JP2002059617A - Electronic printer having controller and print engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimize the protocol of a video interface between an image processing controller and a mechanical controller in a print engine. SOLUTION: The electronic printer comprises an image processing controller 16 performing image processing of a print job, and a print engine 18 having a minimum print cycle of forming images of one or a plurality of sheets simultaneously on an intermediate medium and transferring the images to a print medium being discharged. In response to a plurality of print commands being fed from the image processing controller and a set command being fed for every print page following to the print command, a mechanical controller 20 in the print engine sets print parameters for every print page and begins printing in response to a go command being fed following to a desired number of print commands. The number of the set commands represents the number of print sheets in one minimum print cycle and the go command controls the print start timing of the minimum print cycle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an electronic printing apparatus having a controller and a print engine, and more particularly to a novel communication protocol in a video interface between a mechanical controller in the print engine and an image processing controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic printing apparatuses using laser beams, such as page printers, are capable of performing monochrome printing and color printing, and are becoming increasingly popular. In such an electronic printing apparatus, when a print job is received from a host computer, an image processing controller performs color conversion and binarization processing, and sends a print video signal together with setting parameters necessary for printing to a print engine. To supply. The print engine has a mechanical controller that sends and receives signals to and from a normal controller, and a mechanical part that executes printing under the control of the mechanical controller.

A mechanical part in a print engine includes a photosensitive drum on which a latent image is formed by a laser beam and to which charged toner is attached, and a transfer unit for overlappingly transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum. The toner image that is superposed and transferred on the transfer unit is transferred to a printing medium such as printing paper.

[0004]

In an electronic printing apparatus capable of color printing in recent years, various printing forms such as monochrome printing, color printing, single-sided printing, double-sided printing, and sorting output to a multi-bin unit can be freely selected. Is required. In such a large-sized electronic printing apparatus, it is necessary to exchange a large amount of print information between a controller that performs image processing and a mechanical controller in a print engine. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the transfer capacity of the interface, but such an increase in cost is not preferable. Therefore, optimizing the interface protocol is an essential requirement for increasing the printing speed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic printing apparatus having an interface of an optimized protocol between a controller for image processing and a mechanical controller in a print engine.

It is another object of the present invention to optimize an interface protocol between a controller for image processing and a mechanical controller in a print engine.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic printing apparatus capable of increasing a printing speed.

Another object of the present invention is to optimize an interface protocol between a controller for image processing and a mechanical controller in a print engine,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic printing apparatus capable of preventing a printing failure when an error occurs.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, an electronic printing apparatus includes an image processing controller for performing image processing on a print job, and a single image processing controller for an intermediate medium. A print engine having a minimum print cycle for simultaneously forming a plurality of images, transferring the images to a print medium, and discharging the print medium. Then, the mechanical controller in the print engine responds to the plurality of print commands supplied from the image processing controller and a setting command supplied for each print page after the print command, and print parameters for each print page. The printing is started in response to a go command that is set and then supplied after the desired number of setting commands. The number of the setting commands indicates the number of prints in one minimum print cycle, and the go command controls the print start timing of the minimum print cycle.

Here, the minimum printing cycle is a cycle in which a toner image is formed on an intermediate medium, transferred to a printing medium and discharged, and in the case of single-sided printing, a toner image is formed on the intermediate medium and transferred to a printing medium. One cycle is included, and at least two transfer cycles are included for double-sided printing.

[0010] By using the setting command, the mechanical controller can recognize the end of the print command for each print page, and can eliminate the waste of repeatedly sending the same command for each print page.
That is, the mechanical controller enables setting of print parameters in each print page only by being supplied with a command having a difference different from the command of the previous page. Furthermore, by issuing a setting command for each print page and then instructing the start of printing with a go command, the mechanical controller can recognize the number of simultaneous print pages within the minimum print cycle by the number of set commands.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic printing apparatus for performing printing in response to a print job, comprising: an image processing controller for performing image processing on the print job; A print engine having a minimum print cycle for forming an image, transferring the image to a print medium, and discharging the print medium, wherein a mechanical controller in the print engine is supplied from the image processing controller. A print command is set for each print page in response to a plurality of print commands and a set command provided for each print page after the print command, and a go command provided after one or more set commands. And printing is started in response to the request.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the print engine starts printing in response to the supply of a set of commands including the print command, the setting command, and the go command from the image processing controller, and the mechanical controller includes: , A status signal is returned to the image processing controller every time in response to the command. Then, even when the image processing controller receives the status signal indicating that printing is possible in response to the setting command, the image processing controller receives the status signal indicating that printing is not possible in response to the go command generated every minimum printing cycle. Stops the transfer of the printing image data to the mechanical controller and cancels the printing.

