JP2006043897A - Recorder and recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recorder which can change a processing method of errors, warnings and the like by distinguishing priorities of recording data in one page. <P>SOLUTION: The priorities are set for each region of the recording data in one page. Processing of errors, warnings and the like adapted to the priorities of the recording data is carried out, thereby enabling the execution of processing of errors, warnings and the like optimum for each priority of the recording data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording by developing recording data in a print buffer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a recording apparatus has a function of recording on a recording medium and detecting various errors in the recording apparatus. This error detection function detects, for example, opening / closing of the cover of the recording apparatus, clogging of the recording medium in the main body, abnormal recording medium size, abnormal recording head, etc., and if an error is detected, the recording process is performed. Error processing such as stopping is executed, and processing of displaying the detected error content on a display unit such as an LED or LCD, etc. is executed to notify the user of the error content that has occurred.
(For example, Patent Document 1)
The recording apparatus described in the conventional method has means for detecting an error and notifying the user, but after developing the recording data in one page in the print buffer, the contents of the recording data are changed. The same recording control is executed regardless.
(For example, Patent Document 2)

JP2003-208573 JP-A-11-208069

  However, the conventional recording apparatus has a problem that it is impossible to change the processing method for errors and warnings by determining the priority order of the recording data in one page.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a recording apparatus capable of determining the priority of recording data in one page and changing the processing method for errors, warnings, and the like. It is to be.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention implemented the following means.

That is, the present invention comprises area dividing means for dividing the recording data into a plurality of areas, and importance setting means for setting the importance for each area,
The recording apparatus is characterized in that the error processing is changed based on the recording end state when the recording operation is interrupted.

Further, in the present invention, it comprises area dividing means for dividing the recording data into a plurality of areas, and importance setting means for setting the importance for each area,
A recording method is implemented in which a predetermined error process is masked when recording of a highly important area is completed when the recording operation is interrupted.

  By implementing the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not recording of an important area has been completed by assigning a priority order to the divided recording areas. Smooth transition is possible, and a highly productive recording apparatus and recording method can be provided.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram in which an inkjet card recording apparatus (hereinafter “recording apparatus”) and a personal computer (hereinafter “PC”) used in this embodiment are connected.

  On the front side of the recording device (106), there is an operation panel (113) of the recording device, a power switch (112) for controlling power ON / OFF, and a main body that opens and closes when maintenance such as ink replacement or paper jam release is performed. A door (111) is installed, a sheet (109) obtained by cutting the sheet into a predetermined size is set in the sheet feeding unit (107), and a recorded sheet (110) is stacked in the sheet discharge unit (108). Has been.

  The PC (101) and the recording device (106) are connected by a printer cable (105), and the recording device (106) receives a control command from the PC (101) via the printer cable (105) and performs processing.

A block diagram of the PC (101) used in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
The PC (101) is connected to the keyboard (103) and mouse (104), which are input means, via a keyboard interface (1804) and a mouse interface (1805), and to the recording device (106), a printer interface (1806). The CRT (102) that is a display device is connected via a video controller (1803).

  The PC (101) causes the MPU (1800) to execute application software on the hard disk (1802), thereby converting the recording information stored in the memory (1801) into a control command. Then, a process of outputting to the printer cable (105) via the printer interface (1806) is executed.

An operation panel of the recording apparatus used in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
On the operation panel (113), an error LED (202) for notifying the occurrence of an error, a warning LED (203) for notifying the occurrence of a warning, a ready LED (201) for notifying a power-on state, etc., for canceling an error, etc. Reset key (204) and LCD (200) for displaying the status of the recording apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the recording apparatus used in this embodiment.

  The recording device (106) includes a recording unit (114), a paper feed unit (107), and a paper discharge unit (108).

The paper feeding unit (107) feeds the paper (109) to the recording unit (114) by a paper feeding roller (303) that rotates by driving of a paper feeding motor (not shown).
The recording unit (114) includes a conveying belt (300) for conveying the sheet (109), a TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (305) for detecting the position of the sheet, and a recording head (ink) for ejecting ink. 301), an ink tank unit (302) for supplying ink to the recording head (301), and a door sensor (304) for detecting opening and closing of the main body door.

