Patent Application
20180345693
The invention relates to a printing system comprising a print station disposed at a sheet transport path, a sheet feeder arranged to feed media sheets of different media types into the transport path so as to be fed sequentially to the print station, and a controller arranged to receive print instructions concerning images to be printed, to schedule a sequence of the media sheets, and to control the sheet feeder and the print station such that each image is printed on a sheet of a media type that has been specified for that image in the print instructions.
In such a printing system, depending upon the type of print engine installed in the print station, it may be desirable or even necessary to monitor the quality of the sheets that are fed to the print station. For example, when the print engine is an ink jet printer for printing high quality images, the nozzles of the print head will be arranged at a very small spacing above the top surface of the sheets that are conveyed on the transport path. Consequently, the top surfaces of the sheets must be perfectly flat in order to prevent the sheets from colliding with the print head.
It may therefore be considered to scan the surfaces of the sheets in the transport path upstream of the print station with a sensor, e.g., a 3D laser scanner, and when the sensor detects any wrinkles or other surface irregularities of a sheet, this sheet will be skipped in the print sequence, e.g. by removing the sheet from the transport path before it reaches the print station.
However, ejecting sheets disrupts the sequence of the stream of sheets. Rejected sheets require reprinting and insertion into the position of the ejected sheets. This generally requires discharging additional sheets upstream of the rejected sheet, as else the sheet order in the output stack would be incorrect. One example is when a sheet on a duplex pass is rejected, thereby requiring said one-side printed sheet and all one-side printed sheets trailing behind said sheet to be discharged. In consequence, the productivity of the printing system is compromised and the amount of waste of material (media sheets and ink) is increased.
It is an object of the invention to provide a printing system which permits a high productivity and a reduction of waste.
Thereto, in a first aspect the present invention provides a printing system according to claim 1. The printing system according to the present invention comprises:
a print station disposed at a sheet transport path, the sheet transport path diverging to a first and a second output holder;
a sheet feeder arranged to feed a stream of media sheets into the transport path so as to be fed sequentially to the print station;
a sheet ejector for ejecting unsuitable sheets from the transport path to a discharge path; and
a controller arranged to:
When the controller determines a plurality of image sets from the print instructions, e.g. in the form of multiple print jobs (which may include multiple copies of a single batch of images), the controller schedules the images of the different image sets into an alternating order. In the scheduled print order, images of a first image set then are interchanged with images of a second image set, such that at least one image of the second image set is positioned in between images of the first image set. In a basic example, the print instructions provide two image sets A, B having images A1-A5 and B1-B5, which are re-arranged by the controller into a print order of A1-B1-A2-B2-A3-B3-A4-B4-A5-B5. Regardless of the alternating print order, the controller controls the transport mechanism to transport all sheets associated with an image set to an output holder exclusively designated for that image set. In the basic example, the sheets for the first image set A are transported to a first output holder, while sheets for the second image set B are transported to a second output holder separate from the first output holder.
In case of a sheet rejection for one of the plurality of image sets, say set A, the sheets for the other image set(s) B need not be discharged to preserve the image order on the respective output holders. Only sheets of the same image set as the rejected sheet require discharging, while the other image sets are not affected. In the basic example, sheets with images A1-B1-A2-B2-A3-B3-A4-B4-A5-B5 may be on a duplex pass, when the sheet for image A2 is rejected. Instead of discharging all upstream images A3-A5 and B2-B5 on the duplex pass, the controller ejects or discharges only the sheets of the image set A associated with the rejected sheet A2, namely images A3-A5. The other image set B then continues via the print station to its output holder to complete the image stack for set B in the desired order. The respective images assigned to the discharged sheets for image set A are then rerouted by the controller to be reprinted to complete the sheet stack for image set A at its respective output holder. In this manner, the number of reprinted sheets is reduced, thereby decreasing the waste in both sheet and ink materials. Also, productivity is increased as less reprinting is required. Hence, the object of the present invention has been achieved.
More specific optional features of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.
