JP2005343612A - Printing system, printing device, and printer driver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control printing by taking difference in characteristic of a printing medium feeding roller into account. <P>SOLUTION: This printing system is provided with the printing device for printing on a printing medium using printing agent and a printing controller. The printing device is provided with a data storage means for controlling the printing device. Data related to the printing medium feeding roller of the printing device is stored in the data storage means. The printing controller is provided with an indication means for acquiring data related to the printing medium feeding roller from the data storage means of the printing device and indicating change of printing medium feeding speed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly to a printing system that performs medium feeding control in accordance with a medium feeding characteristic of a printing medium feeding unit of a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Serial printers such as an inkjet method and an impact dot method are widely used as print output devices for various image information data created and edited by a computer that functions as a print control device.

  In particular, ink jet printers are widely used because they can easily perform color printing, and are also used to output photographic images such as photographic data of a digital camera due to improved printing quality.

  Such a serial printer has a mechanism in which a print head scans a carriage while printing media such as printing paper is fed by a medium feeding roller which is a medium feeding mechanism, and the print quality is medium. Is greatly affected by the feed accuracy. For this reason, in order to obtain a high-definition image such as printing of a photographic image, it is necessary to accurately control the mechanical positional accuracy of the print medium on the printer.

  Therefore, in order to precisely control the feed amount of paper or the like, dimensional accuracy management of the paper feed roller and coating of the elastic resin on the roller surface to stabilize the friction characteristics with the paper are performed.

  Further, the print control apparatus transmits a paper feed command to the printer in order to control the position of the print medium, and instructs the paper feed amount in detail. At this time, the positional accuracy is improved by correcting the paper feed amount from the reference value according to the type of print medium used for printing, the size of the print medium, and the like.

  The correction of the paper feed amount according to the print medium is based on the premise that the paper feed characteristic of the paper feed roller, for example, the friction coefficient is uniform. However, when the paper feed rollers are produced in a plurality of factories, different lines, etc., it is possible that printers having paper feed rollers having different paper feed characteristics may be mixed in the market.

  For this reason, in particular, in high-quality printing or the like, it is conceivable that the difference in the characteristics of the print medium feeding roller for each production area or the like affects the image quality.

  An object of the present invention is to enable printing control in consideration of the difference in characteristics of a printing medium feed roller.

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention,
A printing system comprising: a printing device that prints on a print medium based on print data; and a print control device that transmits the print data to the printing device,
The printing apparatus includes:
Print medium feeding means for feeding the print medium in accordance with parameters specified by the print medium feed command;
Characteristic discriminating information storage means for storing characteristic discriminating information for discriminating the feeding characteristic of the printing medium feeding means,
The print control device includes:
Characteristic determination information acquisition means for acquiring the characteristic determination information from the printing device;
Parameter determining means for determining a parameter to be specified by the print medium feed command based on the acquired characteristic determination information;
There is provided a printing system comprising: a print data sending unit that sends a print medium sending command designating the determined parameter to the printing apparatus by including it in the print data.

  According to the present invention, the printing control apparatus acquires the characteristics of the printing medium feeding means included in the printing apparatus, and transmits a printing medium feeding command considering the acquired characteristics to the printing apparatus. Here, the printing medium feeding means of the printing apparatus can be a paper feeding roller.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a hardware configuration of a printing system 1 configured by including a computer 30 and a printer 10.

  The computer 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 that performs processing based on various programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 32 that temporarily stores data, programs, and the like, various data for controlling the computer 30, and a startup time For example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 33 in which a program for storage is stored in a non-volatile manner, and an interface 34 for controlling transmission / reception of data to / from a peripheral device such as the connected printer 10. In this embodiment, the computer 30 functions as a print control apparatus.

  The computer 30 includes a display device 21 such as a color display, an input device 22 such as a mouse and a keyboard, a media reading device 23 that reads data from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a built-in or external auxiliary storage device 24, And the communication control apparatus 25 for connecting to computer networks, such as the internet, is connected. However, the configuration of the computer 30 is not limited to this.

  The printer 10 that functions as a printing apparatus is, for example, an inkjet color printer. An ink-jet color printer includes a plurality of ink cartridges filled with ink in a housing, and performs printing by ejecting the ink from a print head onto a print medium such as a recording sheet.