The ink tank unit (302) is connected to the recording head (301) by a tube (not shown), and supplies ink to the recording head by controlling a recovery motor (408) described later.
In the recording unit (114), the front end position of the paper (109) transported on the transport belt (300) is detected by the TOF sensor (305), and based on the detected position information, a recording head ( 301), ink is ejected and ink is sprayed onto the surface of the paper to form an image.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of the control command used in this embodiment.
The control command includes a format command (500) for specifying the development position, development size, and high priority area size (503) of the data to be recorded, an image data command (501) including image data to be developed in the print buffer, and recording data. There is a job start command (502) indicating the end of the job and the job is started, and the PC (101) outputs these commands to the printer cable (105) via the printer interface (1806). The area specification of the priority order of the recording data is performed by the high priority order area size (503).

A simplified electrical block diagram of the recording apparatus (106) in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
The MPU (microprocessor) (400) implements the following control by executing a control program stored in the program ROM (401).
1) The control command output from the PC (101) is received under the control of the communication control driver (404).
2) Among the received control commands, the various parameters of the format command (500) are stored in the RAM (402), the image data command (501) is expanded in the VRAM (403) as a print buffer, and the job start command (502) Recording operation is started.
Control the motor driver (405), feed motor (406), transport motor (407),
The recovery motor (408) is driven.
Depending on the state of the recording device, the error LED (202), the ready LED (201), and the warning LED (203) are turned on (turned on) / off (turned off) via the input / output port (410). The LCD driver (411) is controlled to display a message on the LCD (200).
5) The input of the reset key (204), the power switch (112), and the main body door (111) is periodically monitored via the input / output port (410).
By controlling the input / output port (410) and controlling the head drive circuit (409) in synchronization with the paper position information based on the leading edge position of the paper detected by the TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (305). Then, the recording head (301) is driven and ink is ejected, whereby recording is performed on the paper in accordance with the image data developed in the VRAM (403).

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of “recording job control processing” in this embodiment, and FIG. 19 shows a RAM memory map in this embodiment.
This flow is executed by the MPU (400) based on the control program stored in the program ROM (401).

  This processing is started when the recording apparatus is turned on, various initialization processes are normally performed, and data reception is possible. First, the reception of a format command from the PC (101) is checked (S600). When the format command is received (YES in S600), various parameters are stored in the RAM (402) (S601).

  Here, the high priority area size (503) having high importance is also stored in the area Y on the RAM (402).

  Next, the image data command to be continuously received is developed in the VRAM (403) until the job start command (502) is received (S602). When the recording data development is completed, it is checked whether a warning is generated (S603), If it occurs (YES in S603), the warning LED (202) is turned off in the warning erasure process (S604), and the warning display displayed on the LCD (200) is erased. Next, a sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit to the recording unit (S605) and conveyed to the main body by the sheet feeding roller (303). Further, the sheet is conveyed by the conveyance belt (300), and after the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the TOF sensor (YES in S606), when the sheet reaches the print start position (YES in S607), the recording process (S608) is started. After the recording is finished, a paper discharge process (S609) is executed. If an error has occurred (YES in S610), an error process (S611) is performed, and if the reset key (204) is pressed (YES in S612). Then, the error LED (203) is turned off in the error erasing process (S613), and the error display displayed on the LCD (200) is erased. If no error has occurred (NO in S610), the process again waits for a format command (S600).

An example of a sheet recorded by the recording apparatus in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, recording is performed by conveying a sheet (1500) upward.
In addition, there are two priority levels for the recorded data: a high priority area (1501) that is the voucher information and a low priority area (1502) that is the announcement information, and the high priority area always exists at the beginning of the recorded data. To do. The high priority area size (503) designates the number of dots in the transport direction of the high priority area (1501).

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of “recording process” in the present embodiment.
This flow is executed by the MPU (400) based on the control program stored in the program ROM (401).

  First, it is checked whether an error has occurred (S700). If an error has occurred (YES in S700), this process is terminated without performing the recording process. If no error has occurred (NO in S700), initialization is performed by substituting 0 into the area X (recording line count) on the RAM (402) (S701). Next, the conveyance motor (407) is driven to convey one dot (S702), and the recording data in the VRAM (403) corresponding to the line is recorded by ejecting ink from the recording head (301) (S703). , X is incremented. If the recording has been completed (S705: YES), this process is terminated. If recording has not ended (S705 is NO), the state of the TOF sensor is checked (S706). If the TOF sensor is ON (paper is present) (S706 is NO), the next line is printed. If the TOF sensor is OFF (no paper) (YES in S706), printing is stopped (S710), Y (high priority area size) and X (recording line count) are compared (S707), and “Y> X ”(S707 is YES), the printing of the high priority area has not been completed, so an error message is displayed on the LCD (200) by the paper size error process (S708), and the error LED (202) is turned on. This process ends. In the case of “Y ≦ X” (NO in S707), printing of the high priority area is finished, but printing of the low priority area is not finished, so a warning is given by the paper size warning process (S708). The LED (203) is turned on, a warning message is displayed on the LCD (200), and this process ends.