In particular, when command transfer and status transfer between the image processing controller and the mechanical controller are performed by serial communication, after the image processing controller receives a status signal indicating that printing is possible corresponding to the setting command, It takes a relatively long time until the mechanical controller receives the go command.
Therefore, even if the printable status signal is received in response to all the setting commands, the image processing controller continues to receive the printable status signal in response to the go command notifying the start of printing. Is not supplied to the mechanical controller. By using such a protocol, useless printing image data is prevented from being supplied to the print engine in a print-disabled state, and the electronic printing apparatus is prevented from hanging up.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, such embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electronic printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The printer 14, which is an electronic printing apparatus, includes a controller 16 that internally performs image processing on a print job supplied from the host computer PC.
And a print engine 18 for performing printing in accordance with a print setting command and print image data supplied from the controller 16. The host computer PC is, for example,
Application program 10 for generating image data
And a printer driver 12 that generates a print job corresponding to the generated image data and supplies the print job to the printer 14.
And have been installed.

The image processing controller 16 interprets the print job, and in the case of color printing, performs color conversion processing and binarization processing to generate image data for printing, and performs printing in accordance with the print job. Generate a print command including commands and setting parameters. The print engine 18 includes a mechanical unit 22 that forms a toner image on an intermediate medium such as a photosensitive drum and a transfer unit and transfers the toner image to a print medium such as printing paper, and a mechanical controller 20 that controls the mechanical unit 22. And Then, between the image processing controller 16 and the mechanical controller 20,
A video interface 24 is provided, and print commands and print image data are supplied from the controller 16 to the mechanical controller 20. In addition, various control signals are included in the video interface 24.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a video interface according to the present embodiment. Controller 16
In addition to the various control signal lines, a command signal line for serially transferring an 8-bit command, for example, and a status signal line for serially transferring an 8-bit status signal are provided between the controller and the mechanical controller 20.
The controller 16 and the mechanical controller 20 have a master-slave relationship, and the controller 16 can issue a command at its own timing.
The mechanical controller 20 only returns a status signal in response to the received command, and cannot issue a command or a status signal at its own timing.

When the controller 16 supplies a command CMD consisting of 8 bits to set the print parameters to the mechanical controller 20 by serial communication, the mechanical controller 20 checks the state of the print engine while also confirming the reception of the command. The indicated 8-bit status signal STS is returned by serial communication every time. Upon receiving this status signal STS, the controller 16 confirms that the transmitted command has been normally received, and transmits the next command CMD if necessary.

Command CMD issued by the controller 16
Specifies print parameters for one page by a plurality of commands. As will be described later, the command CMD is hierarchized so as to be able to cope with more diversified printing modes, and a print command (print command), an initial value setting command (put command), a state The acquisition command (get command) and the command (control command) for switching the sleep mode are specified, and the second
The parameters of the first hierarchical command are set by the hierarchical command. The command of the second hierarchy may set a parameter by a single command, or may set a parameter by a plurality of commands.

For example, in the case of a print command, the print mode is (1) one side or both sides, (2) color or monochrome,
(3) What is the paper size, and (4) Where is the discharge destination (such as the finisher or the multi-bin position). Therefore, in order to set those print modes,
It is necessary to issue the command of the second hierarchy several times.

