JP2013151118A - Printing apparatus and printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively use a memory area even when printing in coexistence of a monochromatic image and a color image is performed.SOLUTION: A printing apparatus includes: a plurality of data transfer control parts each configured to store into a storage part, image data transferred from a host device which generates image data for printing, and then, read out the image data from the storage part in response to a printing start instruction; a printing part configured to print the image data on a recording medium; a printing control part configured to give the printing start instruction to the data transfer control parts; and an output control part configured to output each of pieces of image data, which have been read out from the storage parts by the data transfer control parts, to the printing part. The plurality of data transfer control parts are connected with one another, so that the image data can be transferred among the data transfer control parts. Each of the plurality of data transfer control parts is configured to read out the image data from the storage part thereof or from the storage part belonging to another data transfer control part, and then, output the image data to the output control part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing control method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing system that includes a printing apparatus and a higher-level apparatus that passes print data to the printing apparatus and issues a print instruction is already known. In such a printing system, for example, the host device prints image data based on a raster image by RIP (Raster Image Process) according to print data described in a page description language (PDL) transmitted from the host device. And the generated print image data is transferred to the print control unit of the printing apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, as a conventional technique, a printing apparatus including a printer controller, a printer engine, and a data line connecting the printer controller and the printer engine is already known (for example, see Patent Document 2). In this printing apparatus, a control line for transmitting / receiving various control information between the printer controller and the printer engine and a data line for transmitting / receiving print image data are separated to increase the data transfer speed.

  Further, there has been proposed a printing system in which a control line and a data line for connecting a host apparatus that generates print image data and a printing apparatus that performs printing using print image data are separated. In this printing system, control of print image data transfer timing to a controller dedicated to print image data processing and print control such as paper transport control for transporting paper to be printed are collectively controlled by a controller for print control.

  In this printing system, data lines can be provided for each color, and print image data of each color can be transferred in parallel, so that data transfer can be performed at higher speed. On the printing apparatus side, the print image data for each color is transferred to the data processing dedicated controller for each color and stored in the buffer memory. Then, according to the control for each data processing controller by the print control controller, each data processing controller reads the print image data of each color from each buffer memory at a predetermined timing and performs printing.

  However, in such a conventional printing system, since print image data is processed for each color, a monochrome image using a memory area for one plane is used regardless of a color image using a memory area for four planes. As a result, a memory area for four planes necessary for forming a color image is secured. For this reason, in a conventional printing system, when printing is performed in which a monochrome image and a color image are mixed, the memory area for 3 planes per page is secured without being used for the monochrome image page until the printing is completed. There was a problem that the memory area could not be used effectively.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a printing apparatus and a printing control method capable of effectively using a memory area even when printing in which a monochrome image and a color image are mixed is performed. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage unit, and stores image data transferred from a host device that generates image data for printing in the storage unit. A plurality of data transfer control units that read out the image data from the storage unit in response to a print start instruction; a printing unit that prints the image data on a recording medium; and a plurality of data transfer control units that start the printing. A plurality of data transfer controls, comprising: a print control unit that gives instructions; and an output control unit that outputs each of the image data read from the storage unit by the plurality of data transfer control units to the printing unit. Are connected to each other, and can transfer the image data between the plurality of data transfer control units, and each of the plurality of data transfer control units may be a storage unit or another data storage unit. From the storage unit of the transfer control section reads out the image data and outputs to the output control unit.

