JP2008149640A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which uses printheads different in resolution, and which can perform printing processing with a different resolution for each color by including, particularly, the printheads different in control in the same control portion. <P>SOLUTION: Head information indicating a type is stored in the printhead which is arranged in a head portion. The printer reads the head information by means of a head-type determination portion 28, performs printing control according to the result of determination, and performs corresponding printing processing even in the use of the different type of printhead for each color. Thus, the printer can secure a constant printing quality. Additionally, even if the printheads different in the resolution are used, the head-type determination portion 28 discriminates among the resolutions of the printheads. Consequently, the printer secures the constant printing quality even in the use of the printhead with the different resolution for each color. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus using different types of print heads.

  Today, the performance of printing apparatuses is increasing, and for example, printing apparatuses equipped with a high-resolution print head are used. In addition, there are many types of print heads. For example, many print heads with different resolutions and specifications have been developed. Therefore, for example, when the printing apparatus is highly functional, it may be necessary to mount print heads with different specifications and resolutions. In such a case, it is necessary to perform printing processing with a certain quality regardless of which print head is used.

In Patent Document 1, when using print heads of different types, a flag for resolution determination is provided in a main control ROM for performing sequence control in synchronization with a reference signal, and the print head is controlled by a dedicated board having the determined resolution. It is the structure which performs.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 03-80633

  However, in the above case, it is necessary to provide a resolution determination flag in the main control ROM, and a dedicated board according to the resolution stored in the ROM is required. Further, in the case of a color printing apparatus, it is not a configuration in which different types of print heads are used for each color.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a printing apparatus that automatically selects the type of print head, drives the print head by performing the corresponding timing control, and performs the printing process even when using a different type of print head for each color. It is to provide.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, according to the first invention, the first and second print heads used for each color and different types, and the head information stored in the first and second print heads are read, and the print Selection means for determining the type of the head, and selection for selecting a first process for controlling the first print head or a second process for controlling the second print head according to the determination result And print processing means for outputting print data for each color to the first or second print head according to the selection result, performing print processing by the corresponding first or second processing, and performing print output. This can be achieved by providing a printing apparatus having

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second printing processes are different in the number of divisions in the main scanning direction and the number of scans of one pixel in the sub-scanning direction. Can be achieved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the first and second print heads used for each color and having different resolutions and the head information stored in the first and second print heads are read, A selection unit for determining the resolution of the print head and a selection of a first process for controlling the first print head or a second process for controlling the second print head according to the determination result. According to the selection result to be performed, and print processing for outputting print data for each color to the first or second print head, performing print processing by the corresponding first or second processing, and performing print output And a printing apparatus having the means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first and second printing processes differ in the number of divisions in the main scanning direction and the number of scans of one pixel in the sub-scanning direction. Can be achieved by providing.

  Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the resolution of the first print head is a yellow color print head lower than the resolution of the second print head. Can be achieved by providing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine the type of print head that differs for each color, and it is possible to perform print processing corresponding to the type of print head for each color.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment is connected to a host device.

  In FIG. 1, a host device 1 is a personal computer 1a or a printer server 1b, and is connected to a printer device 2 as an image forming apparatus via a centro interface or a LAN (local area network). The host device 1 converts the print data created according to the application into an intermediate code, and outputs it to an interface controller (hereinafter referred to as an I / F controller) 3 of the printer apparatus 2 via a spooler.

  The I / F controller 3 includes a reception control unit 4, MPU 5, ROM 7, font ROM 8, display control unit 9, video transfer control unit 10, memory 11, and compression / decompression unit 12. The print data supplied from the host device 1 is DMA (direct memory access) transferred to a reception buffer in the memory 11 under the control of the reception control unit 4.

  When a predetermined amount of print data is stored in the reception buffer, command analysis processing is performed, font data corresponding to the command is read from the font ROM 8, and the compression / decompression unit 12 performs compression processing or expansion processing. The data converted into video data is developed in the drawing area of the memory 11. The ROM 7 also stores a system program for the printer apparatus 2 of this example, and system control of the printer apparatus 2 is performed by the MPU 5.

