JP2007133491A - Printing apparatus and method for controlling same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a printing time after a printing restart resulting from jam handling by eliminating wasteful printing time consumption. <P>SOLUTION: A host computer has a means for displaying jams if any but continuing sending print data at the request of a printer. A printer controller has means for continuing receiving and data-processing print data even upon a feed jam. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that prints print data continuously in units of pages and a print data processing method.

  With the advent of inexpensive personal computers recently, an environment has been set up that allows easy handling of full-color characters, graphics, and image data. As a result, color information is used in a wide range of fields such as documents using color, art, and design.

  When recording print data created by an application using such color information on the printing device, use the processing function of the host computer, and adjust the characters, images, and graphics on the host computer side to the resolution of the recording device. There is a so-called dumb printer or video printer in which the image is developed and then sent to a printing apparatus. This processing method is characterized in that the mechanism on the printer side is simplified and many processes are executed on the host computer side. However, when color information is handled, there is a problem that a large amount of data takes a lot of time for communication, and the throughput may be very low.

  On the other hand, a page description language (abbreviated as Page Description Language, hereinafter abbreviated as PDL) is sent from the host computer as characters, graphics, and images as languages, the PDL is interpreted by the printing device, and various information is stored in the raster memory. There is also a processing method for generating a page image by performing scan conversion (scan conversion). In such a printer using PDL, print data for one page may be divided into a plurality of bands to save a memory, and bitmap development is performed for each band. The print data used in such a printing apparatus is composed of a plurality of objects with one graphic as one object. These objects are mainly fonts, bitmaps, etc., and are classified according to the difference in their development (hereinafter referred to as rendering) processing methods. Some have hardware rendering means for rendering at high speed. In this case, the PDL data received from the host computer is interpreted for each band, converted into an intermediate code (hereinafter referred to as a display list) in a format that can be easily handled by hardware, and this is expanded into a rendering memory by high-speed rendering hardware, The procedure is to send the contents of the rendering memory to the engine (print processing unit) and perform the printing process. Here, some advanced development processes that could not be supported by the hardware rendering means include means for switching the display list to be rendered by software rendering. Furthermore, in order to reduce costs, there are printers that do not have hardware rendering means and interpret the display list only by software and perform rendering.

  Conventionally, in this type of printer device, when a paper transport failure (jam) or the like occurs in the process of continuous printing, the control unit gives a jam signal to the host computer based on a jam detection signal from the sensor unit, Data transmission is temporarily stopped and an alarm signal is issued to notify the operator. When the operator recovers the jam, the data including the print data in which the jam has occurred and the data after the print data are reprinted and recovered. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.) According to the printing apparatus described in this publication, a page is provided with a data memory having a capacity capable of storing one or more pages of print data, and a jam occurs due to the print data on the data memory. Can be reprinted.

  In addition, a bitmap memory for storing bit data to be sent to the engine of the printer apparatus and a backup memory for storing the bit data written in the bitmap memory in association with the number of pages are provided. For example, there is a technique (for example, see Patent Document 2) that enables reprinting of a page in which the occurrence of the error occurs.

By these means, it is possible to perform reprinting after the occurrence of a jam or the like, and the printing result including the print data in which the jam has occurred is guaranteed.
JP-A-64-47566 JP-A-1-202467

  In order to keep costs low in printers that perform rendering and printing after inputting, analyzing, and generating a display list from PDL data sent from the host computer, there is no hardware rendering means and the display list is software There are printers that just interpret and render. In such a printer, depending on the degree of overlap and complexity of print objects, it may take tens of seconds to render only one page.

  Conventionally, however, in this type of printer device, when a jam or the like occurs in the continuous printing process, the rendering process is stopped and the apparatus is in a standby state until the operator removes the jammed paper and clears the jam failure. In addition, in the ink jet printing apparatus, the printing process may be interrupted periodically for head cleaning. In such a case, the rendering process is stopped and the printer is in a standby state.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When the printer engine (print processing unit) is in a busy state, for example, even if a jam occurs in the printing process, the host computer may cause a jam failure. Means for transmitting the subsequent PDL data while displaying the status on the monitor, and means for receiving the PDL data sent from the printer and continuing the rendering process from the display list generated from the received PDL data are provided.