  The print control method according to the present invention is a print control method executed by a printing apparatus, and each of a plurality of data transfer control units transfers image data transferred from a host device that generates image data for printing. Is stored in the storage unit, the data transfer control step of reading the image data from the storage unit in response to an instruction to start printing, the printing unit printing the image data on a recording medium, and the print control unit, A printing control step for instructing the plurality of data transfer control units to start printing; and an output control unit configured to output each of the image data read from the storage unit by the plurality of data transfer control units to the printing unit. An output control step for outputting to the plurality of data transfer control units, wherein the plurality of data transfer control units are connected to each other, and transfer of the image data between the plurality of data transfer control units is performed. In the data transfer control step, each of the plurality of data transfer control units reads the image data from its own storage unit or a storage unit of another data transfer control unit and outputs the image data to the output control unit Including steps.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that the memory area can be used effectively even when printing in which a monochrome image and a color image are mixed is performed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a printing system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of the host device. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the functions of the host device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the printer apparatus. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the printer controller. FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of an example of the data transfer control unit. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing in more detail the configuration of an example of the data transfer control unit. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of the image output unit. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating the structure of an example of a printer apparatus including a paper conveyance system applicable to the present embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of control information transmitted and received between the host device and the printer controller of the printer device. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a virtual memory. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the control of the input pointer and the output pointer on the virtual memory. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30a and the procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30a. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30b and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30c, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30b. FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30c and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30c. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30d and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, and 30c from the data transfer control unit 30d. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram of print processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the print control process in the printer controller of this embodiment. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the print control process in the printer controller of this embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer management table according to the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a printing apparatus and a printing control method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in order to facilitate understanding, production printing to which a printing system including a printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied will be schematically described. In production printing, the basic idea is to perform a large amount of printing in a short time. For this reason, in production printing, in order to speed up printing and efficiently manage jobs and print data, a workflow system that manages from creation of print data to distribution of printed materials is constructed. .

  The printing system according to the present embodiment relates to a part that executes printing in a production printing workflow, and separates RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing and printing of bitmap data obtained by RIP processing. To do. The RIP process takes the longest processing time in the printing process, and the printing speed can be increased by separating the apparatus that performs the RIP process from the apparatus that performs the printing process.

(Overview of printing system)
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. This printing system is configured by connecting a host device 10 and a printer device 13 as a printing device by a plurality of data lines 11 and control lines 12. Then, the host device 5 is connected to the host device 10 via a network. The host device 5 is a computer, for example, and generates print job data including print image data and print setting information.

  The print job data includes, for example, data in a page description language (PDL) (hereinafter referred to as PDL data). By interpreting this PDL data, print image data composed of bitmap images to be printed and print setting information related to print settings such as page information, layout information, and information indicating the number of copies to be printed are generated. Is done.

  The host device 10 performs RIP processing according to the print job data supplied from the host device 5 and creates bitmap data for each color, which is print image data. At the same time, the upper level apparatus 10 creates control information for controlling the printing operation based on the print job data and information from the host apparatus 5.

  The print image data for each color created by the host device 10 is supplied to a printer engine unit (not shown) of the printer device 13 via a plurality of data lines 11. Also, control information for controlling printing is transmitted and received between the upper level apparatus 10 and the printer controller 14 via the control line 12. The printer controller 14 controls the printer engine unit based on the transmission / reception of the control information, forms an image on the print medium, and executes printing according to the print job. A specific example of this control information will be described later.

  Although the printing method is not particularly limited, in this embodiment, printing paper is used as a printing medium, and a print image is formed on the printing paper by an inkjet method. Not only this but each embodiment is applicable also to the printing apparatus which forms a printing image with respect to printing paper using a toner. Further, as the printing paper, continuous form paper (continuous form) that is continuous paper in which perforable perforations are punched at a predetermined interval is used. In production printing, this continuous paper is often used as printing paper. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to this, and a cut sheet having a fixed size such as A4 size or B4 size may be used as the printing paper. In the continuous paper, a page refers to an area sandwiched between perforations that are struck at a predetermined interval, for example.

  Note that the print medium to be printed by the printing system according to the present embodiment is not limited to paper printing paper. That is, other printing media may be used as long as printing is possible by the printing method applied to the present embodiment and can be provided as a roll. For example, a plastic film or cloth may be used as the print medium.

(Host device)
FIG. 2 shows an exemplary configuration of the host device 10. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 104 are connected to the bus 100. An external I / F 110, a control information I / F 111, and a print image data I / F 112 are further connected to the bus 100. These units connected to the bus 100 can communicate with each other via the bus 100.

