JP2000339110A - Print controller and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely and quickly attain printing by operating print control processing by using an optimal control method. SOLUTION: Print controlling parts 20-1-20-N operate the control of the reading of picture data from a desk device 15, the control of the extension and transfer of the picture data to a print part 3, and the control of a timing for supplying sheets or the like in the print part 3 by each different control method. A print control selecting part 19 selects any of the print controlling parts 20-1-20-N with, for example, the reading time of the picture data from the device 15, the capacity of a buffer memory 16, the compression rate or size of the picture data, the setting of a user, which sheet and which side of the sheet the data should be printed as a selection condition, and allows the printer to operate. For example, a control method capable of quick printing and a further sure control method can be selectively operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control device for controlling a printing means to perform printing in accordance with print data received from an external device, and a printer having such a print control device. The present invention relates to a print control device and a printer for controlling a printing unit that cannot stop a sheet or the like that has once started feeding as in an electrophotographic system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a general printer. In the figure, 1 is a printer, 2 is a print control device, 3 is a print unit, and 4 is a network. The printer 1 is connected to the network 4 as shown in FIG. 14, for example, or is directly connected to a computer, and receives recording data and records it on paper or the like.

The printer 1 has a print control device 2, a print unit 3, and the like. The print control device 2 receives print data from outside, for example, via a network 4, converts the print data into image data recordable by the print unit 3, and transfers the image data to the print unit 3. At the same time, recording control of the printing unit 3 is performed. The print unit 3 operates according to the control of the print control device 2, and
Is recorded on a sheet or the like.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the print control device in an example of the configuration of a general printer. First, in S41, after resetting hardware and initializing variables, a reception process and an imaging (visualization process) process are executed in parallel. The processes executed in parallel are shown by being connected by double lines. The same applies to the following figures.

[0005] In the receiving process, in S42, for example, the network 4 or the like is monitored, and the process waits until recording data is received. For example, when print data is sent via the network 4 or the like, the print data is received in S43, and the received print data is stored in S44. The recorded data is
For example, the data may be data in various formats, such as data described in a page description language or compressed bitmap data.

In S45, it is determined whether or not the received recording data has been received. The reception of the recording data in S43 and the accumulation of the received recording data in S44 are performed until the reception of all the recording data is completed. repeat. When all the recording data has been received, the process returns to S42 and waits for reception of the recording data.

The imaging process first waits in step S46 until recording data is accumulated by the reception process. When the record data is accumulated by the reception process, S4
In step 7, image data for one page is formed according to the recording data. For example, if the recording data is described in a page description language, a drawing process is performed according to the description to obtain a bitmap image for one page. Further, for example, when a bitmap image is transmitted after being compressed, a bitmap image is obtained by performing a restoration process. S47
The image data for one page configured in step S48 is
Is stored in a primary storage such as a memory or a secondary storage such as a hard disk.

[0008] Such image data composition processing and storage processing are repeated until the stored print data is exhausted. When the end of the processing for the print data is detected in S49, the imaging processing is ended and the print control processing in S50 is performed. I do. The primary storage or 2
When the next storage is full, the print control process in S50 is performed even during the recording data.

In the print control process in S50, the image data stored in the primary storage or the secondary storage is read. Then, the read image data is transferred to the printing unit 3 while controlling the printing unit 3. Thereby, an image is recorded on a sheet or the like in the printing unit 3.
After the print control process is completed, the process returns to S46 and waits for accumulation of the next print data.

In performing such print control processing, a control method differs depending on whether image data is stored in the primary storage or the secondary storage. That is, when the image data is stored in the primary storage, the image data may be read from the primary storage and transferred. However, when the image data is stored in the secondary storage, it takes time to read the image data. Therefore, the image data is once read to the primary storage and then transferred. Hereinafter, the print control processing in each case will be described.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a print control process when image data is stored in a primary storage in an example of an operation of a print control device in an example of a general printer configuration. After activating the printing unit 3 in S51, the feeding process and the image output process of the printing unit 3 are executed in parallel.

