JP2003312044A - Image processor, its processing method and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high quality image processor and to enhance the quality of an imaging apparatus capable of multiline recording. <P>SOLUTION: Since falling is detected after the high state of a horizontal sync signal BD1 is detected a specified number of times even when noise is applied to the horizontal sync signal BD1 from a multilaser printer, falling due to noise can be neglected and one period of the BD1 can be judged appropriately. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image processing device for supplying image data to a recording device has been known.

For example, an image processing apparatus for supplying image data to a laser beam printer of an electrophotographic system is generally used. In the laser beam printer, a light emitting element is driven according to the input image data and the light is emitted. The laser beam is scanned on the photoconductor to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred and recorded on a recording paper.

However, in a recording apparatus such as a laser beam printer, there is an increasing demand for recording a higher resolution image, and accordingly, there is a problem that the time required for recording becomes longer.

[0005]

Therefore, in order to deal with such a problem, a multi-line recording apparatus capable of simultaneously recording a plurality of lines has been developed. As such a multi-line recording apparatus, for example, a multi-laser having a plurality of laser light-emitting elements, each laser light-emitting element simultaneously scanning different lines to shorten the time until the image recording is completed A beam printer is possible. However, when using a multi-laser beam printer, it is possible to form an image well even if the image data output from the recording control unit for a conventional one-beam laser printer is directly input to the printer engine for the multi-laser beam printer. I can't. On the other hand, developing a special recording controller for a multi-laser beam printer is very unproductive.

That is, there has been a long-awaited demand for an image processing apparatus capable of transferring image data transmitted line by line to a multi-line recording apparatus in parallel for a plurality of lines.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to meet the demands, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high quality image processing apparatus and its method, and eventually to form an image. The purpose is to improve the quality of the device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus according to the present invention inputs image data line by line from a recording control unit for generating image data and outputs image data for n lines. An image processing apparatus for storing in a buffer and outputting in parallel to a multi-line recording section for simultaneously recording n lines, the first horizontal line having n falling edges in one cycle from the multi-line recording section. Detecting means for detecting the first falling edge of one cycle by inputting a synchronization signal, and synchronizing with the falling edge detected by the detecting means,
And a signal generating means for generating a second horizontal synchronizing signal having a cycle of 1 / n of the first horizontal synchronizing signal and outputting the second horizontal synchronizing signal to the recording control section, wherein the detecting means has the first horizontal synchronizing signal. When the rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal is detected, the clock is counted while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising, the falling edge is detected after the clock becomes a predetermined value or more, and the falling edge is the first one. It is characterized by determining whether or not it is a fall. However, n is an integer of 2 or more.

The detecting means detects the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal and controls the reading and writing of the line buffer according to the number of the trailing edge.

A recording control unit for generating image data, a multi-line recording unit for simultaneously recording n lines, and image data for each line from the recording control unit are input to n.
An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image processing unit that stores image data for lines in a line buffer and outputs the image data in parallel to the multi-line recording unit, wherein the image processing unit is the multi-line recording unit. From the first horizontal synchronizing signal having n falling edges in one cycle, and detecting means for detecting the first falling edge in one cycle; and synchronizing with the falling edges detected by the detecting means, And 1 / of the first horizontal sync signal
signal generating means for generating a second horizontal synchronizing signal having a period of n and outputting the second horizontal synchronizing signal to the recording control section, wherein the detecting means detects a rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal,
The clock is counted while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising, and after the clock becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value,
It is characterized by detecting a falling edge and determining whether or not the falling edge is the first falling edge. However, n is an integer of 2 or more.

The detecting means may detect the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal and control the reading and writing of the line buffer depending on the number of the trailing edge.

