JP2002178570A - Image forming apparatus and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus that stably forms an image according to received data. SOLUTION: The received data is sent to a data analyzing section A, an operation type command is analyzed and the analyzed result is sent to a printing control section 113. The data which is not able to be analyzed by the data analyzing section A 110 is sent to a data analyzing section B. A command for printing included in the received data is analyzed, the printing data is stored in a printing data storing region, and then the printing control section 113 is notified of the controlling of the printing operation. At that time, the use of a storing region is temporally prohibited in order to attain a printing data storing region 107. The data which is not able to be analyzed by the data analyzing section B is sent to a data analyzing section C that analyzes whether or not the received data includes data which can be temporally stored. When the received data includes it, the data is stored in a temporal storing section 108. The analyzing order of the plurality of analyzing sections for analyzing various kinds of received data and management of the data held in the memory section are controlled in synchronism with each other. As the smooth management of the data storing region is executed, it is possible to stably form an image from the received data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an analyzing section capable of analyzing different data structures and holding data in a specific data structure, a control method of the image forming apparatus, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an I / F communication unit receives data transmitted from an external terminal such as a personal computer, an image forming apparatus first stores received data in a received data storage area. The data analysis unit analyzes the received data and converts the print data included in the received data into data suitable for printing by using a print control command among various control commands included in the received data. From the temporary storage area. Next, the print data converted and stored in the temporary storage area is transferred to the printing unit, and the printing unit executes printing using predetermined paper.

By the way, in an inexpensive image forming apparatus or the like,
The storage area of the storage unit provided in the image forming apparatus is divided and used as a storage area for storing the reception data and a temporary storage area for storing the converted print data. However, these storage units store, for example, one page of received data (A4
An image forming apparatus that outputs to paper does not have a sufficient storage capacity to store received data for one page of A4 paper. Therefore, in the above-described image forming apparatus, the storage area for storing the received data is opened every time the received data is read out for analysis, and the storage area is controlled so that the storage area can be used for the next storage area for storing the received data. That is the current situation.

In the above-described image forming apparatus, the size of the temporary storage area for storing the print data converted for transfer to the printing section is reduced according to the maximum printable width of the image forming apparatus. At present, it is configured to be used in.

[0005]

As described above, in a conventional inexpensive image forming apparatus, even if the form, data capacity, or data input path of the data received by the image forming apparatus is various, the above-mentioned method is used uniformly. The storage area of the received data is controlled by the method.

Therefore, for example, if printing is performed based on received data in which the form and data capacity of the received data are always constant and the received data can be recognized, even a storage area for temporarily storing the received data is secured. if you can,
Printing processing such as an expensive image forming apparatus capable of holding data of one page is possible.

For example, depending on the data format of the received data, 1
For data with a structure where the page capacity can be easily identified,
A print control method for temporarily storing one page is also considered. In order to store one page in a limited area, the size of one page, that is, the print size is restricted.

Therefore, in order to store one page of data in a larger number of formats in the temporary storage area, a part or most of the normal reception area is exclusively used within the limited storage area. The method used for this is conceivable. However,
Since the same storage area is used for another purpose, exclusive control of the storage area is necessary, and depending on the setting of the conditions, it greatly affects the usability of the image forming apparatus, such as a slow print speed. Would.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of stably forming an image from received data and a control of the image forming apparatus. Is to provide a way.

[0010]

An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, an image forming apparatus that forms an image based on received data, at least one storage unit that stores the received data, a plurality of analysis units that analyze the received data stored in the storage unit, A control unit configured to control at least one storage unit and the plurality of analysis units, and an image forming unit configured to perform image formation according to an analysis result of the reception data performed by the analysis unit based on an instruction of the control unit. It is characterized by having.

Also, for example, the received data includes image forming data and data other than the image forming data.

Further, for example, the data other than the image forming data includes at least one of a command for inquiring the state of the image forming apparatus and an operation command of the image forming apparatus.

Further, for example, the plurality of analyzers include an analyzer suitable for processing the image forming data or an analyzer suitable for processing data other than the image forming data.

[0014] Further, for example, the control unit determines the type of the received data and transmits the received data to an analysis unit suitable for processing the received data from among the plurality of analysis units. .

Further, for example, the storage unit includes at least a storage area for the reception data, a storage area for image forming data analyzed by the analysis unit, and a memory for temporarily storing the data analyzed by the analysis unit. And a temporary storage area.