FIG. 3 is an overall view of a print engine according to the embodiment. This print engine forms a full-color image by superimposing four color toners of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K), or uses only black k (K) toner. Form a monochrome image. In the print engine, the exposure unit 32 turns on and off the laser beam in accordance with the print image data supplied from the controller in the minimum print cycle, and forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum 30. Then, the toner of the developing unit 34 adheres to the latent image, and a toner image is formed. The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred to the transfer unit 36. In the case of color printing, the transfer unit 36 makes four rotations to transfer toner images of four colors. Then, the superimposed toner image is transferred from the paper supply unit 38 to a print medium such as a recording paper that has passed through the print medium path 40a.

After the print medium to which the image has been transferred is subjected to a fixing process, the print medium passes through a passage 40 c in the paper discharge unit 41,
The paper is discharged to the finisher 44 or the multi-bin unit 46. Also, in the case of double-sided printing, the print medium passes through the passage 40f.
To make a U-turn, and from the passage 40g,
And the toner image formed on the transfer unit 36 is again transferred to the opposite surface, and
Is discharged to the finisher 44 or the multi-bin unit 46 from the printer. Therefore, in the case of double-sided printing, the transfer unit 36
Rotates eight times to form the front and back images.

The cycle in which one or a plurality of toner images that can be transferred to the print medium is formed in the transfer unit 36 and transferred to the print medium is referred to as a minimum print cycle. Therefore, in the case of single-sided printing, one transfer cycle in which a toner image is formed on the transfer unit 36 and transferred to a print medium is provided within one minimum print cycle. In the case of double-sided printing, two transfer cycles are included in one minimum printing cycle. That is, in the above example, in one transfer cycle, the transfer unit 36 makes four rotations for color printing and one rotation for monochrome printing. In the case of single-sided color printing with one minimum printing cycle, the transfer unit 3
6 is 4 rotations (1 transfer cycle), 8 for double-sided color printing
The transfer unit 36 rotates one cycle (two transfer cycles) for single-sided monochrome printing, and two turns (two transfer cycles) for two-sided monochrome printing.

The transfer unit 36 serving as an intermediate medium is designed to have a size capable of forming, for example, an A3 size toner image. By doing so, it is possible to form two A4 size toner images, which are half of that. As a result, it is possible to print one sheet of A3 size and two sheets of A4 size in one minimum printing cycle.
Since the rotation speed of the transfer unit 36 is constant, if a plurality of images can be formed on the transfer unit 36, the printing speed can be increased.

FIG. 4 is a table showing the relationship between the print mode and the number of printable sheets in the minimum print cycle. In the figure, short paper indicates an A4-size print medium, and long paper indicates an A3-size print medium. As shown in FIG. 4, if the print mode is single-sided, color, or short, one or two sheets can be printed in one minimum print cycle. However, one side,
With color or long paper, only one sheet can be printed. One side,
The same is true for monochrome. On the other hand, if the print mode is double-sided, color, or short, one or two sheets can be printed in one minimum print cycle.
I can print only one sheet. In the case of monochrome, up to three sheets of short paper can be printed, and only one sheet of long paper can be printed. The reason why three sheets can be printed on short paper is as follows.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the minimum printing cycle and the transfer cycle in the case of monochrome printing. FIG. 5 specifically shows how a toner image is formed on the transfer unit 36 as an intermediate medium and transferred to a print medium. In FIG. 5, the minimum printing cycle is indicated by a thick frame, and the boundary of the transfer unit is indicated by a thin line.

FIG. 5A shows monochrome, long paper (A3),
In the case of single-sided printing, a first toner image is formed on the entire surface of the transfer unit 36, and is transferred to a print medium that is a printing paper. In this case, one transfer cycle is included in the minimum printing cycle. FIG. 5B shows the case of monochrome, short paper (A4), and single-sided printing.
Two toner images are formed on each of them, and are transferred to two print media. Again, within one print cycle,
Transfer cycles are included.

FIG. 5 (3) shows monochrome, long paper (A3),
The case of double-sided printing is shown. First, a toner image of the second page (back) is formed on the entire surface of the transfer unit 36, and is transferred to a print medium. After the print medium is fixed, the print medium is reversed by a reversing path (40c, 40f, and 40g in FIG. 3) and supplied to the double-sided re-feed unit 42. While the print medium passes through the reverse path, the transfer unit 36 may idle for a predetermined number of times (for example, twice) if necessary. Then, a toner image of the first page (front) is formed on the entire surface of the transfer unit 36, and is transferred to a print medium. Thereafter, the print medium is ejected. Therefore, in this case, two transfer cycles are included in the minimum printing cycle. However, the transfer unit 3
The idle rotation of No. 6 is not included in the number of transfer cycles.