  According to the present invention, when the printer engine (print processing unit) is in a busy state, for example, when a jam or the like occurs in the continuous printing process, the operator can also remove the jam trouble of removing the jammed paper from the printer. The host computer is configured to send data while the jam failure status is displayed on the monitor, and the printer controller is configured to receive the data and continue rendering. It became possible to save.

  3 and 4 are block diagrams showing schematic configurations of the controller unit and printer engine unit of the color PDL ink jet printing apparatus, respectively. First, the function and schematic operation of the controller unit will be described with reference to FIG.

  The CPU 2601 is connected to the host PC 2611 (2612) via the USB interface 2609 or the IEEE 1394 interface 2610. The RAM 2604 for storing the command signal and image information received from the PC 2611 (2612) is accessed, and the recording operation is controlled based on the information stored in these memories.

  Instruction information input from the keys of the operation panel 2614 is transmitted to the CPU 2601 via the operation panel interface 2613, and the LED lighting and LCD display of the operation panel 2614 are similarly controlled via the operation panel interface 2613 according to instructions from the CPU 2601. Is done.

  The expansion interface 2615 is an interface for performing function expansion by connecting an expansion card such as a LAN controller or HDD.

  In the data processing block 2616, the PDL data received from the host PC is interpreted to perform drawing processing, and further converted into image formation data of each ink color conforming to the printer engine specifications, and then the printer is sent via the printer engine communication block 2618. Output to the engine (not shown).

  Similarly, various commands and status information are transmitted and received between the controller and the printer engine via the printer engine communication block 2618.

  A detailed data processing flow in the data processing block 2616 will be described later. A RAM 2617 is connected to the data processing block 2616 as its working memory. As shown in FIG. 2, the RAM 2617 mainly includes an intermediate code memory 201, a band memory 202, and an input buffer 203. The area occupied by these changes depending on the processing status. These are the same as the intermediate code memory 307, band memory 309, and input buffer 304 of FIG.

  Next, the function and operation outline of the printer engine unit will be described with reference to FIG. The printer engine unit is connected to a controller (not shown) via a band memory control block 2712.

  The CPU 2701 accesses the ROM 2703 that stores the control program, the EEPROM 2704 that stores updatable control programs and processing programs, various constant data, etc., and the RAM 2702 that stores command signals and image information received from the controller (not shown). The recording operation is controlled based on the information stored in these memories.

  The carriage 2711 is moved by operating the carriage motor 1709 via the input / output port 2705 and the carriage motor control circuit 2707, and the paper feed paper feed motor 2708 is moved via the input / output port 2705 and the paper feed motor control circuit 2706. By operating, a paper transport mechanism 2710 such as a transport roller is operated.

  The CPU 2701 can record a desired image on the recording medium by controlling the band memory control block 2712 and the print head control block 2714 based on various information stored in the RAM 2702 and driving the print head 2715.

  The paper transport mechanism 2710 is provided with a paper transport jam detection unit, and notifies the CPU 2701 via the input / output port 2705 when a transport jam occurs. The CPU 2701 notifies this to the controller, stops the carriage motor 1709 via the carriage motor control circuit 2707, and stops the paper feed paper feed motor 2708 via the paper feed motor control circuit 2706. After that, the operator waits for the conveyance jam to be released, and when the conveyance jam detection means confirms the conveyance jam release, the jam recovery operation is started. In the jam recovery, reprinting is performed using the print data for one page stored in the memory 2713.

  Also, from the power supply circuit (not shown), logic drive voltage Vcc (for example, 3.3V) for operating the CPU and various control circuits, various motor drive voltages Vm (for example, 24V), heat voltage Vh for driving the print head (For example, 12V) is output.

