Electrophotography – Document handling – Copy
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-23
2001-03-13
Grainger, Quana M. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Document handling
Copy
C399S388000, C399S397000, C399S401000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06201946
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is related to a new printer system that connects two printers to work in coordination. Furthermore, for example, the invention is related to a printer system that has diversified printing functions such as black and white printing, color printing, overlay printing of black and white and color on a sheet of cut paper.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ordinary printers are composed of a paper feeding unit and a paper ejecting or output unit that are connected to the front and back of one printing unit. The paper-ejecting unit may be connected to a post-processing device such as a sorter, a mailbox, or a finisher (electric stapler and/or puncher) on the exterior of the paper ejecting unit.
Recent printers are likely to have color printing or overlay printing of color and black and white printing in addition to black and white printing.
The prior printing units are color printing unit, black and white printing unit, and both color and black and white printing unit. If a color printer equipped with a color printing unit is a color ink jet printer, the printing speed to realize the highly accurate printing is approximately 1 to 10 pages per minute, or ppm, and it is reasonably priced. Black and white printers equipped with a black and white printing unit have the moderate printing speed of approximately 20 ppm to the high printing speed of over 40 ppm. Their prices are relatively high. Black and white and color printers equipped with both black and white and color-printing units have the printing speed of 1 to 10 ppm for color printing and the moderate printing speed of 20 ppm for black and white printing. The electric photograph method is expensive and has high capacity. The ink jet method is less expensive and has low capacity.
When color printing is applied to a sheet of paper along with black and white printing, ordinary technology required is to set up both black and white printer and color printer or one black and white and color printer.
When two printers, black and white printer and color printer, are set up, each printer has a set of a paper feeding means, a printing means, and a paper ejecting means, requiring high facility cost. The biggest problem is that it requires a large space in an office. When color printing is applied to a sheet of paper after black and white printing has been applied, the paper ejected from one printer needs to be manually carried over to the other printer to start printing. Therefore, efficiency of office administration is low.
And, in order to automatically process the printed cut papers with sorting, stapling, and punching a post processing machine needs to be connected to the exterior of the printer on the paper ejecting side. When the ordinary method of using two printers, a black and white printer and a color printer, is used, each printer is equipped with its own post processing machine, which increases facility cost and decreases usage efficiency of interior office space.
Furthermore, a black and white and color printer resolves the office space issue to a certain degree, but the printing speed is restricted to low speed for color printing and moderate speed for black and white printing. The biggest problem is its high cost.
As stated above, ordinary printers have problems in either or both facility cost and occupying space when black and white printing and color printing are administered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention was designed upon considering the above circumstances.
The first issue is to provide a printer system that can administer black and white printing, color printing, and overlay printing of black and white and color to a sheet of paper by one printer and that is able to reduce required time and cost and to minimize occupied space.
Another issue is that the above printer system can have an option to choose to eject the printed cut papers ejected from a printer either to the paper ejecting part in the printer system or to the post processing machine outside of the printer system.
An additional issue is to provide the printer system that can administer overlay printing of color and black and white to a sheet of paper and that can separately or simultaneously administer color printing and black and white printing to different sheets of papers.
Further, an issue is that the above printer system can eject the printed cut papers ejected from the printer to the paper ejecting part and/or the post processing machine either face-up or face-down.
In order to solve the above issues, the printer system of this invention, first of all, is composed of a main printer and a support printer. Second, the main printer has the paper feeding means, the transporting means, and the printing means. The cut papers are fed from the paper feeding means through the transporting means. They are printed in the printing means and the printed cut papers are ejected through the transporting means. Third, the support printer has the paper feeding means, the transporting means, the printing means, and the paper ejecting means. The printing means of the support printer prints the cut papers fed from the paper feeder and the printed cut papers are ejected from the paper ejecting outlet. The paper feeding means of the support printer feeds the cut papers to the paper feeder of the printing means of the support printer. The paper ejecting means of the support printer stores and accumulates the cut papers inserted from the specified inserting inlet so that the papers can be removed from outside of the support printer. The transporting means of the support printer has a cut paper transporting mechanism and a transporting control device. The cut paper transporting mechanism has the transporting route to transport the cut papers ejected from the main printer toward the inserting inlet of the paper ejecting means or the paper feeder of the printing means of the support printer and the transporting route to transport the cut papers ejected from the paper ejecting outlet of the printing means of the support printer toward the inserting inlet of the paper ejecting means. It also has the transporting device to transport the cut papers along the transporting route. The transporting control device establishes the said transporting routes based on given transporting destination specifying information and activates the transporting device.
The above composition enables the cut papers fed from the paper feeding means of the main printer to be printed by the printing means of the main printer and the printed cut papers to be printed over by the printing means of the support printer and to be transported to the paper ejecting means of the support printer. Also, the cut papers fed from the paper feeding means of the support printer are printed by the printing means of the support printer and then the printed cut papers are transported to the paper ejecting means of the support printer.
The said cut paper transporting mechanism has the transporting route to transport the cut papers ejected from the main printer to either the inserting inlet of the paper ejecting means, the post processing machine connected to outside of the support printer, or the paper feeder of the printing means of the said support printer, whichever is specified. It also has the transporting route to transport the cut papers ejected from the paper ejecting outlet of the printing means of the said support printer toward either the inserting inlet of the said paper ejecting means or the said post processing machine, whichever is specified.
Such construction enables the cut papers fed from the paper feeding means of the main printer to be printed by the printing means of the main printer based on the contents of given transporting destination specifying information. Then, the printed cut papers are transported to the paper ejecting means of the support printer or the post processing machine directly or after they are printed over by the printing means of the support printer, based on the contents of the different transporting destination specifying information.
The main t
Hashimoto Takao
Takeuchi Masakazu
Gradco (Japan) Ltd.
Grainger Quana M.
Lee, Jr. Newton H.
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