In the paper feeding process, a paper feeding request from the printing unit 3 is waited in S52, and when a paper feeding request is received, an instruction to feed paper to the printing unit 3 is issued in S53. In S54, it is determined whether or not the number of prints has been repeated. If the number of prints has not been reached, the process returns to S52. As a result, a paper feed request is waited for in S52, and an operation for giving a paper feed instruction in S53 is performed for the number of prints. Here, in step S52, a paper feed request from the print unit 3 is awaited. However, if the print unit 3 can queue the paper feed instruction, the paper feed instruction for the number of prints may be continuously performed. .

In the image output processing, the image data is read from the primary storage in S55 and transferred to the printing unit 3. Alternatively, a transfer instruction is issued to a transfer unit in the print control device. In S56, it is determined whether or not the printing has been repeated for the number of prints. If the number of prints has not been reached, the flow returns to S55 to transfer the image data. When the transfer for the number of prints is performed, the process ends.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a print control process when image data is stored in secondary storage in an example of the operation of the print control device in an example of the configuration of a general printer. First, in S61, the image of the first page is read from the secondary storage and stored in the primary storage, and then the printing unit 3 is started in S62. Then, the paper feeding process of the printing unit 3, the image reading process, and the image output process are executed in parallel.

In the paper feeding process, in S63, a paper feeding request from the printing unit 3 is waited.
At 64, it is determined whether the reading of the image data has been completed in the image reading process. The end of reading of the image data can be determined based on whether or not the reading end flag is set. If the reading of the image data is not completed, the process returns to S63 and waits until the reading is completed. If there is a paper feed request from the print unit 3 and the reading of the image data has been completed, an instruction to feed paper to the print unit 3 is given in S65. In S66, it is determined whether or not the number of prints has been repeated. If the number of prints has not been reached, the process returns to S63. As a result, the paper feed request and the completion of the reading of the image data are confirmed, and the feed instruction is performed for the number of prints.

In the image reading process, it is determined in S67 whether or not the image data for the number of prints has been read, and if the read process for the number of prints has not been performed yet, the subsequent reading process is performed. In S68, it is determined whether or not there is an empty area in the primary storage for reading image data. If there is no empty area, the process waits until an empty area is created. This determination is made based on the memory empty flag. If the memory empty flag is set and it is determined that there is an empty area in the primary storage, the memory empty flag is reset in S69, and image data is read from the secondary storage in S70 and stored in the primary storage. And
In order to indicate that the reading of the image data for one page has been completed, a reading completion flag is set in S71. Such processing is performed for the number of prints.

In the image output process, first, in S72, the process waits until reading of image data is completed by the image reading process. Completion of the reading of the image data can be determined by the reading completion flag. When the reading end flag is set by the image reading process, S
At 73, the image data is read from the primary storage and transferred to the printing unit 3. Alternatively, a transfer instruction is issued to a transfer unit in the print control device. Then, in S74, the read end flag is reset, and after transfer, the area in which the image data is stored is released.
In step 5, a memory empty flag is set. As a result, the image data of the next page is 2
It is read from the next storage. In S76, it is determined whether or not the printing has been repeated for the number of prints. If the number of prints has not been reached, the process returns to S72 to transfer the image data of the next page. When the transfer for the number of prints is performed, the process ends.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 described above,
Depending on whether the image data is stored in the primary storage or the secondary storage, print control processing of a different control method is performed. In the conventional print control device, the type of the print unit 3 and the system configuration of the print control device (for example, 2
An optimal control method is used depending on whether or not a secondary storage is provided.

In the case where image data is stored in the secondary storage as shown in FIG. 17, if the image data is transferred to the print unit 3 while reading the image data, the transfer of the image data cannot be performed in time for the recording operation in the print unit 3. There is. Also, even when the image data is stored in the primary storage as shown in FIG. 16, when the image data is read out while receiving the recording data from the communication path such as the network 4, the transfer of the image data is similarly performed. There is a case where the printing operation in the printing unit 3 cannot be performed in time. In such a case, for example, in a printer such as an ink jet system capable of stopping paper or the like in the middle, the conveyance of the paper may be stopped when the image data cannot be made in time, and the transfer of the image data may be waited. However, in the case of a printer that cannot stop once fed paper or the like, such as an electrophotographic system, if the image data is not transferred in time, the page cannot be reliably printed. .