  In ROM 102 and HDD 104, a program for operating CPU 101 is stored in advance. The RAM 103 is used as a work memory for the CPU 101. That is, the CPU 101 controls the overall operation of the host device 10 using the RAM 103 as a work memory in accordance with programs stored in the ROM 102 and the HDD 104.

  The external I / F 110 corresponds to, for example, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) and controls communication with the host device 5. The control information I / F 111 controls communication of control information. The print image data I / F 112 controls communication of print image data and has a plurality of channels. For example, the print image data of each color by the colors Y (Yellow), C (Cyan), M (Magenta), and K (Black) created in the host device 10 is output from each of the plurality of channels. Since the print image data I / F 112 is required to have a high transfer rate, for example, PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Bus Express) is used. The method of the control information I / F 111 is not particularly limited, but here, as with the print image data I / F 112, PCI Express is used.

  In such a configuration, print job data transmitted from the host device 5 is received by the external I / F 110 of the upper level device 10 and stored in the HDD 104 via the CPU 101. The CPU 101 performs RIP processing based on the print job data read from the HDD 104, generates bitmap data for each color, and writes it to the RAM 103. For example, the CPU 101 renders PDL (Page Description Language) data by RIP processing, generates bitmap data of each color, and writes it to the RAM 103. The CPU 101 compresses and encodes the bitmap data of each color written in the RAM 103 and temporarily stores it in the HDD 104.

  For example, when the printing operation is started in the printer device 13, the CPU 101 reads out the bitmap data of each color compressed and encoded from the HDD 104, decodes the compressed code, and stores the decompressed bitmap data of each color in the RAM 103. Write. Then, the CPU 101 reads out the bitmap data of each color from the RAM 103, outputs it as print image data of each color from each channel of the print image data I / F 112, and supplies it to the printer device 13. The CPU 101 transmits / receives control information for controlling printing to / from the printer device 13 via the control information I / F 111 according to the progress of the printing operation.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an example for explaining the functions of the host device 10. The host device 10 includes interfaces (I / F) 120, 123 and 125, a RIP unit 121, a storage unit 122, and a control unit 124. The interfaces 120, 123, and 125 correspond to the external I / F 110, the print image data I / F 112, and the control information I / F 111 in FIG. 2, respectively. The RIP unit 121 and the control unit 124 are configured by programs that operate on the CPU 101 in FIG. The storage unit 122 corresponds to at least one of the RAM 103 or the HDD 104 in FIG.

  Print job data including PDL data is created by the host device 5 and transmitted to the host device 10. This print job data is received by the interface 120 and supplied to the RIP unit 121. The RIP unit 121 performs rendering based on the PDL data included in the supplied print job data, and generates print image data using bitmap data of each of Y, C, M, and K colors. The RIP unit 121 sequentially stores the generated print image data for each color of Y, C, M, and K in the storage unit 122.

  The control unit 124 communicates with the printer controller 14 of the printer device 13 via the interface 125. For example, the control unit 124 generates control information for controlling printing in the printer device 13 based on print job data supplied from the host device 5 via the interface 120. This control information is transmitted from the control unit 124 to the printer controller 14 via the interface 125.

  The interface 123 can independently access print image data of each color Y, C, M, and K stored in the storage unit 122. The interface 123 is connected to the printer device 13 via a plurality of data lines 11 corresponding to each color of Y, C, M, and K, and the Y is connected to the printer device 13 via the plurality of data lines 11. , C, M, and K color print image data transfer, and Y, C, M, and K color print image data transfer.

(Printer device)
FIG. 4 shows an exemplary configuration of the printer device 13. The printer device 13 includes a printer controller 14 and a printer engine 15. The printer controller 14 is connected to the control line 12 and controls the printing operation by transmitting / receiving control information to / from the host apparatus 10 via the control line 12. The printer engine 15 is connected to a plurality of data lines 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, and each color transferred from the host device 10 through the data lines 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, respectively, under the control of the printer controller 14. Print processing using the print image data.