  In this way, when printing cancellation occurs when printing a high-priority area such as voucher information, an error occurs, and this occurs when printing a low-priority area such as advertising information. In this case, a warning is generated because the printing of the high priority area has already been completed.

  As described above, by performing processing such as errors and warnings adapted to the priority order of recording data in the above configuration, optimum processing such as errors and warnings can be executed for each priority order of recording data. .

In the embodiment described above, a paper size error is given as an example of an error occurring during printing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is effective for other errors such as no ink.
(Second embodiment)
FIG. 8 shows a configuration diagram in which an ink-jet color card recording apparatus (hereinafter “recording apparatus”) and a personal computer (hereinafter “PC”) used in this embodiment are connected.

  The recording device (806) includes an operation panel (811), a power switch (812) for controlling power ON / OFF, and a main body door (not shown) that opens and closes when maintenance such as ink replacement or paper jam release is performed. Is mounted, a sheet (809) obtained by cutting the sheet into a predetermined size is set in the sheet feed tray (807), and a recorded sheet (810) is stacked in the sheet discharge tray (808).

  The PC (801) and the recording device (806) are connected by a printer cable (805), and the recording device (806) receives a control command from the PC (801) via the printer cable (805) and performs processing.

  Since the PC that is the control device used in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

An operation panel of the recording apparatus used in this embodiment is shown in FIG.
On the operation panel, there are an error / warning LED (902) for notifying the occurrence of errors and warnings, a ready LED (901) for notifying the power-on state, etc., a reset key (903) for canceling errors, etc., a recording device There is an LCD (900) that displays the state of

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus used in this embodiment.
The recording device (806) includes a recording unit (1014), a paper feeding unit (1013), and a paper discharge unit (1015). The paper feed unit (1013) receives the paper (1005) stacked on the paper feed tray (807) by the paper feed roller (1006) rotated by the drive of a paper feed motor (not shown) to the recording unit (1014). Feed paper.

  The recording unit (1014) includes a conveyance roller (1007) that conveys the paper (1005) fed from the paper feeding unit toward the paper discharge unit (1015), and a conveyance platen (1016) that supports and conveys the paper (1005). ), A TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (1004) for detecting the paper position, a black recording head (1002K) for ejecting black ink, a cyan recording head (not shown) for ejecting cyan ink, and magenta ink A magenta recording head (not shown) that discharges yellow ink, a yellow recording head (not shown) that discharges yellow ink, and an ink tank unit that supplies each color ink of black ink, cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink to each recording head ( 1001), a door sensor (1009) for detecting opening and closing of the main body door (1010), and a sheet Composed of sheet discharge rollers (1000) for conveying the paper section. The carriage (1012) includes an ink tank unit (1001) and each recording head, and is scanned by a drive belt (1003) that is rotationally driven by a carriage motor (1008).

  For the paper (1005) transported on the transport platen (1016), the front end position of the paper is detected by the TOF sensor (1004). When the paper reaches the recording position, the paper transport is stopped and the paper transports the carriage (1012). In synchronization with scanning in a direction orthogonal to the direction (hereinafter also referred to as scanning), ink is ejected from each recording head in accordance with an image forming signal to form an image on the surface of the paper. In this way, the carriage scan and the sheet conveyance are repeated to form a recorded image on the sheet. Each recording head is composed of 304 recording nozzles (1011), and forms a full-color image of 304 dots in one scan. The paper on which the image is formed is conveyed toward the paper discharge unit (1015) and is stored on the paper discharge tray (808).

FIG. 12 shows the structure of the control command used in this embodiment.
The control command includes a format command (1200) for designating the development position, development size, and high priority area size (1203) of the data to be recorded, an image data command (1201) including image data to be developed in the print buffer, and recording data. There is a job start command (1202) indicating the end of the job and starting the job, and the PC (801) outputs these commands to the printer cable (805) via the printer interface (1806). The color information of the image data is designated by the color information (1204), and the area designation of the priority order of the recording data is designated by the high priority area size (1203).