In order to eliminate such inconvenience, FIG.
As shown in (1), after the image data for one page or more is stored in the primary storage, printing is executed. Also, when acquiring image data from a communication path such as the network 4,
After storing image data for pages or more in the primary storage,
Execute printing. As a result, the image data can be printed without fail in time. However, printing cannot be started until one page of image data has been read out from the secondary storage or one page of image data has been received, so that high-speed printing cannot be performed. is there.

As described above, it was not possible to print reliably and at high speed by only one control method.

As a method of switching and using a plurality of control methods, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-306760, there is a method of switching the data format on the host computer side which is the source of the recorded data. However, the host computer cannot control the print unit 3 sufficiently. For example, it is difficult to control the paper feed timing. In the case of a printer connected to a network, the timing of receiving print data from the network 4 and the timing of transferring image data to the printing unit 3 cannot be controlled by the host computer.

In print control performed in the printer,
For example, as described in a conventional example of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-100474, a technique of appropriately performing preceding sheet feeding according to a sheet cassette has been developed. In this case, the paper feed timing is controlled according to the paper cassette provided in the printer. However, even if the paper feed timing is controlled according to the paper cassette, transfer control of image data such as whether or not readout of image data is in time is not performed as described above. Therefore, when printing is performed at high speed, the reliability is impaired, or when printing is performed reliably, printing is delayed.

[0024]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. By performing print control processing using an optimum control method, it is possible to print reliably and at high speed. It is an object to provide a simple print control device and a printer.

[0025]

According to the present invention, a plurality of print control means for controlling the printing means and controlling the transfer of image data to the printing means by different control methods are provided. One of the print control means is selected by the selection means. As the print control means, for example, a control method for instructing the print means to feed after waiting for reception of print data, a control method for performing reliable printing, and a print end time for predicting the print data reception end time, and setting the reception end time to If it is before the time when the image data is supplied to the printer, a control method or the like for instructing the printing unit to feed paper and perform high-speed printing can be provided. In the case where the secondary storage means is provided, a control method for performing a reliable printing instructing the printing means to feed after waiting for the completion of the reading from the secondary storage means, or a reading end method from the secondary storage means. If the time is predicted and the reading end time is before the time when the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed, a control method for performing high-speed printing instructing the printing means to feed the paper can be provided.

A plurality of print control means having such a control method can be appropriately selected and used according to predetermined selection conditions. Thus, for example, if printing can be performed reliably, high-speed printing is performed using a control method capable of printing at higher speed, and if printing cannot be performed reliably at high speed printing, printing is performed using a control method that can perform printing more reliably. be able to. Therefore, the printing unit can be controlled by an optimal control method under printing conditions,
High-speed printing can be performed reliably and under the conditions at that time.

The selection conditions include the capacity of the memory storing the image data, whether it is the front side or the back side, the number of the print, the compression ratio or data size of the image data,
Various conditions can be applied, such as user settings, when the secondary storage unit is provided, and when the actual read time from the secondary storage unit exceeds the scheduled time.

Further, by incorporating such a print control device into a printer, it is possible to provide a printer capable of printing reliably and at high speed.

[0029]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a print control apparatus and a printer according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a network control unit, 12 is a rasterizer, 13 is a compression unit, 14 is a disk control unit, 15 is a disk device, 16 is a buffer memory, 17 is a decompression unit,
8 is a system control unit, 19 is a print control selection unit, 20
Reference numerals -1 to N denote a print control unit, and reference numeral 21 denotes a control interface unit.

The network controller 11 controls communication using the network 4. For example, recording data is received from a computer connected to the network 4 via the network 4. The recording data to be received may be, for example, data described in a page description language or the like, data obtained by compressing or encrypting a bitmap image, text data, or any other data to be printed.

The rasterizer 12 expands the recording data received by the network control unit 11 into image data of a format recordable by the printing unit 3. For example, if the recording data is data described in a page description language or the like, a drawing process is performed. If it is text data, it is developed into bitmap data using a font pattern. further,
If the data is compressed or encrypted, decompression or decoding is performed. Note that when the printing unit 3 receives image data that can be printed as it is, the rasterizer 12 does not need to perform any processing.

