JP2000006497A - Printer, its controller method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute the sufficient energy-saving control of component members of a printer from the host equipment side in a printer comprised of the host equipment and the printer. SOLUTION: The CPU 1 of a host computer 13 generates control information to turn on/off a fixing heater 61 of the printer engine and sends it to the printer during the period of printing of the band in accordance with whether print data for 1 band to be printed are blank data not requiring the driving of a printer engine 62 of a printer 70 or not. In order to send the control information, a signal wire on a printer (parallel) interface is used or included in a part of print data and sent to the printer 70. The printer 70 side saves electricity by turning on/off the fixing heater 61 on the basis of the received control information to turn on/off the fixation heater 61.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus comprising a host apparatus, a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host apparatus, a control method for the printing apparatus, and a computer-readable program storing a control program for the printing apparatus. It concerns a possible storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, energy saving technology has been given great importance, and energy saving technology for stopping power supply to constituent members of an apparatus or stopping an operation clock during an unnecessary period has been used in various apparatuses. It has been implemented.

[0003] Further, in the above printing apparatus,
This focus on energy conservation is no exception. However, the energy saving technology of the printing apparatus having the above configuration has not been sufficient in the past. Hereinafter, a description will be given based on an example of a laser beam printer.

[0004]

A laser beam printer is widely used by being connected to a host device such as a computer. In the case of an electrophotographic system such as a laser beam printer, a laser-developed image is fixed. A fixing device is indispensable. This fixing is currently performed by heat fixing, and a heat source (fixing heater) for fixing is used.
Drive requires relatively large power compared to other components of the printer.

Although a great energy saving effect can be obtained by devising the driving of the fixing heater, conventionally, the driving control of the fixing heater is performed by turning on the fixing heater of the laser beam printer at the start of printing by the printer engine and ending printing. It turned off at times and did not provide a sufficient energy saving effect.

That is, in the conventional configuration, since the fixing heater is turned on from the start to the end of printing, the fixing heater remains on even during the period when there is no image or character to be recorded, and wasteful power is consumed. I was

The above problem is not only a problem relating to the fixing device of the laser beam printer, but the real problem is that the operation of a conventional printer, such as a fixing device, having a large power consumption such as a fixing device is performed by the host device. In that it could not be controlled sufficiently from

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to make it possible for a host apparatus and a printer to perform sufficient energy-saving control of components of the printer from the host apparatus.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising a host device, a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host device, and a method of controlling the printing device. And a computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for a printing apparatus, wherein the host device stores control information for controlling on / off of a predetermined member in the printer in a predetermined data unit constituting the print data. From the printer to the printer, and the printer controls on / off of a predetermined member in the printer according to the control information.

[0010] Alternatively, when the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, for a period substantially corresponding to a print processing period of the print data of the data unit in the printer, A configuration is employed in which control information for controlling a predetermined member to be turned off is transmitted from the host device to the printer.

Alternatively, the control information is transmitted using one predetermined signal line on a printer interface connecting the host device and the printer.

Alternatively, the control information is associated with a predetermined data unit of the print data, and is transmitted from the host device to the printer as a part of print data of a predetermined format.

Alternatively, the printer decodes the image data to be printed and the control information associated therewith from the print data in the predetermined data unit transmitted from the host device, and When printing image data decoded from the print data, the predetermined member in the printer is turned on / off based on the control information decoded from the print data in the predetermined data unit.

Alternatively, if the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the predetermined member is controlled from on to off in accordance with the start of printing of the print data of the data unit based on the control information. And then
The predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again in response to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit.

[0015] Alternatively, when the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again at a timing prior to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit, so that the predetermined member warms up. The configuration to be performed is adopted.

Alternatively, the printing mechanism of the printer comprises an electrophotographic printer engine, and the predetermined member is a fixing heater of the printer engine.

[0017]

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

First, the configuration of a laser beam printer suitable for applying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The printer to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a laser beam printer, but may be a printer of another printer type. However, a controlled member described later may be replaced with another member as appropriate.

FIG. 8 shows a hardware configuration of a printer engine of a laser beam printer (LBP) to which the present invention can be applied. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 1500 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores print information (character codes and the like), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from an externally connected host computer, and according to the information. A corresponding character pattern or form pattern is created, and an image is formed on a recording medium such as recording paper.

Reference numeral 1501 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LED display are arranged. Reference numeral 1000 denotes a printer control unit that controls the entire LBP body 1500 and analyzes character information supplied from a host computer.

The printer control unit 1000 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to a laser driver 1502. The laser driver 1502 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1503, and switches on / off a laser beam 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 according to an input video signal. The laser light 1504 is rotated by the polygon mirror 150.
5, and is scanned and exposed on the electrostatic drum 1506.

By this scanning exposure, the electrostatic drum 1506
An electrostatic latent image such as a character pattern is formed thereon. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1507 provided around the electrostatic drum 1506, and then transferred to a recording sheet.

The toner image transferred to the recording paper is supplied to a fixing device 15.
15 is heat-fixed. The fixing device 1515 incorporates a fixing roller 1516, and the fixing roller 1516 is heated by a fixing heater (not shown in the figure).