To achieve the above object, the method according to the present invention inputs image data line by line from a recording control unit for generating image data, stores image data for n lines in a line buffer, and An image processing method of outputting in parallel to a multi-line recording unit that simultaneously records lines, wherein a first horizontal synchronizing signal having n falling edges in one cycle is input from the multi-line recording unit, A detection step of detecting the first falling edge of one cycle, and a second horizontal synchronization signal synchronized with the falling edge detected in the detection step and having a cycle of 1 / n of the first horizontal synchronization signal. A signal generating step of generating and outputting to the recording control section, the detecting step detects a rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal, and detects a clock while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising. Collected by, the clock after becoming a predetermined value or more, by detecting the falling, the falling edges and judging whether the first falling. However, n
Is an integer of 2 or more.

In the detecting step, the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal is detected, and the reading and writing of the line buffer are controlled according to the number of the trailing edge.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention is characterized by executing the above image processing method using a computer.

In order to achieve the above object, a storage medium according to the present invention stores the above program.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the relative arrangement of the constituent elements, the display screen, and the like described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to them unless otherwise specified. The present invention is not limited to the form of the apparatus, and can be implemented in the form of a method supported by the description of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a laser beam printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a case of a laser beam printer will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to, for example, an LED printer.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 is a recording controller for a general-purpose one-beam laser printer. An image processing unit 102 is a characteristic part according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 103 denotes a multi-laser printer engine, and a plurality (here, 2
Individual laser light emitting elements, and the laser beams emitted from the plurality of laser light emitting elements are simultaneously scanned to record an image.

Further, the image processing unit 102, based on the signal generator 111 for generating the BD2 signal and the BD1 signal,
It is provided with a sequencer 110 for controlling the read / write to the line buffer 104 and the signal generator 111.

Next, the recording controller 101 for a general-purpose one-beam laser printer will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a general-purpose 1-beam laser printer recording controller 101 and a 1-beam laser printer engine 2.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining exchange of main signals with 01.

In FIG. 2, from the printer engine 201, a TOP signal indicating the start of recording one page and a BD signal which is a synchronizing signal (horizontal synchronizing signal) for one scanning of laser light are input to the recording control unit 101. . In synchronization with this, the recording control unit 101 sends the image signal VDO to the printer engine 2
By outputting to 01, the laser light emitting element is driven according to this image signal to emit laser light, and the laser light scans the photoconductor to form an image.

As described above, the general-purpose 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101 inputs the vertical synchronizing signal (TOP) and the horizontal synchronizing signal (BD) from the printer engine 201, and synchronizes with these synchronizing signals to generate an image signal. By supplying (VDO) to the printer engine 201 together with the pixel synchronization signal (VCLK: omitted in FIG. 2), the recording operation in the one-beam laser printer engine 201 is controlled.

FIG. 3 shows a multi-laser printer engine 1
It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the optical system in 03.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a recording control unit for the multi-laser printer engine, and in this embodiment, the recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer and the image processing unit 102 shown in FIG. It Reference numeral 302 denotes a laser unit including a plurality of laser light emitting elements (here, two), and image signals from the multi-laser beam recording control unit 301 are input to separate laser light emitting elements for each line. Based on the above, the output of each laser light emitting element is ON / OFF modulated. Reference numeral 303 denotes a polygon mirror (rotary polygonal mirror) that rotates at a constant rotation speed to reflect two laser beams incident from the laser unit 302 and simultaneously scan the photosensitive member 306 for two lines. Producing light. 304 is an imaging lens, 30
Reference numeral 5 denotes a reflection mirror, which simultaneously scans the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror 303 on the photosensitive drum 306 for a plurality of lines (two lines in this case), and
Two lines of electrostatic latent images are simultaneously formed on the surface 6.
The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 306 is visualized by a developing device (not shown) into a toner image, which is transferred to recording paper by a transfer device (not shown) to record an image.

In the recording control unit 301 for the multi-beam laser printer shown in FIG. 3, the horizontal synchronizing signal (BD) from the printer engine 103 for the multi-beam laser printer is used.
The timing of starting the output of the image signal is determined by detecting 1). For example, when using two laser beams, the first falling edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal (BD1) is set as the output start timing of the image signal of the first line, and the second falling edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal (BD1) is set. The output start timing of the image signal of the second line is set.
Then, the recording control unit 301 for the multi-laser printer is
Image signals corresponding to the number of laser light emitting elements of the printer engine 103 are serially output.

