JPH06100231A - Output method of digitized document data - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide an output method for facilitating sorting of copied paper when a plurality of copies of electronically stored document data consisting of a plurality of pages are printed out. [Structure] Two paper feed mechanisms having different directions of paper to be printed and a print controller for printing document data in accordance with the direction of paper are provided, and an odd-numbered copy and an even-numbered copy of the number of copies specified by a user are provided. And a step of notifying the print control device of an instruction to change the direction of the output paper. Furthermore, in a digital copying machine that reads and stores the surface of the paper to be copied as electronic document data, a step of changing the direction of the paper and outputting is provided. [Effect] Since a copy of the document data is output by changing the printing direction part by part, the trouble of sorting can be saved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for printing electronic document data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is widely practiced in general information systems to take out electronically stored document data consisting of a plurality of pages and print a specified number of pages for each page.

On the other hand, in a copying machine, when a plurality of copies of a document having a plurality of pages are copied, when a device called a sorter for stacking the copied papers is attached, each page is stacked on a different stacker. However, when there is no sorter, a plurality of copied sheets are stacked for each page.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As in the above-mentioned prior art, in the method of printing electronically stored document data consisting of a plurality of pages for each specified number of pages,
The sorting work was time-consuming. Therefore, it is possible to reduce this trouble by outputting to a printing apparatus having a sorter such as a copying machine. However, since the sorter function is added, the printing apparatus becomes expensive and
An extra space was needed for the sorter part. In addition, when copying multiple copies with a copier that does not have a sorter, in the method of copying a document of multiple pages part by part,
It is necessary to repeat the operation of reading the paper to be copied, the number of times of which the number of pages is multiplied by the number of copies, and the operation of reading, printing, and discharging, which takes a long time.

It is an object of the present invention to output electronically stored document data consisting of a plurality of pages by changing the printing direction of each paper when printing a plurality of copies by a printing apparatus having no sorter function. Thus, it is possible to provide a method for facilitating sorting of copied papers, and a copying method for enabling printing of a plurality of copies by a reading operation of a document several times.

[0006]

In an information system for printing a plurality of sets of electronically stored document data consisting of a plurality of pages, at least two papers to be printed have different orientations.
One paper feeding device and a control device capable of dynamically selecting the paper feeding device are provided, and a step of changing the paper direction for each number of copies is provided based on the number of printing copies input by the user.

Further, an input device for reading the surface of the paper to be copied as electronic document data as a digital copying machine and a storage device for the read document data are provided, and the surface of the paper consisting of a plurality of pages is used as the document data. There is provided a step of reading and storing, printing all pages in page order, and repeating printing of all pages a specified number of times.

[0008]

By operating the above means in the following manner, the copies of the document data consisting of a plurality of pages are output so as to be piled up one by one, so that the trouble of sorting is unnecessary.

(1) The document data consisting of a plurality of pages designated by the user is read from the storage device. (2) Part of all pages are printed and output. (3) Repeat (2) for the number of copies specified by the user. Here, in the printing in (2), the sorting becomes easier by changing the printing direction between the odd number and the even number. Further, by using a digital copying machine, electronically read and store the data on the surface of all papers to be copied, and the above (2)
By applying (3), the copied sheets can be stacked so that they can be sorted easily.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the first embodiment.
The greatest feature of this embodiment is to provide a printout method of document data in which the printing direction is changed for each copy when printing a plurality of copies of the document data including a plurality of pages.

The first embodiment will be described in detail below.
Reference numeral 1 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), 3 is an output document designating device used for instructing the document name and the number of output copies to be printed out by a user, and 5 is a storage device for registering a document record 7. Is composed of at least an identifier 9 for uniquely identifying the document, a page number 11 of each page constituting the document, and document data 13 of each page. In this embodiment, the method of registering the document record 7 in the storage device 5 is not specified. Further, it does not matter whether the storage device is portable or not, whether it is a direct access device or a sequential access device. Any storage device may be used as long as the document record is registered and the document record corresponding to the document identifier designated by the user can be read.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a storage memory, which is an output control program 1 for outputting document data in response to a user request.
7, a document identifier 19 instructed to be output by the user, an output copy number 21, and an output document record 23 in which the document record 7 read from the storage device 5 for output is temporarily stored. The output document record 15 has the same identifier 25, page number 27, and document data 2 as the document record 7.
9, the storage memory 15 stores, as the output document record 15, the document records for the number of pages forming the document to be output.

