JP3021453B2 - Printing device - 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 having a simulating function for simulating the operation mode of a plurality of printing apparatuses, and more particularly, to each printing method by comparing a control code in print information with a control code table. The present invention relates to a printing device that determines one printing operation mode from a plurality of printing operation modes corresponding to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various printing devices have been provided. In these devices, when printing is performed in accordance with input printing information, alphanumeric characters or the like for which a printing command is issued are included in the printing information. Are faithfully executed based on control codes such as double-width designation, line feed, and page break included in. In addition, the above-described various printing apparatuses have their own operation modes in order to enable more versatile printing.

Here, the specific operation modes include, for example, a high-speed mode for executing high-speed printing, a horizontal / vertical writing change mode, and designation of a dot space and a bit image. Specified by a control code inside, in particular, an extended control code (ESC sequence).

Under such circumstances, when creating print information, it is necessary to know in advance the operation mode of the printing apparatus for executing printing, and it is required to perform coding in accordance with this operation mode. From the point of view of the above, the desired printing could not be executed except for the printing information conforming to its own operation style.

In order to eliminate such inconvenience, the printing apparatus is provided with a plurality of types of operation modes of the printing apparatus in advance, and print information input based on the operation mode of one printing apparatus selected by the user at the time of printing is printed. (Hereinafter, referred to as the former) have been proposed. Further, by taking this one step further, a device capable of automatically setting a printing operation mode by analyzing a specific control code included in printing information by a printing device itself (hereinafter, referred to as the latter) has been conventionally proposed. (JP-A-63-216756). Both of the former and latter printing devices are used in various fields because the printing information stored conventionally can be effectively utilized.

[0006]

However, in the former printing apparatus, it is determined which operation mode is intended for each print information that the user wants to print, and the printing apparatus is required It is necessary to set an operation mode or perform a special operation, and therefore, there is a problem that the operation becomes complicated and the operation takes a long time.

In the latter printing apparatus, the former problem can be solved, but the control code for determining the printing operation mode included in the printing information is composed of various combinations of various character codes. In addition, the control code table corresponding to each printing operation mode has a control code composed of a combination of various character codes, which is long and short, corresponding to the control code.

The printing operation mode is determined by comparing the control code in the printing information with each control code table. The control code is composed of a combination of long and short character codes. All the character codes to be performed are compared with each control code table on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, when determining the printing operation mode, it takes time to compare and determine each character code, and the determination of the printing operation mode is delayed. The problem of doing so still remained. In addition, the memory capacity of the control code table increases, which inevitably leads to an increase in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to determine various printing operation modes of a printing apparatus at a high speed and to provide a large-capacity memory for a control code table. It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost printing apparatus by preventing the occurrence of the printing.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a simulation function for simulating the operation modes of a plurality of printing apparatuses. In a printing apparatus that performs a printing operation according to printing information to be printed, a printing information storage unit that stores the printing information, and a control code that determines a printing operation mode from the printing information stored in the printing information storage unit. Control code detecting means for detecting, a control code table provided corresponding to each of the printing operation modes, and configured from a combination of a predetermined number of character codes, and a control code detected by the control code detecting means. Comparing means for comparing the same number of character codes as the predetermined number of character codes with the control code table; It is configured to include a control means for determining a printing mode of operation based on the results.

[0011]

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, first, the printing information input from the external device is stored in the receiving buffer, and thereafter, the control code for determining the printing operation mode included in the printing information by the control code detecting means is provided. Is detected. here,
The control code is detected by determining the appearance of a control code specific to each printing device, determining the frequency of occurrence of the control code, the order of appearance of the control code, or a combination of these, or performing control specific to each printing device. This is performed by determining the code system.

Subsequently, the control code detected by the control code detecting means via the comparing means is compared with the control code table to determine the printing operation mode. here,
For comparing the control code with the control code table, a predetermined number of character codes constituting the control code, for example, a combination of the first two character codes following the ESC code, and similarly each A control code table storing a combination of the first two character codes following the ESC code corresponding to the printing operation mode is compared.

Such comparison is repeatedly performed, and the printing operation mode is narrowed down sequentially, and printing is performed in the finally determined printing operation mode.

[0014]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an optical system and a driving system of a laser printer. A laser beam L emitted from a semiconductor laser 10 is collimated by a collimator lens 12 and then reflected by a rotary polygon mirror 14. As a result, the traveling direction is periodically changed, and the photosensitive drum 18 is scanned in the direction of arrow A via the fθ lens 16. The photosensitive drum 18 is driven to rotate around an axis parallel to the scanning direction of the laser beam L at a rotation speed according to a resolution set in advance, and a latent image is formed by exposure scanning of the laser beam L, which is not shown. An image is printed on a recording medium such as printing paper by a developing device, a transfer device, or the like.