  The printer 10 includes an interface 11 that controls communication with the computer 30 such as data reception, a CPU 12 that performs processing based on various programs, a RAM 13 that temporarily stores print data and the like, and a printer 10 that controls the printer 10. ROM 14 in which various data and various programs are stored in a nonvolatile manner, a print head for ejecting ink, a carriage drive mechanism for driving a carriage on which the print head is mounted, a paper feed mechanism, and a print medium supply / discharge process And a print engine 15 composed of a paper supply / discharge mechanism or the like. The ROM 14 includes a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM. However, the configuration of the printer 10 is not limited to this.

  In this example, the computer and the printer are separate from each other, but may be integrated, or may be a system in which a printer control unit described later is provided on the printer side.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the print engine 15. As shown in the figure, the print engine 15 includes a carriage 101 on which a plurality of ink cartridges 107 are mounted, an ink jet print head 110 supported by the carriage 101, a carriage 101, and a line direction (mainly A carriage mechanism 120 that reciprocates in the scanning direction) and a paper feed roller 130 for feeding the recording paper P in a direction orthogonal to the line direction (sub-scanning direction) are provided.

  As shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the paper feed roller 130 is obtained by accurately polishing the outer diameter surface of a roller 131 made of a soft steel such as φ10 mm over the entire surface and then nickel-plating several μm to prevent oxidation. The surface is coated with an elastic resin 132 mixed with fine particles 133 such as aluminum oxide on its surface to a thickness of several tens of μm, and the friction with the paper is increased, and the paper can be fed stably and accurately. It is what I did.

The coating is performed by a method of spraying a liquid paint or a method of applying a powder paint by electrostatic adhesion, and is thermally cured to improve adhesion with a metal roller.
The characteristics of the elastic resin 132 vary depending on the coating method, and in particular, the friction coefficient and the outer diameter size have influenced paper feeding.

  The carriage mechanism 120 includes a timing belt 121 connected to the carriage 101 and a carriage motor 123 that reciprocates the timing belt 121. The carriage motor 123 reciprocates the carriage 101 in the paper width direction of the recording paper P while being guided by the guide member 104 via the timing belt 121.

  An ink jet print head 110 is attached to the carriage 101 on the surface facing the recording paper P, in the example shown in the drawing, on the lower surface. The print head 110 is held on the carriage 101. The print head 110 receives ink from the ink cartridge 107, ejects ink droplets onto the recording paper P in accordance with the movement of the carriage 101, forms dots, and prints images, characters, and the like on the recording paper P.

  In the example shown in the drawing, seven ink cartridges 107 can be mounted on the carriage 101. The seven ink cartridges 107a to 107g are independent of each other. For example, black (K), cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), yellow (Y), dark yellow (DY).

  In the print head 110, nozzle openings (not shown) corresponding to seven ink cartridges are arranged for each column.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a characteristic functional configuration constructed on the printing system 1. In this figure, a print control unit 310 that controls printing processing in the printing system 1 is constructed on a computer 30, and a printing execution unit 210 that performs actual printing processing and printing apparatus (printer) data are built on the printer 10. A storage unit 220 is constructed.

  The print control unit 310 includes a print data generation unit 311 that generates print data for a document to be printed, a print condition setting unit 312, and a communication unit 315 that communicates with the printer 10.

  The print control unit 310 is virtually configured on the printer 10 by a printer driver program executed by the CPU 31 under the control of an operating system (OS) (not shown), for example. The printer driver program can be installed in the computer 30 via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a communication medium such as the Internet.

  The print data generation unit 311 generates print data for causing the printer 10 to perform printing based on document drawing data created by application software (not shown) or the like. For this reason, the print data generation unit 311 has a function of performing rasterization processing, color conversion processing, halftone processing, and the like.

  Here, the color conversion processing is processing for converting the RGB color representation used in the computer 30 into the CMYK color representation used in the printer 10. This process is generally performed with reference to a lookup table (LUT).

  The halftone process is a process for expressing a full color image with ink color dots of the ink cartridge 107 mounted on the printer 10.

The printing condition setting unit 312 includes a printing device data monitoring unit 314, and the data related to the characteristics of the printer 10 monitors information in the printing device data storage unit 220 recorded in, for example, an EPROM.
The printing apparatus data storage unit 220 stores data 221 related to the paper feed roller, and the data includes data 221 a for determining the paper feed characteristics of the paper feed roller 130 mounted on the printer 10. It is.