The recording paper on which recording has been carried out
Is discharged to the discharge tray 1517. Note that cut sheets are used as recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1508,
09, transport rollers 1510, and transport rollers 1511, are taken into the apparatus and supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

The LBP body 1500 is provided with at least one or more card slots (not shown) so that an optional font card and a control card (emulation card) having a different language system can be connected in addition to the built-in fonts. Shall be.

Although only the structure of the recording system has been described above, the apparatus may further include a scanner for inputting an original image as in a so-called multi-function digital copying machine.

First Embodiment In a first embodiment of the present invention, in a printing system including a host computer and a printer, a control signal of a parallel port of the host computer is used to turn on / off a fixing heater of a printer engine. It is something to do. The host computer toggles the control signal, and on the printer side, the printer controller turns on / off the fixing heater of the fixing unit (1515 in FIG. 8) of the printer engine in accordance with the change of the control signal to control the heater. Perform

As described above, 1 is received from the host computer side.
By enabling the heater to be turned on / off even in the page, power consumption can be reduced and energy can be saved.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
And a printer 70.

The host computer 13 shown in FIG. 1 is configured as follows.

First, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU of the host computer 13. In the present embodiment, data to be printed is divided into one band (data of one page by a predetermined unit such as the number of lines and the number of pixels). (It may simply correspond to one line.) In addition, according to the presence or absence of the print data, the signal of the parallel port / AutoFd
Is used to control ON / OFF of the heater of the fixing unit of the printer engine.

The standard of the parallel port (IEEE128
In 4), / AutoFd (AutoFeed) is defined as a signal for determining whether or not to perform automatic paper feed (usually, pin 1 is used for a 36-pin Amphenol connector).
4, low level active), in the present embodiment, this / Aout
oFd is used for on / off control of the heater of the fixing device of the printer engine. "AutoFd"
"/" At the beginning of the symbol indicates low level active, and this notation applies to other signals.

The configuration of the host computer 13 is arbitrary. For example, the host computer 13 here is composed of the following members.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM for storing data such as print data and programs, and 3 denotes a ROM for storing programs and the like, which is connected to the system bus 4 of the CPU 1.

Further, a keyboard controller 5, a CRT controller 6, and a memory controller 7 are connected to the system bus 4, through which input / output with a keyboard 9 and a CRT 10 for a user interface, and an external storage device (hard disk drive) And so on). Note that reference numeral 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a main body of the computer.

For connection to the printer 70, the host computer 13 is provided with a parallel interface 8, and the parallel interface 8 is connected to the parallel interface 36 of the printer 70 via the printer cable 21.

On the other hand, the printer 70 is configured as follows.

That is, the printer 70 includes the controller 40, which is an interface for input / output control between the computer and the printer, and the printer engine 62, which is a recording unit for performing printing in accordance with data passed from the controller 40. The controller 40 and the control circuit portion of the printer engine 62 are mounted on the circuit board of the printer control unit 1000 in the configuration of FIG.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a connection unit for connecting the controller to a printer engine, which is a printing unit for performing printing, in accordance with data passed from the controller, and is composed of a connector and a cable having a predetermined configuration.

The block inside the controller 40 is composed of the following members.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a CPU.
Performs rasterization of print data (image data) sent from the computer and sends it to the printer engine, and also performs various input / output controls with the host computer 13. The ROM 34 stores a control program for the CPU 31 (such as a program for controlling a printer controller).

The following members are connected to the system bus 35 of the CPU 31.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a parallel interface for connecting the computer and the printer, and 37 denotes a video interface as an interface between the printer controller and the printer engine.
Includes engine control signals, video signals for printing, and the like.

Reference numeral 39 denotes a RAM, which comprises a DRAM element or the like, and stores image data sent from the host. The bitmap image rasterized by the CPU 31 is stored in the RAM 39.

In addition, a clock generator 32 for generating a basic clock and an input / output port 38 are connected to the system bus 35. Clock generator 3
2 generates a predetermined clock based on the fundamental frequency of the crystal unit 33. The input / output port 38 controls a circuit element to be described later, or furthermore, an LED or L of an operation panel of the printer.
It is used for input / output to a CD or the like.

The blocks inside the printer engine 62 are composed of the following members.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a CPU for controlling the main motor, the scanner motor, the fixing heater, and the like, and for controlling the entire engine side, such as setting the resolution and printing speed of the printer.

Reference numeral 52 denotes a video interface.
It is connected to a video interface 37 with the printer controller 40 via a connection section 41. Through the video interface 37, the connection unit 41, and the video interface 52, transmission and reception of printer information such as the resolution and printing speed of the printer, and transmission and reception of image data to be printed are performed.

The system bus 5 of the printer engine 70
The following members are further connected to 5.

Reference numeral 53 denotes a RAM for storing various processing data and the like, and reference numeral 54 denotes a ROM for storing a control program for the CPU 51 of the printer engine.

In the example of FIG. 1, in addition to a main motor 59 for driving a main recording and conveying system of a printer engine, an image is also inputted, and a scanner motor 60 for driving this image input system is provided. I have. The main motor 59 and the scanner motor 60 are respectively controlled by a main motor controller 56 and a scanner motor controller 57 connected to the system bus 55, respectively.

The fixing heater 61 of the fixing device is controlled by a fixing heater controller 58 also connected to the system bus 55. The fixing heater controller 58 controls the temperature of the fixing heater 61 and the like according to parameters given from the CPU 51 via the system bus 55.

