Typewriting machines – For typing on reverse surface of record-medium
Utility Patent
1998-12-09
2001-01-02
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Typewriting machines
For typing on reverse surface of record-medium
C400S582000
Utility Patent
active
06168327
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device for forming images, based on image data, on a recording sheet, and more particularly to an image forming device for forming images selectively on a front or backside of a recording sheet.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known a conventional image forming device including a memory for storing image data; an image forming unit, such as a printer engine, for forming images on a front surface of a recording medium based on the image data stored on the memory; and a support unit, such as a discharge tray, for holding a stack of recording sheets formed with images by the image forming unit.
In this type of image forming device, the image forming unit forms an image corresponding to a first page on a first recording sheet, an image corresponding to a second page on a second recording sheet, and so on in order from the first page on. The recording sheets are discharged from the image forming unit one after the other, in the order in which they have been formed with images, and are stacked on the support unit with the image-formed surface facing downward (i.e., face down). When sheets are discharged face down, the printed sheets are automatically stacked in order from the first page on. It is convenient to organize the thus stacked documents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
However, the following problems arise with this conventional configuration when a plurality of sets of documents (copies) are printed based on a single set of image data.
FIG. 1
is a schematic view showing the order in which three sets of three page documents are stacked on the support unit after being formed with images and discharged face down. The numbers one, two, and three indicate the page number of each sheet. In this case, troublesome operations are necessary to separate the three document sets from each other. That is, the user must find the boundary between the first and second document sets and between the second and third document sets by, for example, comparing images formed on the sheets P or by counting the number of sheets P in each set.
Recently, image-forming devices have been provided with large capacity memories. The large capacity memories enable the image-forming devices to form images, which correspond to a plurality of different image data sets, one after another. Further, a print system has been developed wherein a plurality of computers are connected to a single printer via a local area network (LAN) or the like. This print system enables using the same printer to print images, which correspond to image data transmitted from different computers, one after another. These technological advances are very beneficial for increasing the speed of image forming processes. The print system in particular reduces the amount of effort the user must expend in moving between the computer and the printer.
However, when an image-forming device having a large capacity memory or the above-described print system discharges printed sheets face down, the above-described troublesome operations are required to separate recording sheets, that is, according to image data, after images are formed on the recording sheets.
In recent years, duplex image forming devices have been developed which are capable of printing different images on the front and backsides of a recording sheet. Duplex image forming devices can selectively form images on the front and backside surface of a recording sheet. Duplex image-forming device generally discharge sheets so that recording sheets are discharged with the first page image facing downward on the discharge tray. Accordingly, the above-described problems occur as described above.
Further, a sorter including a plurality of support units, such as sheet discharge trays, can be provided to the image forming device. In this case, recording sheets P for different document sets can be stacked on different sheet discharge trays. However, providing such a sorter increases the size and the price of the image-forming device. Also, the number of different document sets that can be separated by the sorter is limited to the number of sheet discharge trays possessed by the sorter.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an image forming device capable of easily separating printed recording sheets based on certain attributes, such as by document set (copy), by corresponding image data, or by external device from which image data is transmitted, without increasing the size or the cost of the image forming device.
In order to attain the above and other objects, the present invention provides an image forming device, comprising: means for storing image data; means capable of forming images, based on the image data stored in the image data storage means, selectively onto either one of a front surface and a backside surface of one or more image recording medium; means for holding, in a stack, one or more image recording medium formed with the image; and means for controlling the image forming means to form one or more image onto one or more image recording medium while selectively switching a surface of the image recording medium to be formed with the image data, between the front surface and the backside surface, the control means controlling, when one or more image recording medium is to be stacked on the holding means with the first page facing downwardly, the image forming means to successively perform image forming operation with image data for the one or more image recording medium in an order from image data for a first image recording medium and controlling, when one or more image recording medium is to be stacked on the holding means with the first page facing upwardly, the image forming means to successively perform the image forming operation with image data for the one or more image recording medium in a reversed order from image data for a last image recording medium.
The control means may control the image forming means to form a plurality of copies of the same image data onto a plurality of image recording mediums, while switching a surface of one or more image recording medium, to be formed with each copy, between the front surface and the backside surface. According to this control operation, a plurality of copies are discharged alternately in the upwardly-facing state and the downwardly-facing state. When some copy is to be discharged in the downwardly-facing state, the copy is produced through forming images on the image recording medium based on image data in an order from image data for the first image recording medium down to the last image recording medium. When some copy is to be discharged in the upwardly-facing state, on the other hand, the copy is produced through forming images on the image recording medium based on image data in the reversed order from image data for the last image recording medium up to the first image recording medium. The copy document stacked in the downwardly-facing state can be easily separated from the other document copy stacked in the upwardly-facing state because the surfaces, onto which images are printed, of those two document copies are different from each other. It is possible to easily separate the respective copies from one another.
It is unnecessary to use special devices such as sorting devices in order to separate the respective copies from one another. The entire image forming device may not become large in size or highly expensive. According to the present invention, the surfaces, on which images are formed, are switched between the front surface and the backside surface for the respective copies so that the respective copies can be separated from one another. Accordingly, no limit is provided to the number of copies capable of being separated from one another, in comparison with the case where the sorting device is provided.
Especially, when the image recording medium is to be discharged in the downwardly-facing state, images are formed on the image recording medium based on image data in the order from
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Hilten John S.
Nolan, Jr. Charles H.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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