  In this example, the data for determining the paper feed characteristics of the paper feed roller is the production area of the printer 10. That is, in this embodiment, the characteristics of the paper feed roller are different depending on the production area.

  However, depending on the characteristics of the paper feed roller, it corresponds to the printer 10 production number, production location or production factory, the production location and production method of the paper feed roller 130, or the paper feed characteristics of the paper feed roller in advance. It may be an identification code attached.

  The printing condition setting unit 312 obtains data for determining the paper feeding characteristics of the paper feeding roller 130 as described above from the printing apparatus data monitoring unit 314, and refers to data stored in the database unit 313 in advance. Then, the paper feed roller 130 mounted on the printer 10 is specified, and the paper feed characteristic is determined.

  Based on the specified paper feed roller, a print condition such as a paper feed amount is set with reference to a command parameter table (CPT) 500 recorded in the print condition setting unit 312.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the CPT 500 is a table for each identification code of the specified paper feed roller. 6A shows an example of a paper feed roller with an identification code 00A, and FIG. 6B shows an example of a paper feed roller table with an identification code 00B.

  This difference is due to, for example, the difference in printer production location and paper feed roller manufacturing method. The printer with code 00A is produced in the Philippines, and the paper feed roller is manufactured by spraying liquid paint. The printer with code 00B is produced in China, and the paper feed roller is manufactured by a method of electrostatically painting a powder paint.

  The identification for each identification code of the paper feed roller is, in addition to these, an identification indicating at least one item or characteristic of the production number of the printer equipped with the paper feed roller, the production factory, or the production area of the paper feed roller. It may be a code.

  Next, processing of the printing condition setting unit 312 in the printing control unit 310 of the computer 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The print condition setting unit 312 performs the following process when receiving a print instruction from the user.

  That is, a status request is sent from the printing device data monitor unit 313 to the printing device data storage unit 220 of the printer 10 via the communication unit 314 (S101). The status request may be all data recorded with respect to the printer, or may request data necessary for the processing.

  Then, data relating to the paper feed roller sent in response to the status request is acquired (S102). This data is stored in advance as paper feed roller data 221 in the printing device data storage unit of the printer (printer), and the manufacturing number, production location, production factory, paper of the printer on which the paper feed roller is mounted. It can be used to identify the paper feed roller by determining the paper feed characteristics of the paper feed roller according to the production area, manufacturing method, etc. of the feed roller. The data is sent to the printer data monitor unit 313 of the computer.

  Next, a paper feed roller used in the printer is specified based on the acquired data and data stored in the database in advance (S103).

  Next, the paper type and paper size used for the target printing are specified (S104). In normal cases, the user inputs and sets the paper type and size used for the target printing.

  The identification code of the specified paper feed roller is 00A, and the command parameter table (CPT) based on this identification code is shown in FIG. 6A. Refer to the paper type and paper size in this CPT. (S105), command parameters are determined (S106), a paper feed command designating the determined parameters is transmitted to the printer, and printing is instructed (S107).

  In this example, the obtained parameters are transmitted by being included in the paper feed command, but various forms are conceivable as the paper feed command transmission pattern. For example, the reference value and the correction value may be included in the paper feed command, or only the paper feed correction amount may be transmitted including the paper feed amount after correction.

  The CPT 500 shown in FIG. 6 will be further described. For example, the identification code is displayed on the identification code display section 501 of the paper feed roller in the CPT 500, the paper type 502 is the horizontal axis, and the paper size 503 is the vertical axis. It is a table, and the paper feed amount correction value 504 is shown in the table, and this value is obtained by actually measuring the paper feed amount to be corrected while feeding the printing paper for 1 inch. is there. The unit is about 1/4000 inch, and is set by the combination of the paper type and the paper size based on the identification code of the paper feed roller. For this correction value, the rotation angle and rotation speed of the paper feed roller may be used in addition to the paper feed amount.

When the identification code of the paper feed roller is 00A, the paper feed correction amount is determined by the table of FIG. For example, if the paper type is plain paper and the paper size is A4, the correction value of the paper feed amount is 0, and if the paper size is the same and the paper type is the fine dedicated paper, the correction value is 3.
Even if the paper type is the same as plain paper, the correction value becomes −3 when the paper size becomes a postcard.