FIG. 16 shows an example of a sheet recorded by the recording apparatus in this embodiment.
In this embodiment, the recording apparatus performs recording by conveying a sheet (1600) upward.
Moreover, there are two priority levels for the recorded data: a high priority area (1601) that is the voucher information and a low priority area (1602) that is the announcement information, and the high priority area always exists at the beginning of the recorded data. To do. The high priority area size (1203) specifies the number of dots in the transport direction of the high priority area (1601).

FIG. 11 shows a simplified electrical block diagram of the recording apparatus in this embodiment.
The MPU (microprocessor) (1100) implements the following control by executing a control program stored in the program ROM (1101).
1) The control command output from the PC (801) is received by controlling the communication control driver (1104).
2) Among the received control commands, various parameters of the format command (1200) are stored in the RAM (1102), and the image data command (1201) is developed in the VRAM (1103) which is a print buffer, and an image for one scan. When data is received, the recording operation starts.
3) The motor driver (1105) is controlled to drive the paper feed motor (1109), the transport motor (1110), and the carriage motor (1111).
4) Depending on the state of the recording device, the error / warning LED (902) and the ready LED (901) are turned on (turned on) / off (turned off) via the input / output port (1107), and the LCD driver (1108) is controlled to display a message on the LCD (900).
5) The input of the reset key (903), the power key (812), and the main body door (1010) is periodically monitored via the input / output port (1107).
By controlling the input / output port (1107) and controlling the head drive circuit (1106) according to the paper position information based on the leading edge position of the paper detected by the TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (1004), By driving the black recording head (1002K), cyan recording head (1002C), magenta recording head (1002M), and yellow recording head (1002Y) to eject ink, the image data developed in the VRAM (1103) is printed on paper. To record.

  A flowchart of “recording job control processing” in the present embodiment is shown in FIG. 13, and the RAM memory map is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  This flow is executed by the MPU (1100) based on the control program stored in the program ROM (1101).

  This processing is started when the recording apparatus is turned on, various initialization processes are normally performed, and a data reception character is ready. First, reception of a format command from the PC (801) is checked (S1300). When the format command is received (YES in S1300), various parameters are stored in the RAM (1102) (S1301). The high priority area size (1203) is also stored in the area Y on the RAM (1102). Next, one sheet is fed from the sheet feeding unit to the recording unit (S1303), and after the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the TOF sensor (YES in S1304), when the sheet reaches the print start position (S1305 is YES), the recording process is performed. (S1306) is started. After recording, the paper discharge process (S1307) is executed. If an error has occurred (YES in S1308), the error process (S1309) is performed. If the reset key is pressed (S1310: YES), the error is erased. In the process (S1311), the error / warning LED (902) is turned off, and the error display displayed on the LCD (900) is erased. If no error has occurred (NO in S1308), the format command waits again (S1300).

A flowchart of “recording process” in the present embodiment is shown in FIG.
In this flow, the MPU (1100) executes a control program stored in the program ROM (1101).

  First, it is checked whether an error has occurred (S1400). If an error has occurred (YES in S1400), this process is terminated without performing the recording process. If no error has occurred (NO in 1400), initialization is performed by substituting 0 into the area X (recording line count) on the RAM (1102) (S1401). Next, the transport motor (1110) is driven to transport the recording head for one scan, that is, 304 dots (S1403), and the recording data in the VRAM (1103) corresponding to the line is transferred from the recording head (1002) with ink. The ink is discharged and recorded (S1404), and X is incremented (S1405). If the recording has been completed (YES in S1406), this process ends. If the recording is not completed (S1406 is NO), the state of the TOF sensor is checked (S1407). If the TOF sensor is ON (paper is present) (S1407 is NO), it is checked whether the door is open (S1408). ).

  When the door is closed (S1408 is NO), the next scanned image is printed, whereas when the door is open (S1408 is YES), Y (high priority area size) and X (recording line count) ) Are compared (S1409). In the case of “Y ≦ X” (NO in S1409), the printing of the high priority area has been completed, so an error message is displayed on the LCD (900) by error door open error processing (S1410), and the error / The warning LED (902) is turned on to wait for the door to be closed (S1411). If “Y> X” (YES in S1409), printing of the high priority area has not been completed, so error processing is not performed and printing is continued until “Y ≦ X”.

