JP2001026161A - Printer and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reconcile shortening of a time up to the output of a first page with the number of printing sheets to be ensured as a product by parallely performing the interpretation processing of printing data and the physical start processing of a printing mechanism main body. SOLUTION: When printing is performed, a printing mechanism is started to read the stop number of times (step S3010) and, if the stop number of times exceed 10,000 times, the analysis of printing data and the formation of image data are performed without performing preparatory start (step S3050). If the stop number of times does not exceed 10,000 times, the printing mechanism is preliminarily started (step S3040) to be transferred to a standby state in parallel to the analysis of printing data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus such as a printer and a control method therefor, and more particularly to control of timing for starting a printing mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printing apparatus of this type, a predetermined time is required from issuing an instruction for activating a printing mechanism to actually preparing for printing. For example, in a laser beam printer, it is time to accelerate the rotation speed of a scanner motor or a roller for conveying paper to the highest speed, or to heat the fixing device to a predetermined temperature.

Conventionally, in the case of full paint processing in which one page is rasterized and then printed, the banding processing is performed after rasterization is completed, or an area to be rasterized is divided into a plurality of bands and sequentially printed while rasterizing each band. In the case of, after intermediate code generation is completed,
That is, in either case, the printing mechanism is instructed to start after the interpretation of the print data for one page is completed, and the printing is performed after the preparation for printing is actually completed.

Therefore, when print data is received in a static state in which the printing mechanism main body is stopped, the time from when the printing mechanism is instructed to start until when the printing mechanism is actually ready is completely wasted. This is particularly noticeable in a high-resolution / high-speed laser beam printer that needs to rotate a scanner motor and a paper conveying roller at a higher speed.

In order to eliminate this waiting time, the printing mechanism is started up at the time of data reception or the start of interpretation of print data to be in a standby state, and the command interpretation is performed by utilizing the time until the preparation for printing is actually completed. (Referred to as “preliminary activation”). However,
If the print data is very large and complicated, the printing mechanism may be ready for printing and the command interpretation may not be completed after a certain period of time. It is necessary to stop once and start again after the command interpretation is completed.

[0006]

As described above, the printing mechanism is activated before the interpretation of one page of print data is completed with priority given to the print speed, and the print data is complicated. In many cases, the printing mechanism that has been started up is stopped after a timeout occurs, thereby shortening the life of the printing mechanism body and possibly causing a failure before the originally guaranteed total number of printed sheets is cleared.

Conversely, if the printing mechanism is started after the interpretation of one page of print data is completed with priority given to the total number of prints to be guaranteed, only a part of the complicated print data causes The processing speed of general print data is sacrificed.

In consideration of the worst case of printing only very complicated print data, the printing apparatus must be started twice to print one sheet of paper, and the total number of prints to be guaranteed is reliably cleared. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to design the printing apparatus main body so that the number of startups of the printing apparatus is twice as large as the total number of prints to be guaranteed, and the manufacturing cost becomes extremely high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and controls the timing of starting the printing mechanism main body based on the number of times of timeout of the printing mechanism main body, thereby interpreting print data and printing mechanism. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus and a printing control method that achieve both a reduction in the time required to output the first page by performing the physical startup processing of the main body in parallel and the number of prints to be guaranteed as a product. And

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, a pre-startable printing apparatus in which a printing mechanism in a stopped state is set to a standby state in advance before completion of printing preparation, and is a counting device for counting the number of times that the printing mechanism is returned to the stopped state without performing printing in the standby state. Means for controlling the printing mechanism to compare the number counted by the counting means with a predetermined value, and if the number does not exceed the predetermined value, perform a preliminary activation at the time of printing, and if not, perform a preliminary activation so as not to perform the preliminary activation. Means.

Preferably, when the printing mechanism is not preliminarily activated, the printing mechanism is activated when one page of image data is generated from the print data.

Preferably, when the printing mechanism is not preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started when the generation of the intermediate code for one page from the print data is completed.

Preferably, when the printing mechanism is preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started at the time when the analysis of the print data is started.

Preferably, when the printing mechanism is preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started at the time when the generation of the intermediate code from the print data is started.

Preferably, the predetermined value is determined at a predetermined ratio to a total number of printed sheets.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP) according to the present invention will be described below.
And will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Before describing the configuration of this embodiment, the configuration of an LBP to which this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of the LBP according to the embodiment. This LBP is used to register character patterns and form data from a data source, that is, a host computer (201 in FIG. 2) connected to the outside. (Regular format) can be registered.