  The printer controller 14 and the printer engine 15 will be described in more detail. The printer controller 14 includes a control information transmission / reception unit 20, a control signal transmission / reception unit 21, a paper conveyance control unit 22, and a control unit 23.

  The control information transmission / reception unit 20 transmits / receives control information for controlling printing to / from the host device 10 via the control line 12. The control signal transmission / reception unit 21 is connected to data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d, which will be described later, through engine I / F control lines 40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d. The control signal transmission / reception unit 21 individually transmits / receives control signals to / from the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d. The sheet conveyance control unit 22 is connected to a conveyance control unit 51 (to be described later) by a conveyance control line 41, and transmits and receives control signals for controlling the sheet conveyance to and from the conveyance control unit 51.

  The control unit 23 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls each unit of the printer controller 14 using the RAM as a work memory according to a program stored in advance in the ROM. In addition, the control unit 23 interprets the control information transmitted from the upper level device 10 and received by the control information transmission / reception unit 20, and passes the control information to the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 and the paper conveyance control unit 22.

  The control information transmission / reception unit 20, the control signal transmission / reception unit 21, and the paper conveyance control unit 22 may be configured as hardware controlled by the control unit 23, or as a program module operated on the control unit 23. It may be configured.

  FIG. 5 shows an exemplary hardware configuration of the printer controller 14. The printer controller 14 includes a CPU 321, an interface (I / F) 322, a RAM 323, and a ROM 324, and the CPU 321, the interface 322, the RAM 323, and the ROM 324 are connected to a bus 320 so that they can communicate with each other. The control line 12 is also connected to the bus 320 via a communication I / F (not shown). The CPU 321 operates using the RAM 323 as a work memory in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 324 and controls the overall operation of the printer device 13. The interface 322 includes a logic circuit configured in hardware, and controls communication between the printer controller 14, the data transfer control units 30 a, 30 b, 30 c and 30 d, and the transport control unit 51.

  In such a configuration, for example, the functions of the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 and the sheet conveyance control unit 22 in FIG. 4 are realized by the I / F 322. The function of the control unit 23 is realized by a program operating on the CPU 321. Further, the function of the control information transmitting / receiving unit 20 is realized by a communication I / F and a bus 320 (not shown).

  Returning to the description of FIG. 4, the printer engine 15 has a plurality of data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d having the same configuration, and outputs an image based on the print image data on a sheet to form an image. And a conveyance control unit 51 that controls conveyance of the printing paper.

  Data lines 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d are connected to data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d, respectively. The data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d include memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, respectively, and print each color transferred from the host device 10 through the data lines 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d. The image data is stored in the memories 31a, 31b, 31c and 31d, respectively.

  Further, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d are connected to each other by a data line 34, and a print image is transmitted between the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d via the data line 34. Data transfer is possible.

  These memories 31a, 31b, 31c and 31d have, for example, the same memory capacity and address configuration. Each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c and 31d has a capacity capable of storing print image data for at least three pages of color image data. The print image data for three pages corresponds to, for example, the print image data of the page being transferred from the upper level device 10, the print image data of the page currently being output, and the print image data of the next page.

  Further, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d are connected to the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 through engine I / F control lines 40a, 40b, 40c and 40d, respectively. The control signal transmission / reception unit 21 individually transmits / receives control signals to / from the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d via the engine I / F control lines 40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d. be able to.

  FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of the configuration of the data transfer control units 30a and 30b. Since the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d have a common configuration, in FIG. 6, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b are representative of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d. The data transfer control unit 30a will be described as a representative.

  The data transfer control unit 30a includes a memory 31a and a logic circuit 32a. The engine I / F control line 40a and the data line 11a are connected to the logic circuit 32a. The logic circuit 32a stores the print image data transferred from the host device 10 via the data line 11a in the memory 31a according to the control signal received from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 via the engine I / F control line 40a. To do. Similarly, the logic circuit 32a is connected to another data transfer control unit 30b connected via the memory 31a or the data line 34 in accordance with the control signal received from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 via the engine I / F control line 40a. Print image data is read from the memories 31b, 31c, and 31d of the 30c and 30d, and supplied to the image output unit 50 described later via the output line 33a.