  Subsequently, if the TOF sensor is OFF (no paper) (YES in S1407), printing is stopped, Y (high priority area size) and X (recording line count) are compared (S1413), and “Y> X ”(YES in S1413), the printing of the high priority area has not been completed, so an error message is displayed on the LCD (900) by the paper size error process (S1414), and the error / warning LED (902) is displayed. Turn on the light and finish this process. In the case of “Y ≦ X” (S1413: NO), printing of the high priority area has been completed, so the sheet (1005) is discharged to the discharge tray (808), and this process ends.

  When the low-priority door opening that does not affect the printing of paper in this way occurs, printing is canceled if the printing area is a high-priority printing area such as voucher information. If it is a low priority area such as advertisement information, printing is paused and error processing is performed. Further, when a paper size error occurs during printing of a high priority area such as voucher information, printing is stopped at the same time as the error occurs, and the paper is discharged. On the other hand, if a paper size error occurs while printing a low priority area such as advertising information, the high priority area has already been printed, so printing will not occur. Cancel and eject the paper.

As described above, by performing processing such as errors and warnings adapted to the priority order of recording data, it is possible to execute processing such as optimum errors and warnings for each priority order of recording data.
In the embodiment described above, a paper size error and a door open error are given as examples of errors occurring during printing, but other errors such as no ink occurring in the printing apparatus are also effective. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recording apparatus adopting the serial printing method has been described as an example. However, the recording apparatus of the line recording method that performs recording on the recording medium conveyed relative to the direction different from the arrangement direction of the recording elements. Is also effective.
(Third embodiment)
FIG. 20 shows a configuration diagram in which a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) is connected to a card recording device (2002) (hereinafter referred to as “recording device”) using an ink jet method, which is used in this embodiment.
The recording apparatus (2002) includes an operation panel (2001), a power switch (2003) for controlling power ON / OFF, a main body door (2000) that opens and closes when ink is exchanged or a paper jam is cleared, and a predetermined number A paper feed port (2004) into which a paper (2005) cut into a size is inserted and a transport roller (2006) for transporting the paper in the direction of the arrow in the figure are provided.

  The PC (2007) and the recording device (2002) are connected by a printer cable (2008). The recording device (2002) receives a control command from the PC (2007) via the printer cable (2008), and an image form described later. Registration processing.

FIG. 25 shows the structure of the control command used in this embodiment.
The control command includes a format command (2500) for designating the development position, development size, and high priority area size (2503) of data to be recorded, and an image data command (2501) including image data that is bitmap data of the recorded image. There is a registration start command (2502) indicating the end of recording data and starting registration, and the PC (2007) outputs these commands to the printer cable (2008). The area designation of the priority order of the recording data is designated by the high priority area size (2503). When the recording device (2002) receives the registration start command (2502), the image data (2501) and the high priority area size (2503) are registered as an image form in a later-described flash ROM.

FIG. 21 shows details of the operation panel (2001) of the recording apparatus used in this embodiment.
On the operation panel (2001), there are an error / warning LED (2102) for notifying the occurrence of errors and warnings, a ready LED (2101) for notifying the power-on state, etc., a reset key (2103) for performing error cancellation, LCD (2100) for displaying the status of the recording apparatus and operation menu, upper key (2104) for operating / selecting the menu displayed on LCD (2100), lower key (2105), and enter key for determining the selected menu (2106) exists.

FIG. 26 shows an example of paper recorded by the recording apparatus of this embodiment.
The recording apparatus of this embodiment performs recording by conveying a sheet (2600) upward.
There are two priority levels for recorded data: a high priority area (2601) that is voucher information and a low priority area (2602) that is public notice information, and the high priority area always exists at the beginning of the recorded data. To do.

  The recording data is classified into fixed information (2604) based on image data of the image form and variable information (2603) that can be changed for each sheet. The fixed information (2604) is image data of an image form selected by the operation panel (2001) from an image form registered in advance and stored in a later-described flash ROM (2401). The variable information (2504) is an operation data. It is set using the panel (2001).

  FIG. 27 shows an image form selection menu hierarchy of the operation menu used in this embodiment, and FIG. 30 shows a variable information setting menu hierarchy.

