Printing apparatus and double-sided printing control program

• US 8,714,684 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2011
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Yamada, Akihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Mannish S
• Assistant Examiner(s): DELOZIER, JEREMY A
• Application Number:
  US13/326,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20120194596A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• US Class Current: 347/16
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/60 for printing on both faces of the printing material

Abstract

There is provided a printing apparatus including: a printing section; a transport mechanism in which a transport route and a re-transport route are formed, the transport mechanism including an install section to which a transport unit is to be installed; and a print control section which controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a plurality of kinds of double-sided printing processes having different maximum numbers of sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism from each other so that in a case that the transport unit is installed to the install section, a double-sided printing process in which a maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the transport unit is not installed to the install section is executed.

Claims

1. A printing apparatus which performs printing on a sheet, comprising:

a printing section which performs the printing on the sheet at a printing position;

a transport mechanism in which a transport route which guides the sheet to the printing position and a re-transport route which guides the sheet having passed through the printing position to the printing position again are formed, the transport mechanism including an install section to which a transport unit, in which an extended route connected to the re-transport route to form a part of the re-transport route thereby lengthening a length of the re-transport route is formed, is to be installed;

a print control section which controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a plurality of kinds of double-sided printing processes having different maximum numbers of sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism from each other so that in a case that the transport unit is installed to the install section, a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which a maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the transport unit is not installed to the install section is executed; and

an option detecting section which is configured to detect as to whether or not the transport unit is installed to the install section,

wherein the print control section is configured to determine whether or not the transport unit is installed to the install section based on a detection result of the option detecting section,

under a condition that the print control section determines that the transport unit is not installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-side printing processes having a single sheet present at a time in the transport mechanism, and

under a condition that the print control section determines that the transport unit is installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing processes having a plurality of sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport unit is installed to the install section.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the transport unit includes a plurality of transport units in which a plurality of extended routes, which change the re-transport route to have different lengths from each other, are formed respectively,

wherein one of the transport units is installed to the install section, and

wherein, when a length of the re-transport route is in a state that the one of the transport units is installed to the install section is longer, a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large is executed by the print control section.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein as the number of the transport units installed is larger, a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large is executed by the print control section.

5. The printing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the transport unit includes a sheet accommodating section accommodating the sheet, and the extended route is formed, in the transport unit, to surround a side opposite to the install section with the sheet accommodating section intervening therebetween, and

wherein, as an accommodatable number of sheets of the sheet accommodating section provided in the transport unit installed to the install section is larger, a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large is executed by the print control section.

6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first sheet accommodating section which accommodates the sheet,

wherein the transport unit includes a second sheet accommodating section which accommodates the sheet, and

wherein the transport unit is configured to be installed to the install section in a state of having the first sheet accommodating section.

7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein in a case that the transport unit is installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the transport unit is not installed to the install section, so that the sheet accommodated in the first sheet accommodating section is transported by the extended route of the transport unit.

8. The printing apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein in a case that the transport unit is installed to the install section and further that a sheet width of the sheet accommodated in the first sheet accommodating section is not more than a lateral width of the transport route of the transport unit, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the sheet width is larger than the lateral width of the transport route, so that the sheet is transported by the extended route of the transport unit.

9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

as the transport unit, a first transport unit and a second transport unit, each of which has a second sheet accommodating section accommodating the sheet and is connected to the install section,

wherein in a case that the first transport unit and the second transport unit are installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the second transport unit is not installed to the install section, so that the sheet accommodated in the second sheet accommodating section of the first transport unit is transported by the extended route of the second transport unit, which is connected at a position separated farther from the install section than the first transport unit.

10. The printing apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein, in a case that the first transport unit and the second transport unit are installed to the install section and further that a sheet width of the sheet accommodated in the second sheet accommodating section of the first transport unit is not more than a lateral width of the transport route of the second transport unit, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is large as compared with a case in which the sheet width is larger than the lateral width of the extended route of the second transport unit, so that the sheet is transported by the extended route of the second transport unit.

11. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an instruction obtaining section, which obtains an instruction information by a user, about which one of a first double-sided printing process and a second double-sided printing process, among the double-sided printing processes, in which the maximum number of sheets is smaller than that of the first double-sided printing process is executed,

wherein in a case that the transport unit is installed to the install section and further that the instruction obtaining section obtains an instruction information in which the first double-sided printing process is executed, the first doubled-sided printing is executed by the print control section.

13. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the option detecting section is configured to distinguish a first transport unit in which a first extended route is formed and a second transport unit in which a second extended route that is longer than the first extended route is formed,

wherein the print control section is configured to determine whether or not the first or second transport unit is installed to the install section based on a detection result of the option detecting section,

wherein, under a condition that the print control section determines that the first transport unit and the second transport unit are not installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing processes having a single sheet present at a time in the transport mechanism, and

wherein, under a condition that the print control section determines that the first transport unit is installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing processes having two sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism, and

wherein, under a condition that the print control section determines that the second transport unit is installed to the install section, the print control section controls the printing section and the transport mechanism to execute a double-sided printing processes having three sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism.

12. A non-transitory tangible media storing a double-sided printing control program which makes a computer of an image forming apparatus execute an installation judging process and a print controlling process, wherein the image forming apparatus includes a printing section which performs printing on a sheet at a printing position, a transport mechanism in which a transport route that guides the sheet to the printing position and a re-transport route that guides the sheet having passed through the printing position to the printing position again are formed, and the transport mechanism includes an install section to which a transport unit, in which an extended route which is connected to the re-transport route to form a part of the re-transport route thereby lengthening a length of the re-transport route is formed, is installed, and an option detecting section which is configured to detect as to whether or not the transport unit is installed to the install section,

the installation judging process comprises:

a process in which whether or not the transport unit is installed to the install section is judged based on a detection result of the option detecting section; and

the print controlling process comprises;

a process in which under a condition that the transport unit is judged to be installed to the install section in the installation judging process, a double-sided printing process, in which a maximum number of sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism is large as compared with a case in which the transport unit is judged not to be installed to the install section in the installation judging process, is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism,

wherein, under a condition that the transport unit is determined not to be installed to the install section, a double-sided printing processes having a single sheet present at a time in the transport mechanism is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism, and

wherein, under a condition that the transport unit is determined to be installed to the install section, a double-sided printing processes having a plurality of sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism.

14. The non-transitory tangible media according to claim 12,

wherein the option detecting section is configured to distinguish a first transport unit in which a first extended route is formed and a second transport unit in which a second extended route that is longer than the first extended route is formed,

wherein, in the installation judging process, the first or second transport unit is determined to be installed or not installed to the install section based on the detection result of the option detecting section,

wherein, under a condition that each of the first transport unit and the second transport unit is determined to not be installed to the install section, the double-sided printing processes having a single sheet present at a time in the transport mechanism is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism,

wherein, under a condition that the first transport unit is determined to be installed to the install section, a double-sided printing processes having two sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism, and

wherein, under a condition that the second transport unit is determined to be installed to the install section, a double-sided printing processes having three sheets present at the same time in the transport mechanism is executed by the printing section and the transport mechanism.