Further, for example, the control unit enables data to be stored in the temporary storage area of the storage unit based on a result of the determination of the type of the received data, or stores the data in the temporary storage area of the storage unit. Data storage is disabled.

Further, for example, the control unit instructs to store the received data analyzed by the analysis unit when the data can be stored in the storage unit, and discards the data held in the storage unit. If so, an instruction is given to synchronize the received data analyzed by the analysis unit with control for storing the received data in the storage unit.

A control method of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a method for controlling an image forming apparatus that includes at least one storage unit that stores received data and performs image formation based on the received data, wherein the plurality of analysis units analyze the received data stored in the storage unit Step, a control step of performing control of the at least one storage unit and the plurality of analysis steps, based on an instruction in the control step,
An image forming step of forming an image in accordance with a result of the analysis of the received data performed in the analyzing step.

A storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a storage medium storing a control program of the control method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus is described, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the described example.

[System Configuration Diagram] The external terminal 101 that transmits data to the image forming apparatus 103 according to an embodiment of the present invention is, for example, a personal computer. An I / F communication unit 102 is provided as an input / output.

The external device 10 is also provided on the image forming apparatus 103.
An I / F communication unit 104 is provided for receiving data from the I / F 1. Data received by the I / F communication unit 104 is stored in a reception data storage area 106 in the storage unit 120.

The control unit 109 controls the reception data storage area 10
6 is read, the type of the read data is determined, a data analysis unit that performs analysis suitable for each data type is selected, and the selected data analysis unit is started to perform analysis. Let it do. Note that, in the image forming apparatus 103 of the present embodiment, 110, 111, 112 in FIG.
3 shows an example in which three types of data analysis units A, B, and C are provided as shown in FIG.
If the number is more than the type, it is desirable to increase the number of data analysis units corresponding to the type of the received data.

Next, each data analyzer in this embodiment will be described in detail.

The data analysis unit A110 is provided for the image forming apparatus 1
An analysis unit that analyzes a command other than the original print data, such as a command for controlling the image forming apparatus 103 or a command for inquiring about the state of the image forming apparatus 103. Therefore, after analyzing the command, the print data is stored in the storage unit 12.
The result of the command analysis is directly input to the print control unit 113 of the image forming apparatus 103 without the storage process of storing the command in the storage unit 0.

The data analysis unit B111 is an analysis unit that analyzes normal print data, creates print data from the analyzed print data, and stores the created data in the storage area 107.

The data analysis unit C112 is an analysis unit that analyzes data whose print width is smaller than the printable width of the image forming apparatus 103. As an example of the above data, for example,
This corresponds to a case where image data is transmitted as it is in a specific format such as image data. Image forming apparatus 103
Since the data is smaller than the printable width of the print data, a small storage capacity of the print data storage area 107 is sufficient.

For this reason, it is possible to allocate and use the print data storage area 107 that has been left unused, for example, as a temporary storage area 108. Therefore, the data analysis unit B111 creates the print data as described above, and simultaneously saves the data in the temporary storage area.

Next, the print control unit 113 will be described. The print control unit 113 is where the actual printing operation is performed, and the motor drive unit 114 and the print head unit 115
, The printing operation is realized.

[Data Analysis Unit] Next, the image forming apparatus 10
3, the data analysis unit A110 and the data analysis unit B11
1 and a data communication path to the data analysis unit 112 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the reception data stored in the storage unit 120 is first transmitted to the data analysis unit A110 via the I / F unit 201, and the data analysis unit A110 determines whether the data is data that can be analyzed by itself. Check.

The data analysis unit A110 is an operation command analysis unit for processing non-printing data, and is not directly necessary for creating printing data included in the received data (for example, image data). (Eg, a command for operating the forming apparatus and a command for inquiring the state of the image forming apparatus), and the analysis result is sent to the print control unit 113.
Notify to When the received data is data that cannot be analyzed by itself, the data analysis unit A110 transmits the received data to the data analysis unit B111.

In the non-printing data processing in which print data is not created as in the above-described data analysis unit A110, since print data is not created, the print data in the storage unit 120 used when creating print data is used. The storage area 107 is not used. Therefore, it is possible to hold the temporary storage area 108 in the storage unit 120.