The rotary polygon mirror 14 constitutes a scanning means, and includes a polygon mirror 20, a scanner motor 22 for driving the polygon mirror 20 to rotate around its axis, and a predetermined rotation speed for the scanner motor 22. And a scanner motor drive circuit 24 that is driven to rotate. In addition, the rotating polygon mirror 14
Is a plurality of types having different rotation speeds corresponding to a predetermined resolution. In the present embodiment, the resolution is 240 DPI (Dot
/ Inch), 300 DPI, and 400 DPI are prepared, and are appropriately replaced according to a desired resolution.

The photosensitive drum 18 is driven to rotate by a main motor 28 via a main motor drive circuit 26. The main motor 28 includes a paper feed / discharge roller (not shown),
The developing device and the fixing device are also driven. The semiconductor laser 10 is ON / OFF controlled by the laser drive circuit 30. The scanner motor drive circuit 24, the main motor drive circuit 26, and the laser drive circuit 30 are connected to a control unit 32 composed of a microcomputer.

The control unit 32 includes the engine controller 3
4. Video controller 36 and CPU 38, ROM4
0, and a RAM 42, and performs signal processing according to a program stored in the ROM 40 while using the temporary storage function of the RAM 42. Here, the video controller 36 converts the image data sent from the host computer 44 as an external device into dot data that can be printed in accordance with the resolution.
A modulation signal is output to the laser drive circuit 30 in accordance with the dot data sent from the
N-OFF control is performed.

Further, the engine controller 34 includes a main motor driving circuit 26 and a scanner motor driving circuit 24.
, Respectively, to control the rotation speed of the main motor 28 according to the resolution, and to control the start and stop of the rotation of the scanner motor 24.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ROM 40 stores, in a table, control codes composed of a combination of two character codes for determining the printing operation mode according to the printing operation mode corresponding to each of the plurality of printing devices. The stored control code table 41 and other various programs necessary for control code detection control, print control, and the like are stored. Also,
The RAM 42 includes a print information buffer 43 for temporarily storing print information including a control code sent from the video controller 36, and a register for comparing control codes as described later.

In the laser printer according to this embodiment having the above configuration, the host computer 44 as an external device is used.
A control code for determining one operation mode from the operation modes of a plurality of printing devices is detected from the dot data obtained by converting the image data sent from the video controller 36 by the video controller 36, and the detected control is performed. Code and RO
By comparing with the control code table of M40,
A printing operation mode is determined, and the scanner motor drive circuit 24, the main motor drive circuit 26, and the laser drive circuit 30 are driven and controlled in accordance with the operation mode to perform printing.

Next, a description will be given of a specific initial process executed in the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, before decoding image information from the host computer 44 as an external device and executing printing control as described above. . FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the initial processing program stored in the ROM 42 of the control unit 32.

The processing of this program is started by the CPU 38 at the time of startup when the power of the printing apparatus is turned on. First, in order to initialize the apparatus, SELF-TEST, RAM
42, and initialization processing (S1) for temporarily selecting the operation mode 0 from among three types of operation modes (0, 1, 2) of the self.

Subsequently, the image information output from the host computer 44 is received and stored in the print information 43 buffer allocated to a predetermined address in the RAM 42 (S
3). Then, when only the control code is detected from the stored print information and the control code is detected (S5: Y
Only for ES), the process proceeds to the following determination processing (S7 to S25), otherwise (S5: NO), the process returns to S3 again to store the print information.

When entering the determination process, as shown conceptually in FIG. 3, first, a routine for determining whether or not the detected control code is a control code of the operation mode 0 is executed (S).
7). FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the operation of the routine. In this routine, the control code table (composed of a combination of two character codes) stored in the ROM 40 is compared with the content of the detected control code.

Here, the comparison of the control codes is performed as follows. First, of a plurality of character codes constituting the control code detected in S5, two characters following the ESC code are used.
Only the character codes are transferred to the register A of the RAM 42. On the other hand, of the control code table 41 of the ROM 40, the control code is sequentially transferred from the control code table 46 corresponding to the operation mode 0 to the register B of the RAM 42.

Then, the CPU 38 determines that both registers A and B
And sequentially judges whether the detected control code corresponds to the operation mode 0 or not. In the example shown in FIG. 3, among the control codes stored in the print information buffer 43, two character codes following the ESC code in the first control code are X and Y, while X and Y are stored in the control code table 46. Since the combination of the Y character codes exists, it is understood that the first control code matches the control code system of the operation mode 0.

The two character codes following the ESC code in the second control code are A and B. On the other hand, since the combination of the A and B character codes exists in the control code table 46, the control code It can be seen that also conforms to the control code system of the operation mode 0.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the operation mode is determined only for two character codes among the plurality of character codes constituting the control code. The comparison with the control code table 41 can be performed at high speed, and the storage capacity of the control code table 41 can be kept small because only two character codes are required for one control code. The algorithm of the determination in this routine is common to S11 for determining whether the operation mode is 1 and S15 for determining whether the operation mode is 2.