On the other hand, in the recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer shown in FIG.
The horizontal synchronizing signal (BD) sent from the converter 03 is converted into the horizontal synchronizing signal (BD2) for the one-beam printer by the image processing unit 102 and input. Therefore, this BD
The output start timing of the image signal is determined by the two signals, and the image signal is serially output.

Next, the configuration and operation of the image processing unit 102 according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

Here, the multi-laser printer engine 103 will be described as a two-beam printer having two laser light emitting elements as light sources as described above. TOP output from the multi-laser printer engine 103
The signal (vertical synchronization signal) is sent to the 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101 as it is. The BD1 signal (multi-beam horizontal synchronizing signal) output from the multi-laser printer engine 103 has two falling edges (timings T1 and T2) in one cycle, as shown in FIG.
This is the multi-laser printer engine 103
This is because the logical sum of the BD signals detected by each of the two laser beams is taken and output as the BD1 signal.
Therefore, the image processing unit 102 to which this BD1 signal is input
As shown by the BD2 signal in FIG. 4, a horizontal sync signal BD2 signal (horizontal sync signal) that falls at timing T1 and has a trailing edge (timing T3) added at half the cycle of the BD1 signal is generated. The BD2 signal is generated and sent to the 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101.

In generating the BD2 signal,
Every other trailing edge of the BD1 signal is detected, the trailing edge of the BD1 signal falls in synchronization with the trailing edge of the detected BD1 signal, and at the same time as the half of the cycle of the BD1 signal (timing T
Also in 3), the falling sync signal may be generated and used as the BD2 signal.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the image processing unit 10
Reference numeral 2 denotes a sequencer 111 that detects a state change in response to a high-low change of the BD1 signal, and a BD2 signal generator 112 that generates a BD2 signal based on the signal from the sequencer.
And are equipped with. That is, the BD2 signal generated from the BD2 signal generator falls in synchronization with the fall of the BD1 signal, and further falls at a half cycle of BD1.

The 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101, to which the BD2 signal is input, performs smoothing and resolution conversion of the image signal in synchronization with the trailing edge of the BD2 signal, and when these processes are completed, the VDOSSYNC signal ( Image sync signal) is output (falling), and then VDO
One signal (image signal) is output to the image processing unit 102. At this time, the 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101
The VDO1 signal is output in synchronization with the rising edge of the VCLK signal (pixel synchronization signal).

In this case, the image processing unit 102 uses the VCLK
The VDO1 signal is captured in synchronization with the rising edge of the signal and stored in the line buffer 104. Therefore, in this case, the image signal output from the recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer and the image signal captured by the image processing unit 102 are delayed by one clock cycle.
The recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer is a VC
VDO1 (image signal) at the falling edge of LK (pixel synchronization signal)
The image processing unit 102 outputs VCLK
VDO1 (image signal) may be taken in at the rising edge of (pixel synchronization signal). Alternatively, the 1-beam laser printer recording control unit 101 outputs VDO1 (image signal) at the rising edge of VCLK (pixel synchronization signal), and the image processing unit 102 outputs VDO1 (image signal) at the falling edge of VCLK (pixel synchronization signal). You may make it take in. Image processing unit 10
4, when the VDOSSYNC signal falls, as shown in FIG. 4, the VDO1 signal starts to be fetched, serial-parallel conversion is performed to convert it into parallel data corresponding to the bus width of the line buffer 104, and one line worth of data is converted. The image signal (multi-valued) is written in the line buffer 104. In this way, the image signal stored in the line buffer 104 for two lines in one cycle of the BD1 signal is converted into a serial signal again, and as shown in FIG. 4, the BD1 signal falls twice (timing T1, T2). Synchronously, VDO2 (1) and VDO2 (2) are output from the two line buffers 104, respectively.
The signal is output to the printer engine 103.