  The logic circuit 32a includes an address conversion unit 39a. The logic circuits 32b, 32c, and 32d of the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, and 30d also include address conversion units 39b, 39c, and 39d, respectively. The data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d have a common memory map for the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, respectively.

  The address conversion unit 39a is configured to read the print image data stored in the memory 31a from the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, and 30d. It has a function of converting the addresses on the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, 30d designated by 30d into addresses used by its own data transfer control unit 30a. For this reason, at this time, the data transfer control unit 30a receives the print image data stored in the address converted by the address conversion unit 39a in the memory 31a of the other data transfer control unit 30b that has made an access request. Delivered to 30c and 30d.

  For example, when the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 instructs the data transfer control unit 30a to read print image data stored in the memory 31b of the data transfer control unit 30b by an address, the data transfer control The unit 30a accesses the data transfer control unit 30b in which data is stored via the data line 34. In the data transfer control unit 30b that receives the access request, the address conversion unit 39a of the logic circuit 32b converts the address into the address of the memory 31b and accesses the data stored in the memory 31b. The disturbed print image data is transferred to the data transfer control unit 30a via the data line 34.

  The logic circuit 32a may be provided with a print image data decompression function. By providing the decompression function, print image data generated by the host device 10 and compressed and stored in the HDD 104 can be transferred via the data lines 11 a to 11 d without being decompressed by the host device 10. The capacity of the memories 31a to 31d can be reduced, and the traffic on the data lines 11a to 11d can be reduced.

  Note that the control by the logic circuit 32a configured in hardware by a combination of logic circuits and the like has an advantage that higher-speed processing is possible compared to control using a CPU that branches processing by interruption to a program. is there. For example, the logic circuit 32a performs logic determination on a control signal based on a bit string received via the engine I / F control line 40a and determines a process to be executed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a function equivalent to that of the logic circuit 32a may be realized by software using a CPU.

  The print image data of each color output from the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d is supplied to the image output unit 50. The image output unit 50 executes printing using print image data of each color. In each embodiment, printing using print image data is performed by an ink jet method in which printing is performed by ejecting ink from nozzles provided in a head. Of course, the printing method is not limited to the ink jet method, and for example, a laser printer method or the like may be used.

  FIG. 7 shows the configuration of an example of the data transfer control unit 30a in more detail. In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals are given to the portions common to FIG. 6 described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The data transfer control unit 30a includes a memory 31a, a memory controller 132a, data transfer DMAs (Direct Memory Access) 133a and 134a, an address conversion unit 39a, and a data transfer control unit controller 135a. Among these, a memory controller 132a, data transfer DMAs (Direct Memory Access) 133a and 134a, an address conversion unit 39a, and a data transfer control unit controller 135a are included in the logic circuit 32a in FIG.

  The memory controller 132a controls access to the memory 31a. The data transfer DMA 133a receives print image data from the host device 10 and writes it to the memory via the memory controller 132a. The data transfer DMA 134a reads data from the memory 31a via the memory controller 132a and transfers it to the image output unit 50 via the output line 33a. The data transfer control unit controller 135a receives control information transmitted from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 in the printer controller 14 via the engine I / F control line 40a, and controls the data transfer DMAs 133a and 134a according to the received control information. To do.

  For example, when a data transfer start request transmitted from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 is received by the data transfer control unit controller 135a via the engine I / F control line 40a, the data transfer control unit controller 135a Accordingly, the data transfer DMA 133a is instructed to start data transfer. In accordance with this instruction, the data transfer DMA 133a transmits a data transfer request to the host device 10 via the data line 11a. Data transmitted from the higher-level device 10 in accordance with this request is received by, for example, the data transfer DMA 133a and written to a predetermined address in the memory 31a via the memory controller 132a.