A semiconductor laser 64 (corresponding to 1503 in FIG. 8) for scanning and exposing an electrostatic drum (1506 in FIG. 8).
Is driven by a laser driver 63 (corresponding to 1502 in FIG. 8) also connected to the system bus 55.

FIG. 2 shows the printer controller 40 shown in FIG.
2 shows the configuration of the main part of the printer engine 62 in detail. Reference numerals 35, 37, 39, 40, 58, 61 in FIG.
Reference numerals 62, 63, and 64 indicate the same members as in FIG.

Reference numeral 39 in FIG. 2 denotes a RAM (DRAM).
As a memory for storing the image data sent from the host, it is composed of two buffer memories 1 and 2. When one buffer stores the image data, the other buffer memory 1 and the buffer memory 2 store the image data. The image data is transmitted as video data to be printed by the printer engine 62 via the video interface 37. The control for alternately using the buffer memories is performed by the buffer control circuit 39a.

Reference numeral 37 denotes an interface with the printer engine, and includes latches 37a and 37b and a selector 37.
c, 37d, and a shift register 37e, and performs the following control.

Under the control of the buffer control circuit 39a, data from the buffer 1 or the buffer 2 (RAM 39) is switched by the selector 37d, and is further converted from parallel data to serial data (parallel-serial conversion) by the shift register 37e. VDO
As sent to the printer engine.

As will be described later, the buffer memories 1 and 2 are alternately used in units of one band of print data.

Further, the CPU 31 writes the data at a predetermined address of the input / output port 38, whereby the heater control signals / HEN (Heater Enable) 1 and / HEN (same) 2 are output.
Is set to 1 or 0, the state of the signal for controlling on / off of the heater of the fixing unit of the printer engine is latched.
7a and 37b. Here, the heater control signal / HEN1 is a heater control signal that is valid when reading data from the buffer 1, and the heater control signal / HEN2 is a heater control signal that is valid when reading data from the buffer 2. .

The buffer control circuit 39a determines whether the signal / ST whose state is determined by the CPU 31 writing to a predetermined address of the input / output port 38 is 0 (start printing) or 1 (stop printing). 1 and 2
Are executed or stopped alternately.

The buffer control circuit 39a selects a heater control signal (latch data) / HEN1 or / HEN2 corresponding to each of the buffer memories 1 and 2 (of the RAM 39) from which image data is being read.
7c to enable the printer engine 62 to output it as a heater control signal / HCNT.

The video signal / VDO and the heater control signal / HCNT are exchanged between the printer controller 40 and the printer engine 62 via the connection section 41, and the CPU 31 of the printer controller 40
Is the signal / Aout of the parallel port as described later.
oFd, the heater control signals / HEN1 and / HE
Determine the state of N2.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the printing process of one page on the host computer 13 side. The procedure shown in FIG.
(Or the external storage device 11).

In step S1, the data of one band of the print data is stored in the memory (the RAM 2 or the external storage device 1).
Read from 1). Here, the data to be printed is C
The data is rasterized into a bitmap (or a printer control language format) by the processing of PU1. At this time, font data stored in the ROM 3 or the external storage device 11 is used for printing characters, and necessary data format conversion is performed for image data. The generation of the print data for one band may be performed at the operating system level or at the application level.

In step S2, the print data for one band read in step S1 is converted into white lines (characters or images to be printed by driving the printer engine, or simply no pixels) for all of the one band. Check if there is. When step S2 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S4, and when denied, the process proceeds to step S3.

In steps S3 and S4, the signal / parallel of the parallel port (parallel interfaces 8, 36, printer cable 21) is determined according to whether or not all bands to be printed are white lines (no characters or images to be printed). Auto
Determine the state of Fd. That is, if all the bands to be printed are not white lines, / AutoFd is set to 0 in step S3 (meaning that the heater (61 in FIG. 1) of the fixing unit (1515 in FIG. 8) is turned on). If all the bands to be processed are white lines, / AutoFd is set to 1 in step S4 (meaning that the fixing device heater is turned off).

In step S5, the data read in step S1 is transferred to the printer, and in step S6, it is determined whether or not transfer of all data for one page has been completed.

If there is a band to be transmitted on the page, the flow returns to step S1 to repeat the above processing.

If one page has been transferred, step S7
To set / AutoFd to 1 and end the processing of the page.

By repeating the above process, a plurality of pages to be printed are transferred to the printer 70,
The fixing heater 61 of the printer engine while transferring the print data to the printer according to the content of the data of one band.
Is turned on / off.

FIG. 4 shows a printing process of one page by the CPU 31 of the printer controller 40 on the printer side. The procedure shown is the printer controller 4
0 is stored in the ROM 34.

In step S11 of FIG. 4, one band of data transferred from the host computer via the parallel port (parallel interfaces 8, 36, printer cable 21) is stored in the buffer 1. The buffer memories 1 and 2 are alternately used in units of one band of print data.

In step S12, it is checked whether or not the signal / AutoFd being received in step S11 is 0. According to this state, the state of the heater control signal / HEN1 is determined in steps S13 and S14. That is, the state of the signal / AutoFd relating to the data of the one band received and stored in the buffer memory 1 is checked, and the heater control signal / HE corresponding to the buffer memory 1 is determined according to the state.
Determine the state of N1.

