PRINTING APPARATUS AND SHEET DISCHARGE METHOD THEREFOR

摘要

A controller of a printing apparatus is configured to determine whether there is a stack-full tray, restrict discharging of the printing sheet to the stack-full tray and reduce the number of copies made in the sort printing process, store the page number of the page currently printed in association with a stack-full tray, obtain image data corresponding to the page associated with the stack-full tray onwards when it is determined that the full stack status of the stack-full trays is released, and the obtained print images with making the tray of which status is changed from the full status to the non-full status.

主权项

1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
a printing device configured to print an image on a printing sheet; a plurality of trays configured to receive the printing sheet on which image are formed by the printing device; a plurality of sensors respectively provided to the plurality of trays, each of the plurality of sensors outputting signals which are different depending on whether a height of a stack of the printing sheets received by the corresponding tray exceeds a particular height; a conveying device configured to convey the printing sheet inside the printing apparatus; a storage device; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to execute: a receiving process in which the controller receives a print job associated with a printing operation from an external apparatus; a number of copies obtaining process in which the controller obtains a number of copies to be made for the print job; a sort printing process in which the controller repeatedly causes the printing device to print one page of image of the print job on the number of printing sheets and causes the conveying device to sort and discharge the printing sheets on which images are printed by the printing device onto respective destination trays among the plurality of trays until all the pages of the print job are processed; a full status determination process in which the controller determines whether a signal output by at least one of the sensors respectively provided to the destination trays is switched, during execution of the sort printing process, from a non-full status signal, which represents the height of the stack of the printing sheets does not exceed the particular height, to a full status signal, which represents the height of the stack of the printing sheets exceeds the particular height; a storing process in which the controller causes the storage device to store the page number of the page currently printed in association with a stack-full tray which is a tray corresponding to the sensor determined in the full status determination process that the output signal is changed from the non-full status signal to the full status signal when the output signal of the at least one sensors is determined to be changed; a modifying process in which the controller stops discharging the printing sheet to the stack-full tray and reduces the number of copies made in the sort printing process from the number obtained in the number of copies obtaining process to a second number, which is obtained by subtracting the number of full-status trays from the number of copies obtained in the number of copies obtaining process when it is determined in the full status determination process that the signal output by at least one of the sensors is changed; a release determination process in which the controller determines whether the signal output by the sensor corresponding to at least one of the stack-full trays is changed from the full status signal to the non-full status signal; an image obtaining process in which the controller obtains image data corresponding to the page associated with the stack-full tray and stored in the storage device in the storing process and the subsequent pages from the external apparatus from which the print job is received when it is determined in the release determination process that the signal output by the sensor corresponding to at least one of the stack-full trays is changed from the full status signal to the non-full status signal; and a reprinting process in which the controller causes the printing device to print images obtained in the image obtaining process with making the tray of which sensor is determined to change the output signal from the full status signal to the non-full status signal the destination tray.