In an embodiment, the controller schedules images of the first and second sets into an alternating image sequence defining the print order, thereby forming a stream of images wherein at least one image of the first set is provided in between images of the second set. Basically, the controller inserts or interweaves images of the first set in between images of the second set at different positions in the second image set. For example, at least one image of the first image set is followed by one or more images from the second image set, followed by one or more images from the first image set, etc. So, in the scheduled print order images from the first image set interchange successively or regularly with images from the second image set.
In an embodiment, the controller is further configured to:
when at least one sheet in the second set is ejected to the discharge path:
The controller is configured to designate for ejection sheets trailing the ejected sheet. Trailing herein meaning sheets following or behind the ejected sheet in the stream of sheets when viewed along the transport direction of said stream of sheets. At the moment a first sheet is ejected at the sheet ejector, sheets on a transport path section downstream of the sheet ejector have already passed the sheet ejector and are deemed. Preferably, the downstream section is a print transport path for transporting sheets from the sheet ejector to the print station. Sheets upstream of the ejected sheet are on a transport path section with a transport direction towards the sheet ejector. In an embodiment, this transport section preferably comprises an intersection wherein blank sheets from the sheet feeder may be inserted onto this transport path section. Thereby, the sheet ejector is efficiently positioned for scanning both blank sheets prior to simplex printing as well as sheets on a duplex pass. The blank sheets from the sheet feeder may be interweaved with the one-side printed sheets on the duplex pass to achieve a higher productivity rate.
In a further embodiment, the transport path comprises a buffer transport path section upstream of the sheet ejector, wherein the controller is further configured to:
when the controller designates a sheet in the second set to be ejected to the discharge path:
In a further embodiment, the controller is further arranged to:
when at least one sheet in the second set is ejected to the discharge path:
For example, the sheet feeder may comprise blank sheets which have not yet been fed by the sheet feeder. These sheets may even be travelling on an input transport path section towards the intersection where the input transport path section merges onto the buffer transport paths section. The controller reroutes the images for the discharged sheets to such blank sheets, thereby altering the print order. The controller determines a cut-off point in the original print order, upstream (meaning trailing when viewed in the transport direction) of which cut-off point images are identified as sheets being on the buffer transport path section. A further cut off point may be defined for identifying the start of the buffer transport paths section. The controller inserts the images for the discharged sheets into the print order upstream of said cut-off point, preferably directly behind the cut-off point. The images in the original print order upstream of the cut-off point at the time of the sheet ejection are thereby shifted further upstream of the cut-off point by the number of inserted images. The controller designates the inserted images to be directed to the output holder for the image set of the rejected sheet. Thereby, the sheet stack for said image set may be completed in the desired order. Thereby, the print order is efficiently managed and the number of wasted sheets reduced.
In an embodiment, when the print instructions define a first image order for the first set of images and a second image order for the second set of images, the controller is arranged to:
schedule images of the first and second sets into an alternating image sequence, such that in the print order images from the first set are alternating with images from the second set;
direct sheets printed with images from the first set to the first output holder to form a stack of sheets with images in the first image order;
direct sheets printed with images from the second set to the second holder to form a stack of sheets with images in the second image order; and
when at least one sheet in the second set is ejected to the discharge path:
The print instructions provide a plurality of image sets, each with their own number of images and provided in a predefined image order. The printed sheets for each image set should be output in said image order to avoid a manual resorting of each output stack by the operator. The controller schedules the images of the different image sets in an alternating image order. For example in case two image sets, the controller forms groups of images from each of the sets. Each group comprising at least one image from the first and second image set. Preferably each group comprises one image from each image set.
Within each group, the relative order of the first image set is preserved, meaning that any image which was ordered between an upstream (or trailing) and a downstream (or leading) image in the first image set, is scheduled between said upstream and downstream image in the scheduled print order, though images from the second image set may be inserted between said image and the upstream and/or downstream images of the first image set. Likewise, the image order of the second image set is maintained. Similarly, the image order for any plurality of image sets is as such maintained by the controller during scheduling.