If / AutoFd is 0 (enable) in step S12, 0 is written in the port (input / output port 38) corresponding to the heater control signal / HEN1 in step S13 (indicating that the fixing heater 61 is turned on). On the other hand, if / AutoFd is not 0 (disabled), 1 is set to the port (input / output port 38) corresponding to the heater control signal / HEN1 in step S14.
(Indicating that the fixing heater 61 is turned off).

That is, if one band to be stored in the buffer memory 1 is not a white line, / Au
When toFd is 0 (heater on), the heater control signal /
HEN1 is controlled to 0 (heater ON) (step S1).
3) Conversely, if one band to be printed is all white lines, the heater control signal / HEN1 is controlled to 1 (heater off) by 1 (heater off) of / AutoFd (step S14). The value of / HEN1 is
a (FIG. 2), which is selected by the selector 37c when the buffer control circuit 39a reads out the data in the buffer memory 1 and uses it for printing.
It is output to the printer engine 62 as T.

In step S15, it is checked whether all the data for one page has been printed. If all the data for one page has been processed, the process proceeds to step S23, and if all the data for one page has not been processed. Proceed to step S16.

At steps S16 to S19, the data is stored in the buffer memory 2 and the / A
A process of determining the heater control signal / HEN2 according to the state of autoFd is performed (the data is stored in the buffer memory 1 and the heater control signal / HEN1 is determined according to the state of / AutoFd when the data is received). Steps S11 to S14).

That is, in step S16, one band of data transferred from the host computer is stored in the buffer 2.

In step S17, it is checked whether / AutoFd being received in step S16 is 0 or not.
Is 0 in step S18, the port corresponding to the heater control signal / HEN2 (input / output port 38)
0 (heater on), while / AutoFd
Is not 0 in step S19, the port corresponding to the heater control signal / HEN2 (input / output port 3
Write 1 to 8) (heater off).

That is, if one band to be stored in the buffer memory 2 to be printed is not all white lines, / Au
When toFd is 0 (heater on), the heater control signal /
HEN2 is controlled to 0 (heater on) (step S1).
8) Conversely, if all bands to be printed are white lines, the heater control signal / HEN2 is controlled to 1 (heater off) by / AutoFd 1 (heater off) (step S19). The value of / HEN2 is
b when the buffer control circuit 39a reads data from the buffer memory 2 and uses it for printing.
7c and output to the printer engine 62 as a heater control signal / HCNT.

In step S20, it is checked whether the state of the signal / ST for determining execution of printing is "1". This signal / ST
Indicates that printing has not started when / ST = 1.
If the state of the signal / ST is 1, the process proceeds to step S21. If the state of the signal / ST is not 1, the process proceeds to step S22.

In step S21, 0 is written to the port corresponding to / ST (input / output port 38). This indicates the start of printing, and the buffer control circuit 39a alternately reads image data from the buffer memories 1 and 2 in the order in which they were received, and starts sending read data to the interface 37. At this time, the values of the heater control signals / HEN1 and / HEN2 held in the latches 37a and 37b corresponding to the buffer memory being read are selected via the selector 37c, and the heater control signal / HCN is used.
It is output to the printer engine 62 as T.

In step S22, it is checked whether all the data for one page has been printed. If all the data for one page have been processed, the process proceeds to step S23, and if all the data for one page has not been processed. Proceed to step S11.

In step S23, 1 is written to the / ST I / O port. This indicates the end of printing (of one page). Further, when all the processes of the predetermined number of pages are completed, a process of turning off the heater of the fixing device may be performed as in the related art. For this process, the heater control signal / HCNT may be configured to be controllable on a path different from that in FIG.

As described above, the host computer 1
3 transmits print data from the host computer 1
On / off control of the fixing heater 61 of the printer engine 62 via the / AutoFd signal from the third side according to the all-white state of one band of the print data, that is, according to the data configuration of a predetermined unit of the print data. It is possible to save power efficiently, and large energy savings can be expected.

Further, by performing on / off control of the fixing device heater using the signal line (/ AutoFd) in the printer interface standard, the specifications and compatibility of the PDL describing the print data and the printer control language are improved. It has the advantage of not affecting.

The data format when transmitting the print data from the host computer to the printer is arbitrary. For example, the data may be transmitted after being compressed by a predetermined data compression method for each predetermined unit such as a band.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the / AutoFd signal on the parallel port is used for heater control of the fixing device. However, information for controlling the heater of the fixing device from the host computer is transmitted to the printer (not shown). It is not always necessary to use one special signal line to transmit the signal to the (engine) side, and the following configuration is also conceivable.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the host computer compresses the print data for each band and transmits the data to the printer. At this time, all the bands are white lines (all white: no characters or images to be printed). ), Insert a command to turn off the fixing heater of the printer engine into the compressed data to be transmitted. If the next one band is not a white line, a command to turn on the heater is inserted, and these are sent to the controller of the printer as print data. That is, a command for turning on / off the fixing heater and the band data are transmitted to the printer in association with each other.

The heater control command and the compression method may be defined, for example, as a part of the specification of the PDL adopted by the printer and the printer control language, or the entire data described in such a language may be publicly known. The data may be compressed by various appropriate data compression methods.

