Printing apparatus and printing method
First Claim
1. A photographic print vending apparatus comprising:
- media accepting means for accepting a removable recording medium having photographic image information stored thereon;
image information reading means for reading the image information from the recording medium;
advertisement information storing means for storing advertisement information;
printing means for printing the image information onto a sheet;
a housing which houses the media accepting means, the image information reading means, the printing means and the advertisement information storing means; and
an outlet in the housing from which the printed sheet is output;
wherein the printing means prints the advertisement information onto the sheet with the image information, when an advertisement information printing mode is set;
wherein the printing means comprises a plurality of printers, each of which is adapted to print the image information on the sheet; and
wherein the print vending apparatus further comprises image information distribution means for distributing the image information read by the image information reading means to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the image information comprises image information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A photographic print vending apparatus is provided which comprises a media accepting unit which accepts a recording medium having photographic image information stored thereon. An image information reader reads the image information from the recording medium, and a plurality of printers print images based on image data from a processor connected to the image information reader and an advertisement information storage unit. When an advertisement printing mode is set, the processor reads the advertisement information from the advertisement information storage unit, synthesizes the read advertisement information and the image information read by the image information reader, and supplies the synthesized information to the printers as image data.
61 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A photographic print vending apparatus comprising:
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media accepting means for accepting a removable recording medium having photographic image information stored thereon; image information reading means for reading the image information from the recording medium; advertisement information storing means for storing advertisement information; printing means for printing the image information onto a sheet; a housing which houses the media accepting means, the image information reading means, the printing means and the advertisement information storing means; and an outlet in the housing from which the printed sheet is output; wherein the printing means prints the advertisement information onto the sheet with the image information, when an advertisement information printing mode is set; wherein the printing means comprises a plurality of printers, each of which is adapted to print the image information on the sheet; and wherein the print vending apparatus further comprises image information distribution means for distributing the image information read by the image information reading means to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the image information comprises image information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A photographic print vending apparatus comprising:
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a case having an outlet; media accepting means for accepting a removable recording medium having photographic print information stored thereon; print information reading means for reading the print information from the recording medium; a plurality of printers, each of which is adapted to print at least one image on at least one sheet in accordance with the print information read from the recording medium; and print information distribution means for distributing the print information read from the recording medium to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the print information comprises print information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; wherein each of the plurality of printers comprises image data generating means for generating image data to be printed based on the print information distributed by the print information distribution means, and printing means for printing the generated image data onto a sheet; and wherein each sheet with the image data printed thereon is output through the outlet of the case. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A print vending apparatus comprising:
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a case having an outlet; a processor; and a plurality of printers connected to the processor, wherein each of the printers comprises;
(i) an image former which generates image data to be printed based on print information, and (ii) a printing unit for printing the generated image data on a sheet;wherein the print information is input to the processor, and the processor distributes the received print information to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the print information comprises print information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; wherein each printed sheet is outputted through outlet of the case. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A method of operating a print vending machine for printing image information on a sheet with at least one of a plurality of printers, said method comprising:
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distributing input print information to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the print information comprises print information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; generating image data to be printed in the at least one printer to which the print information is distributed; printing the generated image data on the sheet with a printing mechanism in the printer which generates the image data; and outputting each sheet printed by the plurality of printers through an outlet of the print vending machine.
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27. A photographic print vending apparatus comprising:
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a case having an outlet; accepting means for accepting a memory storing photographic print information; photographic information reading means for reading the photographic information from the memory; a plurality of printers, each of which is adapted to print at least one image on at least one sheet in accordance with the photographic information read from the memory; and print information distribution means for distributing the print information read from the memory to at least one of the plurality of printers in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the print information comprises print information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; wherein each of the plurality of printers comprises image data generating means for generating image data to be printed based on the photographic image information distributed by the print information distribution means, and printing means for printing generated image data onto a sheet; and wherein each sheet with the image data printed thereon is output through the outlet of the case.
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28. A print vending apparatus comprising:
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a case having an outlet; an accepting unit which accepts a memory storing image information; an image information reader which reads the image information from the memory; an information storage unit which stores second image information; a processor connected to the image information reader and the information storage unit; and a plurality of printers which print images on a sheet based on image data supplied from the processor; wherein, when an information printing mode is set, the processor reads the second image information from the information storage unit, synthesizes the read second image information and the image information read by the image information reader, and distributes the synthesized information to the printers as image data in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the image information comprises image information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; and wherein each printed sheet is output through the outlet of the case.
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29. A print vending apparatus comprising:
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a case having an outlet; an accepting unit which accepts a memory storing image information; an image information reader which reads the image information from the memory; an advertisement information storage unit which stores advertisement information; a processor connected to the image information reader and the advertisement information storage unit; and a plurality of printers which print images on a sheet based on image data supplied from the processor; wherein the processor reads the advertisement information from the advertisement information storage unit, synthesizes the read advertisement information and the image information read by the image information reader, and distributes the synthesized information to the printers as image data in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein if the image information comprises image information to be printed on a plurality of sheets, a plurality of the printers are assigned to print respective ones of the sheets in accordance with the predetermined sequence; and wherein each printed sheet is output through the outlet of the case.
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Specification