JP3056948B2 - PRINTING APPARATUS, CONTROLLER THEREOF, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING PRINTING APPARATUS - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a control apparatus therefor, and a control method for the printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a printer device receives print data from a host computer or the like and analyzes the received print data to generate bitmap data. And
Using the generated bitmap data, a visible image is formed on a recording medium and output.

A typical example of this type of printer is a page printer (particularly a laser beam printer) which has been rapidly spreading in recent years. Generally, when printing is performed by this type of apparatus, a host computer as a higher-level apparatus sends print data described in a dedicated page description language.

[0004] Therefore, the printer device analyzes the received print data (consisting of various commands), and
A process of translating into an intermediate language and generating bitmap data based on the translated result is performed.

[0005] By the way, the frequency of use of this type of page printer apparatus is increasing, because the speed and the quality of the output image are good. Therefore, by installing a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk device in the printer device and using it as a printer buffer,
In some cases, it is possible to release the host device from print data output processing quickly.

[0006]

In a printer having a storage device, received print data is stored as a file, and a print process is performed on the data stored first in the file (hereinafter, referred to as a file). The act of storing print data received in a storage device as a file is referred to as "spooling", and a spooled data file is referred to as a spool file.)

Here, a functional block diagram of a general system (host computer and printer) will be described with reference to FIG.

The host computer 101 issues a print instruction (by an operator) through various running applications.
When receiving the print data 102,
Translated into a printer language adapted to the printer device 105,
After storing the data in the spooler 103 to some extent (provided for processing such as translation into a printer language), the data is transmitted to the printer device 105 via the communication channel 104.

On the printer side, the received data is spooled to the spooler 106, and the data is taken out in order from the oldest spool file.
In step 7, an analysis process is performed, and bitmap development based on the analysis result is performed in an internal memory. In this way. After, for example, one page of bitmap data is developed in the memory, printing is performed by transferring the data to the printer engine unit 108 in a predetermined procedure.

Here, when a large number of spool files exist in the printer, it is necessary to wait until the printing process of the target spool file is started. This time depends on the size of the spool file until the printing of the target spool file is started, and the printing processing capability of the printer, but from the perspective of the printer device itself, it depends on the processing capability. No change.

Considering the processing capability of the printer, processing on the printer includes a command analysis process in print data, a bitmap data expansion process to a print buffer based on the analysis result, and the like. And print processing based on the bitmap data developed in the print buffer. Among them, printing processing based on bitmap data (for example, in a laser beam printer, the bitmap data is transferred as a video signal, and the semiconductor laser element is driven thereby, forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, and , Development processing, transfer processing to a recording medium, etc.) are fixed due to mechanical restrictions. Therefore, if the command analysis processing and the bitmap development processing are performed at high speed, it is possible to make the most of the printer device.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a printing apparatus and a control apparatus for the printing apparatus capable of quickly obtaining a desired print result according to the status of the printing apparatus. And a control method of the printing apparatus.

In order to solve this problem, for example, a printing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in a printing device that records a visible image based on print data sent from a higher-order device on a predetermined recording medium and outputs the print data, a storage unit that sequentially stores input print data as a file in a predetermined storage unit, If the stored print data file is
Determining means for determining whether the data file is a first type data file composed of a command group described in a predetermined printer language or a second type data file composed of a bit image to be printed; Means for analyzing the data file, generating bitmap data, performing print processing, and determining that the data file is of the second type when the data file to be printed is of the first type; Control means for reading bitmap data from the data file and performing a printing process;
And returning means for returning, to the higher-level device, information indicating the degree of congestion waiting to be printed by the data file stored in the storage means when receiving predetermined information from the higher-level device.

Further, the control device of the printing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, when transferring print data to the printing device, the predetermined information is transferred to the printing device, and a determination unit that determines the degree of waiting for printing in the printing device based on information from the printing device, Bitmap data generating means for generating bitmap data substantially equivalent to that in the printing apparatus based on the print data to be transferred, when it is determined that the degree of congestion waiting to be printed is large, Output means for selecting one of the print data and the bitmap data generated by the bitmap data generation means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determination means, and outputting the selected print data as print data of the print data.