The printer controller temporarily stores the received compressed data in a buffer, and writes the data to a read decoder (described later) when necessary in accordance with the printing timing of the engine. The decoder decompresses the compressed data, interprets the included print command (described in PDL, printer control language, etc.), generates final bitmap data, and transfers this bitmap data to the engine. In this way, printing is performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the printer controller controls on / off of the heater when the ON command or the OFF command of the fixing device heater comes as described later.

As described above, the heater can be turned on / off even during one page, so that energy can be saved.

The overall configuration of the hardware of this embodiment may be the same as that shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the members in FIG.
Only those different from FIG. 1 will be described.

First, in the block inside the host computer 13, the CPU 1 in this embodiment compresses the data to be printed to the printer in units of one band and transfers the data to the printer. An off command or an on command of the fixing heater of the engine is inserted. The compression format, the storage address of the heater control command, and the like are arbitrary.

In the controller 40 constituting the printer 70, the CPU 31 decodes (decompresses) the print data (image data compressed by a method that satisfies the specifications of the PDL and the printer control language) sent from the computer. To execute the sending process. If a heater control command is included in the decoding result, on / off control of the fixing device heater is performed according to the command.

A video interface 37, which is an interface between the printer controller 40 and the printer engine 62, includes heater control signals, engine control signals, video signals for printing, and the like.

The other members are configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

In the case of the present embodiment, the periphery of the video interface 37 (FIG. 1) can be configured as shown in FIG. 5, for example. FIG. 5 shows a mode corresponding to FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, in which 35, 37, 39, 40, 5
8, 61, 62, 63 and 64 indicate the same members as those in the block diagram of FIG. Although FIG. 5 is composed of hardware blocks for the sake of convenience, a part (particularly, a decoder described later) or all of the configuration shown here can be realized by the function of the CPU 31 of the controller 40. In that case, the function of the circuit in FIG. 5 is configured as a program of the CPU 31 and stored in the ROM 34.

The RAM 39 shown in FIG.
3 is a memory for storing the image data transferred from the host computer 3, and is used as a buffer memory for temporarily storing the compressed data transferred from the host computer 13 in this embodiment. Then, by writing the compressed data read from this buffer to the decoder 37h of the interface 37 in accordance with the progress timing of the printing process of the printer engine 62, the video data is sent to the printer engine 62 and the on / off control of the fixing device heater is performed. I do.

The interface 37 includes a decoder 37h,
It comprises a FIFO (first-in first-out) memory 37i, a shift register 37j and a delay circuit 37, and performs the following control.

That is, the data read from the buffer in accordance with the progress of the printing process is written to the decoder 37h. The decoder 37h decompresses and analyzes the compressed data, expands an image portion to be printed into bitmap data, and inputs the bitmap data to the FIFO memory 37i.

The bitmap data in the FIFO memory 37i is transmitted as a video signal / VDO to the printer engine 62 via the shift register 37j.

The decoder 37h detects the ON / OFF command of the heater of the fixing device transmitted from the host computer 13 by being inserted into the compressed data, and in response to the command, outputs a bit map for turning on / off the heater. At the timing of writing data to the FIFO memory 37i, the level (0: heater on or 1: heater off) of the heater control signal / HEN3 is determined in the delay circuit 37k.

FIFO memory 37i, shift register 3
7j and the delay circuit 37k perform an input / output operation in synchronization with the same clock, and the delay circuit 37k delays the heater control signal / HEN3 by the amount of remaining data in the FIFO memory 37i, and finally Is output to the printer engine 62 as an appropriate heater control signal / HCNT.

The state of the delay is shown in the upper part of FIG. That is, here, the fixing unit heater is turned off at the address A0 of the bit map in the FIFO memory 37i and turned on at the address A1 (that is,
If the addresses A0 to A1 are all white bands), the heater control signal / HEN3 is stored in the FIFO memory 37i.
The heater control signal / HCNT can be generated by delaying the delay circuit 37k by an amount corresponding to the difference between the write and read timings (for example, regarding the address A0) (that is, the remaining amount of the FIFO memory 37i).

The delay dl applied to the delay circuit 37k
Is determined by the FIFO memory 37i. That is, FI
Assuming that the FO memory 37i, the shift register 37j, and the delay circuit 37k operate in synchronization by the same clock, the delay amount dl is equal to the write (input) and read (output) addresses (pointers) managed by the FIFO memory 37i. It can be obtained from the difference.

The structure of the printer engine 62 that receives the heater control signal / HCNT and the image signal / VDO is the same as that shown in FIG.

Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows the host computer 1.
FIG. 7 shows the printing process of one page on the printer 70 side. 6 and 7 correspond to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the first embodiment, respectively, and detailed description of the same processing will be omitted.

First, on the host computer 13 side, in step S21, data for one band of print data is read from the (RAM 2 or the external storage device 11) as in step S1 of FIG.

In step S22, it is checked whether or not all bands for one band to be printed are white lines (no characters or images to be printed) (similar to step S2 in FIG. 3). When step S22 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S24, and when denied, the process proceeds to step S23.

In steps S23 and S24, a heater on (step S23) to heater off (step S24) command is stored in a memory (a predetermined buffer area of the RAM 2). At this time, the control is performed using the value of the heater flag (secured in a predetermined area of the RAM 2 or the like) corresponding to the current heater control state. The heater (off) flag indicates “heater off” by “0”,
“1” indicates “heater on”, and the initial value is controlled in advance to “1” (heater on) at the start of step S21.

