# US 10,500,840 B2 · Printing apparatus and control method that control movement of a transfer member > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,500,840 B2 - Document ID: US10500840B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/925,856 - Filed: 2018-03-20 - Published: 2018-10-04 - Granted: 2019-12-10 - Earliest claimed: 2017-03-28 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Masahiko Umezawa; Satoshi Kitai; Kouichi Serizawa; Atsushi Takahashi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10500840B2 ## CPC - B41J 2/0057: {where an intermediate transfer member receives the ink before transferring it on the printing material} - B41J 2/01: Ink jet - B41J 2/03: by pressure - B41J 2/125: Sensors, e.g. deflection sensors {(nozzle clogging detection for cleaning reasons B41J2/16579; detection for compensation for failed nozzles B41J2/2139)} - B41J 2/14024: {Assembling head parts} - B41J 2/155: for line printing - B41J 2/211: {Mixing of inks, solvent or air prior to paper contact} - B41J 13/0018: {in the sheet input section of automatic paper handling systems} - B41J 2002/012: {with intermediate transfer member} - B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS ## Abstract A printing apparatus includes a control unit that, when continuously printing on a plurality of cut sheets of a same size, controls a print unit to cause a transfer member to continue movement, controls the print unit and a supply unit so as to stop supply of a cut sheet by the supply unit based on information concerning a time taken to process image data representing an image of a print target by an image processing unit, and controls the print unit not to form an ink image in a partial area on the transfer member that passes through a transfer area at a timing when the supply of the cut sheet to the transfer area is stopped, and to form the ink image in a remaining area. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A printing apparatus comprising: (A) a transfer member configured to move to cyclically pass through a formation area of an ink image and a transfer area in which the ink image is transferred to a cut sheet, the transfer member being provided so as to be capable of holding images to be formed on a plurality of cut sheets in a direction in which the transfer member passes through the formation area of the ink image; (B) a supply unit configured to supply the cut sheet to the transfer member continuously; (C) a data acquisition unit configured to acquire print data for forming the ink image on the transfer member, the print data being obtained when an image processing unit processes image data representing an image of a print target; (D) a print unit configured to discharge ink to the transfer member based on the print data and to form the ink image on the transfer member in the formation area of the ink image; (E) a transfer unit configured to transfer the ink image from the transfer member to the cut sheet supplied by the supply unit in the transfer area; and (F) a control unit configured, when continuously printing on the plurality of cut sheets of the same size: (a) to control the transfer member to cause the transfer member to continue the movement; (b) to control the supply unit so as to stop the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit based on information concerning a time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit; and (c) to control the print unit so as not to form the ink image in a partial area on the transfer member that passes through the transfer area at a timing when the supply of the cut sheet to the transfer area is stopped, and to form the ink image in a remaining area. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising (G) an information acquisition unit configured to acquire the information concerning the image of the print target before the image processing unit acquires the print data for the image of the print target. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit sets, based on the time and a number of copies of the print target, a period during which the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit is stopped. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets, based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, a period during which the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit is stopped. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein based on information of a schedule indicating whether to execute printing based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target, the control unit determines whether to stop the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit generates the information of the schedule based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, in the schedule, a period during which no printing is executed is expressed by a value indicating the number of copies printable if printing is executed during the period. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, if the supply unit does not supply the cut sheet, the control unit controls the print unit not to form the ink image even at a timing when the ink image should be formed. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information concerning the time taken to process the image data includes a resolution of the print target. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls, while maintaining a moving speed of the transfer member, the supply unit so as to stop the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, and controls the print unit so as not to form the ink image in the partial area on the transfer member that passes through the transfer area at a timing when the supply of the cut sheet to the transfer area is stopped, and to form the ink image in the remaining area. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, on the transfer member, a plurality of regions is provided in a direction in which the transfer member passes through the formation area of the ink image, each of the plurality of regions being capable of holding an image of a single cut sheet, and, when continuously printing on the plurality of cut sheets of the same size, the control unit controls the print unit and the supply unit, based on the information concerning the time taken to process image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, so as not to form the ink image on one or more regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet not to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the one or more of the plurality of regions pass through the transfer area, and to form the ink image on the remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, pass through the transfer area. ### Claim 12 A control method for controlling a system for forming a printed product using a transfer member configured to move to cyclically pass through a formation area