  Further, when the print instruction transmitted from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 is received by the data transfer control unit controller 135a via the engine I / F control line 40a, the data transfer control unit controller 135a instructs the data transfer DMA 134a. Then, it instructs to read data from the memory 31a, or accesses the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, 30d to read data from the memories 31b, 31c, 31d.

  The print instruction transmitted from the control signal transmitting / receiving unit 21 stores the designation of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d in which the print image data is stored and the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d to be accessed are stored. It is included as a data transfer control unit. In addition, the print instruction includes the address of the storage destination of the print image data in the memory as the data storage destination address. Therefore, the data transfer control unit 30a determines whether the designation of the stored data transfer control unit included in the print instruction is its own data transfer control unit 30a or another data transfer control unit 30b, 30c, 30d. to decide. When the data transfer control unit 30a determines that the target print image data is stored in its own memory 31a, the data transfer control unit 30a instructs the data transfer DMA 134a to read data from the memory 31a.

  In response to this instruction, the data transfer DMA 134a reads data from the memory 31a via the memory controller 132a. Then, the data transfer DMA 134a transfers the read data to the image output unit 50 via the output line 33a.

  On the other hand, if the data transfer control unit 30a determines from the print instruction that the target print image data is stored in the memories 31b, 31c, 31d of the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, 30d, the print instruction The data transfer control unit and the storage destination address specified by the stored data transfer control unit included in the data access controller are accessed to read the print image data from the memory of the other data transfer control unit, and the data transfer DMA 134a reads the read data Is transferred to the image output unit 50 via the output line 33a.

  FIG. 8 shows an exemplary configuration of the image output unit 50. The image output unit 50 includes an output control unit 55 and heads 56a, 56b, 56c, and 56d for the colors Y, C, M, and K. The relationship between each color and the heads 56a, 56b, 56c, and 56d is not limited to this example. The output control unit 55 connects the output lines 33a, 33b, 33c and 33d to which the print image data of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d are output and the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d. To control. That is, the output control unit 55 can set a path so that each head 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d selects and connects one from each output line 33a, 33b, 33c and 33d.

  For example, the output control unit 55 can set the output lines 33a, 33b, 33c, and 33d and the heads 56a, 56b, 56c, and 56d to be connected one-to-one. Further, for example, the output lines 33a, 33b, 33c and 33d and the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d are connected to the output line 33a by connecting the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d. Can be set to connect to many.

  A path connecting each output line 33a, 33b, 33c and 33d and each head 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d can be set by a user operation using, for example, a dip switch. Not limited to this, the path may be set by a control signal from the control signal transmitting / receiving unit 21.

  As described above, in the printer device 13 according to each embodiment, transfer of print image data from the host device 10 and transmission / reception of a control signal for controlling printing by the print image data between the host device 10 and the printer device 13 are performed. Are performed via different paths. Also, the print image data of each color is transferred from the host device 10 via different data lines 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d, and each color transferred via these data lines 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d is transferred. The print image data is controlled independently of each other and supplied to the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d having a common configuration. Further, in the image output unit 50, the connection path between the output of each data transfer control unit 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d and the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d of each color can be set by a user operation or the like.

  Therefore, the printer device 13 according to each embodiment corresponds to the number of colors of print image data (four colors Y, C, M, and K, or only K colors) and the number of heads used in the image output unit 50. The configuration of the printer engine 15 can be easily changed. At this time, the printer engine 15 can be provided with only the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d that are required according to the required configuration.

  For example, when it is desired to perform full-color printing with four colors Y, C, M, and K, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d are all provided for the printer engine 15, and the output control unit 55 The outputs of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d may be connected to the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d, respectively. Further, for example, when printing with one color K, as an apparatus cost priority, only one data transfer control unit 30a and head 56a are provided, and the output control unit 55 outputs the data transfer control unit 30a to the head 56a. Can be connected to. Further, for example, when printing with one color K, as a priority for the printing speed, one data transfer control unit 30a and four heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d are provided, and the output control unit 55 performs data transfer control. The output of the section 30a can be connected to the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d, respectively. In this case, since the same color is printed a plurality of times, for example, the ink ejection time at each of the heads 56a, 56b, 56c and 56d is set to 1/4 of the normal time, and the conveyance speed of the printing paper is normally set. It is conceivable to perform high-speed printing at four times as high.

