supply tray for the tab sheets to be inserted at those page positions. �JobTray� indicates that there is no tab sheet to be inserted at the particular page position there, and the sheet to be used for printing the page is supplied from the sheet supply tray specified in the printing job.
If it is judged that it is a chapter tab sheet (S601: chapter tab sheet), a judgment is made as to whether the tab flag is �1� or not (S602).
For example, if it is judged that the tab flag is �1� in step S602 (S602: Yes) as in the case of a chapter tab sheet is first inserted in the printed matter, or if a chapter tab sheet is inserted again after a chapter tab sheet is first inserted in the printed matter, the program advances to step S603.
In the step S603, a judgment is made whether or not the �current tab position� is within the specified first tab position range in case of a chapter tab sheet, or within the specified second tab position range in case of a section tab sheet. If the �current tab position� is not within the specified range (S603: No), a tab sheet in the specified sheet supply tray 51 is discharged as an unnecessary tab sheet (S604). At this point, the unnecessary sheets are discharged to a discharge tray which is different from the discharge destination of the printed matter based on normal pages of a printing job. Also, the �current tab position� is incremented by 1/Tab number. The program then returns to step S603.
If it is judged in step S603 that the �current tab position� is within the specified range (S603: Yes), the process advances to step S605.
In step S605, a tab sheet is supplied from the specified sheet supply tray 51, and inserted in the specified page position. When there is a printing instruction for the tab, this tab sheet is discharged to the same sheet discharge tray as the one for the printed matter based on normal pages of the printing job after the particular printing is finished. Next, the �current tab position� is incremented by 1/Tab number, and returns to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11.
On the other hand, if it is judged that it is a section tab sheet in step S601 (S601: section tab sheet), a judgment is made as to whether the tab flag is �0� or not (S606).
If it is judged in step S606 that the tab flag is �0� (S606: Yes), it is judged that a section tab sheet is inserted again after a section tab sheet is inserted previously, and the program proceeds to step S603.
On the contrary, if it is judged that the tab flag is not �0� (S606: No) in step S606, it is judged that a chapter tab sheet is inserted this time after a section tab sheet is inserted previously, and the tab flag is set to �0� (S607). Also, the same value as the �current tab position� is set for the �chapter tab position� here. Thus, the �chapter tab position� at this time is stored. The program then returns to step S608.
In the step S608, a judgment is made as to whether or not the �current tab position� is the leading tab position within the specified second tab position range (⅗ in case of FIG. 15). If the �current tab position� is not within the specified range (S608: No), a tab sheet in the specified sheet supply tray 51 is discharged as an unnecessary tab sheet (S609). At this point, the unnecessary sheets are discharged to a discharge tray which is different from the discharge destination of the printed matter based on normal pages of a printing job. Also, the �current tab position� is incremented by 1/Tab number. The program then returns to step S608.
If it is judged in step S608 that the �current tab position� is the leading tab position within the specified range (S603: Yes), the process advances to step S605.
On the contrary, if it is judged in step S602 that the tab flag is not �1� (S602: No), it is judged that a chapter tab sheet is inserted this time after a section tab sheet is inserted previously, the tab flag is set to �1,� and the program advances to step S611.
In step S611, a judgment is made as to whether or not the �current tab position� matches with the �chapter tab position.� If the �current tab position� does not match with the �chapter tab position� (S611: No), a tab sheet in the specified sheet supply tray 51 is discharged as an unnecessary tab sheet (S622). At this point, the unnecessary sheets are discharged to a discharge tray which is different from the discharge destination of the printed matter based on normal pages of a printing job. Also, the �current tab position� is incremented by 1/Tab number. The program then returns to step S611.
If it is judged in step S611 that the �current tab position� matches with the �chapter tab position� (S611: Yes), the process advances to step S605.
For example, although we used �chapter� and �section� as examples of breakpoints in a document in the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to them. The breakpoints of a document can be limited to �part� and �chapter� or can include �part,� �chapter,� and �section,� or more.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5012073May 20, 1987Apr 30, 1991Fujitsu LimitedData card and mailer data match/inserter systemUS20030070146Sep 11, 2002Apr 10, 2003Junko SatoInformation processing apparatus and methodUS20050158093Nov 3, 2004Jul 21, 2005Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Image forming apparatus in which recording sheet having tab is usedUS20080175636Jul 19, 2007Jul 24, 2008Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Computer Readable Recording Medium Stored with Control Program for Controlling Image Forming Apparatus, Image Forming Apparatus, and Method Executed in the Image Forming ApparatusUS20080197556Jun 29, 2007Aug 21, 2008Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Image Forming Apparatus, Method Executed On Image Forming Apparatus, Computer Readable Recording Medium Stored With Control Program For Controlling Image Forming Apparatus, And Tab Sheet Insertion ApparatusUS20080260412Jul 18, 2007Oct 23, 2008Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Computer Readable Recording Medium Stored With Control Program For Controlling Image Forming Apparatus, Printing Setting Apparatus, And Printing Setting MethodJP2001103823A Title not availableJP2005071162A Title not availableJP2005089112A Title not availableJP2005182757A Title not availableJP2005271259A Title not availableJP2006248672A Title not availableJPH1142872A Title not availableNon-Patent CitationsReference1Notification of Reason for Refusal in JP 2007-040742, dated Mar. 10, 2009, and an English Translation thereof.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8899573 *Feb 7, 2013Dec 2, 2014Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.Image forming apparatusUS20130214477 *Feb 7, 2013Aug 22, 2013Konica Minolta Business Technologies Inc.Image forming apparatus* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification270/58.32, 270/58.31, 270/52.04International ClassificationB65H33/04Cooperative ClassificationB65H3/44, B65H2511/415, B65H2701/11132, B65H2511/40, B65H33/04European ClassificationB65H3/44, B65H33/04RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services