[0015]

In the above configuration, when the printing apparatus receives predetermined information from the host apparatus, the printing apparatus returns information indicating the current unprocessed information amount to the host apparatus. Then, the host device outputs normal print data based on this information, or generates one of bitmap data based on the print data, and outputs one of the bitmap data to the printing device.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the structure of the printer in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment, the laser beam printer will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 740 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores character information (character code), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from an externally connected host computer; , A corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created, and an image is formed on recording paper as a recording medium. Reference numeral 700 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LCD display are arranged, and 701 denotes an LBP 740.
This is a printer control unit that totally controls and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer.
The control unit 701 mainly converts a character pattern corresponding to character information into a video signal,
Output to 2. The laser driver 702 is a semiconductor laser 7
03 is a circuit for driving the laser beam 704, which switches on and off a laser beam 704 emitted from the semiconductor laser 703 in accordance with an input video signal. The laser light 704 is swung right and left by a rotary polygon mirror 705 to scan on an electrostatic drum 706. As a result, an electrostatic latent image such as a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 706. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 707 around the electrostatic drum 706 and then transferred to a recording sheet.

A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 708 mounted on the LBP 700, is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 709 and delivery rollers 77 and 711, and is supplied to an electrostatic drum. 706. Then, the toner image adhered on the electrostatic drum 706 by the developing device 707 is transferred to the conveyed recording paper. After that, the recording paper is fixed to the fixing device 71.
The toner is conveyed in two directions, the toner is fixed, and finally discharged by a discharge roller 713 to the outside.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the system (host computer and printer device) in the embodiment. The components having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the drawing, reference numeral 201 denotes a software emulation determination unit that determines the state of the printing apparatus and determines whether to expand and transmit print data or to transmit the print data without processing. Reference numeral 202 denotes a software emulator that develops the print data transmitted from the software emulation determination unit 201 into a bitmap image.

An information exchange unit 203 exchanges information with the host computer 102. A flag 204 indicates whether or not the data is already developed. A data determination unit 205 detects the flag 204 in the spool file and determines a data transmission destination.

In the figure, spool files are stored (queued) in the spooler 106 (which is composed of a recording device such as a hard disk device) in the order of reception from the host computer 101.

Note that the channel 104 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that it can transfer data in two directions.

The outline of the processing flow of the embodiment in the above configuration will be described as follows.

Now, when print data is generated on the host computer 101 (when an operator gives a print instruction to an application running on the host computer), the data 102 to be printed (hereinafter referred to as one print The unit of data is called a job).
Is stored once. At this time, the software emulation determination unit determines that the printer
A predetermined command is issued in order to inquire how many spool files exist in the file.

Upon receiving this command, the information exchange section 203 of the printer detects the number of spool files stored in the spooler 106 at that time, converts the number into a predetermined format, and converts the spool file into a predetermined format.
Return to 01.

The software emulation determining unit 201 in the host computer 101 receives this data, detects the number of spool files waiting to be printed in the printer device 105, and compares the detected number with a preset value to determine the job in the printer device 105. Is determined. When it is determined that the number of jobs waiting to be printed is large, the software emulator 202 in the host computer 101 is activated to process the job data stored in the spooler 103. As a result,
The software emulator 202 originally generates bitmap data by performing processing equivalent to the processing of the emulator 107 inside the printer device. Then, a flag (processed flag) indicating that the processing has been performed on the bitmap data is set, and the bitmap data and the flag information are transmitted via the channel 104 to the printer 105.
Transfer to

On the other hand, if the software emulation determination unit 201 determines that only a small number of job data exists in the printer device 105, it turns off the processed flag, and sets the flag information and the print information stored in the spooler 103. Data (data described in a printer language in a format interpreted by the printer device 105) is transferred to the printer device 105.

As a result, in the spooler 106 in the printer device 105, the job data for which the bitmap development has been completed and the job data for which the bitmap has not been completed are mixed, but these are sent from the host computer 101. This can be determined by examining the processed flag of each job. This determination is performed by the data determination unit 205, and the job data with the processed flag set (set) is directly transferred to the printer engine unit 108 (see FIG. 3) in a predetermined procedure to perform printing. . Further, the job data with the processed flag turned off is passed to the emulator 107, where the job data is subjected to normal analysis and expansion processing, and the resulting bitmap data is transferred to the printer engine unit 108, thereby performing printing. .

FIG. 4 shows a specific block diagram of the printer of the embodiment. Note that the configuration of the host computer is the same as that of a normal host computer, and the host computer only needs to include a program to be described later.

In the figure, reference numeral 401 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire printer, and 402 denotes a CPU 401.
ROM storing the operation processing procedure (programs according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 described later),
This is a RAM used as a work area of the PU 401. Note that the ROM 402 also stores font data (such as an outline font). The CPU 401
It operates as each processing unit of the information exchange unit 203, the data determination unit 205, and the emulator 107 in FIG. 40
Reference numeral 4 denotes a frame memory having a capacity capable of expanding bitmap data for one page.