That is, in step S24, a heater off command is stored, and the heater flag is set to "0". In step S23, if the heater flag is "0", a heater-on command is stored.

In step S25, the data read in step S21 is compressed and stored in a memory (a predetermined buffer area of the RAM 2). At this time, if it is necessary to transmit a heater on / off command, the heater on / off command is stored at a predetermined address in the compressed data.

In step S26, the print data compressed in step S25 and stored in the memory (or the heater ON / OFF command) is transferred to the printer.

In step S27, it is checked whether the processing for one page of print data has been completed. If the process for one page of the print data is completed, the process proceeds to step S28 (step S28 in FIG. 3).
7), a heater off command is sent to the printer, and the heater flag is set to "0".

As described above, the host computer 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a control for turning on / off the fixing heater (61) of the printer engine 62 while transferring the compressed data including the heater on / off command to the printer 70 and automatically printing the print data on the printer 70 side. It can be performed.

On the other hand, the printer controller 40 of the printer 70 performs the processing as shown in FIG. Processing is CPU
31 (steps S31 and S32) and a process executed by a hardware interrupt generated according to the result of the handshake with the engine in the video interface 37 (that is, print execution timing on the engine side) (steps S41 and S42). ).

First, in step S31, the compressed data transmitted from the host computer 13 (as described above,
(Which may include a heater on / off command) and stores it in the buffer 39 (FIG. 5). In step S32, it is checked whether or not the processing has been performed until the end of one page, and step S31 is repeated until the processing is completed.

On the other hand, the video interface 37 corresponds to FIG.
In the case of the configuration as described above, the processing to be executed by the CPU 31 due to the hardware interrupt is to read the compressed data from the buffer (RAM 39) in step S41, and to send the data read in step S41 to the decoder 37h in step S42. Just write.

As a result, the heater control signal / HEN3 is generated according to the heater on / off command decoded by the decoder 37h as described with reference to FIG. Delayed heater control signal /
HCNT is generated, and the heater heater control signal / HCNT controls the fixing device heater 61 of the printer engine 62.

As described above, while receiving the data from the host computer, the compressed data is read by the interrupt of the hardware and written to the interface 37, so that the hardware automatically performs the necessary printing while performing the printing. The on / off control of the heater can be performed accordingly.

As described above, the host computer 1
3 transmits print data from the host computer 1
The heater ON / OFF command is transmitted from the third side in accordance with the all-white state of one band of the print data, that is, in accordance with the data configuration of a predetermined unit of the print data, and the fixing heater 61 of the printer engine 62 is finely turned on. ON / OFF control, efficient power saving becomes possible, and great energy saving can be expected.

Further, in the second embodiment, since signals in the printer interface standard need not be used in another sense as in the first embodiment, the compatibility in the printer interface standard between the host computer and the printer is eliminated. There is also the advantage that no inconvenience is caused with respect to gender.

Further, in the configuration in which the control command for the fixing device heater is included in the print data as in the second embodiment and the heater control signal / HCNT is generated using the decoder 37h and the delay circuit 37k, the decoding process is performed. Using the time difference of the actual printing process by the printer engine, after turning off the heater once in response to the start of printing of all white bands, the timing of actually turning on the heater again depends on the print data Since the timing is later than the decoding timing, there is an advantage that the timing of turning on the heater again can be arbitrarily adjusted back and forth.

For example, in the case of the bit map address shown in FIG. 5, data at address A0 is stored in FIFO memory 37i.
After the fuser heater is turned off at the timing of printing and printing, the data of the address A1 designated by the host is not necessarily read from the FIFO memory 37i,
It is not necessary to turn on the heater at the timing of printing.

For example, in order to increase the preheating (warm-up) time of the fixing device heater, the data at address A1 is
It is conceivable to turn on the heater again before the timing of reading from the FO memory 37i. Such adjustment of the timing of turning on the heater again can be performed by the decoder 37h itself. That is, the decoder 37h supplies the address A at which the heater should be turned on again.
1 is decoded, the heater control signal is set so that the heater is turned on again at the timing when the data of the address ahead of the data of the address A1 by a predetermined data amount (such as the number of lines or the number of pixels) is read from the FIFO memory 37i. Shift the falling edge of / HEN3 forward. Such processing can be performed if the decoder 37h that decodes data compressed to a bitmap representation in a PDL or a printer control language and outputs an uncompressed bitmap has a sufficient processing speed.

The adjustment of the timing for turning the heater on again earlier may be performed with a fixed value, or may be adaptively performed according to the continuous length of the heater off period. For example, it is possible to determine an adjustment amount that hastens the heater on again in proportion to the continuous time (bitmap data amount) of the heater off period.

In this manner, after the fixing device heater is turned off once in response to the detection of the all white band, adjustment can be performed to turn on the heater again again, thereby increasing the preheating time of the fixing device heater. It is possible to prevent image quality from deteriorating. That is, there is an advantage that printing processing conditions after the fixing device heater is controlled to be turned on again can be accurately managed, and problems such as deterioration of image quality can be avoided.