Subsequently, when it is determined that the control code detected in S5 does not exist in the operation mode 0 (S5).
7: NO), the operation mode 0 is deleted from the operation mode candidates (S9), and the process proceeds to the next process (S11). S1
In step 1, a determination routine for determining whether or not the detected control code exists in the operation mode 1 is executed. If the control code does not exist (S11: NO), 1 is deleted from the operation mode candidates (S13).

Here, the determination in S11 is made in the same manner as in S7 by determining two character codes of the character codes constituting the control codes transferred from the reception buffer to the register A and the control code table corresponding to the operation mode 1. The two character codes transferred from 48 to the register B are sequentially compared to determine whether the detected control code matches the control code system of the operation mode 1.

In the next S15, similarly to S7 and S11, a routine for determining whether or not the detected control code exists in the control code system in the operation mode 2 is executed. If the control code does not exist (S15: NO). Only the operation mode 2 is deleted from the operation mode candidates (S1).
7). Here, by comparing the two character codes of the register A with the two character codes transferred from the control code table 50 to the register B, the detected control code matches the control code system of the operation mode 2. It is determined whether to do.

As described above, the operation mode candidates are narrowed down. After the candidate narrowing down processing, it is determined whether or not the operation mode candidates are finally reduced to one (S19). When the narrowing down has been completed (S19: YES), the operation mode is set (S19).
21), end this program.

On the other hand, when narrowing down to one operation mode candidate has not been completed yet (S19: NO), it is subsequently determined whether or not an abnormal state in which all the operation mode candidates have disappeared has occurred (S23). When this abnormal situation is detected (S23: YES), a command error is displayed (S25), the program is terminated, and if no abnormality has occurred (S23: NO), the above-mentioned print information is again output. The process returns to S3 to repeatedly execute control code detection and operation mode narrowing down.

During the start-up period of the printing apparatus in which the above initial processing is repeatedly executed, the CPU 38 monitors the internal time counter to know the lapse of time, and
After the elapse of the time C, the processing of the 4SEC interrupt routine shown in FIG. 4 is started. Upon entering this processing, the execution of the initial processing program is terminated (S30). Then, by executing the initial processing program, one operation mode is successfully narrowed down, and the setting of the own operation mode by the processing of S21 is performed. It is determined whether or not the processing is completed (S3
2).

If it is determined that the narrowing down of the operation mode is completed (S32: YES), then S34 is executed and stored in the RAM 42 based on the control code system of the narrowed down operation mode. The print information is converted into dot data by the video controller 36, the printing operation of the dot data is started, and the normal print control is performed.

On the other hand, if the narrowing down of the operation mode has not been completed yet (S36: NO), the process of S36 is selected and the control code system of one operation mode arbitrarily determined within the narrowed down range is set. Based on the RAM4
2 is stored in the video controller 36.
Is converted into dot data, and printing of the dot data is executed.

As described in detail above, the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment selects and determines one operation mode from among the operation modes of a plurality of printing apparatuses, and determines a plurality of character codes constituting a detected control code. Among them, the control code tables 46 and 4 each composed of a combination of the first two character codes following the ESC code and the two character codes provided corresponding to the respective printing operation modes 0, 1, and 2.
8 and 50, the operation mode is determined. Therefore, compared with the conventional device that determines the operation mode by comparing all the character codes of the control code,
The operation mode can be selected and determined at a remarkably high speed.

The control code tables 46, 48, 5
0 does not store all the character codes that constitute the control code as in the conventional device, but stores only the two character codes that are the minimum required for determining the operation mode. Since it is enough, the storage capacity of the control code tables 46, 48, 50 can be reduced. Therefore, the cost of the printing apparatus can be significantly reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, two or more character codes of a plurality of character codes constituting a control code for judging a printing operation mode are set to be symmetrical for comparison. Of course, the operation mode may be determined.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to judge various printing operation modes of a printing apparatus at a high speed, and to prevent a large-capacity memory for a control code table from realizing a low-cost printing apparatus. It can be provided, and its industrial effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an optical system and a driving system of a laser printer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an initial processing program.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a comparison operation between a control code and a control code table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a 4SEC interrupt routine.

[Explanation of symbols]

32 Control unit 34 Engine controller 36 Video controller 38 CPU 40 ROM 42 RAM 44 Host computer 46, 48, 50 Control code table S7, S11, S15 Judgment processing procedure for comparing control code with control code table

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A printing apparatus having a simulation function for simulating the operation mode of a plurality of printing apparatuses, and executing a printing operation in accordance with input printing information based on an operation mode of one printing apparatus selected in advance. A print information storage unit that stores the print information; a control code detection unit that detects a control code that determines a print operation mode from print information stored in the print information storage unit; A control code table provided corresponding to each of them and configured from a combination of a predetermined number of character codes; and the same number of characters as the predetermined number out of the character codes constituting the control codes detected by the control code detection means. Comparing means for comparing a code with the control code table; and a control means for determining a printing operation mode based on a comparison result of the comparing means. Printing apparatus characterized by comprising and.