FIG. 5D shows monochrome, short paper (A4),
The left side shows the case of printing one sheet and the right side shows the case of printing two sheets. When printing on both sides of one sheet, refer to FIG.
This is the same as the double-sided printing of A3 in (3). However, a toner image is formed on the transfer unit 36 using each half surface. Since a time period for reversing the print medium in the reversing path is required for double-sided printing, the transfer unit 3 shown in FIG.
In No. 6, two pages of toner images cannot be formed. Further, when two sheets are printed on both sides, as shown on the right side, first, the toner images of the fourth page (back) of the second sheet and the second page (back) of the first sheet are formed on the transfer unit 36. Are simultaneously transferred to two print media. When the two print media are reversed and re-fed, the transfer unit 36
Then, the toner images of the first page (front) of the first sheet and the third page (front) of the second sheet are formed and transferred to two print media. In this case, the first print medium is supplied next to the second print sheet on the back side printing. However, if the print medium is reversed on the reverse path as it is, the order of the print medium is reversed. Next, a second print medium is supplied.

As described above, also in the case of FIG. 5D, two transfer cycles are included in the minimum printing cycle. However,
The number of idle rotations of the transfer unit is not counted.

FIG. 5 (5) shows monochrome, short paper (A4),
For two-sided printing, two or three sheets within the minimum print cycle
This is a special example of printing on sheets. The present applicant has proposed a print engine capable of simultaneously reversing two A4 print media using the paths 40f and 40e by making the path 40c, which is the reversing path, a double track. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-166931. By using this print engine, monochrome, short paper, and duplex printing can be performed at higher speed. Hereinafter, the case of printing three sheets will be described. In the case of printing two sheets, the third toner image is not simply formed, and the rotation of the transfer unit and the transfer cycle are the same.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (5), the first transfer unit forms the toner image of the second page (back) of the first sheet and transfers it to the first print medium. While the first print medium is passing through the reverse path,
At the rotation time, the toner images of the second page of the fourth page (back) and the third page of the sixth page (back) are formed in the transfer unit, and are transferred to the second and third print media, respectively ( If printing two sheets, the third toner image is not formed). afterwards,
After one idle rotation of the transfer unit, the first print medium is re-fed, so the toner image of the first page (front) of the first sheet is formed on the transfer unit at the fourth rotation, and the print medium is printed. Is transferred to

Further, while the transfer unit is rotated three or four times, the second and third printing papers are simultaneously reversed in the parallel reversing path, the order is changed, and the second and third printing papers are switched. Paper is re-supplied in order. Then, at the fifth rotation, the second page of the third page (table) and the third page of the fifth page (table) are transferred to the transfer unit.
Is formed and transferred to each printing paper.

In the special case shown in FIG. 5 (5), there are four transfer cycles within the minimum printing cycle. Then, three-sheet printing can be performed in the same minimum print cycle as that of two-sheet printing. As a result, higher-speed printing is possible in the case of three or more double-sided printing.

When one monochrome, A4, and double-sided printing is performed by using the print engine proposed in the above-mentioned application, the operation is the same as the left side of FIG. 5 (4). However, the transfer unit 36 idles twice between the second page and the first page, and is synchronized with the re-feeding of the printing paper.

FIG. 6 is a table showing the relationship between the print mode and the transfer order of the print image data. Print mode is simplex,
In the case of color and two short sheets, the transfer of the printing image data from the controller 16 to the mechanical controller 20 is performed by transferring the first yellow (1)
Y) Second yellow (2Y), first cyan (1
C) Second cyan (2C), first magenta (1
M), second magenta (2M), first black (1K), and second black (2K). In the case of one short sheet, yellow (1Y), cyan (1C), magenta (1M),
It is performed in the order of black (1K). The transfer of the print image data is performed in real time in synchronization with the rotation cycle of the intermediate medium.