of an ink image and a transfer area in which the ink image is transferred to a cut sheet, the transfer member being provided so as to be capable of holding images to be formed on a plurality of cut sheets in a direction in which the transfer member passes through the formation area of the ink image, a supply unit configured to supply the cut sheet to the transfer member continuously, a data acquisition unit configured to acquire print data for forming the ink image on the transfer member, the print data being obtained when an image processing unit processes image data representing an image of a print target, a print unit configured to discharge ink to the transfer member based on the print data and to form the ink image on the transfer member in the formation area of the ink image, and a transfer unit configured to transfer the ink image from the transfer member to the cut sheet supplied by the supply unit in the transfer area, the method comprising: when continuously printing on the plurality of cut sheets of the same size, controlling the transfer member to cause the transfer member to continue the movement, controlling the supply unit so as to stop the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit based on information concerning a time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, and controlling the print unit so as not to form the ink image in a partial area on the transfer member that passes through the transfer area at a timing when the supply of the cut sheet to the transfer area is stopped, and to form the ink image in a remaining area. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, further comprising acquiring the information concerning the image of the print target before the image processing unit acquires the print data for the image of the print target. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method according to claim 13, wherein, in the controlling, a period during which the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit is stopped is set based on the time and a number of copies of the print target. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein, in the controlling, a period during which the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit is stopped is set based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein, in the controlling, based on information of a schedule indicating whether to execute printing based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target, it is determined whether to stop supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method according to claim 16, wherein, in the controlling, the information of the schedule is generated based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method according to claim 17, wherein, in the schedule, a period during which no printing is executed is expressed by a value indicating the number of copies printable if printing is executed during the period. ### Claim 19 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein, in the controlling, if the supply unit does not supply the cut sheet, the print unit is controlled not to form the ink image even at a timing when the ink image should be formed. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein the information concerning the time taken to process the image data includes a resolution of the print target. ### Claim 21 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein, in the controlling, while maintaining a moving speed of the transfer member, the supply unit is controlled so as to stop the supply of the cut sheet by the supply unit based on the information concerning the time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, and the print unit is controlled so as not to form the ink image in the partial area on the transfer member that passes through the transfer area at a timing when the supply of the cut sheet to the transfer area is stopped, and to form the ink image in the remaining area. ### Claim 22 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein, on the transfer member, a plurality of regions is provided in a direction in which the transfer member passes through the formation area of the ink image, each of the plurality of regions being capable of holding an image of a single cut sheet, and, when continuously printing on the plurality of cut sheets of the same size, the print unit and the supply unit are controlled, based on the information concerning the time taken to process image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, so as not to form the ink image on one or more regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet not to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the one or more regions, of the plurality of regions, pass through the transfer area, and to form the ink image on remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, pass through the transfer area. ### Claim 23 A printing apparatus comprising: (A) a transfer member configured to move to cyclically pass through a formation area of an ink image and a transfer area in which the ink image is transferred to a cut sheet, the transfer member having a plurality of regions provided in a direction in which the transfer member passes through the formation area of the ink image, each of the plurality of regions being capable of holding an image to be formed on a single cut sheet; (B) a supply unit configured to supply the cut sheet to the transfer member continuously; (C) a data acquisition unit configured to acquire print data for forming the ink image on the transfer member, the print data being obtained when an image processing unit processes image data representing an image of a print target; (D) a print unit configured to discharge ink to the transfer member based on the print data and to form the ink image on the transfer member in the formation area of the ink image; (E) a transfer unit configured to transfer the ink image from the transfer member to the cut sheet supplied by the supply unit in the transfer area; and (F) a control unit configured, when continuously printing on the plurality of cut sheets of the same size, to control the print unit and the supply unit, based on information concerning a time taken to process the image data representing the image of the print target by the image processing unit, so as not to form the ink image on the one or more regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet not to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the one or more regions, of the plurality of regions, pass through the transfer area, and to form the ink image on remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, and to cause the cut sheet to be supplied to the transfer area at a timing when the remaining regions, of the plurality of regions, pass through the transfer area, while continuing the movement of the transfer member.