Method and system for controlling multiple printers in a TISP or TIPP system for increased stability

#Currently, two or more printers (or “print engines”) are combined in a Tightly Integrated Serial Printing (TISP) system or a Tightly Integrated Parallel Printing (TIPP) system to provide a single print system of higher capacity and with other advantages. In such known systems, each printer is assigned a specific dedicated printing role. For example, a first printer of a TISP/TIPP printing system is assigned a first printing role of “side one printing” of pages and a second printer of the TISP/TIPP printing system is assigned a second printing role of “side two printing” of pages. Such dedication of printing roles provides advantages, but can also lead to problems. In particular, the first and second printers often migrate to different overall states of relative print quality, performance, and efficiency (referred to herein as “stress states”) due to differences in the printing roles performed thereby. In the above example, the side one printing duties defining the first printing role can be more demanding in terms of amount of printed output generated as compared to the side two printing duties defining the second printing role. This variation in the amount of printed output often causes the first and second printers to diverge from each other in terms of quality, replenishment of colorant (ink or toner), remaining useful life of wear parts, etc., which can be thought of as a lack of stability in the TISP/TIPP system. Any variation in quality is highly objectionable to the user, and the divergence in terms of consumption of colorant, useful life of wear components, and the like leads to inefficiencies in connection with supply usage and maintenance requirements. As such, a need has been identified for a new and improved method and system for controlling multiple printers in a TISP or TIPP system for increased stability.

#In accordance with a first aspect of the present development, a method for printer stability enhancement in a multiple printer printing system includes determining a first printer stress state of a first printer in a printing system, wherein the first printer is assigned a first printing role. The method further includes determining a second printer stress state of a second printer in the printing system, wherein the second printer is assigned a second printing role that is different from the first printing role. The first printer stress state is compared to the second printer stress state, and the first printing role is reassigned to the second printer and the second printing role is reassigned to the first printer if the first printer stress state is different than the second printer stress state.

#In accordance with another aspect of the present development, a system for printer stability enhancement in a multiple printer printing system includes a first printer assigned a first printing role and a second printer assigned a second printing role that is different from the first printing role. The system further includes means for reassigning the first printing role to the second printer and for reassigning the second printing role to the first printer after completion of a printing cycle.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional TISP/TIPP printing system;

#FIG. 2 illustrates a TISP/TIPP printing system provided in accordance with the present development;

#FIG. 3 is chart that illustrates examples of printer stress parameters used in the system and method according to the present development;

#As shown in FIG. 1, a print job 20 is input to a multiple printer printing system 22 that is provided as a Tightly Integrated Serial Printing (TISP) printing system 30 and/or a Tightly Integrated Parallel Printing (TIPP) printing system 40. The print job 20 includes first and second printing roles, e.g., with the first printing role being defined as printing side one of each page and the second printing role being defined as printing side two of each page, or the first printing role being defined as printing text and the second printing role being defined as printing images and graphics, or any other divisional of roles in a multiple printer printing system.

#The TISP printing system 30 is configured such that a first printing role of the print job 20 is performed by a first printer 32 (Printer #1) that is located upstream from a second printer 34 (Printer #2) that performs a second printing role of the print job 20 after the first printing role performed by the first printer 32 is completed. The second printer 34 outputs the print job to a printed output module 36 for assembling the hard copy paper printed output into the desired physical arrangement or package. The TISP printing system 30 also includes a paper path control system 38 comprising gates, inverters, cross-overs and the like, for controlling the flow of paper (or other print recording media) to and from the first and second printers 32,34.

#Similarly, in the TIPP printing system 40, a first printing role of the print job 20 is performed by a first printer 42 (Printer #1) that is arranged and operates in parallel with a second printer 44 (Printer #2) that performs a second printing role of the print job 20 simultaneously with the first printing role performed by the first printer 42. The first and second printers 42,44 output their respective print jobs to a printed output module 46 for assembling the hard copy paper printed output into the desired physical arrangement or package. The TIPP printing system 40 also includes a paper path control system 48 comprising gates, inverters, cross-overs and the like, for controlling the flow of paper (or other print recording media) to and from the first and second printers 42,44.