Next, the data analyzer B111 checks whether the received data received from the data analyzer A110 can be analyzed by itself. Data analysis unit B111
Is a print command analysis unit for processing print data, analyzes the print command included in the received data, resets the temporary storage data valid flag based on the analysis result, and converts the print data. The created data is stored in the print data storage area 107, and the print control unit 113 is notified of the control of the printing operation.

The data analysis unit B111, when creating print data, prints the print data storage area 107.
It is necessary to secure the temporary storage area 10 described later.
The setting for resetting the temporary storage data valid flag is performed to invalidate the use of No. 8.

In the case where the received data cannot be analyzed by the data analyzing section B111, the data analyzing section B111 transmits the received data to the data analyzing section C112. Next, the data analysis unit C112 checks whether the received data received from the data analysis unit B111 is data that can be analyzed by itself.

In the description of the present embodiment, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that all data that cannot be analyzed by the data analysis unit A110 and the data analysis unit B111 are analyzed by the data analysis unit C112. However, the data analysis unit C11
When there is data that cannot be analyzed in step 2, for example, a data analysis unit D (not shown) is provided to process data transmitted from the data analysis unit C112 (other processing).
May be executed. The data analysis unit C112 is an analysis unit that processes print data, that is, analyzes temporarily storable data based on characteristics of the data, and analyzes whether or not received data includes temporarily storable data. Data that can be temporarily stored in a storage area or the like is temporarily stored in the temporary storage area 108 based on the analysis result. for that reason,
Reset and set the data valid flag,
The print control unit 113 is notified of the control of the printing operation.

As described above, the data analyzer A11
In non-printing data processing that does not create print data, such as 0, print data is not created, so the storage area normally used when creating print data is not used. Therefore, it is possible to keep the temporary storage area 108 in the storage unit 120, and in order to smoothly control the temporary storage area 108, the order of the command analysis check in the data analysis units A, B, and C is important. .

[Control of Data Storage Area of Storage Unit]
Management control of the storage unit data storage area 105 (that is, the temporary storage area 108 and the print data storage area 107) in the storage unit 129 when the image forming apparatus 103 receives print data as reception data will be described with reference to FIG. explain. In the following description, the received data is
The description will be made on the assumption that the data can be analyzed by any one of the data analysis units A, B, and C. FIG. 3 illustrates the control of the received data in the control unit 109.

First, in step S301, the presence or absence of received data is checked. If there is no received data, the process waits until there is received data. If it is determined that there is received data, the process proceeds to step S302. It should be noted that the presence or absence of data reception may be detected by hardware, or may be information in which the detection of data reception is transferred from another operating control program.

Next, in step S302, the received data is acquired. Next, the flow advances to step S303 to check whether the print data storage area can be switched.

If it is determined in step S303 that the print data storage area can be switched, the process proceeds to step S303.
If the process proceeds to step 304, and it is not possible to switch the print data storage area, the process proceeds to step S310.

In step S304, the type of the received data is checked, and if it is determined that the received data is data that can be analyzed by the data analysis unit A,
Proceeding to step S305, if it is determined that the received data is not data that can be analyzed by the data analysis unit A,
Proceed to step S311.

In step S305, when the received data is determined to be data that can be analyzed by the data analysis unit A, the storage area switching setting of the storage area data storage area 105 is prohibited, and the process proceeds to step S306. By this switching prohibition setting, checking of data to be continuously received can be omitted, and high-speed processing can be performed.

Next, in step S306, the data analysis unit A110 performs a process of analyzing the received data, and then proceeds to step S307.

Next, in step S307, the analysis result of the data analysis unit A110 is input to the print control unit 113. The print control unit 113 performs print control processing for image formation based on the analysis result, and then executes step S307. S308
Proceed to. This print control process is performed based on data (command form) handled by the data analysis unit A110.

Next, in step S308, if the command start and command end are clear from the analysis result of the data analysis unit A110, the command execution period is not set to the processing completion state, and the storage unit data storage area is not set. The switching between the temporary storage area 105 and the print data storage area 107 is disabled.

Therefore, it is checked whether or not the processing is completed. If the processing is completed, that is, if the end of the command is detected, the process proceeds to step S309. If the processing is not completed, that is, the completion of the command is detected. If not, the process returns to step S301 to check the received data again.

In step S309, when the command end is detected, the temporary storage area 108 in the storage unit data storage area 105 and the print data storage area 107 are set to permit switching and storage switching, and then, in step S3.
Returning to 01, the received data is checked again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S303 that switching between the temporary storage area 108 and the print data storage area 107 in the storage section data storage area 105 is impossible, the process proceeds to step S310.