In the figure, 100 is an LBP main body,
Externally connected host computer (2 in FIG. 2)
01) to input and store character information (character code), form information, macro instructions, and the like, and create corresponding character patterns, form patterns, and the like according to the information. Form an image on it. Reference numeral 113 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LED display or an LCD display for displaying the status of the printer are arranged, and 101 denotes control of the entire LBP 100 and analysis of character information and the like supplied from the host computer. It is a printer control unit. The printer control unit 101 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern, and
Output to 2.

The laser driver 102 is a semiconductor laser 1
A circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 103 switches on / off a laser beam 104 emitted from the semiconductor laser 103 in accordance with an input video signal. The laser beam 104 is swung right and left by a rotating polygon mirror 105 to scan on an electrostatic drum 106. Thus, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is stored in a developing unit (toner cartridge) 10 around the electrostatic drum 106.
After being developed by 7, the image is transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper feed cassette 108 mounted on the LBP, taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 109 and transport rollers 110 and 111, and It is supplied to the drum 106.

It is also possible to feed paper from the paper feed tray 114 separately from the paper feed cassette 108. 112
Denotes a fixing device, which fixes the toner (powder ink) transferred to the recording paper to the recording paper by heat and pressure.

<Configuration of Print Control System> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the control system 101 of the LBP shown in FIG.

The LBP control system inputs a character code sent from the host computer 201, which is a source of print information, and data 213 including external character fonts, form information, macro registration information, and the like.
Document information and the like are printed in page units. 2
An input / output interface unit 02 exchanges various information with the host computer 201, and an input buffer 203 temporarily stores various information input via the input / output interface unit 202. Reference numeral 204 denotes a character pattern generator, which includes a font information section 217 storing attributes such as the width and height of a character and an address of an actual character pattern; a character pattern section 218 storing a character pattern itself;
And its reading control program. The read control program is included in the ROM 214, and has a code conversion function of calculating a character pattern address corresponding to a character code when the character code is input.

Reference numeral 205 denotes a RAM, which is a character pattern generator 2;
Font that stores the character pattern output from 04
A cache area 207 includes a storage area 206 for storing external character fonts and form information sent from the host computer 201 and the current printing environment. In this way, by storing the pattern information once expanded into the character pattern as the font cache in the font cache area 207, it is not necessary to decode the same character again and develop the pattern when printing the same character. , The development to the character pattern becomes faster.

Reference numeral 208 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire control system of the printer.
8 controls the entire apparatus. An intermediate buffer 209 is an internal data group generated based on the input data 213. After the reception of one page of data is completed, the data is converted into simpler internal data and stored in the intermediate buffer, the frame buffer 210 stores the print image, and at least in the case of full paint, A print image for one page or two bands in the case of partial paint can be stored. An output interface unit 211 generates a video signal corresponding to the pattern information from the frame buffer 210, and executes interface control with a page printer printing unit (printing mechanism main unit) 212. A printing mechanism 212 of the page printer receives a video signal from the output interface unit 211 and prints image information based on the video signal.

Reference numeral 215 denotes a nonvolatile memory constituted by a general EEPROM or the like.
RAM). The NVRAM 215 stores a panel setting value specified on the operation panel 113 and the number of times printing is stopped, which is a feature of the present invention.

Reference numeral 216 denotes data transmitted from the LBP to the host computer 201.

The ROM 214 analyzes data input from the host computer 201, rasterizes intermediate codes generated by the analysis, and prints the main unit 21 of the printing mechanism.
2 and the like.

In the LBP of this embodiment, a process for analyzing print data to generate an intermediate code, a process for rasterizing the generated intermediate code, a process for starting a printing mechanism, an actual printing process, and a process for stopping the printing mechanism Employs a so-called multitask process in which each is processed by a separate task.

It is to be noted that the durable number of the printing mechanism main body is set at not less than 1.05 million, and the guaranteed number as a product is set at 1 million. In other words, a margin of 50,000 sheets is given as a margin, and 10,000 times of this are allocated to the number of times printing is stopped by the printing mechanism main body. In other words, 10,000 processes are permitted as the process of starting the printing mechanism main body but actually stopping without printing anything.