  When, for example, one page of data is developed in the drawing area of the memory 11, the video data is DMA-transferred to the engine control unit 14 under the control of the video transfer control unit 10, and is output to the head unit 20 of the corresponding color. .

  The engine control unit 14 includes a head control unit 15 and a motor control unit 16 and is controlled by the MPU 17. The MPU 17 is also connected with a fixing control unit 18 and a high voltage control unit 19 to perform drive control of corresponding devices. The engine control unit 14 also performs drive control of the motor, transport control of the paper, and drive control of the photosensitive member, the developing device, the charger, and the like, and prints an image according to the video data on the paper.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the head controller 15.
The head control unit 15 includes a video I / F control unit 21, a dot pattern generation unit 22, a head data transmission unit 23, a head control signal generation unit 24, a strobe signal generation unit 25, a CPU interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU I / F unit). 26), a basic timing generation unit 27, a head type determination unit 28, and a setting register unit 29 for each head. The head unit 20 is provided with a ROM 30 for storing head information.

  As described above, the video I / F control unit 21 stores the video data, and sequentially transfers the video data to the dot pattern generation unit 22 in accordance with a request from the dot pattern generation unit 22. The dot pattern generation unit 22 converts one pixel of the received video data into a dot pattern composed of N fine pixels based on each gradation value.

  The head control signal generation unit 24 generates a dot clock (DCLK) and a horizontal synchronization signal (HSYNC) described later, and supplies dot pattern data to the head unit 20 in synchronization with the output of the dot clock (DCLK).

  The CPU I / F unit 26 performs address decoding processing and control of each unit of the head control unit 15, and the basic timing generation unit 27 divides the sub-scanning direction into n according to the gradation information set by the CPU I / F unit 26. The basic timing signal corresponding to each throughput is generated.

  The head type determination unit 28 reads the head information recorded in the ROM 30 of the head unit 20 and determines the type of the head. For example, the serial number of the print head is recorded in the ROM 30, and the head type determination unit 28 reads this information and determines the type of the print head.

  The head setting register unit 29 sets the data transfer method and the head control signal in the register based on the print head information determined by the head type determination unit 28. The strobe signal generation unit 25 generates a strobe signal for dividing the main scanning direction into n based on the information set in the head setting register unit 29 and outputs the strobe signal to the head unit 20.

The processing operation of this example will be described below.
3A to 3C are diagrams for explaining the outline of the processing of this example. In the description of the figure, for example, A head and B head indicate the types of print heads. FIG. 5A shows a case where only the A head can be controlled. In this case, the A head is used for any print head of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K). Only the printing process is possible. FIG. 5B shows an example in which only the B head can be controlled. In this case, the print head of any color of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (K). Also, only the printing process for the B head is possible. On the other hand, in the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 5C, the A head or B head printing process can be determined and executed for each color. This will be specifically described below.

  FIG. 4 is a time chart for explaining the processing operation of this example. FIG. 4A shows a common basic timing, and 600 DPI video data is supplied. In the figure, TWOUT indicates a writing cycle of one line, and LH1 to LH24 indicate timings obtained by dividing the basic timing signal. VIDEO indicates video data.

  When performing the printing process, the head type determination unit 28 first reads the information of the head unit 20 and reads the head information recorded in the ROM 30 of each color print head. As described above, as the head information, for example, information of the serial number of the print head is recorded, and the head type determination unit 28 determines the type of the head based on this information. For example, when A head or B head of different types is used as the print head, the head type determining unit 28 determines the type of A head or B head for each color. For example, as a result of this discrimination processing, as shown in FIG. 3C, the magenta (M) print head is the A head, the cyan (C) print head is the B head, and the yellow (Y) print is performed. Assume that the head is A head and the black (K) print head is B head.

  In the above case, the magenta (M) and yellow (Y) head control units 15 determined to be A heads perform processing according to the timing chart shown in FIG. That is, the sub-scanning direction is divided into three, one writing cycle TW of each line is divided into two, and the dot pattern data generated in the dot pattern generation unit 22 is output to the head unit 20. For example, when the line (1/3), the line (2/3), and the line (3/3) indicate sub-lines obtained by dividing the sub-scanning direction into three, strobe signals are output twice within one writing cycle of each sub-line. Then, the dot pattern data is transmitted to the head unit 20.