The compression section 13 compresses the image data expanded by the rasterizer 12. Disk control unit 14
Performs storage management of the secondary storage device such as the disk device 15. The disk control unit 14 stores the image data compressed by the compression unit 13 in the disk device 15, reads out the compressed image data stored in the disk device 15, and temporarily stores it in the buffer memory 16. The decompression unit 17 decompresses the compressed image data read from the disk device 15 and stored in the buffer memory 16, and outputs it to the printing unit 3. The disk control unit 14, the buffer memory 16, and the decompression unit 17 read and decompress the image data from the disk device 15 according to any one of the print control methods of the print control units 20-1 to 20-N. Transfer of image data to the At this time, the disk control unit 14 may perform an operation of storing the data in the buffer memory 16 without storing the data in the disk device 15. The disk device 15
When the image data is stored without being compressed, the compression unit 1
It is also possible to configure without providing the extension 3 and the extension 17. Further, the configuration may be such that the buffer memory 16 is not provided or the buffer memory 16 is not used. Further, the buffer memory 16 and the decompression unit 17 may be reversed.

Each unit handling these image data includes:
For example, in the case of a color printer or the like, the color printer may be provided for each color of the color material used in the print unit 3.

The system control unit 18 controls the entire print control device 2. In particular, it controls each unit from receiving the recording data to storing the image data in the disk device 15, and controls the print control selection unit 19.

The print control selecting section 19 selects and operates one of the print control sections 20-1 to 20-N according to predetermined selection conditions. The selection conditions include, for example, the actual read time when image data is read from the disk device 15, the free space of the buffer memory 16, the compression ratio or data size of the image data, user settings, and printing by the print unit 3. It is possible to set various conditions, such as the number of sheets or the front side or the back side.

The print control units 20-1 to 20 -N have different control methods, read image data from the disk device 15, expand the image data and transfer the image data to the print unit 3, and control the print unit. Various kinds of control for performing printing in the printing unit 3, such as timing control of paper feeding and the like in the printing unit 3, are performed. Print control unit 20-1
One of N is selected by the print control selection unit 19, and the selected print control unit 20 performs print control.

The control interface unit 21 supports exchange of control signals between the print control unit 20 selected by the print control selection unit 19 and the print unit 3 among the print control units 20-1 to 20-N.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the print control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same steps as those in FIG. 15 are denoted by the same reference numerals. First, in S41, after resetting each part of the print control device 2 and the print unit 3 and initializing variables, the reception process and the imaging process are executed in parallel.

In the receiving process, in S42, the network control unit 11 monitors, for example, the network 4 and waits until recording data is received. For example, when print data is sent via the network 4 or the like, the print data is received in S43, and the received print data is stored in S44. In S45, it is determined whether or not the received recording data has been received, and the reception of the recording data in S43 and the accumulation of the received recording data in S44 are repeated until the reception of all the recording data is completed.
When all the recording data has been received, the process returns to S42 and waits for reception of the recording data.

In the imaging process, first, in S46, the process waits until recording data is accumulated by the reception process in the network control unit 11. When the recording data is accumulated by the reception process, in S47, the rasterizer 12 forms one page of image data according to the recording data. For example, if the recording data is described in a page description language, a drawing process is performed according to the description to obtain a bitmap image for one page. Further, for example, when a bitmap image is transmitted after being compressed, a bitmap image is obtained by performing a restoration process. Of course, even in the case of recording data in other formats, the printing unit 3 can be configured to be able to convert the recording data into printable image data.

The image data for one page formed in S47 is subjected to a compression process by the compression unit 13 and passed to the disk control unit 14. In step S48, the disk control unit 14 performs processing for storing the compressed image data in the disk device 15. Depending on the control method of the print control unit 20, the data may be directly written into the buffer memory 16.

The process of forming the image data, and the process of compressing and storing the image data by the rasterizer 12 are repeated until the stored print unit print data is exhausted. When the end of the processing for the print data in print units is detected in S49, the imaging processing is ended and the print control processing is performed. When the disk device 15 and the buffer memory 16 become full, print control processing is performed even during the recording data.