<Print Control Procedure> First, a control procedure for interpreting print data received from the host computer 201 and performing processing for generating an intermediate code will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. S301 in FIG.
0 to S3060 indicate each processing step.
Is executed by

When reception of print data from the host computer 201 is started, first in step S3010, NV
The number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped is read from the RAM 215, and it is determined in step S3020 whether the number is less than 10,000.

If the number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped is less than 10,000, the process proceeds to step S3030, where the intermediate buffer 2
At 09, it is determined whether or not there is an intermediate code waiting to be printed. If there is no intermediate code, step S304
0, and after starting the printing mechanism, the process proceeds to step S30.
At 50, the process proceeds to the analysis of one page of print data.

If it is determined in step S3020 that the number of times of starting suspension is 10,000 or more, or if it is determined in step S3030 that an intermediate code exists, the process proceeds to step S3050 without starting the printing mechanism.

If the print mechanism is started before the interpretation of the print data is completed, the interpretation of the complex print data or the transmission of data from the host computer 201 may not be in time and the print mechanism may time out. The reason why the printing mechanism is not started when the number of times of starting stoppage exceeds 10,000 times is that if such cases occur frequently, the life of the printing mechanism body is shortened. It is to suppress. Also, the reason why the printing mechanism is not activated even when the intermediate code already exists is that the printing mechanism has already been activated or will be activated soon in the rasterizing process of the intermediate code described later. This is because there is no need to start the application.

In step S3050, one page of print data is analyzed, and an intermediate code is output to the intermediate buffer 209.

When the analysis for one page is completed, step S3
The process proceeds to 060, where it is determined whether or not print data of the next page exists. If so, the process returns to step S3050 to analyze the print data of the next page. The analysis processing ends.

Next, a control procedure of a rasterizing process for converting the intermediate code generated as described above into a print image will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. FIG.
Steps S4010 and S4100 in FIG.

First, in step S4010, the intermediate buffer 2
In step 09, it is determined whether or not at least one page of intermediate code has been generated. If not, the process is stopped until one page of intermediate code is generated.

When the intermediate code for at least one page has been generated, the flow advances to step S4020 to determine whether or not banding processing is possible based on the size and contents of the intermediate code of the page.

If banding processing is possible, the flow advances to step S4030 to activate the printing mechanism. There is a possibility that it has already been started in step S3040, but if it has already been started, step S3040 is executed.
The instruction at 4030 is ignored.

When the start of the printing mechanism is instructed, the flow advances to step S4040 to determine whether or not the printing mechanism is ready for printing, and the processing is stopped until the preparation is completed.

If it is determined that the printing mechanism is ready for printing, the flow advances to step S4050 to rasterize the intermediate code in the intermediate buffer 209 for each band and develop it on the frame buffer 210. Through the output interface unit 211
2, rasterizing and printing in a so-called banding process.

When the processing for all bands, that is, for one page is completed, the flow advances to step S4100 to delete the processed intermediate code for one page from the intermediate buffer 209, and returns to step S4010 to perform rasterization processing for the next page. .

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4020 that banding processing cannot be performed, step S4
The process proceeds to step 060 and thereafter, where rasterization processing in full paint processing is performed. If a large number of characters and graphics are concentrated in a band or a complex raster operation is used, the rasterization process in banding is predicted to be in time for paper transport, and it will be a full paint process. . In the full paint processing, it takes time to perform rasterization for one page first, and furthermore, a very large frame buffer for holding a print image for one page is required, so that the efficiency of memory use is reduced. There is a disadvantage that.

In the case of this full paint processing, first, in step S 4060, the entirety of one page of the intermediate code in the intermediate buffer 209 is rasterized and developed on the frame buffer 210.

When rasterization for one page is completed, the flow advances to step S4070 to activate the printing mechanism. There is a possibility that it has already been started in step S3040, but if it has already been started, step S40
The indication at 70 is ignored.

When the start of the printing mechanism is instructed, the flow advances to step S4080 to determine whether or not the printing mechanism is ready for printing, and the processing is stopped until the preparation is completed.

If it is determined that the printing mechanism is ready for printing, the flow advances to step S4090 to advance to the frame buffer 210.
The so-called full paint printing is performed in which the print image of one page developed above is transferred to the printing mechanism 212 through the output interface unit 211.

After the transfer of the print image for one page is completed, the flow advances to step S4100 to delete the processed intermediate code for one page from the intermediate buffer 209, and returns to step S4010 to perform rasterization processing for the next page.