In step S310, the analysis unit A110,
The analyzing unit B111 and the analyzing unit C112 check whether or not data processing is being performed. If the analyzing unit A110 is performing data processing, the received data is transmitted to the analyzing unit A110. Continue the analysis process. If the analyzing unit B111 is performing data processing, the received data is transmitted to the analyzing unit B111, and the analyzing process by the analyzing unit B111 is continuously executed in step S314. If the analyzing unit C112 is performing data processing, the received data is transmitted to the analyzing unit C112, and the analyzing process in the analyzing unit C112 is continuously executed in step S323.

On the other hand, in step S311, if the received data is determined to be data that cannot be analyzed by the data analysis unit A, in the subsequent data processing, data for printing is created. After performing the release processing, the process proceeds to step S312.

In step S312, the data analysis unit B1
Check whether the data can be analyzed at 11
If it is determined that the data can be analyzed by the data analysis unit B111, the process proceeds to step S313, and if it is determined that the data cannot be analyzed by the data analysis unit B111, the process proceeds to step S320.

In step S 313, similarly to the processing of the analysis unit A 110, the setting for prohibiting the switching of the storage area of the storage unit data storage area 105 is performed, and then, in step S 314.
Proceed to. By this switching prohibition setting, checking of data to be continuously received can be omitted, and high-speed processing can be performed.

Next, in step S314, the received data is analyzed by the data analysis unit B111, and the flow advances to step S315 to generate print data based on the analysis result of the received data by the data analysis unit B111. After the execution, the process proceeds to step S316.

Next, in step S316, since the data handled by the data analysis unit B111 has a clear form of command start and end, the data analysis unit B111 does not set the processing completion state during the analysis period, The data storage area 105 is set in a non-switchable state. Therefore, it is checked whether the creation of the print data is completed, and if the creation of the print data is not completed,
Returning to step S301, the process waits until there is received data, and if the print data has been created, the process proceeds to step S317 to execute a print process.

Next, the flow advances to step S318 to check the end of the print data.
That is, if the creation of print data is not completed,
Returning to step S301, the process waits until there is received data, and if it is determined that it is the end of the print data, the process proceeds to step S319 to perform switching permission setting of the storage unit data storage area 105, and then returns to step S301 to Wait until there is data.

On the other hand, in step S320, when the data type is determined to be a data type that cannot be analyzed by the data analysis unit B111, this data is determined to be analysis data of the data analysis unit C112, and this data is determined. Temporary storage area 1
08, and then the process proceeds to step S321.

In step S321, step S320
It is checked whether the data stored in the temporary storage area 108 can be analyzed by the data analysis unit C112, and if it is determined that the data can be analyzed by the analysis unit C112, the process proceeds to step S322. Note that, in the description of the present embodiment, an example will be described in which there is no data that cannot be analyzed by the analysis unit C112. However, if there is data that cannot be analyzed by the analysis unit C112, the process proceeds to step S330, for example. May execute other processing by the data analysis unit D or the like (not shown) and then return to step S301 to wait until there is received data.

In step S322, the setting of the storage area switching prohibition of the storage section data storage area 105 is set, and then the process proceeds to step S323. By this switching prohibition setting, checking of data to be continuously received can be omitted, and high-speed processing can be performed.

Next, in step S323, after analyzing the received data in the data analysis unit C112, the process proceeds to step S324, where the data of the analysis result of the received data in the data analysis unit C112 is stored and stored in the temporary storage area 108. I do. Note that the data stored in the temporary storage area 108, which is a feature of the data analysis unit C112, is not used in the present invention, but is effectively used again in print processing or multiple printing.

Next, the process proceeds to step S325, where printing data creation processing is performed based on the analysis processing result of the data analysis unit C112, and then the processing proceeds to step S316, where processing similar to that described in the data analysis unit B111 is performed. (Steps S316 to S319) are performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the form of print data is determined and the amount of data can be determined, it is possible to secure a sufficient storage area for temporarily storing received data. In the case of the data amount, the data storage area (temporary storage area and print data storage area) of the storage unit that has been allocated can be re-divided again, and the received data can be saved in the temporary storage area.