The groups are scheduled to maintain the image order. The groups are ordered subsequently such that any group comprising an image of the first image set ordered downstream of an upstream image in the first image set is scheduled downstream of said upstream image in the print order. Images from other image sets may thereby be inserted in between said image and said upstream image of the first image set. Similarly, the groups are scheduled to maintain the image order of the second or further image sets. As the operator need only provide the print instructions, the scheduler and thus the printing system may operate unattended. Even in case of a sheet rejection, production continues without operator interference.
In another embodiment, the printing system according to the present invention further comprises a sensor is arranged at the transport path for detecting a quality condition of the sheets being fed to the print station, and the controller is adapted to receive a quality signal from the sensor and, when the quality of a sheet is found to be insufficient, wherein the controller is arranged to control the sheet ejector to transport the respective sheet to the discharge path upon receipt of the quality signal. Preferably, the sensor is arranged to scan a surface relief of a sheet that is moving past the sensor.
The sensor that monitors the quality of the sheets will be arranged such that it can also monitor the sheets that return from the duplex loop. Then, when a sheet has been damaged or wrinkled during its travel through the duplex loop, it may still be discarded after a first image has already been printed on the first side of the sheet. Then, however, the rerouting mechanism for the image must also fulfill the condition that the sheet to which the back side image is routed bears the correct image on the front side.
In general, a sheet may be discarded as defective not only when it is torn or wrinkled or has a wavy surface, but also for other reasons. For example, a sheet may be rejected when its skew angle and/or its alignment in the two directions x and y in the plane of the transport path has an error that cannot be corrected.
In a further embodiment, the sheet ejector according to the present invention comprises a switch that is disposed in the sheet transport path in a position between the sensor and the print station and is arranged to divert sheets into the discharge path. The switch allows for fast and efficient removal of unsuitable sheets without halting transport of the sheets on the transport path. Thereby, high productivity levels are achieved.
In an embodiment, the printing system according to the present invention further comprises a buffer transport path section such as a duplex loop, wherein the sensor is disposed at a point of the sheet transport path between the print station and a junction where sheets returning from the duplex loop enter into the sheet transport path again.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for scheduling a print job for a printing system comprising a print station disposed at a sheet transport path diverging into a plurality of output holders and a sheet ejector for ejecting unsuitable sheets from the transport path to a discharge path; and
receiving print instructions comprising a plurality of image sets to be printed;
scheduling the image sets into a print order by alternating images of the different image sets;
printing the images in the scheduled print order; and
directing each of the printed image sets to a different one of the plurality of output holders.
Upon receiving the print instructions for multiple image sets via the user interface, the controller shuffles the image of the different image sets into an interchanging image order. Images of the different image sets alternate with respect to one another. Images of other image sets are inserted into the first image set at various positions in the first set. The images are then printed in said scheduled print order and after completion of the printing, the printed image sets are transported to different output holders, as designated by the controller. This has the advantage that in case of a rejection of a sheet to a discharge path, not all sheets upstream of the rejected sheet on the transport path need to be discharged to conserve the image order at the output stacks. Only sheets trailing the rejected sheet and related to the image set of the rejected sheet require discharging and reprinting, thereby substantially reducing the amount of waste material.
In an embodiment, the method according to the present invention further comprises the step of:
assigning each one of the image sets to one of the plurality of output holders. The controller assigns or designates the first and the second image set in the print instructions to different ones of the output holders. Images of the first image sets are set to move to the first output holder while images of the second image set are transported to the second output holder. As such, the image sets are distributed over the different output holders.
In a preferred embodiment, the method according to the present invention further comprises the steps of:
discharging a number of sheets associated with one of the image sets from the transport path;
directing the sheets associated with one of, multiple of, or all of the other image sets to their respective output holders;
rerouting the discharged images associated with the one of the image sets into the print order, such that the relative image order in the one of the image sets is restored or preserved.
To preserve the image order at the output stack, upstream or trailing sheets of the same image set as a rejected sheet are also discharged to the discharge path. Since the other image sets are designated to different output holders, said images may continue to their respective output holders as the image order for said image sets is preserved. The controller then amends the print order by inserting the discharged images, preferably downstream of or before any not-yet printed images of the respective image set. Thereby, the image order is restored.
