Method for limiting a height of a stack of sheets in a printing device

Abstract

In a method for limiting a height of a stack of sheets in an output holder of an image reproduction system, the output holder being configured to hold a stack of sheets printed upon by the image reproduction system according to a print job submitted to the image reproduction system, the image reproduction system including a control unit for controlling the receiving and printing of the print job, the method includes receiving a print job at the image reproduction system, the print job comprising image data to be printed and a plurality of print job settings, starting printing the print job by the image reproduction system, and delivering printed sheets of the print job to the output holder. The plurality of print job settings include a setting for a maximum height of a stack in the output holder settable per print job, the method including establishing a value for the setting for the maximum stack height of the stack, and stopping the delivering of the printed sheets of the print job to the output holder upon the stack reaching the maximum height set in the setting for the maximum stack height. An image reproduction system is configured to execute the method.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for limiting a height of a stack of sheets in an output holder of an image reproduction system, the output holder being configured to hold a stack of sheets printed upon by the image reproduction system according to a print job submitted to the image reproduction system, the image reproduction system comprising a control unit for controlling the receiving and printing of the print job, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving a print job at the image reproduction system, the print job comprising image data to be printed and a plurality of print job settings, the plurality of print job settings comprising a setting for a maximum height of a stack in the output holder, the maximum height being settable per print job in a job submission tool;   establishing a value for the setting for the maximum stack height of the stack from the plurality of print job settings, the step of establishing comprising the step of entering a maximum stack height value per medium type to be used for printing the print job, the medium type having a medium property that determines a maximum stack height for the stack in the output holder for the medium type;   starting printing of the print job by the image reproduction system;   delivering printed sheets of the print job to the output holder;   stopping the delivering of the printed sheets of the print job to the output holder upon the stack reaching the maximum height set in the setting for the maximum stack height; and   determining the maximum stack height of the stack in the output holder that will be used while printing the print job, to be the minimum of the maximum stack height entered in the job submission tool and the maximum stack height entered per medium type used in the print job.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the step of expressing the maximum stack height in a number of sheets in the stack or in a number of sets in the stack. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of stopping the delivering of the printed sheets of the print job to the output holder upon the stack reaching the maximum height set in the setting for the maximum stack height, takes into account the height of printed sheets which are already present in the output holder before starting of the printing of the print job. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 detecting a stack of sheets in the output holder before starting of the printing of the print job that has a maximum stack height set in the print job settings; and   removing the stack of sheets from the output holder before starting of the printing of the print job.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the step of entering a second maximum stack height for a submitted print job on a local user interface of the image reproduction system, wherein the second maximum stack height overrules the maximum stack height set in the print job settings of the print job. 
     
     
         6 . An image reproduction system for printing a print job on sheets, the print job comprising image data and a plurality of print job settings, the image reproduction system comprising:
 a print engine;   an output holder configured to hold a stack of sheets printed upon by the printing engine according to the print job submitted to the image reproduction system;   a control unit for controlling the receiving and the printing of the print job; and a receiving device for receiving the submitted print job,   wherein the plurality of print job settings comprises a setting for a maximum height of a stack in the output holder, the maximum height being settable per print job,   wherein the control unit is configured to establish a value for the setting for the maximum stack height of the stack, to stop delivering of printed sheets of the print job to the output holder, upon the stack in the output holder reaching the maximum height set in the setting for the maximum stack height,   wherein the control unit is configured to enter a maximum stack height value per medium type to be used for printing of the print job, the medium type having a medium property that determines a maximum stack height for the stack in the output holder for the medium type, and   wherein the control unit is configured to determine the maximum stack height of the stack in the output holder that will be used while printing the print job, to be the minimum of the maximum stack height entered in the job submission tool and the maximum stack height entered per medium type used in the print job.   
     
     
         7 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable program code configured to instruct a computer to perform the method according to  claim 1  in an image reproduction system for printing a print job on sheets, the print job comprising image data and a plurality of print job settings, the image reproduction system comprising:
 a print engine; 
 an output holder configured to hold a stack of sheets printed upon by the printing engine according to the print job submitted to the image reproduction system; 
 a control unit for controlling the receiving and the printing of the print job; and a receiving device for receiving the submitted print job, 
 wherein the plurality of print job settings comprises a setting for a maximum height of a stack in the output holder, the maximum height being settable per print job, 
 wherein the control unit is configured to establish a value for the setting for the maximum stack height of the stack, to stop delivering of printed sheets of the print job to the output holder, upon the stack in the output holder reaching the maximum height set in the setting for the maximum stack height, 
 wherein the control unit is configured to enter a maximum stack height value per medium type to be used for printing of the print job, the medium type having a medium property that determines a maximum stack height for the stack in the output holder for the medium type, and 
 wherein the control unit is configured to determine the maximum stack height of the stack in the output holder that will be used while printing the print job, to be the minimum of the maximum stack height entered in the job submission tool and the maximum stack height entered per medium type used in the print job.