Next, a control procedure for controlling the printing mechanism main body in response to such a printing mechanism activation instruction or an actual printing execution instruction will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
S5010 to S5080 in FIG. 5 indicate each processing step.

First, in step S5010, it is determined whether an instruction to activate the printing mechanism has been received, and the process is stopped until the instruction to activate is issued.

If there is an activation instruction, the flow advances to step S5020 to perform activation processing of the printing mechanism. Specifically, the rotating polygon mirror 105 and the transport rollers 110 and 111 are accelerated to a predetermined speed, and the fixing device 112 is further heated to a predetermined temperature. This startup process has already taken some time from the immediately preceding printing, and takes the longest time when the rotating polygon mirror and each roller are completely stopped, and conversely, when printing a plurality of pages continuously. In the case where the rotating polygon mirror and each roller are rotating at a speed close to the maximum speed due to inertia, almost no time is required.

When the start-up processing is completed and preparation for printing is completed, the flow advances to step S5030 to start a timer for controlling the timeout of the printing mechanism main body, and then to step S504.
At 0, it is determined whether or not there is a print execution instruction.

If there is a print execution instruction, step S5050 is performed.
The print image is read from the frame buffer 210 and transferred to the printing mechanism 212 through the output interface unit 211 in synchronization with the sheet conveyance. This is repeated once for full paint processing and a predetermined number of times for banding processing to complete printing on actual paper.

When printing of one page is completed, step S5 is performed.
In step 060, the printing mechanism is stopped, and the process proceeds to step S50.
The process returns to step S10 and waits for a start instruction for the next printing.

On the other hand, if a print execution instruction cannot be obtained in step S5040, the flow advances to step S5070 to determine whether a timeout has occurred, that is, whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the timer was started in step S5030.
In the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, if there is no print execution instruction for 5 seconds for protection of the apparatus, it is assumed that the printing has been stopped and the printing apparatus times out.

If no time-out has occurred, that is, if 5 seconds have not elapsed, the flow returns to step S5040 to determine again whether or not there is a print execution instruction.

If a timeout has occurred, the number of times the printing mechanism is stopped to be stopped recorded in the NVRAM 215 is counted up in step S5080, the printing mechanism is stopped in step S5060, and the flow returns to step S5010 to return to step S5010 to perform the next printing. Wait for the start instruction for.

As described above, in the LBP according to the present embodiment, when the reception of the print data from the host computer 201 is started, first, the start of the printing mechanism is instructed, and the time until the printing mechanism prepares for printing is used. Since the print data is interpreted in this manner, the activation process of the printing mechanism and the interpretation of the print data can be performed at the same time. Time can be reduced.

The first page of the print job is very complicated print data, the interpretation of the print data is not completed within a predetermined time, and the printing mechanism started to protect the printing mechanism has to be temporarily stopped. If the number is not obtained, the number is stored in a non-volatile memory, and if the number exceeds a predetermined number, control is performed so that the printing mechanism is not started until the interpretation of at least one page of print data is completed.

By providing a margin (margin) for the number of prints to be guaranteed as a product and assigning a part of this margin to the number of times the printing mechanism main body is stopped without actually performing printing, a predetermined number of prints can be obtained. It guarantees both printing and prevention of printing speed reduction.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, as described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the printing mechanism is immediately started when a print job is started. Therefore, if the data from the host computer 201 is not intended for printing, the printing mechanism is activated even though the actual printing is not performed. For example, this corresponds to the case where the data sent from the host computer 201 is for registering fonts, macros, etc., or the case where it is composed of a group of instructions for acquiring LBP device configuration information.

In the present embodiment, the object of the present invention is to prevent the printing mechanism from being activated for job data that does not involve actual printing.
The description will be made with reference to the drawings in accordance with P.

The structure of the present embodiment is shown in FIGS.
Are the same as those described with reference to FIG.

Also in the present embodiment, processing for analyzing print data to generate an intermediate code, processing for rasterizing the generated intermediate code, and processing for starting up the printing structure / actual printing processing / stopping the printing mechanism are respectively performed. Although multitask processing in which tasks are processed by different tasks is adopted, the processing is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment except that the processing sent from the host computer 201 is analyzed to generate an intermediate code. The control procedure for omitting the description and generating the intermediate code by analyzing the print data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, in the present embodiment, the procedure of FIG. 6 is applied instead of FIG. 3 in the first example, and printing is performed by the processes of FIGS. 6, 4, and 5. S6010 to S6120 in FIG. 6 indicate each processing step.

