Printing apparatus and printing method for forming image using a first print material and a second print material

A printing apparatus comprising:

• a first engine for performing a print using a first print material, the first engine being connectable to a feed unit of a second engine of a different printing apparatus, which second engine is controlled by a second controller and is configured to perform a print using a second print material;
• and
• a first controller configured to control the first engine, the first controller comprising:
• an obtaining unit configured to obtain a plurality of pages of image data for printing;
• a generating unit configured to generate, by analyzing the obtained image data, information for the second engine including at least information showing whether or not each page in the obtained image data is to be processed by the second engine;
• a transmitting unit configured to transmit the generated information for the second engine to the second controller;
• a determining unit configured to determine whether or not the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more such that the different printing apparatus reduces supplied power for an image processing in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine does not include the data to be processed by the second engine, and such that the different printing apparatus supplies power for the image processing in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine during reducing power includes the data to be processed by the second engine;
• a conveyance unit configured to convey sheets on which data is printed by the first engine to the second engine;
• and
• a control unit configured to control the transmitting unit and the conveyance unit such that the generated information regarding the Nth page of the image data, where N is an integer of two or more, is sent to the second controller before the conveyance unit conveys to the second engine the page on which the N−1th page of image data is printed in a case that the determining unit determines that the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more, and such that the generated information regarding the Nth page of the image data is sent to the second controller before the conveyance unit conveys to the second engine the page on which the Nth page of image data is printed in a case that the determining unit determines that the number of the obtained image data is less than two.

A method of controlling a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus comprising a first engine for performing a print using a first print material connectable to a feed unit of a second engine for performing a print using a second print material, wherein the printing apparatus further comprises a first controller configured to control the first engine and a second controller configured to control the second engine, the method comprising:

• in the first controller:
• obtaining a plurality of pages of image data for printing;
• generating information for the second engine including at least information showing whether or not each page in the obtained image data is to be processed by the second engine by analyzing the obtained image data;
• transmitting the generated information for the second engine to the second controller of the second engine;
• determining whether or not the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more and
• controlling in such a manner that the second controller obtains the generated information in regard to Nth pages of image data, where N is an integer of 2 or more, before the second controller performs image processing on data to be processed by the second engine for performing a print of “N−1”th page of image data using the second print material in a case that the determining step determines that the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more, and in such a manner that the second controller obtains the generated information in regard to Nth page of image data before the second controller performs image processing on data to be processed by the second engine for performing a print of Nth page of image data using the second print material in a case that the determining step determines that the number of pages of the obtained image data is less than two;
• in the second controller:
• performing the image processing on the data to be processed by the second engine;
• and
• performing power control to reduce power supplied to the image processing step in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine does not include the data to be processed by the second engine, and to supply power to the image processing step in such a manner that the image processing step performs image processing in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine during reduction of power includes the data to be processed by the second engine.

A printing method using a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus comprising a first engine for performing a print using a first print material, the first engine being connectable to a feed unit of a second engine of a different printing apparatus, which second engine is controlled by a second controller and is configured to perform a print using a second print material;

• and a first controller for controlling the first engine, the method comprising:
• in the first controller:
• obtaining a plurality of pages of image data for printing;
• generating information for the second engine including at least information showing whether or not each page in the obtained image data is to be processed by the second engine by analyzing the obtained image data;
• transmitting the generated information for the second engine to the second controller of the second engine;
• determining whether or not the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more such that the different printing apparatus reduces supplied power for an image processing in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine does not include the data to be processed by the second engine, and such that the different printing apparatus supplies power for the image processing in a case that the transmitted information for the second engine during reducing power includes the data to be processed by the second engine;
• conveying sheets on which data is printed by the first engine to the second engine;
• and
• controlling the transmitting step and the conveying step such that the generated information regarding the Nth page of the image data, where N is an integer of two or more, is sent to the second controller before the conveying step conveys to the second engine the page on which the N−1th page of image data is printed in a case that the determining step determines that the number of pages of the obtained image data is two or more, and such that the generated information regarding the Nth page of the image data is sent to the second controller before the conveyance step conveys to the second engine the page on which the Nth page of image data is printed in a case that the determining step determines that the number of the obtained image data is less than two.