(Printing paper transport system)
Referring to FIG. 4, conveyance control unit 51 is connected to sheet conveyance control unit 22 by conveyance control line 41, and controls conveyance of a sheet on which an image based on print image data is formed by image output unit 50. FIG. 9 schematically shows an example of the structure of a printer apparatus 200 including a paper transport system that can be applied to the present embodiment. As described above, in each embodiment, the printer device 200 uses continuous paper as printing paper.

  The printing paper 201 is supplied from the printing paper supply unit 210 to the first transport unit 230 via the power operation box 220. The printing paper 201 is conveyed by the first conveyance unit 230 through a plurality of rollers and the like by the conveyance control of the conveyance control unit 51, and is aligned, and the printer engine units 240 and 250 corresponding to the printer engine 15 described above. To be supplied.

  The printer engine units 240 and 250 perform printing in accordance with the print image data on the printing paper 201 supplied from the first transport unit 230 in the printing unit 241 corresponding to the image output unit 50 described above. The printing paper 201 that has been printed is discharged from the printer engine unit 250 by the conveyance control of the conveyance control unit 51 and is supplied to the second conveyance unit 260. The printed printing paper 201 is transported in a predetermined manner inside the second transport unit 260 and discharged, and is supplied to the cutting unit 270. The printing paper 201 after printing is cut according to the perforation by the cutting unit 270, and each page is separated.

  Here, since the printer apparatus 200 performs printing on the printing paper 201 that is a continuous paper with continuous pages, the printing paper 201 is printed on the printing paper 201 by the printer engine units 240 and 250, and the printing paper 201 is transferred to the second transport unit 260. The printing paper 201 is always present in the path from the printer to the paper.

  In addition, another set of configurations including the first transport unit 230, the printer engine units 240 and 250, and the second transport unit 260 is prepared, and the printing paper 201 after printing discharged from the front second transport unit 260 is prepared. Is reversed and supplied to the first conveyance unit 230 on the rear side, whereby double-sided printing on the printing paper 201 becomes possible.

(Details of print processing applicable to this embodiment)
Next, the printing process applicable to each embodiment will be described in more detail. FIG. 10 shows an example of control information transmitted / received via the control line 12 between the upper level apparatus 10 and the printer controller 14 of the printer apparatus 13. In FIG. 10, the host device 10 is shown as DFE (Digital Front End Processor), and the printer controller 14 is shown as PCTL. The control information roughly includes (1) job (JOB) information, (2) information indicating a printer status and a printing process, (3) information indicating a printing condition, and (4) information indicating a connection. included.

  The job information of (1) notifies the start and end of a job (JOB). The job start includes a job start notification from the host device 10 to the printer controller 14 and a response from the printer device 13 to the host device 10 in response to the notification. The job end includes a notification from the host apparatus 10 to the printer controller 14 that all print processes requested by the job start and a response from the printer controller 14 to the host apparatus 10 in response to the notification. In response to these job start and job end responses, a job identifier (JOBID) for identifying the job is transmitted from the printer controller 14 to the upper level apparatus 10.

  The information indicating the printer status and the printing process in (2) includes printing process acceptance start, printer information request and notification, printing process start, printing process request, data transfer completion, data reception completion, and printing. Notification of process completion, process status report, SC (Service Control) notification, error occurrence and cancellation.

  In the printing process acceptance start, the printer device 14 notifies the upper level device 10 that the printer controller 14 can accept the printing process. The printer information request and notification includes a request for necessary printer information from the host apparatus 10 to the printer controller 14 and a response from the printer controller 14 to the host apparatus 10 in response to the request.