When the print mode is single-sided, color, or long paper, only one sheet can be printed, and image data is transferred in yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (K). It is performed in order.

When the print mode is double-sided, the above-described single-sided image data transfer is performed for each of the back side and the front side of the print medium. That is, in one minimum printing cycle, 2
The set of toner image data is transferred, and toner image formation on the transfer unit 36 and transfer to a print medium are performed. As described above, one minimum printing cycle includes two transfer cycles.

From the above description, it is understood how the print engine forms an image in various print modes. Next, the protocol of the video interface between the controller 16 and the mechanical controller 20 in each print mode will be described.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the video interface when printing three single-sided, monochrome, and short sheets. Commands issued by the controller 16 are:
As described above, the layers are hierarchized, and the controller 16 first issues a print command for instructing printing as a first-layer command, and transmits the print command to the mechanical controller 20. In response to this, the mechanical controller 20 returns a status signal STS indicating whether or not it is in a printable state.

The status signal STS is composed of, for example, 8 bits, a bit indicating whether the next printing is possible, a bit indicating whether the printing engine is executing printing, a bit requesting calibration of the printing engine, A bit indicating that preparation is being performed later, a bit indicating whether or not a pause is being performed by a pause instruction,
An operation call bit indicating the occurrence of a paper jam or the like is included. The controller 16 receives the status signal STS, recognizes that the transmitted command has been received, and can detect the state of the engine at that time. Then, for example, if the bit indicating whether the next printing is possible is impossible, the controller 16 cannot issue the go command for instructing the start of printing.

Subsequent to the print command, the controller 16 issues a plurality of second-layer commands and transmits necessary parameters corresponding to the print mode to the mechanical controller 20. For example, in this example, a monochrome command a, a single-sided command b, a command c indicating plain paper, a command d indicating short paper (A4 size), and a command e1 indicating which bin of the multi-bin are consecutive. Issue. In this case, similarly to the print command, each time the command is issued, the status signal STS from the mechanical controller 20 is received and confirmed.

When a second layer command for setting print parameters for one page is issued, a setting command indicating the end of the command for one page is issued. By receiving this setting command, the mechanical controller 20 recognizes that the reception of the print parameters for one page has been completed.

In this example, since printing is performed on short paper, two toner images can be simultaneously formed on the intermediate medium as the transfer unit and then transferred to the print medium. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 7, a second layer command for setting the print parameters of the second sheet is issued. In this case, in order to eliminate issuance of the second layer command duplicated with the first page, only the second page command different from the first page command is issued as the second page command. For example, on the second page, a monochrome command a, a single-sided command b, a command c for plain paper, and a command d for short paper (A4 size) are the same as the first page, but the bin positions of the multi-bin Are different, the command e indicating the bin position is
Only 2 are issued and a set command is issued. Upon receiving the setting command, the mechanical controller 20 recognizes that the bin positions of the multi-bin unit are different, but the other printing parameters are the same, and refers to the second hierarchical command on the first page. For that purpose, the mechanical controller 20 saves all the received second-layer commands in a buffer and overwrites the second command sent later.

Since the printing medium is short paper, the number of printable sheets in one minimum printing cycle is two. Therefore, 2
After the second setting command is issued, the controller 16
Issues a go command instructing the timing of printing start in response to the status signal STS. Then, after confirming that the status signal STS responding to the go command go indicates a printable state, the controller 16 sets the print image data K generated by the image processing.
1 and K2 are transferred to the mechanical controller 20 at a timing synchronized with the operation of the exposure unit, the exposure drum and the transfer drum in the print engine. In accordance with the first and second image data K1 and K2, two pages of monochrome toner images are formed on the transfer drum, transferred to two plain papers together, and discharged to different bins.

Next, a second layer command is issued for printing the third page. Also on the third page, only the bin positions of the multi-bin unit are different, so only the second hierarchical command e3 is issued, and then the setting command is issued. As a result, the mechanical controller 20
The parameters for printing the third page are set by the second layer commands a, b, c, d of the page and the command e3. In this case, since there is no fourth page, when the controller 16 receives the status signal STS responding to the setting command, the controller 16 sends the go command g
Issue o. Status signal S responding to go command
After receiving the TS, the controller 16 sends the print image data K3 in synchronization with the operation of the print engine.