The storage period of the data to be saved in the temporary storage area is distinguished from those having a large received data amount such as print data and those having a small data amount such as an instruction command to the image forming apparatus and a status inquiry command. And
When the data amount is large, the exclusive control is performed so that the storage area is used as the reception area. Conversely, when the data amount is small, it is determined that exclusive control is unnecessary, and control is performed so that exclusive control is not performed.

By the above control, the analysis order of a plurality of analysis units for analyzing different types of received data and the management of the data held in the storage unit are synchronously controlled, so that the storage area can be more smoothly managed. become.

[0067]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (a computer) of the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing a program code stored in a storage medium by a CPU or an MPU. 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. The functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by the computer executing the readout program code, but also the operating system running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It goes without saying that the (OS) or the like performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

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. Needless to say, the function expansion card or the function expansion unit may include a CPU or the like that performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowchart (shown in FIG. 3).

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of stably forming an image from received data and a method of controlling the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a related diagram of an analysis unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating control of received data in a control unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 external device 102 I / F communication unit 103 image forming apparatus 104 I / F communication unit 105 storage unit data storage area 106 reception data storage area 107 print data storage area 108 temporary storage area 109 control unit 110 data analysis unit A 111 data Analysis unit B 112 Data analysis unit C 113 Print control unit 114 Motor control unit 115 Print head drive unit 120 Storage unit

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for forming an image based on received data, comprising: at least one storage unit for storing the received data; and a plurality of analyzing units for analyzing the received data stored in the storage unit. A control unit configured to control the at least one storage unit and the plurality of analysis units; and an image forming unit configured to perform image formation according to an analysis result of the reception data performed by the analysis unit based on an instruction from the control unit. And an image forming apparatus. 2. The received data includes image forming data,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising data other than the image forming data. 3. The data other than the image forming data is at least one of a command for inquiring a state of the image forming apparatus or an operation command of the image forming apparatus.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of analyzing units include an analyzing unit suitable for processing the image forming data or an analyzing unit suitable for processing data other than the image forming data. Image forming apparatus. 5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines a type of the received data and transmits the received data to an analysis unit suitable for processing the received data from among the plurality of analysis units. Item 2. The image forming apparatus according to Item 1. 6. The storage unit includes at least a storage area for the reception data, a storage area for image forming data analyzed by the analysis unit, and a temporary storage for temporarily storing the data analyzed by the analysis unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, comprising: a storage area. 7. The control unit enables data to be stored in the temporary storage area of the storage unit based on a determination result of the type of the received data, or stores data in the temporary storage area of the storage unit. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein storage of the image is disabled. 8. The control section instructs to store the received data analyzed by the analysis section if the storage data can be stored in the storage section, and discards the data held in the storage section. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein in the case, an instruction is issued to synchronize the received data analyzed by the analysis unit with control for storing the received data in the storage unit. 9. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus, comprising at least one storage unit for storing received data, and performing image formation based on the received data, wherein the received data stored in the storage unit is analyzed. A plurality of analysis steps; a control step of controlling the at least one storage unit and the plurality of analysis steps; and, based on an instruction in the control step, based on an analysis result of the received data performed in the analysis step. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming step of forming an image. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the received data includes image forming data and data other than the image forming data. 11. The data other than the image forming data,
The method according to claim 10, further comprising at least one of a command for inquiring a state of the image forming apparatus and an operation command of the image forming apparatus. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of analyzing steps include an analyzing step suitable for processing the image forming data or an analyzing step suitable for processing data other than the image forming data. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein in the control step, a type of the received data is determined, and the received data is transmitted from the plurality of analysis units to an analysis step suitable for processing the received data. Item 10. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to Item 9. 14. The storage unit includes at least a storage area for the received data, a storage area for image forming data analyzed by the analysis unit, and a temporary storage for temporarily storing the data analyzed by the analysis unit. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: a storage area. 15. In the control step, data can be stored in the temporary storage area of the storage section based on a result of the determination of the type of the received data, or data can be stored in the temporary storage area of the storage section. The method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein storage of the image is disabled. 16. In the control step, if the received data analyzed in the analyzing step can be stored in the storage unit, an instruction is given to store the received data, and the data held in the storage unit is discarded. The method according to claim 9, wherein in the case, an instruction is issued to synchronize the received data analyzed in the analysis step with control for storing the received data in the storage unit. 17. A storage medium storing a control program of the method for controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 9. Description: