Apparatus for printing on both sides of continuous webs in a format producing collated stacks of ordered pages

An electronically controlled computerized printer system for printout on both sides of continuous webs to produce therefrom collated stacks of ordered pages, comprising in combination;

• two printing heads with corresponding interconnected data processing means for producing from stored data printed data on opposite sides of a printable medium;
• a continuous printable web presenting a series of similar sized sheets positioned in sequence along the web with two multiple fold line portions perpendicular to opposite edges of the web delineating separate sheets;
• means for feeding said web in a path past the two said printer heads to print therefrom onto opposite sides of the web sheets;
• means for organizing and feeding said stored data to each printing head in a sequence of page data batches to be printed in ordered format in registration on both sides of the web on successive sheets along the web and arranged in a sequence for presentation of successive pages in a sequentially page numbered format counting both sides of the sheets when the sheets are stacked in a fan-folded order;
• and computerized means for advancing the web automatically at a substantially uninterrupted predetermined computer controlled printing speed past the printer heads over a printing operation to synchronize and locate computer controlled batches of data to be printed on the successive sheets of the stack in ordered registration wherein said two multiple fold line portions are two multiple disconnect portions.

An electronically controlled computerized printer system for printout on both sides of continuous webs to produce therefrom collated stacks of ordered pages, comprising in combination;

• two printing heads with corresponding interconnected data processing means for producing from stored data printed data on opposite sides of a printable medium;
• a continuous printable web presenting a series of similar sized sheets positioned in sequence along the web with two multiple fold line portions perpendicular to opposite edges of the web delineating separate sheets;
• means for feeding said web in a path past the two said printer heads to print therefrom onto opposite sides of the web sheets;
• means for organizing and feeding said stored data to each printing head in a sequence of page data batches to be printed in ordered format in registration on both sides of the web on successive sheets along the web and arranged in a sequence for presentation of successive pages in a sequentially page numbered format counting both sides of the sheets when the sheets are stacked in a fan-folded order;
• and computerized means for advancing the web automatically at a substantially uninterrupted predetermined computer controlled printing speed past the printer heads over a printing operation to synchronize and locate computer controlled batches of data to be printed on the successive sheets of the stack in ordered registration wherein consecutive page data batches are printed side-by-side, with the same edge of the web serving as the top of the data for all of the consecutive page data batches such that the stacked sheets can be bound at one of the two multiple fold line portions, and sheets are separated at the other multi-fold line portion.

A data processing system for printing from stored data onto pages located on both sides of a continuous web and collating the printed pages into a plurality of sequentially numbered pages counting those on the front and back sides of the web, comprising in combination;

• data processing means for organizing and storing data into a format for printing of a sequence of pages to be arranged in registry on the opposite sides of the web;
• a web containing a multiplicity of sheets connected together end-to-end along the web and separable at disconnect lines disposed between successive sheets and arranged perpendicular to opposite edges of the web;
• web feeding means for transporting said web to a printing station;
• printing means located at the printing station electronically coupled with the data processing means to reproduce in printed form the pages on opposite sides of the web, said printing means comprising a pair of printing heads located respectively on opposite sides of the web being transported and disposed for printing in registry pages located on opposite sides of said sheets as the web passes the printing heads;
• and
• means for formatting data to be presented to the respective printing means for printing the pages on each side of the web on sequential sheets of the web,
• whereby the web is printed into a format for the sheets to be transported by said transportation means to a delivery station and stacked in a fan-folded type sequence that can be fastened together in registry and having the pages presented in sequential order right side up when counting pages on both sides of the sheets in order,
• said web constituting a fan-fold array with folds arranged at said disconnect lines with the printed pages fan-folded into a stack, wherein the pages in said stack are fastened together along one edge of the stack coinciding with one of the web edges, and the top and bottom ends of the pages in the stack encompassing the folds are removed, thereby confining trimming to two edges.

The method of printing pages on both sides, of a continuous web with computer controlled electronic printing means and collating the pages into sequential order, comprising in combination the steps of:

• feeding a continuous web of paper to be printed past a printing station;
• printing at the printing station data on both sides of the web as it is fed past the printing station;
• storing, organizing and presenting data to the printing station in page size batches sequence along the web and timed for printing pages in registration on the opposite sides of the web, with pages formatted sequentially along both sides of the web;
• segregating, stacking and collating the pages presented along the length of the web in a fan-fold type stack with an ordered sequence of pages when counting both sides of the pages,
• feeding a web having sheets defined sequentially along the web by means of fan-fold structure,
• registering the printing of the pages with the sheets defined by the web, and thereby collating the pages by arranging the web in a fan-folded stack, and wherein said pages formatted sequentially along both sides of the web are alternatively right side up and up-side down, and further comprising the steps of,
• fastening the stacked sheets together along one side of the web, and cutting off from the fan-folded stack the fan-fold structure holding the sheets together in a web at the top and bottom edges of the sheets.

The method of printing pages on both sides of a continuous web with computer controlled electronic printing means and collating the pages into sequential order, comprising in combination the steps of:

• feeding a continuous web of paper to be printed past a printing station;
• printing at the printing station data on both sides of the web during movement under computer control at a predetermined computer controlled web advancing speed past the printing station;
• storing, organizing and presenting data to the printing station in batches to be oriented on separate pages allocated in sequence for printing along the web length during said movement in registration with a sequence of pages positioned along the length of the web under computer control;
• stacking and collating the pages sequentially presented along the length of the web in a fan-fold type of stack thereby sequencing the pages in a numerical page order as presented in said stack when viewing both sides of the pages;
• orienting the batches of page sized data such that one of the web edges serves as the top side of the data for pages on both sides of the web;
• fastening the stacked sheets together along the fan-fold structure which holds the sheets together on one side;
• and
• cutting off from the stack the fan-fold structure holding the sheets together which is opposite the fastened side of the sheets.

The method of printing pages on both sides of a continuous web with computer controlled electronic printing means and collating the pages into sequential order, comprising in combination the steps of:

• feeding a continuous web of paper to be printed past a printing station;
• printing at the printing station data on both sides of the web during movement under computer control at a predetermined computer controlled web advancing speed past the printing station;
• storing, organizing and presenting data to the printing station in batches to be oriented on separate pages allocated in sequence for printing along the web length during said movement in registration with a sequence of pages positioned along the length of the web under computer control;
• stacking and collating the pages sequentially presented along the length of the web in a fan-fold type of stack thereby sequencing the pages in a numerical page order as presented in said stack when viewing both sides of the pages;
• and
• sequencing printed pages on both sides of the web in an ordered array of sequential batches of two successive pages.