  For example, the writing process of the first subline (line (1/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals a1 and a2, and the dot pattern data of magenta (M) is synchronized with 960 dot clocks (DCLK), respectively. Output to the print head. Also, the writing process of the second subline (line (2/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals b1 and b2, and the dot pattern data of magenta (M) is synchronized with 960 dot clocks (DCLK), respectively. Output to the print head, write processing of the third subline (line (3/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals c1 and c2, and dot pattern data is magenta in synchronization with 960 dot clocks (DCLK), respectively. Output to the print head (M).

The dot pattern data is similarly output for the yellow (Y) print head.
On the other hand, the cyan (C) and black (K) head control units 15 determined to be the B head perform processing according to the timing chart shown in FIG. That is, the sub-scanning direction is divided into three, one writing cycle TW of each line is divided into four, and the dot pattern data generated in the dot pattern generation unit 22 is output to the head unit 20. In this case, the line (1/3), the line (2/3), and the line (3/3) indicate sub-lines divided into three in the sub-scanning direction, as described above, and four times within one writing cycle of each sub-line. A strobe signal is output and dot pattern data is transmitted to the head unit 20.

  For example, the writing process of the first subline (line (1/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals d1 to d4, and the dot pattern data of cyan (C) is synchronized with each of 480 dot clocks (DCLK). Output to the print head. Further, the writing process of the second subline (line (2/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals e1 to e4, and the dot pattern data of cyan (C) is synchronized with 480 dot clocks (DCLK). Output to the print head, write processing of the third subline (line (3/3)) is performed at the timing of the strobe signals f1 to f4, and dot pattern data is cyan in synchronization with 480 dot clocks (DCLK) respectively. Output to (C) print head.

The dot pattern data is also output to the black (K) print head at the same timing.
As described above, in this example, the head type can be automatically determined from the head information of the ROM 30 recorded in the head unit 20, and different print processing control can be performed for each color of the print head. Therefore, even when different types of print heads are used for each color, the same dot pattern data can be printed, and a constant print quality can be ensured.
(Embodiment 2)
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the head controller 15 for explaining the second embodiment. In the figure, the description of the same circuit as that of FIG. 1 is omitted.
In the figure, the configuration different from that in FIG. 1 is that a video resolution control setting unit 32 is connected to the video I / F control unit 21, and a head resolution setting register unit 33 is used instead of the head setting register unit 29. It is a point.

  The video resolution setting register 32 sets a data processing method by the video I / F control unit 21 according to the resolution of the video data generated by the I / F controller 3. The head resolution setting register 33 sets a dot pattern data division method, a data transfer method, and the like based on the head information supplied from the head type determination unit 28.

  The processing operation of this example will be described below. 6A to 6C are diagrams for explaining the outline of the processing of this example. FIG. 6A shows an example in which 600 DPI or 1200 DPI print processing is performed based on head information when 1200 DPI video data is supplied, and FIG. 5B shows a head when 600 DPI video data is supplied. An example in which 600 DPI or 1200 DPI print processing is performed based on the information will be described. FIG. 6C shows an example in which 600 DPI or 1200 DPI print processing is performed based on head information when 600 DPI or 1200 DPI video data is supplied. This will be specifically described below.

  FIGS. 7A to 7C are time charts for explaining the processing operation of this example. When 1200 DPI video data is supplied, a process for performing 600 DPI or 1200 DPI print processing based on head information will be described. It is a time chart. FIG. 6A shows a common basic timing, TWOUT indicates a writing period of one line, and LH1 to LH8 indicate timings obtained by dividing the basic timing signal. VIDEO indicates video data.