  When the enter key (2106) is pressed while the image form selection menu (2700) is being displayed, a menu for selecting an image form registered and stored in the flash ROM (2401) of the recording device from the PC (2007) ( 2701, 2702, 2703) are displayed, the image form to be recorded is selected by the up key (2104) and the down key (2105), and set by the enter key (2106). The set image form ID is stored in the area Z on the RAM (2402). The variable information (2504) is determined by inputting the variable information data with the upper key (2104) and the lower key (2105) of the operation panel and entering with the enter key. The determined variable information data is stored in the area W on the RAM (2402).

FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the recording apparatus used in this example.
The recording apparatus (2002) includes a sheet detection sensor (2303) that detects insertion of a sheet (2005) into a sheet feeding port (2004), a conveyance motor (2306) that rotates a conveyance roller (2006), and conveyance. Under the driving of the roller (2006), the conveying belt (2305) for conveying the paper (2005), the TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (2304) for detecting the position of the paper, and the recording head (2301) are retracted. A head lifting motor (2307) that descends from the position to the recording position, a recording head (2301) that ejects ink, an ink tank unit (2300) that supplies ink to the recording head (2301), and the opening and closing of the main body door are detected Door sensor (2302).

  The ink tank unit (2300) is connected to the recording head (2301) by a tube (not shown), and supplies ink to the recording head by controlling a recovery motor (2408) described later.

When the paper (2005) is inserted into the paper feed port (2004) of the recording apparatus (2002) and detected by the paper detection sensor (2303), the recording head (2301) is moved down to the recording position, and then the transport motor ( 2306), the paper (2005) is fed in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing by the rotating conveyor belt (2305) driven by the driving of the conveyor motor.
Next, when the sheet (2005) is detected by the TOF sensor (Top Of Form) (2304), the conveyance of the sheet is stopped, and image data is developed in a VRAM (2403) described later. When the image development is completed, the paper (2005) is conveyed again, and when the recording position is reached, ink is ejected from the recording head (2301) in accordance with the image formation signal, and ink is sprayed onto the paper surface to form an image.

FIG. 24 shows a simplified electrical block diagram of the recording apparatus according to this embodiment.
The MPU (microprocessor) (2400) implements the following control by executing a control program stored in a flash ROM (2401) that is electrically rewritable in block units.
1) When the paper (2005) is detected by the paper detection sensor (2303) by controlling the input / output port (2409), the motor driver (2405) is controlled, the head lifting motor (2307), and the transport motor (2306). Drive.
2) When the TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (2304) detects the conveyed paper (2005), the driving of the conveyance motor (2306) is stopped and bitmap font data stored in the CGROM (2407) The recorded image is developed in the VRAM (2403) from the image data stored in the flash ROM (2401), and the transport motor (2306) is driven again.
3) According to the state of the recording device, the error / warning LED (2102) and the ready LED (2101) are controlled to be turned on (turned on) / off (turned off) via the input / output port (2409). (2410) is controlled to display a message on the LCD (2100).
4) The input of the reset key (2103) and the power switch (2003) is periodically monitored via the input / output port (2409).
By controlling the input / output port (2409) and controlling the head driving circuit (2406) according to the paper position information based on the leading edge position of the paper detected by the TOF (Top Of Form) sensor (2304), By driving the recording head (2301) and ejecting ink, the image data developed in the VRAM (2403) is recorded on the paper.

  FIG. 29 shows the configuration of the flash ROM (2401) of the recording apparatus in this embodiment. The flash ROM (2401) includes a program area (2900) in which a control program is stored, and an image form area (2901) in which a plurality of image forms including a high priority area size and image data are stored.

  FIG. 22 shows a flowchart of “recording job control processing” in this embodiment, and FIG. 17 shows a memory map (1700) of the RAM (2402).

  In this flow, the MPU (2400) executes a control program stored in the flash ROM (2401).