  If the paper feed roller is specified by the same data as described above and the identification code is 00B, the paper feed correction value is determined by the table of FIG. 6B. That is, the correction value is −3 for plain paper and A4 size paper, the correction value is 0 for fine dedicated paper and A4 size paper, and the correction value is −5 for plain paper and postcard size. Become.

  As described above, even if the paper type and the paper size are the same, the correction value differs depending on the difference in the identification code of the paper feed roller, that is, the difference in the paper feed characteristics.

  The paper feed amount corrected by this correction value is sent together with a print instruction from the print control unit of the computer to the print execution unit of the printer.

  The printer that has received the correction value instruction increases the paper feed amount when the feed amount is corrected in the positive direction, and decreases the paper feed amount when the correction is in the negative direction. However, in addition to this, the paper feed may be adjusted by changing the rotation angle of the paper feed roller or changing the rotation speed of the roller.

  As described above in the embodiment, in the present invention, compared with the conventional case where the paper feed amount is corrected due to the difference in paper type and paper size, the paper feed roller characteristics are also taken into The amount can be adjusted with higher accuracy, and an output result of excellent print quality can be stably obtained from a printing apparatus such as a printer.

1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a hardware configuration of a printing system. The figure which shows the outline | summary of a printing engine. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a medium feeding roller. 1 is a block diagram showing a characteristic functional configuration of a printing system. The flowchart explaining the process of a printing condition setting part. The figure which shows an example of a command parameter table.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing system, 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Interface, 12 ... CPU, 13 ... RAM, 14 ... ROM, 15 ... Print engine, 21 ... Display device, 22 ... Input device, 23 ... Media reader, 24 ... Auxiliary memory Device 25 ... Communication control device 30 ... Computer 31 ... CPU 32 ... RAM 33 ... ROM 34 ... Interface 101 ... Carriage 104 ... Guide member 107 ... Ink cartridge 110 ... Print head 120 ... Carriage Mechanism 121 121 timing belt 123 carriage motor 130 paper feed roller 131 paper feed roller metal part 132 paper feed elastic resin part 133 ceramic particle 210 print execution part 220 printing apparatus Data recording unit, 221... Paper feed roller data, 310... Print control unit, 11 ... print data generating unit, 312 ... printing condition setting unit, 313 ... database unit, 314 ... printing apparatus data monitoring unit, 315 ... communication unit

Claims (9)

A printing system comprising: a printing device that prints on a print medium based on print data; and a print control device that transmits the print data to the printing device,
The printing apparatus includes:
Print medium feeding means for feeding the print medium in accordance with parameters specified by the print medium feed command;
Characteristic discriminating information storage means for storing characteristic discriminating information for discriminating the feeding characteristic of the printing medium feeding means,
The print control device includes:
Characteristic determination information acquisition means for acquiring the characteristic determination information from the printing device;
Parameter determining means for determining a parameter to be specified by the print medium feed command based on the acquired characteristic determination information;
A printing system comprising: a print data sending unit that sends a print medium sending command for designating the determined parameter to the printing apparatus by including it in print data. The printing system according to claim 1,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing medium feeding means of the printing apparatus is a paper feeding roller. The printing system according to claim 1,
The printing system is characterized in that the parameter determining means of the printing control apparatus further determines parameters based on the type of medium and the size of the medium. A printing apparatus that performs printing on a print medium based on print data including a print medium feed command sent from a print control apparatus,
Print medium feeding means for feeding the print medium in accordance with parameters specified by the print medium feed command;
Characteristic determination information storage means for storing characteristic determination information for determining characteristics of the print medium feeding means;
A printing apparatus comprising: characteristic determination information output means for outputting the characteristic determination information in response to a request from the print control apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 4,
The printing apparatus, wherein the printing medium feeding means is a paper feeding roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic determination information is information for specifying a production area or a manufacturing method of the paper feed roller. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic determination information is information for specifying a manufacturing number, a production place, or a production factory of the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic determination information is an identification code assigned in correspondence with a paper feed characteristic of the paper feed roller. A printer driver for causing a computer to function as a print control device,
Means for acquiring characteristic determination information for determining characteristics of a printing medium feeding means included in the printing apparatus from the printing apparatus;
Means for determining a parameter relating to print medium feeding based on the acquired characteristic discrimination information;
A printer driver characterized by causing a computer to function as means for transmitting a print medium feed command including the determined parameter to the printing apparatus.

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