  When performing the printing process, the head type determination unit 28 first reads out the head information recorded in the ROM 30 of the print head of each color. As described above, as the head information, for example, the information of the serial number of the print head is recorded, and the head type determination unit 28 determines the resolution of the head based on this information. For example, if the resolution of the print head is 1200 DPI as a result of the discrimination processing, processing according to the time chart shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the resolution of the print head is 600 DPI as a result of the discrimination processing, processing according to the time chart shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 6C, the resolution of the magenta (M) and yellow (Y) print heads is 1200 DPI as a result of the discrimination process, and the cyan (C) and black (K) print head resolutions. Is 600 DPI.

  Here, when 1200 DPI video data is printed by a print head having a resolution of 1200 DPI, as shown in FIG. 7B, one dot pattern data is generated for each line according to the output of the horizontal synchronizing signal. Output and print processing. On the other hand, when printing is performed by a print head having a resolution of 600 DPI, as shown in FIG. 7C, a horizontal synchronization signal is output at a half timing shorter than the above, and line n (1/2), line Printing processing of n (2/2), line n + 1 (1/2), and line n + 1 (2/2) is performed.

  FIG. 4D is a diagram schematically showing the above case. That is, when processing 1200 DPI video data using a 1200 DPI print head, the same video data is output to the corresponding line, and when processing using a 600 DPI print head, line n is compared to line n. (1/2) and line n (2/2) are printed, and line n + 1 (1/2) and line n + 1 (2/2) are printed for line n + 1.

  By processing in this way, the resolution of the used print head is automatically determined and the print head having a different resolution for each color is used without being affected by the resolution of the print head used in the head unit 20. can do.

  In addition, even when the resolution of the print head to be used is different for the input of video data that differs for each color, it is possible to automatically determine the resolution of the print head and perform printing processing with the resolution corresponding to each color. Become.

8A to 8C are time charts for explaining processing for performing 600 DPI or 1200 DPI printing processing based on head information when 600 DPI video data is supplied. In this case as well, in the case of a 1200 DPI print head, as shown in FIG. 8B, dot pattern data is output corresponding to line n and line n + 1 in accordance with the output of the horizontal synchronization signal, and the resolution is 600 DPI. As shown in FIG. 8C, a horizontal synchronizing signal is output at half the timing shorter than the above, and line n (1/4) and line n (2/4) are printed. ), Line n (3/4), and line n (4/4) are printed. FIG. 4D schematically shows the above case.
(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the head controller 15 for explaining the third embodiment. In the figure, the description of the same configuration as in FIG. 1 is omitted.
In this example, a video data RAM unit (SDRAM) 35 for storing video data and a line buffer 36 are added. The video data RAM unit 35 stores the video data supplied from the I / F controller 3 and is used for registration adjustment in the main scanning direction or the sub-scanning direction. The line buffer 36 is a buffer for storing the video data transferred from the video I / F control unit 21 and developing one pixel into n fine pixels based on each gradation value.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a chip mounting image of a print head having a resolution of 600 DPI and 1200 DPI. For example, in the case of a print head of 7680 dots per line, 40 chips each having a 192-dot configuration are arranged in a line. In the case of a 1200 DPI print head, 40 chips each having a 384-dot configuration are arranged in a line.

  In this example, particularly when processing for correcting the chip position deviation in the sub-scanning direction is performed, printing processing is performed without degrading the print quality even when using print heads having different resolutions at the same time. For example, in the case of a 600 DPI print head, the number of dots formed on one chip is 64 dots × 3 (192 dots), and when the resist adjustment in the sub-scanning direction (Y direction) is performed every 128 dots, FIG. Thus, the chip position shift (step) shown in FIG.

  Therefore, processing is performed as follows in this example. First, as described above, the head type determination unit 28 reads the head information recorded in the ROM 30 of the head unit 20 and determines the resolution of the head based on this information. The head resolution setting register 33 sets each parameter based on the determination result of the head type determination unit 28.

  If the determination result is 600 DPI, the process shown in FIG. 11 is performed. That is, 4-bit video data for each color is input to the video I / F control unit 21, and the video I / F control unit 21 stores the supplied video data in the video data RAM unit 35. In the video data RAM unit 35, for example, 1-dot 4-bit video data is 8K dots, and 64 lines of data (255 KB (4 bits × 8K dots × 64 lines of data)) are stored.