This processing is started when the power of the recording apparatus is turned on and various initialization processes are normally performed. First,
When the paper (2005) is inserted into the paper feed port (2004) (YES in S2200), the recording head (2301) is lowered to the recording position (S2212), and then the paper (2005) is fed (S2201). . Next, when the paper (2005) is detected by the TOF sensor (2304) at the leading edge of the paper (YES in S2202), the recording data is developed as follows. First, an ID of an image form to be recorded is acquired from a region Z (1703) stored in the RAM (2402) from a plurality of registered image forms, and image data of the image form to be recorded is obtained based on the ID. Copy from the flash ROM (2401) to the VRAM (2403). Similarly, the high priority area size (2503) of the image form recorded from the image form ID is copied from the flash ROM (2401) to the area Y (1701) on the RAM (2402). Next, the bitmap data corresponding to the variable information data stored in the area W (1704) on the RAM (2402) is read from the CGROM (2407), the variable information (2603) is expanded in the VRAM (2403), and the paper The recording data for one sheet is completed (S2203). Subsequently, the sheet is conveyed (S2204), and when the sheet reaches the print start position (YES in S2205), the recording process (S2206) is started. After recording, the paper discharge process (S2207) is executed. If an error has occurred (YES in S2208), an error process (S2209) is performed, and if the reset key is pressed (YES in S2210), an error occurs. In the erase process (S2211), the error / warning LED (2102) is turned off, and the error display displayed on the LCD (2100) is erased. If no error has occurred (NO in S2208), the process again waits for paper (S2200).

FIG. 28 shows a flowchart of “recording processing” in the present embodiment.
In this flow, the MPU (2400) executes a control program stored in the flash ROM (2401).

First, it is checked whether an error has occurred (S2800). If an error has occurred (YES in S2800), this process ends without performing the recording process. If no error has occurred (NO in S2800), initialization is performed by substituting 0 into area X (1702: recording line count) on the RAM (2402). Next, the conveyance motor (2306) is driven to convey one dot (S2802), and the recording data in the VRAM (2403) corresponding to the line is recorded by discharging ink from the recording head (2301) (S2803). , X is incremented. If the recording has been completed (YES in S2805), this process ends. If the recording is not completed (S2805 is NO), the state of the TOF sensor is checked (S2806). If the TOF sensor is ON (paper is present) (S2806 is NO), the next line is printed. If the TOF sensor is OFF (no paper) (YES in S2806), printing is stopped, Y (1701: high priority area size) and X (1702: recording line count) are compared (S2807), and “Y> In the case of “X” (YES in S2807), since the printing of the high priority area has not been completed, an error message is displayed on the LCD (2100) by the paper size error process (S2808), and the error / warning LED (2102). Is turned on to end the present process. In the case of “Y ≦ X” (S2807: NO), since the printing of the high priority area has been completed, this process is normally terminated.
When a paper size error occurs when printing a high priority area such as voucher information, printing is canceled and a low priority area such as advertisement information is printed. In this case, since the printing of the high priority area has already been completed, the optimum processing according to the priority of the printing area can be performed by completing the printing process normally without causing an error. Realize.

  As described above, by performing processing such as errors and warnings adapted to the priority order of recording data in the above configuration, optimum processing such as errors and warnings can be executed for each priority order of recording data. .

In the above-described embodiment, a paper size error has been described as an example of an error occurring during printing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is also effective for other errors and warnings such as no ink occurring in the printing apparatus.
(Other examples)
In the embodiment, a label recording apparatus capable of recording on a recording medium in which a plurality of labels are pasted on a long mount, a recording apparatus for manually setting sheets one by one, and a thermal transfer method using an ink ribbon or the like. Types and recording methods of recording devices, such as recording devices and recording devices that perform serial scanning in the direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the paper transport direction (sub-scanning direction) and record on paper on the platen It is not limited to.

  The present invention can be used in a wide range of recording apparatuses such as a recording apparatus with high speed and high productivity, or a recording apparatus for a prepaid recording medium.