The print control processing in the present invention is performed in step S8.
In 1, the print control selection unit 19 selects the print control unit 20 having the optimum processing method from the print control units 20-1 to 20 -N according to a predetermined selection condition. Then, in any of S82-1 to S82-N, the selected print control unit 20 performs a print control process.

In step S83, it is determined whether or not printing has been performed for all print data to be printed. If print data still remains, the process returns to step S47 to perform imaging processing of the remaining print data. After printing all the print data to be printed, in S46, the process waits until new print data is received and accumulated.

In FIG. 2 described above, each print control processing in S82-1 to S82-N, ie, the print control unit 20
The print control processing performed in −1 to N includes:
For example, a print control process as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 may be included as one of the processes. In this case, the primary storage is the buffer memory 16 and the secondary storage is the disk device 15. Further, a print control process as described below may be included.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one example of the operation of the print control unit in the embodiment of the print control apparatus or printer according to the present invention. In the print control process shown in FIG. 3, the time for reading the image data from the disk device is predicted, and if the time at which the reading ends is before the time at which the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed, the paper is fed to the printing means. A method of performing control as instructed is executed. As a result, sheet feeding can be started without waiting until image data has been read out, so that high-speed printing can be performed.

First, in S91, the disk controller 14
After reading the image of the first page from the disk device 15 and storing it in the buffer memory 16, the print unit 3 is started via the control interface unit 21 in S92. Then, the paper feeding process of the printing unit 3, the image reading process, and the image output process are executed in parallel.

In the paper feeding process, in S93, a paper feeding request from the printing unit 3 is waited.
At 94, it is determined whether or not the time at which the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed is within the predicted reading time calculated in the image reading process. If the time at which the reading ends is later than the time at which the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed, if the feeding is started at this time, the reading of the image data may not be in time for printing.
The process returns to S93 and waits for the start of sheet feeding.

If the time at which the reading ends is before the time at which the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed, an instruction to feed the printing unit 3 is issued in S95. In S96, it is determined whether or not the number of prints has been repeated. If the number of prints has not been reached, the process returns to S93. Such an operation is performed for the number of prints, and the paper feeding process ends. As a result, paper feeding can be started as quickly as possible in accordance with the time required to read image data from the disk device 15.

In the image reading process, it is determined whether or not the image data for the number of prints has been read from the disk device 15 in S97. If the read process for the number of prints has not been performed yet, the subsequent read process is performed. In S98, the time required for the disk control unit 14 to read one image data from the disk device 15 and store it in the buffer memory 16, that is, the predicted read time, is calculated from the free space of the buffer memory 16 and the like. This calculation result is used in the sheet feeding process as described above. Also, the time until the disk control unit 14 starts reading image data from the disk device 15,
That is, the read start time is also calculated. Then, in S99, the process waits for the calculated read start time.

In S100, it is confirmed that the buffer memory 16 is empty. Whether or not the buffer memory 16 is empty can be determined by a memory empty flag. If the buffer memory 16 is not empty at this time, error processing is performed in S109.

After confirming that the buffer memory 16 is empty, the memory empty flag is reset in S101, the image memory is read from the disk device 15 to the disk controller 14 in S102, and stored in the buffer memory 16. To control. Then, to indicate that reading of the image data for one page has been completed,
In step S103, a read end flag is set. Such processing is performed for the number of prints.

In the image output process, first, in S104, the process waits until reading of image data is completed by the image reading process. Completion of the reading of the image data can be determined by the reading completion flag. When the read end flag is set by the image reading process,
In S 105, it instructs the decompression unit 17 to decompress the image data in the buffer memory 16 and transfer it to the printing unit 3. Then, in step S106, the read end flag is reset, and in order to release the area in which the image data is stored, a memory empty flag is set in step S107. Thereby, the image data of the next page is read from the disk device 15 to the buffer memory 16 by the image reading process. In S108, it is determined whether or not the process has been repeated for the number of prints. If the number of prints has not been reached, the process returns to S104 to transfer the image data of the next page. When the transfer for the number of prints is performed, the process ends.

