JPH02193216A - Printer interface unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the cost of a laser printer and to increase the number of degrees of freedom of printer from a host computer such as a personal computer to print this data. CONSTITUTION:At least one page of image data of a document, etc., to be outputted to a printer 4 is stored in a page memory 11 from a microprocessor device 3 on the host side, and this data is read out in accordance with the command inputted from the microprocessor device 3 and converted to data corresponding to the printer 4 and outputted as image data to the printer 4 together with the command. That is, not a code but image data of a dot pattern is directly outputted to the printer 4 from the microprocessor device 3 to be printed. Thus, a conversion means to the dot pattern is eliminated, and characters and graphics in arbitrary forms can be printed from the microprocessor device 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer interface unit connected to a microprocessor device such as a personal computer. In particular, the present invention relates to an interface unit to a laser printer, which outputs and prints dot pattern data directly from a host computer such as a personal computer to the laser printer.

[Summary] The present invention provides a printer interface unit connected between a microprocessor device and a printer, in which the microprocessor device directly outputs dot pattern image data to the printer instead of a code and causes the printer to print it. This eliminates the provided dot pattern conversion means and allows characters and figures of any type to be printed from a microprocessor device.

[Conventional technology]

Laser printers are now being used as output devices for microprocessor devices such as personal computers. This laser printer is composed of a printer engine and a printer controller section, each of which includes an electrophotographic section, a paper transport section, an optical section, and a mechanic control section that controls each of these sections. The printer controller section contains a microprocessor and RAMSR.
It is equipped with an OM, etc., and stores dot patterns of characters such as Chinese characters in this ROM or a large-capacity memory such as a hard disk. When printing, the printer controller uses its dictionary function to read out character dot patterns stored in a large-capacity memory such as ROM or hard disk according to the code data and various print commands transmitted from the microprocessor device. After converting this into image data, it stores it in RAM as a certain amount of image data, gives a print instruction to the printer engine to print this image data, and monitors the operating status of the printer engine. , to report its status to the above-mentioned connected microprocessor devices and operators.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In this way, conventional laser printers have a storage device that stores dot patterns such as characters and programs for dictionary functions as a printer controller section, and a storage device that stores programs for dot patterns such as characters and dictionary functions, and a storage device that analyzes commands from a host microprocessor device to generate image data. Since it is necessary to include a microprocessor device with large functions for converting into There was a problem in that laser printers were expensive due to

In addition, laser printers have become high-resolution, and DTP (abbreviation for desktop publishing), which prints various documents by printing documents created with a microprocessor device using a laser printer, is becoming popular. In order to maximize the performance of the laser printer, the data processing section of the laser printer needs to have almost the same performance as the host microprocessor device, and is becoming increasingly expensive.

Furthermore, a laser printer stores dot patterns such as kanji characters inside it and converts them into dot patterns according to commands and code data from a microprocessor device before outputting them. There was a problem in that it was not easy to convert a document created with a microprocessor device into an arbitrary kanji pattern and output it. This is because the interface specifications of laser printers vary depending on the manufacturer and model, so it is necessary for the microprocessor device to output by matching the ink face of the microprocessor device to match the laser printer's interface. , any microprocessor device could not be connected to a laser printer to print. As mentioned above, when attempting to create documents with various dot patterns or images using the host microprocessor device and perform DTP, there is a problem in that the documents cannot be easily printed using any laser printer.

The present invention was made with an eye to the improvement in the functionality of microprocessor devices connected to laser printers, and it is possible to reduce the price of laser printers and to print documents with arbitrary dot patterns from the microprocessor device side. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer interface unit which can easily output page by page to a printer and increase the degree of freedom of the output.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a printer interface unit connected between a microprocessor device and a printer, which includes: a page memory connected to a bus of the microprocessor device and storing at least one page worth of bit data to be output; a control means for analyzing commands from the microprocessor device and controlling conversion into commands or control signals for the printer and image data for the printer; a conversion means for reading data stored in the , converting the read data into image data compatible with the printer and outputting it, and outputting a synchronization signal to the printer, and outputting the converted command signal and control signal to the printer. The invention is characterized by comprising a means for doing so.

Further, the conversion means of the present invention includes a video signal generation circuit that generates a video signal clock to the printer, a FIFO memory in which image data read out from the page memory is manually stored and temporarily stored, and an FIFO memory that accesses the page memory and
The controller may be provided with a controller that serially converts the image data of the FO memory and converts the input image data into image data to be sent to the printer in accordance with a video signal clock, and outputs the image data along with a synchronization signal for the printer.

Further, the page memory can be mounted on one substrate and can be mounted inside the casing of the microprocessor device.

Further, parts other than the page memory can be mounted on a second board, this board and the microprocessor device can be connected via RS-232C, and the page memory can be connected by an image bus.