When the reception of print data from the host computer 201 is started, first, in step S6010, N
The number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped is read from the VRAM 215, and it is determined in step S6020 whether the number is less than 10,000.

If the number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped is less than 10,000, the process proceeds to step S6030, where the intermediate buffer 2
At 09, it is determined whether or not there is an intermediate code waiting to be printed. If there is no intermediate code, step S604
The process proceeds to 0, and “1” is set in the storage area “preceding start” on the RAM 205. “1” means permission for preceding activation, but at this time, the printing mechanism is not activated.

If it is determined in step S6020 that the number of times of activation suspension is 10,000 or more, or if it is determined in step S6030 that an intermediate code exists, the flow advances to step S6050 to set "0" in the storage area "preceding activation". “0” means prohibition of advance activation. However, in the case where the number of activation suspensions is 10,000 or more or an intermediate code is present, the advance activation of the printing mechanism main body is inhibited as described in the first embodiment. For the same reason.

When permission / prohibition of the preceding activation is determined in step S6040 or S6050, the flow advances to step S6060 and the subsequent steps to start interpreting print data.

First, in step S6060, print data for one command is read, and then, in step S6070, it is determined whether or not the print data is one of various drawing command groups consisting of drawing commands for characters, graphics, and images. As commands other than the drawing command, there are various setting commands for designating a character size, a font, a line width and a color of a figure, various registration commands for registering font data, macros, and the like.

If the command to be processed is a drawing command, it is determined in step S6080 whether or not the advance activation of the printing mechanism is permitted. And instruct it to start. If the start is instructed in step S6090, the precedent start is prohibited in the next step S6100, and the drawing command is processed in step S6110, and the intermediate buffer 2 is processed.
At 09, an intermediate code is generated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6070 that the command is not a drawing command, or if it is determined in step S6080 that preceding activation is prohibited, the process directly proceeds to step S6110 without issuing a preceding activation instruction for the printing mechanism main body. To process. At this time, if the command to be processed is a command other than the drawing command, no intermediate code is generated in the intermediate buffer 209. It should be noted that the reason why the advance activation is prohibited in step S6100 after the activation in step S6090 is to prevent the advance activation for the second and subsequent pages of the print job.

Upon completion of the instruction processing in step S6110, the flow advances to step S6120 to determine whether or not the next print data exists. If there is, the flow returns to step S6060 to analyze the next instruction. If not, the print data analysis process ends.

As described above, the LBP in this embodiment does not activate the printing apparatus main body for print data that does not involve actual printing on paper. In a usage environment in which a font registration job for registering font data and the like is transferred from the computer 201, the load on the printing mechanism main body can be reduced.

[Third Embodiment] In the first and second embodiments, the number of times that the printing apparatus has timed out without starting the printing apparatus but actually performing printing is counted. If the number is less than 10,000 times, the advance activation of the printing apparatus is permitted.

In the case of controlling the preliminary activation of the printing apparatus by this method, for example, only the very complicated print data is frequently printed at the beginning of the introduction of LBP, and the number of times of the timeout of the printing apparatus body (ie, the printing apparatus) Number of startup aborts)
Has reached 10,000 times, the printing apparatus will not be activated at all thereafter. Therefore, even if the use environment of the LBP is changed in this state and printing is performed mainly on general print data that is not so complicated, the printing apparatus main body is not pre-started and the processing speed is sacrificed. Become.

Alternatively, initially, the host computer 201
If the host computer 201 cannot generate and transmit print data in time due to its low processing capability, and the number of timeouts of the printing apparatus body exceeds 10,000, the host computer 201 will be unable to process the data in this state. Even if the generation and transmission of print data on the host side is improved by replacing the print data with a higher one, the printing apparatus main body is not pre-activated.

In the present embodiment, whether or not to start the printing apparatus before interpreting the print data is determined by the ratio between the total number of prints at that time and the number of times the printing apparatus has been stopped. It also responds to changes in the LBP usage environment.

In the present embodiment, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings while applying the present invention to LBP.
The description is omitted because it is the same as that described with reference to FIGS.