In this case, since the writing and reading of data to and from the line buffer 104 are performed by separate line buffers, the image processing unit 102 has a line buffer for four lines.

The VDO1 signal is VDO2 (1),
Since the VDO2 (2) signal is output in each half cycle, the video clock cycle of the VDO1 signal is VDO.
The video clock has a period twice that of the 2 (1) and VDO2 (2) signals.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, the image signals of the nth line and the (n + 1) th line are output from the recording control unit 101 for the 1-beam laser printer and the two lines of the image processing unit 102 are output. When writing to the buffer 104, the data is stored from another two line buffers 104 of this image processing unit 102 in the previous cycle (n).
The image signals of the -1) th line and the (n-2) th line are read out and supplied to the multi-laser printer engine 103.

In this way, the image processing unit 102 according to the present embodiment has the multi-laser printer engine 103.
When a is provided with a number of laser light emitting elements (laser light sources) and a line is simultaneously scanned and recorded, first, a BD2 signal generated by multiplying the cycle of the BD1 signal sent from the printer engine 103 by 1 / a is generated. It is output to the recording control unit 101. The line buffer 104 is provided for 2a lines, and the VDO1 signal sent from the recording control unit 101 is written into the line buffer 102 for a lines, and at the same time, a line buffers 104 for a lines are synchronized with the BD1 signal.
To output VDO2 (1) to VDO2 (a) signals.
At this time, the clock frequency of the VDO1 signal is VDO2.
(1) to VDO2 (a) signals are multiplied by a.

When the multi-laser beam printer engine 103 does not output the TOP signal (vertical synchronizing signal), the counter starts timing from the first falling of the BD2 signal generated by the image processing unit 102, and The TOP signal can be generated by maintaining the low level until the time measured reaches a predetermined time.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine and a facsimile using the electrophotographic method according to the present embodiment. The parts common to those in FIG. 1 are the same. They are indicated by symbols and their explanations are omitted.

In FIG. 5, the CPU 401 is the ROM 4
The operation of the entire image forming apparatus is controlled according to the control program stored in 03. The operation unit 402 has various keys, a display unit, and the like, and is used by the operator to perform various input operations. The ROM 403 stores the control program of the CPU 401 and various data. The image memory 405 includes a DRAM, an SDRAM, etc., and stores image data read by the read control unit 404.
The recording control unit 406 reads image data from the image memory 405, performs resolution conversion and smoothing processing on the image data, and outputs the image data to the image processing unit 102. The bus 408 connects the CPU 401 and each of the above-mentioned units to exchange control signals and data. The above is the main configuration of the recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer described above.

The reading controller 404 includes a CCD image sensor, a document feeding mechanism, an image processing device, etc., and optically reads the document, converts it into electrical image data, and outputs it.

The image signal output from the recording control unit 406 of the recording control unit 101 for the one-beam laser printer is input to the image processing unit 102 and subjected to the conversion processing as described above, and then the multi-beam printer engine 103.
And the image formation by the multi-beam is executed.

Next, the image processing unit 102 according to the present embodiment.
The processing of the signal generator 111 that generates the BD2 signal will be described below. Note that this processing is performed by the image processing unit 102.
May be executed by the CPU (not shown) or may be executed by hardware by the signal generator 111.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of generating the BD2 signal by the image processing unit 102.

First, in step S601, the sequencer 11
It is determined whether or not there is an instruction from 0, and it waits until there is an instruction. If there is an instruction from the sequencer 110, step S
Proceed to 602 to generate the BD2 signal. In particular,
The BD2 signal is lowered and then raised after a predetermined time.

At the same time, the timer is started, and it is determined in step S603 whether the 1/2 cycle of the BD1 signal has elapsed. If the 1/2 cycle of the BD1 signal has elapsed, the process advances to step S602 to generate the BD2 signal.