  Next, the video I / F control unit 21 reads the video data from the video data RAM unit 35 and outputs it to the line buffer 36 via the head I / F control unit 31. At this time, as shown in FIG. 12, data is read from the video data RAM unit 35 with 8 bursts with an emphasis on the data transfer speed, and 4 bits × 8 dots (32 bits) of data are sequentially transferred to the line buffer 36. Then, video data is written to the line buffer 36 (W). On the other hand, when video data is read from the line buffer 36, the same 4 bits × 8 dots (32 bits) data is sequentially read from the line buffer 36 (R) and transferred to the head I / F control unit 31.

  On the other hand, if the determination result is 1200 DPI, as shown in FIG. 13, the video data RAM unit 35 performs two-line parallel processing, and the video I / F control unit 21 has two lines of video data of lines n and n + 1. And 255 KB of data is stored for each color. In this case, data transfer is performed every 1 bit × 128 dots for each of the line n and the line n + 1. FIG. 14 shows corresponding dots in 8 bursts for line n and line n + 1.

  By performing the transfer process in this way, data transfer can be performed every 128 dots in both the line n and the line n + 1, and the above-described chip position deviation correction can be effectively performed.

  As described above, according to this example, the video I / F control unit 21 can perform chip position shift correction effectively by performing data processing on two lines simultaneously, and prints with different resolutions for each color. Printing processing can be performed using the head.

It is a figure explaining the structure of a head control part. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an image forming apparatus is connected to a host device. (A)-(c) is a figure explaining the outline of the process of Embodiment 1. FIG. (A)-(d) is a time chart explaining the processing operation of Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a head control unit for explaining a second embodiment. (A)-(c) is a figure explaining the outline of the process of Embodiment 2. FIG. (A)-(c) is a time chart explaining the processing operation of Embodiment 2. FIG. (A)-(c) is a time chart explaining the processing operation of Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a head control unit for explaining a third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the chip | tip mounting image of the print head which has the resolution of 600 DPI and 1200 DPI. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a dot processing unit when video data is received by a 600 DPI print head. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a dot processing unit when a 1200 DPI print head receives video data. It is a figure explaining the process of Embodiment 3. FIG. It is a figure explaining the process of Embodiment 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host apparatus 2 ... Printer apparatus 3 ... I / F controller 4 ... Reception control part 5 ... MPU
7 ... ROM
8 ... Font ROM
9. Display control unit 10. Video transfer control unit 11. Memory 12. Compression / decompression unit 14. Engine control unit 15. Head control unit 16. Motor control unit 17. MPU
18..Fixing control unit 19..High voltage control unit 20..Head unit 21..Video I / F control unit 22..Dot pattern generation unit 23..Head data transmission unit 24..Head control signal generation unit 25. -Strobe signal generation unit 26-CPU interface unit 27-Basic timing generation unit 28-Head type determination unit 29-Head setting register 30-ROM
31 .. Head I / F control unit 32... Video resolution setting register 33... Head resolution setting register 35... Video data RAM unit (SDRAM)
36. Line buffer

Claims (5)

First and second print heads used for each color and having different types;
Determination means for reading out the head information stored in the first and second print heads and determining the type of the print head;
Selection means for selecting a first process for controlling the first print head or a second process for controlling the second print head according to the determination result;
Print processing means for outputting print data for each color to the first or second print head according to the selection result, performing print processing by the corresponding first or second processing, and performing print output;
A printing apparatus comprising:   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second printing processes are different in the number of divisions in the main scanning direction and the number of scans of one pixel in the sub-scanning direction. First and second print heads used for each color and having different resolutions;
Determining means for reading out the head information stored in the first and second print heads and determining the resolution of the print heads;
Selection means for selecting a first process for controlling the first print head or a second process for controlling the second print head according to the determination result;
Print processing means for outputting print data for each color to the first or second print head according to the selection result, performing print processing by the corresponding first or second processing, and performing print output;
A printing apparatus comprising:   4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first and second printing processes are different in the number of divisions in the main scanning direction and the number of scans of one pixel in the sub-scanning direction.   5. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a resolution of the first print head is a yellow color print head lower than a resolution of the second print head. 6.

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