  Next, the flow of PDL data processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing in detail the data processing block 2616 of FIG. 3 and the flow of PDL data outside thereof. A host computer 301 creates color information as a color application, converts color data corresponding to the color information into a PDL language format, and sends the converted PDL language data to the printing apparatus controller 302 of the printing apparatus. This is the same as shown at 2611 and 2612 in FIG. PDL language data flows between the host computer 301 and the controller 302. There is no problem with the communication form of the PDL language data, such as serial, network, or bus connection. However, in terms of performance, a high-speed communication path is desirable. The PDL language data sent to the controller 302 is temporarily stored in the input buffer (data input buffer) 304.

  The intermediate code generation means 305 of the controller reads and interprets the PDL language data in the input buffer 304 and generates intermediate code in a form that can be easily processed by the hardware of the renderer 308. Here, the intermediate code generation unit 305 creates an intermediate code using the profile 306 for performing image processing, and stores it in the intermediate code memory 307.

  The image processing performed by the intermediate code generation means is usually performed using the monitor color system red, green, and blue RGB (additive color mixture) used in the host computer from yellow, magenta, cyan, Some convert black to YMCK (subtractive color mixture).

  The renderer 308 performs the rendering process in real time in synchronization with the video transfer to the printer engine 303 of the printing apparatus by executing the color rendering process with ASIC (application specific IC) hardware, and with a small memory capacity. Banding processing is realized. The renderer 308 may be realized by software instead of hardware for cost reduction. Further, the renderer 308 interprets the intermediate code stored in the intermediate code memory 307 and develops it in the band memory 309. The band memory 309 is an area for storing a rendered bit image, and has, for example, 256 lines as a standard size.

  The dot data generation means 310 converts the KCMY color 4-bit data read out from the band memory 309 into KCMY color 1-bit data having an image formation resolution (output resolution) using a halftone dot matrix. For example, dot data having an output resolution of 1200 dpi × 1200 dpi is generated by using a 2 × 2 dot matrix for a rendering resolution of 600 dpi × 600 dpi.

  The printer engine 303 prints the dot data passed through the dot data generation unit 310. Details of the printer engine 303 are shown in the block diagram shown in FIG.

  Next, a processing method at the time of jam in the present embodiment will be described.

  If a jam occurs during the continuous printing process, the paper transport jam detection means of the paper transport mechanism 2710 in FIG. 4 notifies the CPU 2701 of this via the input / output port 2705.

  The CPU 2701 notifies the controller via the engine communication block 2618 shown in FIG. 3 and stops the carriage motor 1709 via the carriage motor control circuit 2707, and the paper feed paper feed motor via the paper feed motor control circuit 2706. Stop 2708 and wait for the jam to clear.

  The CPU 2601 of the controller in FIG. 3 displays the jam failure received via the engine communication block 2618 on the operation panel 2614 via the operation panel interface 2613. At the same time, it notifies the host computers 2611 and 2612 via the USB interface 2609, the IEEE1394 interface 2610, and the expansion interface 2615.

  The host computers 2611 and 2612 display this information on the monitor to notify the operator that a jam failure has occurred. Even after this display, the host computer continues to send print data in response to requests from the printer.

  When notified of a jam failure, the CPU 2601 of the controller stops sending the rendered data to the printer engine. However, the controller still receives PDL data from the host computer into the input buffer 304 of FIG. The intermediate code generation means 305 converts this into an intermediate code and stores it in the intermediate code memory. Further, the renderer 308 renders this intermediate code and stores it in the band memory 309.

  The CPU 2601 of the controller continues the rendering process while appropriately changing the areas occupied by the input buffer, the intermediate code memory, and the band memory in the RAM 2617 shown in FIG. 2 according to the input PDL data amount. That is, when the input data disappears, the input buffer area is reduced accordingly, and when the intermediate code disappears as a result of rendering, the area is used as a band memory for rendering output.