Also in the present embodiment, a process of analyzing print data to generate an intermediate code, a process of rasterizing the generated intermediate code, and a process of activating a printing mechanism.
The actual print processing / stop processing of the printing mechanism employs multitask processing in which each is processed by a separate task, but the processing for rasterizing the generated intermediate code is performed by the first and second tasks.
The description is omitted because it is completely the same as that of the embodiment, and a control procedure for analyzing print data to generate an intermediate code and a control procedure for starting processing of a printing mechanism / actual printing processing / stop processing of a printing structure are described. This will be described with reference to a flow chart.

First, a process of analyzing print data to generate an intermediate code will be described with reference to a flow chart and FIG. 7, but if permission / prohibition of preceding activation is determined, then the flow of the second embodiment will be described. The chart is exactly the same as that described with reference to FIG. 6, and thus only different points from the second embodiment will be described.

First, in step S7010, the NVRAM 21
5, the number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped is read, and then in step S7011, the total number of printed sheets similarly recorded in the NVRAM 215 is read.

Next, in step S7020, these two values are compared to determine whether or not the number of times of suspension of activation is 1% or less of the total number of printed sheets.
If not, go to step S7050.

The processing after step S 7030 is the same as in the second embodiment.
Since the processing after step S6030 is completely the same, the description is omitted.

Next, a control procedure for controlling the main body of the printing mechanism in response to an instruction to start the printing mechanism or an actual printing execution instruction will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The processing in the processing steps from 0 to S8080 is different from S5010 to S5 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 of the first embodiment except that step S8051 is inserted.
Since the processing is exactly the same as the processing up to 080, the description is omitted.
Only step S8051 will be described.

When the execution of the printing process in step S8050 is completed, the total number of printed sheets stored in the NVRAM 215 is counted up in step S8051, and the process proceeds to step S8060 to stop the printing mechanism.

According to the above control procedure, the first 1
Since the number of times the printing device is allowed to be stopped is determined as a percentage of the total number of prints, such as using LBP, only once before printing 00 sheets and only twice before printing 200 sheets. Even if the environment changes on the way, it is possible to respond flexibly.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is implemented by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In this case, the storage medium storing the program according to the present invention constitutes the present invention. Then, by reading the program from the storage medium to a system or an apparatus, the system or the apparatus operates in a predetermined manner.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium (or recording medium) in which software program codes (FIGS. 3 to 8) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments are recorded.
Is supplied to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. By executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes a case where some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes the case where the CPU provided in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

As described above, in the above-described first embodiment, the printing speed is basically given priority, and the printing mechanism is activated when the interpretation of the print data or the generation of the intermediate code is started. In the case of general print data, the interpretation of one page of print data is completed in a very short time, and the intermediate code is generated before the printing mechanism main body is ready for printing or within a predetermined time after the printing preparation is completed. After that, actual printing can be performed. In this case, the start-up process of the printing mechanism main body and the interpretation process of the print data can be performed in parallel. Printing is completed earlier.
If the print data is extremely large and complex and the intermediate code generation cannot be completed within a predetermined time after the printing mechanism main body is ready for printing, the printing mechanism main body is temporarily stopped to complete the intermediate code generation. The printing mechanism body is started again later. Further, when the printing mechanism is started but stopped without actually performing printing, the number of times is recorded in the non-volatile memory.

If the number of times exceeds a predetermined number in the second embodiment, or a number determined by a ratio to the total number of prints in the third embodiment, when the interpretation of the print data is started or when the intermediate code is used. The printing mechanism is not activated at the start of the generation of the print data, and the printing mechanism is activated after the interpretation of the print data for one page is completed with priority given to the total number of prints to be guaranteed.

That is, in the present invention, even when the printing mechanism main body is activated, but is stopped without actually performing printing, it is considered as one printing, and by counting the number, the total number of printed sheets to be guaranteed as a product is ensured. Is to be able to clear.

Usually, the number of prints to be guaranteed as a product is set to be smaller than the number of prints that can be actually printed with a margin (margin), and a part of this margin is printed without actually printing. It is assigned to the number of times the mechanism body is stopped.

For example, if the number of prints that can be actually printed is 10
If the number is 50,000, the number of prints guaranteed as a product is 10
It is necessary to set the number of times to stop the printing mechanism body without actually printing 10,000 sheets out of the 10,000 sheets and the remaining 50,000 sheets, and allow the remaining 40,000 sheets to have a margin as a margin. Would be appropriate. In this case, the processing speed can be prioritized up to one million sheets even if complicated data arrives at a rate of one sheet per 100 sheets. In such a state, the count is not performed, and it is determined that this ratio is sufficient.

