Printing apparatus and printing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11210574-B2
Application number	US-201817049706-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2018
Priority date	Nov 17, 2017
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A printing apparatus includes: a mechanism transporting a print medium; a first sensor outputting a signal indicating the presence or absence of a first mark; a first determining unit determining, on a first surface, a position of a second mark and a print position of an image based on the output signal; a first print head printing the second mark and the image at the determined print positions; a second sensor outputting a signal indicating the presence or absence of the first and second marks; a second determining unit locating a position of a predetermined one of the first and second marks, based on the signal output from the second sensor, and determines, on a second surface of the print medium, a print position of a target image based on the located position of the predetermined mark; and a second print head printing the target image at the determined print position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
a transport mechanism that transports, along a transport path, sheets of a print medium with a first surface on which a first mark is pre-printed;
a first sensor disposed to face the transport path, the first sensor outputting a signal indicating the presence or absence of the first mark facing the first sensor, in a process of transporting the print medium by the transport mechanism;
a first determining unit that locates a position of the first mark based on the signal output from the first sensor, and determines, on the first surface, a print position of a second mark and a print position of a first target image based on the located position of the first mark;
a first print head disposed more downstream of the transport path than the first sensor to face the first surface, the first print head printing the second mark at the print position of the second mark and the first target image at the print position of the first target image, the print positions being determined on the first surface by the first determining unit;
a second sensor disposed more downstream of the transport path than the first print head to face the first surface, the second sensor outputting a signal indicating the presence or absence of the first mark facing the second sensor and the presence or absence of the second mark facing the second sensor, in the process of transporting the print medium by the transport mechanism;
a second determining unit that locates a position of a predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark, based on the signal output from the second sensor, and determines, on a second surface of the print medium, a print position of a second target image based on the located position of the predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark; and
a second print head disposed more downstream of the transport path than the second sensor to face the second surface, the second print head printing the second target image at the print position of the second target image, the print position being determined on the second surface by the second determining unit.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a pre-print image is pre-printed on the first surface, and
the first mark is the predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark.

3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second mark is the predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a pre-print image is pre-printed on the first surface,
the printing apparatus further comprises a designating unit that designates one of the first mark and the second mark as the predetermined mark, and
the second determining unit determines, on the second surface of the print medium, the print position of the second target image based on a position of the mark designated by the designating unit.

5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the print medium is long lengths of a continuous sheet, and a plurality of the first marks are pre-printed on the first surface along a longitudinal direction of the print medium,
the printing apparatus prints sheet by sheet on at least one predetermined target sheet among a plurality of sheets predefined in the print medium to correspond to the plurality of the first marks,
the first sensor outputs the signal indicating the presence or absence of the first mark facing the first sensor among the plurality of the first marks, in the process of transporting the print medium by the transport mechanism,
the first determining unit locates a position of the first mark in each of the at least one predetermined target sheet, based on the signal output from the first sensor, and determines, on the first surface of the target sheet, the print position of the second mark and the print position of the first target image based on the located position of the first mark,
the first print head prints the second mark at each of the print positions of the second mark and the first target image at each of the print positions of the first target image, the print positions being determined on the first surface of the print medium by the first determining unit,
the second sensor outputs a signal indicating the presence or absence of the first mark facing the second sensor among the plurality of the first marks and the presence or absence of the second mark facing the second sensor among the second marks printed by the first print head, in the process of transporting the print medium by the transport mechanism,
the second determining unit determines, in each of the plurality of sheets based on the signal output from the second sensor, whether both of the first mark and the second mark are printed on the sheet, locates the position of the predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark when both of the first mark and the second mark are printed on the sheet, and determines, on the second surface of the sheet, the print position of the second target image based on the located position of the predetermined one of the first mark and the second mark, and
the second print head prints the second target image at each of the print positions of the second target image, the print positions being determined on the second surface of the print medium by the second determining unit.

6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the first determining unit determines the print position of the second mark in each of the at least one predetermined target sheet so that the first mark and the second mark are aligned in a predetermined order along the transport path,
the second determining unit determines, in each of the plurality of sheets based on waveform signals representing signal values of signals output from the second sensor which correspond to positions of the sheet along the transport path, that both of the first mark and the second mark are printed on the sheet, when a continued length of a signal value corresponding to a front mark aligned in the order is greater than a first threshold and a continued length of a signal value corresponding to a rear mark aligned in the order is greater than a second threshold, and
the first threshold is smaller than the length of the front mark in the transport path, and the second threshold is smaller than the length of the rear mark in the transport path.

7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the first print head ejects printing liquid toward a trailing end of the first surface of a non-target sheet on which a target image is not printed among the plurality of sheets to perform flushing, so that a linear flushing pattern that extends in a width direction of the print medium is printed at the trailing end of the first surface of the non-target sheet,
the non-target sheet is joined to the target sheet on which the first print head prints the target image, ahead of the target sheet in the transport path, and
the first print head prints the flushing pattern, the front mark, and the rear mark in the transport path so that the flushing pattern is shorter than the front mark,
the printing apparatus further comprising a threshold setting unit that sets the first threshold larger than a length of the flushing pattern in the transport path and smaller than the length of the front mark in the transport path.

8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the first print head ejects printing liquid toward a trailing end of the first surface of a non-target sheet on which a target image is not printed among the plurality of sheets to perform flushing, so that a linear flushing pattern that extends in a width direction of the print medium is printed

Assignees

• Screen Holdings Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takahashi Susumu
• Kataoka Hiroyuki
• Yasuda Satoshi
• Ishida Tetsuya

Classifications

• B41J2/165

  Prevention {or detection} of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles · CPC title

• G06K15/16

  Means for paper feeding or form feeding · CPC title

• G06K15/022 Primary

  for printing on continuous media, e.g. tapes · CPC title

• B41J21/16

  controlled by the sensing of marks or formations on the paper being typed, an undersheet, or the platen · CPC title

• B41J3/54

  with two or more sets of type or printing elements (B41J3/60 takes precedence) · CPC title