It is a general-view figure which shows schematic structure of the recording device with which 1st Example is applied. It is a front view which shows the operation part of the recording device with which a 1st Example is applied. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a recording apparatus to which a first embodiment is applied. 1 is an electrical block diagram of a recording apparatus to which the first embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining the control command system of the recording device with which a 1st Example is applied. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a print job control process of a printing apparatus to which the first embodiment is applied. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a recording process of a recording apparatus to which the first embodiment is applied. It is a general-view figure which shows schematic structure of the recording device with which 2nd Example is applied. It is a front view which shows the operation part of the recording device with which 2nd Example is applied. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the recording device with which 2nd Example is applied. It is an electrical block diagram of a recording apparatus to which the second embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining the control command system of the recording device with which a 2nd Example is applied. It is a flowchart explaining the control processing of the recording job of the recording apparatus to which the second embodiment is applied. It is a flowchart explaining the recording process of the recording device with which 2nd Example is applied. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a recorded image of a recording apparatus to which the first embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining the recorded image of the recording device with which 2nd Example is applied. It is a figure which shows the structure of RAM of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a block diagram of a personal computer to which the first, second and third embodiments are applied. It is a figure which shows the structure of RAM of the recording device with which the 1st, 2nd Example is applied. It is a general-view figure which shows schematic structure of the recording device with which 3rd Example is applied. It is a front view which shows the operation part of the recording device with which 3rd Example is applied. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a recording job control process of a recording apparatus to which the third embodiment is applied. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. FIG. 6 is an electrical block diagram of a recording apparatus to which a third embodiment is applied. It is a figure explaining the control command system of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a figure explaining the recorded image of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a figure explaining the operation menu with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a flowchart explaining the recording process of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a figure explaining the structure of the flash ROM of the recording device with which a 3rd Example is applied. It is a figure explaining the operation menu with which a 3rd Example is applied.

Explanation of symbols

101 personal computer 102 CRT
103 Keyboard 104 Mouse 106 Card recording device 113 Operation panel 114 Recording unit

200 LCD
201 Ready LED
202 Error LED
203 Warning LED
204 Reset key

400 MPU
401 Program ROM
402 RAM
403 VRAM
404 Communication control driver

500 Format command 501 Image data command 502 Job start command 503 High priority area size

900 LCD
901 Ready LED
902 Error / warning LED
903 Reset key

1100 MPU
1101 Program ROM

1200 Format command 1201 Image data command 1202 Job start command 1203 High priority area size 1204 Color information

1500 paper 1501 high priority area 1502 low priority area 1600 paper 1601 high priority area 1602 low priority area

1800 MPU
1801 memory

2100 LCD
2101 Ready LED
2102 Error / warning LED
2103 Reset key

2400 MPU
2401 Flash ROM

2500 Format command 2501 Image data command 2502 Registration start command 2503 High priority area size

2600 Paper 2601 High priority area 2602 Low priority area 2603 Variable information 2604 Fixed information

Claims (20)

Comprising area dividing means for dividing the recording data into a plurality of areas, and importance setting means for setting importance for each of the areas,
A recording apparatus, wherein error processing is changed based on a recording end state when recording is interrupted. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the area dividing unit divides the sheet in a sheet conveyance direction. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the importance setting unit selectively sets a region having a high importance. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the recording of the high importance area is not completed when the recording is interrupted, an alarm is output and the recording operation is not continued. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an alarm is output when the recording of the high importance area is completed when the recording is interrupted. 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an alarm is not output when recording of the high importance area is completed when recording is interrupted. 7. The recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the recording operation is continued when the recording of the high importance area is completed when the recording is interrupted. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the factor that interrupts the recording operation is caused by a size of the recording medium. An area dividing means for dividing the recording data into a plurality of areas and an importance setting means for setting the importance for each area, and masking a specific error according to the importance of the recorded area Recording method. The recording method according to claim 9, wherein the recording apparatus masks an error having a priority lower than the importance of the area being recorded. The recording method according to claim 9, wherein the recording data is divided into two areas of a high importance area and a low importance area. Comprising area dividing means for dividing the recording data into a plurality of areas, and importance setting means for setting importance for each of the areas,
A recording method comprising: masking a predetermined error process when recording of a highly important area is completed when the recording operation is interrupted. The recording method according to claim 12, wherein the area dividing unit divides the sheet in a sheet conveyance direction. 14. The recording method according to claim 12, wherein if the recording of the high importance area is not completed when the recording operation is interrupted, an alarm is output and the recording operation is not continued. The recording method according to claim 12, wherein an alarm is output when recording of the high importance area is completed when the recording operation is interrupted. 13. The recording method according to claim 12, wherein an alarm is not output when recording of the high importance area is completed when the recording operation is interrupted. 17. The recording method according to claim 15, wherein the recording operation is continued when the recording of the high importance area is completed when the recording operation is interrupted. 18. The recording method according to claim 12, wherein a factor that interrupts the recording operation is caused by a size of the recording medium. The recording apparatus or the recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus includes a carriage on which a recording head is mounted. The recording apparatus or recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus includes a recording head, and the recording head is in a stationary state during a recording operation.

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