As described above, in the example of FIG. 7, three short sheets can be printed in two minimum printing cycles. In the case of color printing, print image data is transferred in the order of Y, M, C, and K after the go command. In that case, the data is continuously transferred in synchronization with the operation of the print engine.

As described above, the go command go is issued once in the minimum print cycle of the print engine, and the setting command indicates the end of the first and second hierarchy commands for one page. Therefore, the number of setting commands before the go command go indicates the number of prints in the minimum print cycle. In addition, the mechanical controller 20 adds the previous command sent to the previous page to the current command of the difference sent immediately before by the setting command, and can recognize the command as the second hierarchical command in the current page. As a result, the number of commands transferred via the video interface can be reduced. Further, information on the number of prints in the minimum print cycle can be added to the setting command.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of the video interface when printing on both sides, color, and three short sheets. As in FIG. 7, the setting of the first sheet includes a print command and a plurality of second hierarchical commands a, b, c, d, and e.
1 is issued, and each time the mechanical controller 20 is issued.
Returns a status signal STS. Then, a setting command indicating that the setting of the first sheet has been completed is issued. Next, only the second layer command e2 for setting the bin position of the multi-bin unit is issued to set the print parameters for the second sheet, and the setting command is issued. Finally, the go command go is issued and the mechanical controller 20 is issued.
After receiving a status signal STS indicating that printing is possible from the controller 16, the controller 16 performs printing image data on the back of the first and second sheets, so as to enable two-sided color printing,
The print image data of the first and second sheets are continuously transferred as shown in the figure. In line with that, the print engine
Two toner images are formed on a transfer unit, and transferred and fixed on two short sheets. The number of sheets in the minimum print cycle is set by the number of set commands up to the go command go. The transfer order of the print image data is as shown in the table of FIG.

Next, in order to print the third sheet, the controller 16 issues a necessary command. In the example of FIG. 8, the print mode of the third sheet is exactly the same as the print mode of the second sheet. In that case, the controller 16 issues the same color command a as the setting of the page before the previous page, and refers to the status signal STS of the print engine. Then, when it is indicated that printing is possible, the controller 16 issues a setting command. Status signal responding to setting command
When the STS is received, a go command go is issued as a print start timing for three sheets. In response to the status signal STS in response to the go command go, the controller 16 transfers the image data for the third color printing to the mechanical controller 20 in the order of the back side and the front side.

Also in FIG. 8, the minimum print cycle is controlled by the go command go, and the number of setting commands before the go command controls the number of prints in the minimum print cycle. Further, the setting command instructs the determination of the change of the second hierarchical command corresponding to the print mode. Therefore, by repeatedly issuing a command for one page and issuing a setting command, and finally issuing a go command, the protocol of the video interface can be optimized.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart of the video interface in printing when an error occurs. In this example, it is assumed that printing is performed on one side, color, and two short sheets. As described above, every time the controller 16 issues the first-layer command and the second-layer command, the mechanical controller 20 returns the status signal STS to notify whether or not the printing is possible. Then, when a setting command corresponding to the number of sheets to be printed in the minimum print cycle is issued, and the status signal STS responsive thereto notifies the printable state (OK), the controller 16 sends a go command go to notify the start of the operation of the print engine. Issue

At this time, even if the status signal STS responding to the last setting command is in a printable state, the controller 16 keeps printing image data until the status signal STS responding to the go command go confirms the printable state. Do not forward. Since the command and status signal are serial transfer of 8 bits, the time from the reception of the status signal corresponding to the last setting command to the completion of the transmission of the go command may be long. Check whether it is possible. This prevents a hang-up due to an error on the print engine side that occurs after receiving the status signal corresponding to the last setting command.

In the example of FIG. 9, the status signal STS responding to the go command go indicates that the printing is impossible (NG). For example, it is assumed that one bit of the status signal indicates an operation call state due to the occurrence of a paper jam. As a result, the controller 16 stops transferring the print image data. This prevents the printer from hanging up.