As described above, by controlling the timing of starting the printing mechanism main body based on the number of times of timeout of the printing mechanism main body recorded in the non-volatile memory, the print data interpretation processing and the printing mechanism main body are controlled. The advantage of performing the physical start-up process in parallel with the number of prints to be guaranteed as a product can be achieved.

Generally, as the resolution and speed of the printing apparatus increase, the startup processing time increases, and therefore, the merit of performing the print data interpretation processing and the physical startup processing of the printing mechanism body in parallel increases.

Further, since it is not necessary to design the printing apparatus main body more strongly than the total number of prints to be guaranteed as a product, there is an effect in terms of manufacturing cost.

[0100]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of times the printing mechanism has been stopped without performing printing while the printing mechanism has been started is managed, and the timing of starting the printing mechanism body based on the number of times is managed. By controlling, it is possible to achieve both high-speed print processing and the number of prints to be guaranteed as a product.

Further, since it is not necessary to design the printing apparatus body more strongly than the total number of prints to be guaranteed as a product, there is an effect in terms of manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a laser beam printer to which the present embodiment is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a main body shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for interpreting print data and generating an intermediate code in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for rasterizing an intermediate code and developing it into image data in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for controlling a printing mechanism main body in the first embodiment, transmitting expanded image data to the printing mechanism main body, and executing printing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for interpreting print data and generating an intermediate code in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for interpreting print data and generating an intermediate code in the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for controlling a printing mechanism main body, transmitting expanded image data to the printing mechanism main body, and executing printing in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Printer control unit 105 Rotating polygon mirror 108 Paper cassette 110 Paper transport roller 111 Paper transport roller 112 Fixing unit 113 Operation panel 114 Paper tray 201 Host computer 202 Input / output interface unit 203 Input buffer 204 Character pattern generator 205 RAM 206 Storage area for storing various registration data including form data 207 Font cache area 208 CPU 209 Storage area for storing print data 210 Frame buffer for generating final output image 212 Printing mechanism 213 Host Input data from computer 214 ROM 215 NVRAM 216 Data transmitted from LBP to host computer 217 Font information section 218 Character pattern section

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A pre-startable printing apparatus in which a printing mechanism in a stopped state is set in a standby state before completion of printing preparation, and the number of times of returning to the stopped state without performing printing in the standby state. Counting means for counting, the number of times counted by the counting means is compared with a predetermined value, and if the number does not exceed the predetermined value, a preliminary start is performed at the time of printing, and if it exceeds, the printing mechanism is not activated. A printing apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls the printing. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the printing mechanism is not preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started when one page of image data is generated from the print data. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the preliminary activation of the printing mechanism is not performed, the printing mechanism is activated when the generation of the intermediate code for one page from the print data is completed. . 4. When the printing mechanism is pre-activated,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing mechanism is activated at the time of starting analysis of the print data. 5. When pre-starting the printing mechanism,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing mechanism is activated at a time point when the generation of the intermediate code from the print data is started. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined value is determined at a predetermined ratio to a total number of printed sheets. 7. A control method for a printing apparatus capable of preliminarily starting a printing mechanism in a stopped state, in which a printing mechanism in a stopped state is set in a standby state before completion of printing preparation, wherein the printing mechanism is stopped in a standby state without performing printing. A counting step of counting the number of times returned, and comparing the number counted in the counting step with a predetermined value. If the number does not exceed the predetermined value, a preliminary start is performed at the time of printing. And a control step of controlling a printing mechanism. 8. The control of the printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the printing mechanism is not preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started when one page of image data is generated from the print data. Method. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the preliminary activation of the printing mechanism is not performed, the printing mechanism is activated when the generation of the intermediate code for one page from the print data is completed. Control method. 10. The control method for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the printing mechanism is preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started when analysis of print data is started. 11. The control method according to claim 7, wherein, when the printing mechanism is preliminarily started, the printing mechanism is started at a time point when an intermediate code is generated from print data. 12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined value is determined by a predetermined ratio to a total number of printed sheets. 13. A counting means for counting the number of times that the printing mechanism is returned to the stop state without performing printing while the printing mechanism is in the standby state, and the number counted by the counting means is compared with a predetermined value. A computer readable memory for storing a computer program for realizing a pre-startup at the time of printing if the predetermined value is not exceeded, and a control means for controlling the printing mechanism so that the pre-startup is not performed if the predetermined value is exceeded.