An output device 31 prints out document data, and at least a vertical / horizontal conversion unit 33, a printing unit 35,
Paper feeders 37 and 39 containing the paper to be printed, and transport device 4
1. The output list 47, 49, 51 and the like are composed of a stacker 53 which is stacked. The vertical / horizontal conversion unit 33 receives an instruction from the output control program 17, and sets the paper feeder 37 containing paper to be used for printing to 39 or 39 to 3
In addition to instructing the transport device 41 to switch to 7, the printing unit 35 is instructed to switch to a printing method suitable for that, and output lists 47, 49,
Works to output 51. The size of the printed paper is
A method of allowing the user to specify in advance may be used, or an embodiment in which the size is limited to a fixed size may be used. In the present invention, for simplification of description, when the size is fixed to one size having a vertical and horizontal direction paper feeding device, it is fixed to A4 size which is generally equipped as a paper feeding device of a printing device. Suppose
Of course, if there are vertical and horizontal paper feeders other than the A4 size, the present invention may be implemented according to the size of the paper.

Descriptions of a program of the operating system for inputting the document record 7 from the storage device 5 and outputting the output document record 23 to the output device 31, an input / output area, a work area necessary for executing the program, etc. Is
It is omitted to avoid complication.

The processing contents of the output control program 17 will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. The output control program 17 is executed in response to a print output request for document data from the output document instruction device 3, for example. It should be noted that the input screen of the request and the designation method are outside the scope of the present invention, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. However, the request includes at least a document identifier for specifying document data to be printed out,
It shall be accompanied by the number of printouts. Those values are set in the document identifier 19 and the output copy number 21 in the storage memory 15. Furthermore, an instruction from the user may be given, such as designating a page range of the document data to be output or designating print output of a plurality of documents. In the following, in order to simplify the description, only the case where all pages of one document are printed out will be described.

When the output control program 17 is started,
The document records 7 of all pages having the same identifier 9 as the designated document identifier 19 are read from the storage device 5 and set as the output document record 23 in the storage memory 15 (step 101). The designated number of output copies 21 is set in the counter I (step 103), and one page is printed (step 105). It is determined whether the output document records of all pages have been output (step 107), and step 105 and subsequent steps are repeated only when the output is NO. If YES in step 107, the counter I is decremented by 1 (step 109), and it is determined whether or not the counter I is 0 (step 111). If YES in step 111, the print output process ends. If NO in step 111, it is determined whether the printing direction can be converted (step 113). As a method of this determination, for example, an embodiment in which the output device 31 is inquired,
An embodiment may be used in which the determination is made based on the parameters given in advance to the output control program when the output device is connected.

If step 113 is NO, step 10
Repeat from 5 onwards. If YES at step 113, the output device 31 is instructed to change the printing direction (step 11).
5).

As a method of instructing the output device 31 to convert the printing direction, a method of notifying the output device 31 of the printing direction conversion request separately from the printing request as in the present embodiment may be used. A method of adding and notifying the output device 31 may be used. Further, a method of requesting switching of the printing direction may be used, or a method of designating the printing direction each time may be used. It suffices that the embodiment is such that the printing direction is substantially switched for each copy of the document. Next, one page is output (step 117). It is determined whether the output document records of all pages have been output (step 119), and step 117 and subsequent steps are repeated only when the output is NO. If YES in step 119, the counter I is decremented by 1 (step 121), and it is determined whether or not the counter I is 0 (step 123). If step 123 is NO, step 115 and subsequent steps are repeated. If YES in step 123, the print output process ends.

According to the present embodiment, the document data composed of a plurality of pages is not printed out on a page-by-page basis, but rather from the first page to the last page (however,
It is easy to sort the output papers by repeating the printout of a series of pages (which may be a part of the page depending on the designation) one by one for the designated number of times. Also,
The effect is further enhanced by changing the printing direction for each copy.

When the printout of a plurality of documents is designated, the first page to the last page of each document (however, it may be a part of the page depending on the designation) are connected to form 1
It is easy to sort the output papers by repeating the printout for each sheet a specified number of times. Similarly, the effect is further enhanced by changing the printing direction for each copy that is a copy of a plurality of documents.