Reference numeral 405 denotes an interface (I / F) 406 for receiving print data from the host computer and transmitting status information from the printer.
A large-capacity external recording device such as a hard disk device stores a spool file storage location (corresponding to the spooler 106 in FIG. 2) and various font data. Reference numeral 407 denotes serial conversion of the data designated under the control of the CPU 401 in synchronization with a known BD signal sent from the printer engine unit 108, and converts the data into a video signal as a video signal.
8 is a P / S interface to be sent out.

Before describing the operation in the above configuration, first, a print data transmission processing procedure executed by a CPU (not shown) of the host computer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when a print instruction is received, first, in step S1, data for transmitting the data to the printer device 105 is generated and queued in, for example, a hard disk device (not shown). Next, a predetermined command (status acquisition request command) is transmitted to the printer 10.
5 to obtain the current status of the printer device 105 (the number of unprocessed jobs).

Next, the process proceeds to step S3, at which the number of unprocessed jobs acquired is compared with a predetermined threshold value to determine whether the number of jobs waiting to be printed is large or small.

If the number of unprocessed jobs is small, the process proceeds to step S4, in which the processed flag is not set (turned off), and the flag information and print data are output to the printer.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of unprocessed jobs is large, the process proceeds to step S5, where the same processing as that of the emulator in the printer is performed, and the bitmap development processing is performed in the host computer. Then, after the bitmap data is created, the processing completion flag is set (turned on), and the flag information and the bitmap data are sent to the printer as print data.

Next, the CPU of the printer shown in FIG.
The operation processing procedure of 401 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6 shows a processing routine executed by an interrupt signal output from the interface 405 when the host computer sends data to the printer.

First, in step S11, it is determined whether the received data is a status acquisition request command of the host computer. When it is determined that the received command is other than the request command, that is, when it is determined that the received command is print information, the process proceeds to step S12, and is stored in the external storage device 406 as a spool file. However, at this time, if it is determined that the information is the head information of one job, a job management table (not shown)
6) is registered.
That is, the printing process proceeds according to this table.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the command is a status acquisition request command, the flow advances to step S13 to refer to the table (the external recording device 406 may be directly examined. ), The number of unprocessed jobs currently stored is acquired, the format is changed to a predetermined format in step S14, and the format is returned to the host computer.

Next, the actual printing process in the printer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not an unprocessed (waiting for printing) spool file (job) exists in the external storage device 406 by referring to the above-described table. Wait until it becomes.

If it is determined that there is an unprocessed job, the process proceeds to step S22, where one job is selected (the first job managed in the table is selected), and in the next step S23 , And determines the processed flag stored at the top.

If the processed flag is set (if it is turned on), the job data has already been converted into bitmap data, and the command is interpreted and the processing for developing the bitmap (by emulator processing) is performed. Start-up)
Is unnecessary. Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step S24, where the job data is read,
The data is transferred to the printer engine unit 108 via the PS interface 407 to perform printing. Then, in step S25, the processing in step S24 is repeated until the target job end is detected.

On the other hand, if the processed flag of the selected job is off, the process proceeds to step S26 to start the emulator, interpret the command, and interpret the frame memory 4
04 is drawn and expanded. Then, when the bitmap image for one page is developed in the frame memory 404, the process proceeds to step S27, and the developed bitmap data is transferred to the printer engine unit.
Then, until a job end is detected, step S2
Steps 6 and 27 are repeated.

In the above description, when the processed flag is on, the bitmap data read from the external storage device 406 is directly transferred to the printer engine.
The data may be developed once in the frame memory 404 and then transmitted.

Further, in the embodiment, an example has been described in which the degree of job congestion in the printer device is determined based on the number of unprocessed jobs. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

As described above, the processing speed in the printer device is higher for a job stored as bitmap data than for print data described in a page description language. Therefore, information (which can be determined by checking the processed flag) that can determine whether each job is bitmap data or data in which a page description language is described is stored in the table described above, Information indicating the degree of congestion of the job may be created based on these, and the information may be returned to the host computer. In general, in the case of bitmap data,
Although the time required for the printing process can be quantitatively determined based on the data amount, in the case of a page description language, an accurate determination cannot be made only based on the information amount. However, since it is true that the amount of information and the time required to complete printing have some relationship, in this case, the determination is made based on a typical example. Then, when a new job is received at present, information about how long the printing process is started is returned to the host computer.