Even if the 1/2 cycle of the BD1 signal has not elapsed, if there is an instruction from the sequencer in step S605, it is prioritized and step S604 is performed.
Generates the BD2 signal.

Next, the processing in the sequencer 110 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 and the timing chart of FIG. Here, first, before describing the sequencer 110 according to the present embodiment, a process of the sequencer 110, which is a prerequisite technique thereof, will be described. The present embodiment solves the problems in the following base technology.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the processing in the sequencer 110 according to the base technology of this embodiment.

First, in step S701, the fall of cBD1 is detected. cBD1 uses BD1 as a synchronous clock CLK
It is a signal sampled and synchronized with. The sequencer in the image processing unit 102 is configured to transition with the change of cBD1. The cBD 1 is stored in a 2-bit shift register (not shown) that shifts at each rising edge of CLK, and the sequencer 110 of the image processing unit 102.
Judges that the shift register is “10” when this shift register is “10”, and proceeds to step S702. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S702 one clock later than the actual falling timing of cBD1.

The state until the fall of cBD1 is detected in step S701 is set to state S1.

Next, in step S702, the signal oscillator 111 is driven at the next clock to cause the trailing edge of BD2 to occur. At the same time, the image data is read from the odd-numbered line buffer of the four lines. Here, for convenience of description, from the third line buffer (hereinafter, the n-th line buffer is referred to as a line buffer n) to the line n−.
The image data of No. 2 is read out. This output data becomes VDO2 (1). By the way, in this state,
The line buffer 4 stores image data of line n-1.

When BD2 falls, the recording control unit 101
Starts sending image data to the line buffer 104. Here, since the reading is performed on the line buffer 3, the writing is performed on the line buffer 1. The image data sent here is for line n. Therefore, the image processing unit 103 starts to take in the image data of the line n to the line buffer 1.

It should be noted that one clock is set to the state S2 after the falling edge of the cBD1 is detected in step S701.

Next, in step S703, the cBD1
Detect the rising edge of. The detection method is the same as in step S701, and when the shift register is "01", it is determined to be a rising edge. The state until the rising of cBD1 is detected in step S703 is referred to as state S3.

Next, when the rising edge of cBD1 is detected in step S703, the flow proceeds to step S704, where cBD1
Detect the falling edge of. The detection method is the same as in step S701. The state until the fall of cBD1 is detected in step S703 is referred to as state S4.

Next, when the trailing edge of cBD1 is detected in step S704, the flow advances to step S705 to read the image data of line n-1 from the line buffer 4 at the next clock.

It should be noted that one clock is set to the state S5 after the falling edge of the cBD1 is detected in step S704.

Next, in step S706, the cBD1
Detect the rising edge of. The detection method is the same as in step S703. The state until the rise of cBD1 is detected in step S706 is referred to as state S6.

Next, using a counter (not shown), cB
The high state of D1, that is, the clock of the shift register “11” is counted. If the high state of cBD1 appears for the predetermined number a or more, the process returns to step S701.

The state until the high state of the cBD1 is detected by the predetermined number a or more in step S707 is set as the state S7, and when it is detected, the state returns to the state S1.

When the state S7 returns to the state S1, the read / write of the line buffer is changed. That is, so far, the line buffers 3 and 4 are read,
Line buffers 1 and 2 were used for writing, but state S
Line buffers 1 and 2 are read from 1 and line buffers 3 and 4 are written.

However, in the case of the sequencer 110 performing the processing as shown in FIG. 7, when noise is added immediately after the rising of the horizontal synchronizing signal BD1 as shown in FIG. 9, this noise is reduced to the falling of the horizontal synchronizing signal BD1. Immediately after making a decision, the state shifts from state S4 to state S5, state S6, and state S7. Here, when the value of the counter further reaches a, the state S1 is entered, and the line n is being stored in the line buffer 1 in order to change the read / write of the line buffer. -2 is read, and the reading / writing of the line n-1 is stopped even though the line n-1 is being read from the line buffer 4.