Further, a document record 7 consisting of a plurality of pages to be printed out is read from the storage device 5 and stored in the storage memory 1.
The storage device 5
Using the waiting time for inputting the document record 7 from
By performing a part of the print process of the first copy, that is, an example in which the processes of step 105 and step 107 of printing the output document record 23 set in the storage memory 15 page by page are executed, The overall time taken for output can be shortened.

As another embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to use a method in which the printing direction is changed from three directions or more by changing the angle little by little, instead of the vertical and horizontal directions. In step 115, the direction is indicated.

Further, as another embodiment of the present invention, instead of changing the printing direction, printing is performed in the same direction for each unit, and the direction of the stacked sheets is changed for each unit during the conveyance to the stacker 53. Good. At this time, in step 113, it is determined whether the conveyance device 41 can change the orientation of the paper,
In step 115, the change of the orientation of the printed matter is performed by the transport device 41.
Will be directed to.

Furthermore, instead of changing the printing direction for each copy, a method may be used in which a paper having a paper size or orientation different from the paper printed between the copies is output. Step 11 at this time
In step 3, it is determined whether or not there is a paper whose paper size or orientation is different from that of the printed paper, and in step 115 an instruction is issued to output one paper whose paper size or orientation is different from that of the printed paper. In the present embodiment, the paper indicating the division of each unit is wastefully output, but the vertical-to-horizontal conversion unit 33 for converting the printing direction is not required, and the output device can be inexpensive.

<Second Embodiment> A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the second embodiment.
The greatest feature of the present embodiment is that when copying a plurality of copies of a paper composed of a plurality of pages, the front surface of the paper is temporarily read and stored as document data, and the printing direction is changed for each copy and output. It is to provide a printout method.

In the following, the second embodiment will be described in detail with respect to portions different from the first embodiment. Reference numeral 15 denotes a storage memory, which in response to a user's request, temporarily reads and stores the surface of the paper composed of a plurality of pages as document data,
An output control program 201 for changing the printing direction for each copy and outputting, a number of output copies 21, a reading device 2 for outputting
An output document record 203 for temporarily storing the document data read from 09 is stored. Output document record 2
Reference numeral 03 includes a page number 205 and document data 207, and the storage memory 15 stores, as an output document record 203, document data corresponding to the number of pages forming a document to be output.

Reference numeral 209 denotes a document input device for reading the surface of paper as document data. The document input device 209 illustrated here is provided with a conveyance device 211 for continuously reading only the front side of the paper after continuously reading only the front side of the paper, and the paper 213 to be read is The reading surface faces downward, and is stacked in the reading order. The read papers 215 are stacked in the order in which they are read with the read surface facing upward. 751,753,755,75
7,759,761,763,765,767,76
9,771,773,775,777,779,78
1,783,785,787,789 conveys the paper 213 from the inserter 221 to the image data reading unit 219, conveys the paper 215 read by the reading unit 219 to the stack 217, and stacks the paper 215 in the stack 217.
It is a roller for carrying the paper 217 read from the reading unit 219 to the reading unit 219 and again carrying the paper 217 read by the reading unit 219 to the inserter 221. If the transport function can be fulfilled,
In the present invention, the number and position of the rollers, the transportation by one roller, and the transportation method by sandwiching by two rollers are not limited. Further, the document input device 209 is provided with a device that counts the number of sheets of paper 215 conveyed to the stack 217 and a control device that retransmits the number of sheets 215 from the stack 217 to the reading unit 219. Similarly, first, the image input device 7 may be such that only the front surface of the paper is read for all papers, and then the back surface of the paper is read for all papers. In the present invention, the configuration is particularly specified. do not do. As in this example, an inserter may be attached to the document input device to continuously read a plurality of pages of paper, or an embodiment in which the user instructs to read the sheets one by one. Further, when copying the front and back of paper, the embodiment may be such that the document input device is provided with an inserter mechanism capable of automatically performing double-sided copying, and the document data is continuously read in page order. It may be an embodiment in which the user individually sets the back and the back in the reading unit and the reading is instructed, or a reading method in which only the front of each sheet is read and then only the back is read. The page order to be read may be the ascending order or the descending order. To simplify the description below, it is assumed that document data is continuously read in the ascending order of pages and passed to the output control program 201.