In another embodiment, the method according to the present invention further comprises the steps of:
detecting a quality condition of the sheets being fed to a print station;
transporting the respective sheet to a discharge path, when the quality of a sheet is found to be insufficient.
A sensor is provided to scan the sheet and assess the sheet's suitability for printing, e.g. by comparing the sheet height to the print gap spacing of the print station. When the controller determines from the sensor data that the sheet is unsuited for printing, the controller controls the sheet ejector to move the respective sheet from the transport path to the discharge path.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a software product comprising program code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein said program code, when loaded into a computer that is connected to a printing system having a print station disposed at a sheet transport path, a sheet feeder arranged to feed media sheets of different media types into the transport path so as to fed sequentially to the print station, and a sheet ejector for ejecting unsuitable sheets from the transport path to a discharge path, causes the computer to act according to the method according to the present invention.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals have been used to identify the same or similar elements throughout the several views.
As is shown in
The controller 20 may be formed by a computer, a server or a workstation and is connected to all the functional components of the printing system for controlling the printing system and is further connected to the user interface 22 and to a network 24 via which the controller may communicate with a remote workstation 26 of a user or operator. In an alternative embodiment, the controller 22 may also be installed outside of the main body 12 for controlling the various system components via the network 24.
The hardware and/or the software of the controller 20 includes among others a print job receiving section 28, a scheduler 30, a feed control section 32, a print control section 34, an output control section 36, and a sheet manager 38. The print job receiving section 28 is arranged to receive, e.g., via the network 24, print jobs each of which includes image data for one or more pages to be printed as well as various job settings. Optionally, the image data may also be received from a local scanner whereas the job settings are input at the user interface 22. The job settings include among others instructions that specify for each image to be printed the properties or type of a recording medium on which the image shall be printed.
The sheet feeder 10 includes a plurality of holders 40 each of which accommodates a supply, e.g. a stack of media sheets of a certain media type. The media types in the different holders 40 may differ in sheet thickness, sheet material, surface properties of the sheets and the like. The input section 10 further includes a feed mechanism 42 arranged to separate individual sheets from a selected one of the holders 40 and to supply them one by one into the sheet transport path 18 under the control of the feed control section 32.
When the job receiving section 28 has received a print job, the scheduler 30 determines a sequence in which the images of this print job shall be printed. For the purposes of this description, the term “image” shall designate a page size image that is to be printed onto one side of a recording sheet. The scheduler 30 further has access to a data base that stores the media types and properties of the sheets accommodated in the various holders 40. Based on the job settings that concern the media properties, the scheduler 30 selects the holders 40 from which the sheets with the desired properties are to be taken and determines a sequence in which the sheets of the different media types are to be fed into the sheet transport path 18 such that the sequence of sheets matches the sequence of images to be printed.
When the print process has been started, the feed control section 32 controls the feed mechanism 42 to supply the sheets in the sequence as scheduled into the sheet transport path 18, and the print control section 34 controls the print station 16 so as to print a corresponding image on the top side of each sheet.
In the example shown, the output section 14 has a plurality of holders 44 on which the sheets may be stacked after they have left the print station 16. When a stack, which may for example comprise a set of sheets forming a complete copy of a multi page document, has been completed, the holder 44 will forward the stack onto an associated output tray 46. In an alternative embodiment the completed stacks may also be forwarded to a finisher (not shown) for performing finishing operation such as stapling, punching and the like.
The output section 14 further includes a switch 48 which is controlled by the output control section 36 for directing each sheet to a designated one of the holders 44.
In the example shown, the main body 12 of the printing section also includes a duplex loop 50 which branches off from the sheet transport path 18 downstream of the print station 16, reverses the orientation of the sheets in a sheet reversing mechanism 52 and then returns the sheets upside down to the entry side of the sheet transport path 18.