[Effect]

At least one page of image data such as a document to be output from the host microprocessor device to the printer is stored in a page memory, and this data is read out according to a command manually input from the microprocessor device to provide data corresponding to the printer. is converted into image data and output to the printer along with the command.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer interface unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the part 1 surrounded by a broken line constitutes the printer interface unit. This printer interface unit 1 is divided into two parts, and the page memory 11 part, which will be described later, is the host side microprocessor. It is mounted inside the housing of the device 3. The microprocessor device 3 includes a CPU 31, a RAM 32, and a ROM.
33, RS-232C interface 34, and keyboard interface 35, C to which the keyboard 5 is connected.
Various peripheral devices are provided, such as a CRT interface 36 to which the RT 6 is connected and a floppy disk interface 37 to which the floppy disk device 7 is connected, and these devices are connected by a bus 30.

The printer interface unit 1 is provided with a page memory 11 that can store bit data of a dot pattern corresponding to at least one page.
The microprocessor device 3 is connected to the expansion slot of
is implemented inside the housing.

In this example device, the capacity of the page memory 11 is 2610M to store image data for one page of A3 size.
It is assumed to have a capacity of bytes. Furthermore, the page memory 11 has a built-in timing signal generation circuit for refreshing or receives a refresh timing signal from the microprocessor device 3, and refresh is repeated using the refresh timing signal. The image data output of this page memory 11 is connected to a FIFO memory 13 by an image bus 22 for transmitting image signals, and the output of this FIFO memory 13 is input to the controller 12 via a parallel-serial conversion circuit 20.

Further, its address input is connected to a controller (CONT) 12 via an address bus 21.

A video signal generation circuit (VCG) 14 that generates a video signal clock serving as a scanning signal to the laser printer 4 is connected to the controller 12, and a FIF○ memory 13 is connected to the controller 12.
give the clock. The image output from the controller 12 is then input to the laser printer 4 via the video interface 25.

This printer interface unit 1 includes a CPU 15,
It includes a RAM 16, a ROM 17, an interface 18 connected to the RS-232C interface 34 of the microprocessor device 3 via an RS232C cable 24, and an interface 19 connected to the laser printer 4, and the controller 12 and the above-mentioned (7). CPU1
5, RAM M2S, ROM17, interface 18.
19 are connected to each other by a bus 23. Portions other than page memory 11 are mounted on a separate board from page memory 11 and connected to microprocessor device 3 and laser printer 4.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the flow of data and control signals between the microprocessor device 3, the printer interface unit 1, and the laser printer 4. Explain the relationship.

FIG. 2 will be explained. The microprocessor device 3 that attempts to create, edit, etc. and print a document, etc.
A command (command A in FIG. 2) is sent to the printer interface unit 1 via the S-, 232C interface 34, and status information A is sent from the printer interface unit 1. Further, image data is sent from the page memory 11 connected to the bus of the microprocessor device 3 to the printer interface unit 1, and a print enable signal is sent from the printer interface unit 1.

Also, between the printer interface unit 1 and the laser printer 4 (laser printer engine), command B is sent, status information B of the laser printer 4 is input, and various control information including synchronization signals are mutually input/output. , a ready signal is input, and as image information, a video signal in which the video clock and image data from the page memory 11 are converted into a rusk image data to be printed by a laser printer is output to the laser printer 4. The configuration is such that a horizontal synchronization signal is input from the .

This can be expressed in more detail as shown in Figure 3, where the printer power ready signal, status busy signal, status signal, ready signal, horizontal synchronization signal, VSYNC request, test print signal, and paper ejection signal are sent from the laser printer 4. Sent. On the other hand, the printer interface unit 1 sends out a serial clock, a command, a controller power ready signal, a start signal, a vertical signal, a video signal, and a video clock.

Upper part 1- of printer interface unit 1 in Fig. 2
1 is a part that processes control information such as commands and status information, and the lower part 1-2 is a part that processes data such as image data.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, which are flowcharts showing an example of the operation when printing is performed using the printer interface unit of this embodiment.

Figure 4 shows the printer interface unit 1 of this embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the host-side microprocessor device 3. FIG.

First, in the microprocessor device 3, a document to be printed or a drawn drawing or the like is created, edited, saved, etc. by the application program.

This document is stored, for example, in a floppy disk device 7 or a hard disk device (not shown). When the document stored in the floppy disk device 7 is printed by the laser printer 4, the code data of the document is converted into dot image data and developed based on the control program in the microprocessor device 3.

At this time, the page memory 11 is switched to the access mode from the bus 30 side of the microprocessor device 3, and access from the printer interface unit 1 side is prohibited.

The contents of at least one page of the developed dot image data are manually transferred from the bus 30 of the microprocessor device 3 to the page memory 11 and stored therein.

The drawings are expanded into dot images and similarly stored in the page memory 11. The image data to be printed is stored in the page memo 1, and when the printing starts, the page memory 11 is stored in the microprocessor device 3.
Access from the printer interface unit 1 side is prohibited, and the mode is switched to an access mode from the printer interface unit 1 side. Further, printer control constants (number of print sheets, print range, etc.) are notified to the setting printer interface unit 1 by a command. Commands for printer control from the microprocessor device 3 are input to the printer ink face unit 1 via the RS-232C ink face 34 and interface 18.