Further, from the viewpoint of preventing the cooling of the fixing device heater, the control of the heater off period in accordance with the detection of the all white band is performed according to (the heat capacity of the fixing device heater and the printing processing speed of the engine. It is also conceivable to limit the maximum value of the heater off period after the fixing device heater is once turned off. That is, if the heater-off period exceeds a predetermined time, control may be performed such that the heater is forcibly turned on again. Such control can be performed on either the controller side or the engine side. When the heater is forcibly turned on again, the heater on (command / signal) arriving later is ignored.

In the second embodiment, the print data is compressed and transmitted from the host computer to the printer. However, it is not always necessary to perform the data compression processing, and the fixing unit is used as a part of the PDL or the printer control language. Needless to say, if the heater ON / OFF command can be transmitted and received, the purpose of heater control of the fixing device can be achieved.

In the present invention, the “band” of the print data, which is a unit for controlling the fixing device heater, is a PDL.
And the specifications of the printer control language and the print processing speed of the engine. Of course, this band may correspond to one line (scanning line) of the bitmap image to be printed. In this case, the heater of the fixing device is controlled according to whether or not one line is completely white. Such control is possible in any of the above embodiments.

In any of the above embodiments, the controlled member on the printer side is the fuser heater. However, the member to be controlled can be expected to save power by controlling it finely, or consume large power. As long as it is a predetermined member, it goes without saying that the control technology of the present invention can be applied to control of such a member.

[0135]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a printing apparatus including a host device, a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host device, a control method for the printing device, and printing. In a computer-readable storage medium storing a control program of the apparatus, control information for controlling on / off of a predetermined member in the printer is transmitted from the host device to the printer in predetermined data units constituting the print data. And the printer side controls on / off of a predetermined member in the printer in accordance with the control information. Therefore, it is possible to finely control on / off of the predetermined member of the printer from the host device side. As a result, efficient power saving becomes possible, and great energy saving can be expected.

Alternatively, when the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the printer may store the data in the printer for a period substantially corresponding to a print processing period of the print data of the data unit. By adopting a configuration in which control information for controlling a predetermined member to be turned off is transmitted from the host device to the printer, efficient power saving can be achieved according to the data configuration of print data in a predetermined data unit, and large energy savings can be achieved. Can be expected.

Alternatively, print data is described by adopting a configuration in which the control information is transmitted using one predetermined signal line on a printer interface connecting between the host device and the printer. P
There is an advantage that the host device can control the predetermined members of the printer without affecting the specifications and compatibility of the DL and the printer control language.

Alternatively, by adopting a configuration in which the control information is associated with a predetermined data unit of the print data and transmitted from the host device to the printer as a part of print data of a predetermined format, There is an advantage that the host device can control the predetermined member of the printer without causing inconvenience regarding the compatibility of the printer interface between the computer and the printer in terms of the standard.

Alternatively, the printer side decodes the image data to be printed and the control information associated therewith from the print data in a predetermined data unit transmitted from the host device, and decodes the predetermined data unit. By printing the image data decoded from the print data of the print data, the predetermined member in the printer is controlled to be turned on / off based on the control information decoded from the print data in the predetermined data unit. The predetermined device of the printer can be controlled from the host device side without causing inconvenience regarding the compatibility of the printer interface between the computer and the printer in terms of the standard, and the predetermined member can be controlled by utilizing the time difference between the decoding process and the printing process. On / off control of
Finer adjustment is possible.

Alternatively, if the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the predetermined member is controlled from on to off in accordance with the start of printing of the print data of the data unit based on the control information. And then
By adopting a configuration in which the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again according to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit, when the print data in the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, During a period corresponding to the printing period, a predetermined member of the printer can be surely and precisely turned off, whereby efficient power saving can be achieved, and great energy savings can be expected.

Alternatively, when the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again at a timing prior to the end of the printing of the print data in the data unit, thereby warming up the predetermined member. By adopting the configuration to perform the printing, it is possible to accurately manage the printing processing conditions after the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, and to advantageously avoid problems such as deterioration in image quality.

Alternatively, according to the configuration in which the printing mechanism of the printer comprises an electrophotographic printer engine and the predetermined member is a fixing heater of the printer engine, the power consumption of the electrophotographic printer engine is large. The on / off control of the fixing heater can be finely controlled from the host device side, thereby enabling efficient power saving and expecting great energy saving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system according to first and second embodiments of a printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing in detail a configuration of an interface portion between a printer controller and a printer engine of the printer in the first embodiment of the printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating control on the host computer side in the first embodiment of the printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating control on the printer controller side in the first embodiment of the printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing in detail a configuration of an interface portion of a printer controller to a printer engine of a printer in a second embodiment of a printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating control on the host computer side in a second embodiment of the printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating control on a printer controller side in a second embodiment of a printing apparatus employing the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a laser beam printer suitable for applying the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 5 Keyboard controller 6 CRT controller 7 Memory controller 8 Parallel interface 9 Keyboard 10 CRT 11 External memory 12 Host computer body 13 Host computer 21 Printer cable 31 CPU 34 ROM 35 System bus 36 Parallel interface 37 Video Interface 37d Selector 37e Shift register 37h Decoder 37i FIFO memory 37j Shift register 37k Delay circuit 38 I / O port 39 RAM 39a Buffer control circuit 40 Printer controller 41 Video interface bus 51 CPU 52 Video interface 53 RAM 54 ROM 55 System bus 56 Main Motor control L 57 Scanner motor controller 58 Fixing heater controller 59 Main motor 60 Scanner motor 61 Fixing heater 62 Printer engine unit 63 Laser driver 64 Semiconductor laser 70 Printer 1500 LBP body 1501 Switch for operation and LED 1502 Laser driver 1503 Semiconductor laser 1504 Laser light 1505 Rotating polygon mirror 1506 Electrostatic drum 1507 Developing unit 1508 Paper cassette 1509 Feed roller 1510 Transport roller 1511 Transport roller 1515 Fixing device 1516 Fixing roller 1517 Output tray