The processing contents of the output control program 201 will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. The output control program 201 may be activated, for example, in the same way as when the user makes a copy with the copying machine, by an embodiment triggered by pressing the copying start key of the copying machine, or is attached to the copying machine. The embodiment may be performed by selecting the copy service from the service menu displayed on the display device. Hereinafter, for simplification of description, it is assumed that the copying machine is started when the copying start key of the copying machine is pressed. In addition, as with conventional copying, the number of copies can be specified by the user with the operation keys that are generally equipped on the copying machine.
It is assumed that the number of output copies 21 of the memory 15 is set. Similarly, the copy size may be specified by the user in advance, a copying machine that automatically determines the copy size may be used, or, for example, an embodiment limited to a fixed size may be used. In the present invention, in order to simplify the explanation,
It is assumed that the size is fixed to one size having the vertical and horizontal sheet feeding devices.

When started, the output control program 201 sets the read document data and page number in the memory 15 for each page (step 301). It is determined whether all pages have been input (step 303). The determination method may be, for example, a method of detecting that a new page has not been read for a predetermined time, or a method of detecting that the user has instructed the end of input of all pages. If step 303 is NO, step 301 and subsequent steps are repeated. If YES at step 303, steps 103 and after in the first embodiment are carried out.

In the present embodiment, the size of the paper to be printed is fixed, but in the case of a copying machine capable of printing on various paper sizes, it is determined in step 113 whether or not the vertical / horizontal conversion instruction is possible. It is also determined whether or not it has both vertical and horizontal sheet feeding devices.

According to the present embodiment, when copying a plurality of sheets of paper composed of a plurality of pages, the front surface of the paper is once read and stored as document data, and a series of pages from the first page to the final page is read. By repeating the printing output one by one a specified number of times, it becomes easy to sort the output papers. Further, the effect is further enhanced by changing the printing direction for each copy.

Further, waiting for input of document data from the document input device 209 in the processing of steps 301 and 303 in which the document input device 207 reads and sets the document data to be printed out in the storage memory 15 by the document input device 207. Using time, a part of the printing process of the first copy, that is,
Steps 105 and 107 for printing the output document record 203 set in the storage memory 15 page by page.
By adopting an embodiment that is configured to execute the processing of
It is possible to reduce the total time required for print output.

[0034]

According to the present invention, a series of pages from the first page to the final page is printed out one by one, by changing the printing direction for each set and repeating the designated number of times. If the printout of multiple documents is specified, the number of copies specified to connect the first page to the last page of each document and print one by one By repeating the process, the sorting work can be simplified more effectively.

By executing the process of reading the document data from the storage device and a part of the printing process in parallel,
It is possible to reduce the total time required for print output.

Further, when copying a plurality of copies of a paper consisting of a plurality of pages, the front surface of the paper is once read and stored as document data, and a series of pages from the first page to the last page is printed out one by one. By repeating the process for a specified number of times by changing the printing direction, it becomes easy to sort the output paper.

By executing the document data input process from the document input device and a part of the print process in parallel, it is possible to shorten the entire time required for the print output.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart of an output control program according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of an output control program according to the second embodiment.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nozomi Hirose 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Ltd. System Development Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic document data output system in which electronic document data composed of a plurality of electronically stored pages is taken out, and a specified number of pages for each page are printed and stacked. An electronic document characterized in that, in response to a print request for document data, all pages of stored document data are partially printed and stacked, and printing and stacking of all pages are repeated a specified number of times. How to output data. 2. The method of outputting electronic document data according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether the electronic document data is printed odd-numbered times or even-numbered times, and the printing direction is switched based on the judgment. 3. The electronic document data output method according to claim 2, wherein A4 size paper is used. 4. The document data stored in an external storage device is read and stored in a main storage device, the first copy is printed while being read from the storage device, and the second copy is stored in the main storage. The method for outputting digitized document data according to claim 1, wherein the printing is performed using the existing document data. 5. In response to a print request for a plurality of sheets of paper, all the surfaces of the sheets of paper to be copied are electronically read and stored, a part of all pages are printed and stacked, and all pages are printed a specified number of times. A method of outputting an electronic document, characterized by repeating printing and stacking pages. 6. The step of electronically reading and storing all the surfaces of the paper to be copied, and at least a part of the printing of the first copy and the stacking processing of the printed papers are performed at the same time. The method of outputting electronic document data according to claim 3.