Then, with the image data not stored in the line buffer 2, the reading / writing of the line buffers 1 to 4 is reversed. As a result, when the state shifts to the state S2, the line n is read from the line buffer 1 as VDO2 (1). However, since the line n is stored only halfway, white image data is output halfway. . The image data of line n + 1 is output from the recording control unit 101 as VDO1, and this image data is stored in the line buffer 3. That is, since image data is not stored in the line buffer 2, even if the state is changed to the state S5 at the left end portion of FIG. 9 and the reading from the line buffer 2 is started, VDO2 (2) is still white. Only image data is output.

Therefore, when the state returns to the state S1 before the actual even-numbered trailing edge of BD1 due to the influence of noise, the relationship between the acquisition and writing of the image signal is deviated from the time of the state S1. As a result, the image data cannot be normally read and written and cannot be restored. As a result, the image is recorded only on the odd lines.

Therefore, the sequencer 11 according to the present embodiment.
At 0, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is performed. This is from step S703 to step S703 in FIG.
Before proceeding to step 704, the same processing as step S707 is performed. The same steps as those in FIG. 7 are designated by the same step numbers and the description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 10, the process proceeds from step S703 to step S1001 and a counter (not shown) is used to set cBD1 to the high state, that is, shift register "1".
Count "1" clocks. If the high state of cBD1 appears for the predetermined number b or more, the process proceeds to step S704.

As a result, even if the fall of cBD1 due to noise is detected immediately after shifting to state S4, state S5
However, since the count value reaches the predetermined number b, the process returns to the state S1 at the same timing as when no noise is added, as shown in the timing chart of FIG.
This makes it possible to always record a normal image without causing an abnormality in the reading / writing of image data due to the influence of noise.

Since the state S7 normally shifts to the state S1, the value of the predetermined value a is from the rising section A to 2
It must be smaller than the value obtained by subtracting, but if it is too small, it is more susceptible to noise, so it must have a certain size.

Similarly, the value of the predetermined value b must be equal to or less than the value shown by B in FIG. 11 in order to normally shift from the state S4 to the state S5, but if it is too small, it is easily affected by noise. Therefore, a certain size is required.

The predetermined values a and b are transferred from the CPU 401 to the bus 40.
This can be set by writing and saving the data in the image processing unit 102 via the server 8.

In other words, in the present embodiment, when the rising edge of BD1 is detected, the clock during the rising of BD1 is counted, and the next falling edge is detected only after the clock becomes a predetermined value or more. And its fall is the first of one cycle
Determine if it is the second fall. If it is the first fall of one cycle, the signal generator is controlled so as to generate the fall of BD2 in synchronization with the fall.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a new image processing unit is simply added without recreating a recording control unit for a general-purpose one-beam laser printer.
It is possible to easily and inexpensively provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing printing with a multi-laser and capable of recovering from a shift in the relationship between capturing and writing of an image signal even when noise is added to the multi-laser horizontal synchronizing signal.

(Other Embodiments) Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices, or an apparatus including a single device. May be applied to.

According to the present invention, a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to a system or apparatus, and the computer of the system or apparatus reads the supplied program code. Including cases that can be achieved by executing. In that case, the form need not be a program as long as it has the functions of the program.

Therefore, the program code itself installed in the computer to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

In this case, the program may take any form such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to an OS as long as it has the function of the program.

As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD
-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM,
DVD-R).

In addition, as a program supply method,
It can also be supplied by connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser of a client computer, and downloading the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file having an automatic installation function from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from different homepages. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for implementing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the claims of the present invention.

The program of the present invention is encrypted to C
By storing the information in a storage medium such as a D-ROM and distributing it to the user, and having the user who satisfies the predetermined conditions download the key information for decrypting the encryption from the home page via the Internet, and by using the key information It is also possible to execute the encrypted program and install the program in a computer to realize it.