As described above, in the print control process shown in FIG. 3, the paper feed timing in the print unit 3 is controlled according to the time required to read the image data from the disk device 15. As a result, printing can be performed at high speed and reliably.

Next, when such various print control processes are set in each of the print control units 20-1 to 20-N, some conditions for selecting these in the print control selection unit 19 are described below. An example will be described. Since the operation of the print control device 2 is almost as shown in FIG. 2, only the content of S50 in FIG. 2 is shown here.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a first example of an operation for selecting a print control process in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, the print control process is switched between a case where an error in reading image data from the disk device 15 has already occurred and a case where no error has occurred as a selection condition. That is, in S111, it is determined whether or not a read error has occurred. If no read error has occurred, for example, the print control process in S82-1 is performed. If a read error has occurred in the past, for example, a print control process in S82-2 is performed.

If the printing unit 3 cannot stop the sheet in the middle, if the reading of the image data from the disk device 15 is delayed, the printed image cannot be reliably printed, for example, a part of the printed image is missing. Therefore, for example, as the print control process in S82-2, a control method for surely performing printing as shown in FIG. 17 may be applied. Until a read error occurs, S82-1
For example, a control method capable of performing high-speed printing as shown in FIG. As a result, printing can be performed at high speed and reliably according to the situation.

The selection condition may be determined based on whether a read error has occurred in the past as described above, or may be determined based on whether the number of read errors exceeds a predetermined threshold.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a second example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, as the selection condition, the storage capacity (memory amount) of the buffer memory 16 is used.
Is used to switch the print control processing.
That is, the memory amount is determined in S112, and if the memory amount is large, for example, the print control process in S82-1 is performed. If the amount of memory is small, for example, print control processing in S82-2 is performed. Of course, it may be further divided according to the amount of memory.

For example, when the memory amount is large, the image data read from the disk device 15 is stored in the buffer memory 1.
6 is less likely to result in a read error due to the failure to store the data.
For this reason, by using a control method such as that shown in FIG. 17 as the print control process in S82-1, normal high-speed printing with little error processing can be performed. If the amount of memory is small, the process goes to S82.
For example, by applying a control method based on the readout predicted time as shown in FIG. 3 as the print control process in -2, printing can be performed using a small amount of memory effectively, and a high-speed and low-cost printer can be used. Can be provided.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a third example of the operation of selecting a print control process in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a configuration showing an example of a printer capable of performing double-sided printing. FIG. In the figure, 31 is a paper tray, 32 is a black developing device, 33 is a yellow developing device, 34 is a magenta developing device, 35 is a cyan developing device, 36 is a paper discharge tray, and 37 is a paper reversing section. In this example, in a printer capable of performing double-sided printing, the print control process is switched between the front side and the back side when the feeding timing of the back side cannot be instructed.

In the color printer capable of double-sided printing shown in FIG. 7, the paper fed from the paper tray 31 is printed by a black developing device 32, a yellow developing device 33, a magenta developing device 34, and a cyan developing device 35 in each color. Done. This means that printing on the front side has been performed. For single-sided printing,
The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 36 as it is. In the case of double-sided printing, after printing on the front side, the sheet is turned into the sheet reversing unit 3.
7 Here, the transport direction is reversed, the paper is fed as shown, and printing of each color is performed by the black developing unit 32, the yellow developing unit 33, the magenta developing unit 34, and the cyan developing unit 35. As a result, printing on the back side is performed, and
Is discharged to

In such a printer, after printing on the front side, the sheet is fed from the sheet reversing section 37 without receiving a feed instruction for the back side again. Therefore, for reliable operation, the buffer memory 16 needs a memory amount enough to read both sides of the image data. For example, when the amount of memory in the buffer memory 16 is large as in the example shown in FIG. 5, a print control process for reading image data of both sides into the buffer memory may be used. As another method, as shown in FIG. 6, in S113, it is determined whether printing on the front side or printing on the back side is performed. When printing on the front side, the print control process in S82-1 is performed. Can be configured to perform the print control process in

S82-1 selected when printing the front side
For example, a normal control method as shown in FIG. 17 is used as the print control process in step S82-2, and a print prediction process as shown in FIG. A time-based control technique can be used. As a result, even when the memory amount of the buffer memory 16 is small, high-speed and highly reliable printing can be performed by switching the print control processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a fourth example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, the print control process is switched using the data size of the image data read from the disk device 15 as the selection condition. That is, in S114, the data size of the image data read from the disk device 15 is determined, and if the data size is small, the print control process in S82-1 is performed. If the data size of the image data is large, print control processing in S82-2 is performed.