It shall further be assumed in this example that the print station 16 includes as print engine an ink jet print head 54 that is disposed above the sheet transport path 18 and is adjustable in height by means of a height adjustment mechanism 56. Dependent upon the thickness and other properties of the sheets, the height of the print head 54 is adjusted such that a nozzle face 58 at the bottom side of the print head forms only a very narrow gap with a top surface of a sheet 60 that is being conveyed past the print head. In this way, it will be assured that, for each individual sheet, the ink jet print process will be performed with an optimal nozzle-to-sheet distance.
As the gap between the nozzle face 58 and the sheet 60 may be very small, any wrinkles or a surface waviness or other surface irregularities of the sheet 60 may result in a poor image quality or even in a collision of the sheet with the print head. For this reason, a sensor 62 for monitoring the quality of the sheets is disposed at the sheet transport path 18 upstream of the print station 16. The sensor 62 may for example be a 3D laser scanner that scans the entire surface of the sheet in order to capture a surface relief. The relief data are transmitted to the sheet manager 38 in the controller 20, where they are processed further to decide whether the quality of the sheet is acceptable or not. The sensor 62 may also detect other quality criteria relating to, for example, alignment errors or skew errors of the sheets.
When a sheet is found to be inacceptable, the sheet manager 38 controls a switch 64 in the sheet transport path 18 in order to excise this sheet from the scheduled sequence and to divert it into a discharge path 66 via which the sheet is discharged into a discharge bin (not shown). In this way, the defective sheet will be skipped in the print process. However, the image that was designated for being printed onto the discarded sheet must nevertheless be printed. Normally, this situation would lead to an abortion of the print process, with the result that the entire print process, including the scheduling process, has to be started anew, and all the sheets that had been present already in the sheet transport path 18 and in the duplex loop 50 would have to be discarded.
It should be observed in this context that
In order to reduce the amount of waste material when a sheet is found to be unacceptable, the sheet controller 20 forms a print order wherein the images of different image sets S1-S3 are alternated with respect to one another while assigning sheets 60 of each image set S1-S3 to be output to a different output holder 44. An example of such a scheduling algorithm will now be explained in conjunction with
The top row in
In the example shown in
In
The lower row in
After scheduling, the printing process is started, for example based on a readiness signal from the scheduler 30. Sheets 60 associated with the first image set S1 are transported to the first output holder 44, while sheets 60 with images of the second and third image sets S2, S3 are transported respectively to the second and third output holder 44.
During the print process as shown in
The scheduling algorithm according to the present invention has the advantage that then no sheets 60 for the second and third image sets S2, S3 need to be discharged, as these sheets 60 may be transported to their respective output holders 44 and deposited there in the desired order. To restore the image order for the first image set S1, the sheet ejector 64 need only discharge the sheets 60 on the duplex pass 50 that are associated with the first image set S1, namely the sheets 60 with images S1-3, S1-4, as indicated in
The scheduler 30 then reroutes the discharged images S1-2, S1-3, S1-4 to blank sheets 60 upstream of the print station 16, as shown in
The scheduler 30 then assigns one of the subsets to a first output holder 44 on the left in
In case of a sheet rejection, the controller 20 discharges a number of sheets to continue stacking images at either of the output holders 44. During printing, one output holder 44 comprises a sheet stack provides a “lower” or first half of the image set S1-S3, while another output holder 44 comprises an “upper” or second half of the image set S1-S3. In case the rejected sheet 60 is part of the first half of the image set S1-S3, the controller 20 discharges sufficient sheets 60 to allow continued stacking at the stack with the second half of the image set S1-S3 and vice versa. Alternatively, the controller 20 may choose to start a new sheet stack at the third output holder 44 on the right side in
Although specific embodiments of the invention are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations exist. It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are examples only and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.
It will also be appreciated that in this document the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”, “including”, “contain”, “containing”, “have”, “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to be understood in an inclusive (i.e. non-exclusive) sense, such that the process, method, device, apparatus or system described herein is not limited to those features or parts or elements or steps recited but may include other elements, features, parts or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the terms “a” and “an” used herein are intended to be understood as meaning one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on or to establish a certain ranking of importance of their objects.
The present invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17173404.9 | May 2017 | EP | regional |