The computer executes the read program to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the OS running on the computer executes the actual processing based on the instructions of the program. The function of the above-described embodiment can be realized also by performing a part or all of the above.

Further, after the program read from the recording medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program,
CPU provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit
Performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a high-quality image processing apparatus, and thus improve the quality of an image forming apparatus capable of multiline recording.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a one-beam laser printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram mainly showing a configuration of a multi-beam laser printer engine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of an image processing unit of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing in the signal generator of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing in the sequencer of the image processing apparatus according to the premise technique of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the sequencer according to the base technology of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the sequencer according to the base technology of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing in the sequencer of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart explaining the operation of the sequencer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takehiro Yoshida             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F term (reference) 2C362 AA07 BA70 CB75 CB78                 5C073 AA06 CA01 CC01

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A multi-line recording unit for inputting image data line by line from a recording control unit for generating image data, storing image data for n lines in a line buffer, and recording n lines simultaneously. An image processing apparatus for outputting in parallel, wherein a first horizontal synchronizing signal having n falling edges in one cycle is input from the multi-line recording section, and a first falling edge in one cycle is detected. A detecting means, and a first synchronizing with a trailing edge detected by the detecting means,
Signal generating means for generating a second horizontal synchronizing signal having a cycle of 1 / n of the horizontal synchronizing signal and outputting the second horizontal synchronizing signal to the recording control section, wherein the detecting means detects a rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal. Then, the clock is counted while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising, and after the clock becomes a predetermined value or more, the falling is detected and whether the falling is the first falling or not. An image processing device characterized by making a determination. However, n is an integer of 2 or more. 2. The detecting means detects the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal and controls the reading and writing of the line buffer according to the number of the trailing edge. Item 1. The image processing device according to item 1. 3. A recording control section for generating image data, a multi-line recording section for recording n lines at the same time, and image data for one line is input from the recording control section to obtain image data for n lines. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image processing unit that stores the image data in a line buffer and outputs the multi-line recording unit in parallel to the multi-line recording unit; Detecting means for inputting a first horizontal synchronizing signal having one falling edge and detecting a first falling edge in one cycle; and a first falling edge detected by the detecting means, and
Signal generating means for generating a second horizontal synchronizing signal having a cycle of 1 / n of the horizontal synchronizing signal and outputting the second horizontal synchronizing signal to the recording control section, wherein the detecting means detects a rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal. Then, the clock is counted while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising, and after the clock becomes a predetermined value or more, the falling is detected and whether the falling is the first falling or not. An image forming apparatus characterized by making a determination. However, n is an integer of 2 or more. 4. The detecting means detects the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal, and controls the reading and writing of the line buffer according to the number of the trailing edge. Item 3. The image forming apparatus according to Item 3. 5. A multi-line recording unit for inputting image data line by line from a recording control unit for generating image data, storing image data for n lines in a line buffer, and recording n lines simultaneously. An image processing method for outputting in parallel, wherein a first horizontal synchronizing signal having n falling edges in one cycle is input from the multi-line recording section, and a first falling edge in one cycle is detected. The detection step, and the first step in synchronization with the fall detected in the detection step, and
A signal generating step of generating a second horizontal synchronizing signal having a cycle of 1 / n of the horizontal synchronizing signal and outputting the second horizontal synchronizing signal to the recording control section, wherein the detecting step detects a rising edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal. Then, the clock is counted while the first horizontal synchronizing signal is rising, and after the clock becomes a predetermined value or more, the falling is detected and whether the falling is the first falling or not. An image processing method characterized by determining. However, n is an integer of 2 or more. 6. The detecting step detects the trailing edge of the first horizontal synchronizing signal, and controls the reading and writing of the line buffer according to the number of the trailing edge. Item 6. The image processing method according to Item 5. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the computer is used.
A program for executing the image processing method described in 1. 8. A computer-readable storage medium having the program according to claim 7 stored therein.