When the compression ratio of the image data is high and the data size is small, the time required for reading the image data from the disk device 15 can be shortened, so that the normal print control process may be used. Therefore, for example, a control method as shown in FIG. 17 can be applied as the print control process in S82-1. However, when the compression ratio of the image data is low and the data size is large, the time required for reading the image data from the disk device 15 becomes long, and there is a possibility that the printing unit 3 may not be able to feed the paper. Therefore, as the print control processing in S82-1, for example, a control method based on the predicted read time as shown in FIG. 3 may be applied. Thus, printing can be performed at high speed and reliably according to the data size of the compressed image data.

In FIG. 8, the data is divided into two with a predetermined data size. However, a plurality of appropriate thresholds may be provided to divide the data into three or more print control processes.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a fifth example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, the print control process is switched according to a setting (user setting) performed by a user, a printer administrator, or the like as a selection condition. That is, in S115, the user setting is determined, and any one of S82-1 to S82-N is selectively executed. User settings are
The print control process may be directly selected, or may be determined from various setting conditions.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the fifth example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.
As a user setting shown in FIG. 9, for example, a case where it is possible to set whether to perform printing reliably or at high speed is described.
0 is shown. In S116, it is determined whether or not the user setting for reliable printing has been made. If the user setting for reliable printing has been made, the process proceeds to S82.
1 is executed. As the print control processing, for example, a conventional control method capable of reliably printing as shown in FIG. 17 can be applied.

If the user setting for reliable printing has not been made, it is determined in S117 whether the user setting for high-speed printing has been made. If the user setting for high-speed printing has been made, S82-2 will be performed.
The print control process is performed. As the print control processing, for example, a control method based on the predicted read time as shown in FIG. 3 is applied, and printing can be performed at high speed.

If neither the user setting for reliable printing nor the user setting for high-speed printing has been made, for example, if automatic setting has been performed, the print control process in S82-3 is executed. The print control processing in S82-3 includes, for example, S82-1, S82-2.
For example, the control method shown in FIGS. 17 and 3 can be used, or another control method can be used.

In this way, it is possible to perform a print control process suitable for user settings by a user, a printer administrator, or the like.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a sixth example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, the selection condition depends on the order of the output to the print unit 3.
The print control process is switched. That is,
In S118, the number of the output to the printing unit 3 is determined, and any one of S82-1 to S82-N is selectively executed.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the sixth example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.
As the determination of the number of the output to the printing unit 3 in S118 of FIG. 11, for example, as shown in S119 of FIG. 12, it may be configured to determine whether or not the output is the first one. At the time of outputting the first sheet, the print control processing in S82-1 is executed. As the print control processing, for example, a conventional control method capable of reliably printing as shown in FIG. 17 is applied, and the first sheet is output. For the output of the second and subsequent sheets, the print control processing in S82-2 is executed. As the print control process, for example, a control method based on the predicted read time shown in FIG. 3 can be applied. As a result, even when the timing of outputting the image data after starting the printer is not constant, the image data can be reliably output.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a seventh example of the operation of selecting the print control processing in the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention. In this example, an example is shown in which the print control process is switched depending on whether or not the disk device 15 is used as a selection condition. Although the example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the disk device 15 is connected, there is a printer to which the disk device 15 is not connected, for example. Also, the disk device 15
Is connected, there is a case where printing can be performed without using the disk device 15, such as when printing only one sheet. To cope with such a case, S1
At 20, it is determined whether or not the disk device 15 is connected, or whether or not the disk device 15 is to be used.
In the print control process. If the disk device 15 is not connected, or is not used even if it is connected, the print control process in S82-2 is performed.