Thereafter, the controller 16 periodically issues a get command and monitors the status signal STS responsive thereto, thereby detecting that the print engine returns to the printable state. When the printable state (OK) is detected, the controller 16 issues a print command that is a first hierarchical command, issues a required second hierarchical command, and then issues a setting command and a go command. Status signal STS responding to go command go
Indicates the printable state, the controller 16
Transfer the print image data to the mechanical controller. Since the get command is issued after the occurrence of the error, the print command is issued after the error recovery, so that the setting command and the go command of the second hierarchical command can be validated.

As described above, the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but extends to the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, a video interface between an image processing controller and a mechanical controller is realized by combining a setting command indicating the end of a print command for each page and a go command for notifying a print start timing. Can be optimized. Further, even if the status signal responding to the setting command is in a printable state, if the status signal responding to the go command notifying the print start timing to be issued thereafter cannot be printed, the printing start can be canceled. This prevents the electronic printing apparatus from hanging up.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electronic printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a video interface according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall view of a print engine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a table showing a relationship between a print mode and a printable number of sheets in a minimum print cycle.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a minimum print cycle and a transfer cycle in monochrome printing.

FIG. 6 is a table showing a relationship between a print mode and a transfer order of print image data.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of a video interface when printing three single-sided, monochrome, and short sheets.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of a video interface when printing on both sides, color, and three short sheets.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart of a video interface in printing when an error occurs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Electronic printing device, printer 16 Image processing controller 18 Print engine 20 Mechanical controller 22 Mechanical part of print engine

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C061 AQ06 AR01 AR03 HJ06 HN15 HN27 HQ20 2C087 AB05 AC08 BA03 BA07 BD42 CB02 CB12 2H027 ED30 EE01 EE10 EH06 EH08 EH10 FA13 ZA07 ZA08 ZA09 2H028 BB02 BB04

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An electronic printing apparatus for performing printing in response to a print job, comprising: an image processing controller that performs image processing on the print job; and a print medium that forms one or more images on an intermediate medium. A print engine having a minimum print cycle for transferring the image to and ejecting the print medium, wherein a mechanical controller in the print engine includes a plurality of print commands supplied from the image processing controller; In response to a setting command supplied for each print page after the setting command, and sets printing parameters for each print page, and starts printing in response to a go command supplied after one or more setting commands. An electronic printing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The electronic printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of simultaneous prints in one minimum print cycle is set by the number of setting commands issued before the go command. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical controller receives, in response to the setting command, print parameters of the current print page before the current print command and before the current setting command. An electronic printing apparatus characterized in that the electronic printing apparatus is set by a pre-print command. 4. The image processing controller according to claim 1, wherein after issuing the go command, the image processing controller transfers print image data to a mechanical controller in synchronization with a print operation of the print engine. Electronic printing device. 5. The minimum printing cycle according to claim 1, wherein in the case of single-sided printing, a transfer cycle in which an image is formed on the intermediate medium and transferred to the print medium is included once. An electronic printing apparatus, wherein the transfer cycle is included at least twice in the case of double-sided printing. 6. The print engine according to claim 1, wherein the print engine starts printing in response to a supply of a set of commands including the print command, the setting command, and the go command from the image processing controller, and the mechanical controller In response to the command, each time returns a status signal to the image processing controller, even if the image processing controller receives a status signal indicating that printing is possible in response to the setting command, in response to the go command When receiving a status signal indicating that printing is not possible, transfer of printing image data to the mechanical controller is stopped, and printing is canceled. 7. The electronic printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein command transfer and status transfer between the image processing controller and the mechanical controller are performed by serial communication. 8. The image processing controller according to claim 6, wherein the image processing controller issues a get command for acquiring the status signal after receiving the status signal indicating that printing is disabled, and determines whether printing is possible by the status signal. An electronic printing apparatus, when notified of the indication, transfers the print image data after issuing the go command. 9. The image processing controller according to claim 6, wherein the image processing controller issues a get command for acquiring the status signal after receiving the status signal indicating that printing is impossible, and determines whether printing is possible by the status signal. An electronic printing apparatus, when notified of the indication, issues the print command, the setting command, and the go command, and then transfers the print image data.