Next, install printer interface unit 1 according to Figure 4.
Explain the operation.

When the printer interface unit 1 is powered on, it first sets initial values for operation in step S1.
), reset the laser printer 4 (step S2>
. When a ready signal from the laser printer 4 is detected, a print enable signal is sent to the microprocessor device 3 (step S3).

Next, according to commands from the microprocessor device 3, preparations are made to send data and commands to the laser printer 4, and printer control constants (number of prints, print range, etc.) are set (step S4).

Then, according to commands from the microprocessor device 3, the image data in the page memory 11 is read line by line into the FIFO memory 13, converted into a serial signal by the parallel-serial conversion circuit 20, and inputted to the controller 12. , the data is converted into a raster data line by line according to the video signal clock from the video signal generation circuit 14, and sent to the laser printer 4 (step S5). Further, the command prepared in step S4 (for example, command B obtained by converting command A) is sent to the laser printer 4 (step S6).

Here, since the page memory 11 is constituted by a dynamic RAM, it necessarily performs a refresh operation. Therefore, when reading image data by the controller 12, the refresh timing signal is inputted and the page memory 11 is accessed outside the refresh μ time so as not to conflict with the refresh timing signal.

Then, status information from the laser printer 4 (for example, printing completed normally, printing completed for one page, etc.) is detected,
This is processed into status information to be reported to the microprocessor device 3, and preparations are made to send the status information to the microprocessor device 3 (step S7). This processed status information is sent to the microprocessor device 3 (step 38).

It is detected whether printing has ended or not. If printing has not ended, the process returns to step S3, and if printing has ended, control returns to the microprocessor device 3 (step S9).

When the printer interface unit 1 finishes printing, the microprocessor device 3 determines whether it has ended normally or abnormally based on the status information, and if it has ended normally, it will notify the operator, and if it has ended abnormally, it will notify the operator. Investigate the cause, notify the operator of the cause, and finish printing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating designation of the printing range, and shows the printing area within the frame designated by the internal line and page of the paper 8 as the area in which printing can be specified.

Note that the microprocessor device 3 is capable of multitasking, running application programs to create and edit documents, and simultaneously perform image development or other operations. Further, it is also possible to configure the page memory 11 to include a plurality of pages so that image data is expanded in parallel to the plurality of page memories.

Further, in the printer interface unit 1 of this embodiment, an example has been shown in which the page memory 11 is mounted on one board and connected to an expansion slot of the bus 30 of the microprocessor device 3. It is also possible to mount it on a board and into the casing of the microprocessor device 3. Furthermore, it is also possible to implement a configuration in which the microprocessor device 3 and the page memory 11 are connected via a high-speed bus by being mounted in a separate housing or on the laser printer 4 side.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention prints image data by utilizing the functions of the host-side microprocessor device without installing an expensive microprocessor device necessary for converting it into dot image data on the printer side. I decided that I could do it.

As a result, image data of any dot pattern created on the host side can be easily printed, increasing the degree of freedom in printing documents, etc.

Furthermore, since there is no need for the laser printer to have advanced information processing functions, the laser printer can be made inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of data and commands in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an example of an interface between the printer interface unit and the laser printer of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the printer interface unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the microprocessor device according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram explaining the printing range. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer interface unit, 3... Microprocessor device, 4... Laser printer, 5...
...Keyboard, 6...CRT, 7...Floppy disk device, 2...Paper, 11...Page memory,
12... Controller, 13... FIFO memory,
14...Video signal generation circuit, 15.31...CP
U, 16.32...RAM. 17.33...ROM, 18.19.34.35.3
6.37...Interface, 20...Parallel-serial conversion circuit, 22...Image bus, 23.30
...Bus, 25...Video interface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a printer interface unit connected between a microprocessor device and a printer, a page memory (11 ), an input means (18) into which commands from the microprocessor device are input, and an input device (18) that analyzes commands from the microprocessor device and converts them into commands or control signals for the printer and image data for the printer. a control means (15) for controlling the page memory; and a conversion means (15) for reading out the data stored in the page memory, converting the read data into image data compatible with the printer and outputting it, and outputting a synchronization signal to the printer. 12, 13, 14, 20); and means (19) for outputting the converted command signals and control signals to the printer. 2. The conversion means includes a video signal generation circuit that generates a video signal clock to the printer, a FIFO memory into which image data read from the page memory is input and is temporarily stored, and a FIFO memory that accesses the page memory. 2. A controller according to claim 1, further comprising a controller for converting input image data by serially converting the image data into image data to be sent to the printer in accordance with the video signal clock, and outputting the image data to the printer together with a synchronization signal. Printer interface unit. 3. Claim 1, wherein the page memory is mounted on one board, and this board is mounted within a housing of a microprocessor device.
or the printer interface unit described in 2. 4. Parts other than the page memory are mounted on the second board,
This board and microprocessor device are RS-232C
4. The printer interface unit according to claim 1, wherein the printer interface unit is connected to the page memory via an image bus.