On the host computer side, based on this information, the emulator is automatically activated to select whether to transfer the bitmap data or to transfer the data written in the page description language. , May be selected by the operator. At this time, the time until printing is started may be displayed on a screen or the like, and the instruction may be pushed up.

In the above embodiment, the degree of congestion of the printer is determined based on the number of unprocessed jobs. For example, the speed of the emulator of the currently connected printer is stored and held on the host computer side. By comparing the speed of the software emulation on the host computer side (which is also stored in advance), an emulation that can process at high speed may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a laser beam printer has been described as an example of the printer device, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The reason is that a printer (such as an ink jet printer, a thermal transfer printer, or a wire dot hammer printer) that scans a recording head can also be realized with a function of creating a spool file. It goes without saying that other types of page printers such as LED printers can be similarly applied. However, in order to create a spool file, the printer has a certain level of capability, and this is meaningful when the printer is used frequently. is there.

In the above embodiment, the job data for which the processed flag is on is bitmap data. However, for example, the printer device selects a recording medium (recording paper) of a plurality of sizes. In the case where a printing function is provided, it is necessary to have information such as what size of recording medium to use (or how many dots constitute one scan line). Not all are bitmap data.

In the above embodiment, the status acquisition request command sent from the host computer is sent via the same channel as the normal print data. However, the printer is changed by changing the logical level of the dedicated signal line. A request may be given to the device side.

Further, in the above embodiment, the host computer determines whether or not to start the emulator.
The associated flag information was transferred to the printer.
The portion that performs such processing may be realized by one independent device interposed between the host computer and the printer device. In this case, a storage device having a certain capacity may be attached to or attached to the independent device.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. The present invention is also applicable to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, a desired print result can be obtained quickly according to the status of the printing apparatus.

[0059]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a processing flow of a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a processing flow of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional structural view of the printer device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation processing procedure of the host computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of an interrupt process of the printer device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a main routine of a printing process of the printer device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 host computer 102 print data 103 spooler 104 channel 105 printer device 106 spooler 107 emulator 108 printer engine unit 201 software emulation determination unit 202 software emulator 203 information exchange unit 204 processed flag 205 data determination unit

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing device for recording a visible image based on print data sent from a higher-level device on a predetermined recording medium and outputting the same, sequentially storing the input print data as a file in a predetermined storage means. Means, and the stored print data file is a first type data file composed of a command group described in a predetermined printer language, or a second type data composed of a bit image to be printed Discriminating means for discriminating whether the file is a file, and when the discriminating means determines that the data file to be printed is of the first type, the data file is analyzed, bitmap data is generated, and the printing process is performed. If it is determined that the data type is the second type, control for reading bitmap data from the data file and performing print processing Means, and, when receiving predetermined information from the higher-level device, a return unit that returns to the higher-level device information indicating the degree of congestion waiting to be printed by the data file stored in the storage unit. Printing device. 2. A determination unit for transferring print data to the printing device, transferring the predetermined information to the printing device, and determining a print waiting congestion state in the printing device based on information from the printing device. Bitmap data generation means for generating bitmap data substantially equivalent to that in the printing apparatus based on print data to be transferred, when it is determined that the degree of congestion waiting for printing is large as a result of the determination by the determination means. Means for selecting one of the print data and the bitmap data generated by the bitmap data generating means in accordance with a result of the determination by the determining means, and an output means for outputting the print data as print data of the print data. The control device for a printing device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein said output means adds and outputs information indicating whether the data is bitmap data. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the return unit returns information indicating the number of unprocessed data files stored in the storage unit to a host device. 5. A control method for a printing apparatus which stores and manages print job data as a file and sequentially performs print processing based on the print job data, wherein when print data to be transferred to the printing apparatus is generated, Determining a current amount of unprocessed print job data of the printing apparatus; and converting the generated print data into a bitmap format or a language analyzed by the printing apparatus based on the determination result of the determining step. A control method for a printing apparatus, comprising: a selection step of selecting whether to use the described print data; and a step of generating data in a format selected by the selection unit and transferring the data to the printing apparatus. 6. The control method for a printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said transfer step further includes adding information indicating a format of data to be transferred. . 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the determining step, a command requesting acquisition of a printing status is output to the printing apparatus, and as a result, the determination is performed according to information returned from the printing apparatus. The control method of a printing device according to the paragraph.