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising a host device and a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host device, wherein a predetermined member in the printer is turned on / off in predetermined data units constituting the print data. A printing apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting control information for control from the host device to the printer, wherein the printer controls on / off of a predetermined member in the printer in accordance with the control information. 2. When the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, a predetermined period of time in the printer during a period substantially corresponding to a print processing period of the print data of the data unit in the printer. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control information for controlling a member to be turned off is transmitted from the host device to the printer. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control information is transmitted using one predetermined signal line on a printer interface connecting between the host device and the printer. . 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the control information is associated with a predetermined data unit of the print data, and is transmitted from the host device to the printer as a part of print data of a predetermined format. The printing device according to claim 1. 5. The printer is provided with a decoder for decoding image data to be printed and the control information associated therewith from print data in a predetermined data unit transmitted from the host device, When printing image data decoded from print data in a predetermined data unit, a predetermined member in the printer is controlled on / off based on the control information decoded from the print data in the predetermined data unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 6. When print data of a predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the predetermined member is controlled from on to off in accordance with the start of printing of the print data of the data unit based on the control information. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again in response to completion of printing of the print data in the data unit. 7. When the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again at a timing prior to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit,
The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined member is warmed up. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing mechanism of the printer comprises an electrophotographic printer engine, and the predetermined member is a fixing heater of the printer engine. 9. A method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising: a host device; and a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host device, wherein a predetermined member in the printer is defined by a predetermined data unit constituting the print data. A control device for transmitting on-off control information from the host device to the printer, and performing on / off control of a predetermined member in the printer on the printer side according to the control information. Control method. 10. When the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, a predetermined period of time in the printer during a period substantially corresponding to a print processing period of the print data of the data unit in the printer. The method according to claim 9, wherein control information for controlling a member to be turned off is transmitted from the host device to the printer. 11. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the control information is transmitted using a predetermined signal line on a printer interface connecting the host device and the printer. Control method. 12. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the control information is associated with a predetermined data unit of the print data, and is transmitted from the host device to the printer as a part of print data of a predetermined format. 10. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to item 9. 13. The printer side decodes image data to be printed and the control information associated therewith from print data in a predetermined data unit transmitted from the host device, and decodes the control data in the predetermined data unit. At the time of printing the image data decoded from the print data, a predetermined member in the printer is turned on / off based on the control information decoded from the print data in the predetermined data unit.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the printing apparatus is turned off. 14. When the print data of a predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the predetermined member is controlled from on to off in accordance with the start of printing of the print data of the data unit based on the control information. The method according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again in response to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit. 15. When the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again at a timing prior to the end of printing of print data of the data unit,
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the predetermined member is warmed up. 16. The method according to claim 9, wherein the printing mechanism of the printer comprises an electrophotographic printer engine, and the predetermined member is a fixing heater of the printer engine. . 17. A computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for a printing apparatus including a host device and a printer for printing print data transmitted from the host device, wherein a predetermined data unit constituting the print data is provided. A control step of transmitting control information for on / off control of a predetermined member in the printer from the host device to the printer; and a predetermined member in the printer according to the control information on the printer side. A computer-readable storage medium storing a control step for controlling on / off of a computer. 18. When the print data of the predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, a predetermined period of time in the printer during a period substantially corresponding to a print processing period of the print data of the data unit in the printer. 10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein a control step for transmitting control information for controlling a member to be turned off from the host device to the printer is stored. 19. A control step for transmitting the control information by using a predetermined one signal line on a printer interface connecting between the host device and the printer. 10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9. 20. A control step for associating the control information with a predetermined data unit of the print data and storing the control information as a part of print data of a predetermined format from the host device to the printer. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein: 21. The printer decodes image data to be printed and the control information associated therewith from print data in a predetermined data unit transmitted from the host device, and decodes the control data in the predetermined data unit. At the time of printing the image data decoded from the print data, a predetermined member in the printer is turned on / off based on the control information decoded from the print data in the predetermined data unit.
13. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 12, wherein a control step for performing off control is stored. 22. When the print data of a predetermined data unit does not include a pixel to be printed, the predetermined member is controlled from on to off in accordance with the start of printing of the print data of the data unit based on the control information. 10. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, further comprising a control step for controlling the predetermined member to be turned on again in response to completion of printing of the print data in the data unit. 23. When the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again, the predetermined member is controlled to be turned on again at a timing prior to the end of printing of the print data in the data unit, thereby warming up the predetermined member. 15. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the control steps are stored. 24. A control step for performing on / off control of a fixing heater of the printer engine, wherein the printing mechanism of the printer comprises an electrophotographic printer engine, the predetermined member is a fixing heater of the printer engine. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the storage medium is stored.