In this case, as the print control processing in S82-1, a control method using the disk device 15 as shown in, for example, FIG. 17 or FIG.
For example, a control method using only the buffer memory 16 as shown in FIG. Thus, the disk device 1
5 can be used for both connected printers and unconnected printers. In addition, even if the disk device 15 is connected, if printing is not required, printing can be performed at high speed without using the disk device 15.

Note that the operations for selecting the print control processing described above can be used in an appropriate combination. For example, the selection by the user setting as shown in the fifth example described above and the selection conditions shown in the other first to fourth examples are combined, and when the user setting is automatic, the presence or absence of a read error, the memory amount, An optimal control method can be selected according to conditions such as the front surface or the back surface, the data size, and the like.

The disk unit 15 (and the compression unit 1)
3, a print control device and a printer that do not use the disk control unit 14 and the decompression unit 17) can use the present invention by providing a plurality of print control processing units.

[0079]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, by switching the print control means in accordance with a predetermined selection condition, a print control apparatus and a printer capable of printing reliably and at high speed are provided. There is an effect that it can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a print control device and a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the print control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a print control unit in an embodiment of the print control device or the printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a first example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a second example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a third example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a printer capable of performing double-sided printing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a fifth example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a specific example of a fifth example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a sixth example of the operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a specific example of a sixth example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a seventh example of an operation of selecting a print control process according to the embodiment of the print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a general printer.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a print control device in an example of a configuration of a general printer.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of the operation of the print control device in an example of the configuration of a general printer.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control process when the print control process is stored in the next storage.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of an operation of a print control device in an example of a general printer configuration.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control process when the print control process is stored in the next storage.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 2 ... Print control device, 3 ... Printing part, 4 ... Network, 11 ... Network control part, 1
2 rasterizer, 13 compression unit, 14 disk control unit, 15 disk device, 16 buffer memory, 17
... Expansion unit, 18 ... System control unit, 19 ... Print control selection unit, 20-1 to N ... Print control unit, 21 ... Control interface unit, 31 ... Paper tray, 32 ... Black developing unit,
33: yellow developing device, 34: magenta developing device, 35: cyan developing device, 36: paper discharge tray, 37: paper reversing section.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for controlling a printing unit to perform printing in accordance with print data received from outside, wherein the printing unit receives the printing data, and prints the printing data received by the receiving unit. Imaging means for developing into image data recordable by means, and a plurality of print control means for controlling the printing means and controlling transfer of the image data developed by the imaging means to the printing means by different control methods, respectively. A print control apparatus comprising: a selection unit that selects one of the plurality of print control units according to a predetermined selection condition. 2. One of the plurality of print control units.
2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control method of instructing the printing unit to feed a sheet after the receiving unit receives the print data. 3. A printing apparatus, comprising: a secondary storage unit for storing the image data developed by the imaging unit, wherein one of the plurality of print control units waits for completion of reading from the secondary storage unit. 2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control method for instructing the printing unit to feed a sheet. 4. One of the plurality of print control means.
One is a control method of predicting the end time of reception of the recording data by the receiving means, and instructing the printing means to feed the paper if the reception end time is before the time of supplying image data to the paper to be fed. The print control device according to claim 1, further comprising: 5. A printing apparatus comprising: a secondary storage unit configured to store the image data developed by the imaging unit; one of the plurality of print control units predicting an end time of reading from the secondary storage unit; If the read end time is before the image data is supplied to the paper to be fed,
2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control method for instructing the print unit to feed a sheet. 6. The selection means switches, as a selection condition, to select another print control means when the actual read time from the secondary storage means exceeds a predetermined time. The print control device according to claim 3 or 5, wherein: 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects one of the plurality of print control units using a capacity of a memory storing image data to be transferred to the printing unit as the selection condition. The print control device according to claim 6. 8. The printing control unit according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit determines whether the printing is performed on the front surface or the back surface when it is not possible to instruct the printing unit to feed the back surface during the duplex printing. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the print control device is selected. 9. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a print control unit using a compression rate or a data size of the image data as the selection condition. Control device. 10. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a print control unit using a user setting as the selection condition. 11. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a print control unit based on a number of prints as the selection condition. . 12. A printer, comprising: the print control device according to claim 1; and a printing unit controlled by the print control device to record an image.