  Here, the rendering result of the band memory can be transmitted to the host and stored in the interval between reception of the PDL data. Then, after the jam is released, it is loaded into the band memory and used as print data.

  When the operator clears the paper jam, the printer engine confirms the paper jam release by the paper jam detection means and enters a jam recovery operation. In the jam recovery, the print data for one page stored in the memory 2713 is reprinted, and then the controller resumes receiving new print data.

  In an ink jet printing apparatus, the printing process may be interrupted periodically for head cleaning. In such a case, the controller can continue the rendering process in the same manner. Furthermore, it is possible to continue the rendering process internally while the operator is setting the printer offline with the offline key on the operation panel. During this time, the communication with the host computer can be interrupted. It is also possible to continue.

  Next, characteristic processing regarding a jam failure in this embodiment of the host computer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Printing is started in step S501. In step S502, it is confirmed whether a conveyance jam failure signal is received from the printer. If it is, the operator is notified in S503, and the process proceeds to S504. If no conveyance jam failure signal is received from the printer in S502, print data is transmitted to the printer in S504. In step S505, it is determined whether all data transmission has been completed. If not finished, repeat from S502. When all data transmission is completed, the process ends in S506.

  Next, a characteristic process regarding a jam failure in the present embodiment of the printer controller will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S601, print data reception and rendering processing are started.

  In step S602, it is checked whether a conveyance jam signal is received from the printer engine. If a conveyance jam signal has been received, an error display is displayed on the operation panel in S603, data transmission to the printer engine is stopped, and a jam error is transmitted to the host computer.

  In step S604, it is checked whether a jam release signal is received from the printer engine. If the conveyance jam release signal is received, the error display is canceled on the operation panel in step S605, the data transmission to the printer engine is resumed, and the jam error release is transmitted to the host computer.

  In step S606, the print data received from the host computer is interpreted to generate intermediate data, which is rendered in the band memory.

  In step S607, it is checked whether rendering of all print data has been completed. If not, the process is repeated from step S602. When all rendering is completed, the process ends in S608.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, a characteristic process regarding a jam failure in this embodiment of the printer engine will be described.

  In step S701, reception of dot data from the controller is started. In S702, it is checked whether or not a conveyance jam has occurred. If a conveyance jam occurs, the printing process is immediately stopped in step S703, and jam failure occurrence information is transmitted to the controller. After that, it waits for the jam to be released in S704. When the jam is released, recovery processing is performed in S705. In the recovery process, the dot data for one page stored in the recovery memory in the printer engine is reprinted. Further, jam release information is transmitted to the controller, and the process proceeds to print data reception S707.

  If there is no conveyance jam in S702, dot data is received from the controller in print data reception S707. In step S708, it is checked whether one page has been received. If not received, repeat from S702. When all are received, printing is performed in step S709. When printing is completed, the process ends in S710.

It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the data processing of the Example of this invention. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a RAM 2617. FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the controller part in an inkjet printing apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of the engine part in an inkjet printing apparatus. It is a flowchart explaining the flow regarding the jam failure of the host computer in an Example. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow related to a jam failure of the printer controller in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow related to a jam failure of the printer engine in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

301 Host Computer 302 Controller 303 Printer Engine 304 Input Buffer 305 Intermediate Code Generation Unit 306 Profile 307 Intermediate Code Memory 308 Renderer 309 Band Memory 310 Dot Data Generation Unit

Claims (2)

  In a printing system comprising a host computer for transmitting print data and a printing apparatus for printing the print data input from the host computer, the host computer continues to transmit the print data regardless of the busy state of the printing apparatus. The printing system further comprises means for displaying the busy state, and the printing apparatus has means for continuing to receive print data regardless of the busy state of the printer engine.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus includes a printing paper conveyance unit, a unit for detecting conveyance jam of the paper, and a unit for continuing processing of the received print data even during the conveyance jam.

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