  The start of the printing process includes a notification from the upper level apparatus 10 that the preparation of print image data is completed to the printer controller 14 and a response from the printer apparatus 13 to the upper level apparatus 10 in response to the notification. The print image data preparation completion notification is performed in the output order of print image data and in units of pages (processes). A page can be said to be a printing unit in which printing is performed in a series of printing operations.

  The print process request includes a print process notification from the printer controller 14 to the upper level device 10 and a response from the higher level device 10 to the printer controller 14 in response to the notification. In response to this print process request, the printer controller 14 gives color information (Yellow, Cyan, Magenta or Black), process identification number processID, and plane identification number indicating the colors Y, C, M, and K to be printed to the upper level device 10. Notify them. Note that the plane corresponds to each image based on print image data of each color printed on one page. The printer controller 14 notifies these pieces of information according to the request order of the plane unit and the engine, that is, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d. That is, print image data composed of bitmap data goes to the upper level apparatus 10 from the printer engine 15 side.

  The completion of the data transfer is notified from the upper level device 10 to the printer controller 14 of the completion of the transfer of the requested plane print image data. The completion of data reception is notified from the printer controller 14 to the upper level device 10 that reception of the requested plane print image data has been completed. The completion of the printing process is notified from the upper level device 10 to the printer controller 14 that the printing request for all pages (processes) has been completed. In the process status report, the print status of the page (process) is notified from the printer controller 14 to the upper level apparatus 10. At this time, the printer controller 14 acquires information regarding paper feed, paper discharge, and printing start from the printer engine 15, adds the acquired information to the notification and transmits the information to the upper level device 10.

  In the SC notification, the host apparatus 10 requests the printer controller 14 to acquire the fault information of the printer apparatus 13, and the fault information acquired in response to the request is notified from the printer controller 14 to the host apparatus 10. Is done. As for the error occurrence and cancellation, the host device 10 notifies the printer controller 14 of the error occurrence and the error cancellation on the host device 10 side.

  The information indicating the printing condition (3) includes setting of the printing condition, that is, notification of the printing condition from the upper level apparatus 10 to the printer controller 14 and the response of the printer controller 14 to the notification. Examples of printing conditions include a printing form, printing type, paper supply / discharge information, printing surface order, printing paper size, printing data size, resolution and gradation, and color information.

  The print mode indicates, for example, whether to perform double-sided printing or single-sided printing on the printing paper 201. The print type indicates whether print image data exists and is to be printed, or whether print image data does not exist and is a blank page. The paper supply / discharge information indicates identification information such as a paper source and a paper output destination stacker of the printing paper 201. The printing surface order indicates whether printing is performed on the printing paper 201 from the front surface to the back surface or from the back surface to the front surface. For example, when a continuous paper is used as the printing paper 201, the printing paper size indicates the length in the transport direction of the printing paper 201 of the page to be printed. The print data size indicates the data size of the print image data. That is, the print data size indicates the size of print image data for one page. The resolution and gradation indicate the resolution and gradation when printing the print image data on the printing paper 201. The color information indicates whether, for example, printing is performed in full color using each of the colors Y, C, M, and K or single color using only the color K.

  The information indicating the connection in (4) includes registration and cancellation, and the host device 10 and the printer controller 14 register each other's information and cancel the registered information.

(Management of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d by the printer controller 14)
Next, management of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d by the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 will be described.
In this embodiment, a virtual memory storage area (hereinafter referred to as “virtual memory”) is secured on the RAM 323 of the printer controller 14. The control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 manages the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d using this virtual memory.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a virtual memory. In the present embodiment, each of the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d corresponds to the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, respectively. , 31c, 31d storage space information having the same storage space.

  The control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 writes the print image data transferred from the host device 10 to the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, and the print image data from the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d. The head position at the time of reading is managed on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c and 60d, respectively. Here, the control unit 23 manages the start position for writing the print image data to each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d with the input pointer, and reads the print image data from the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d. The head position is managed by the output pointer.

  When the printer controller 14 writes print image data to each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, the printer controller 14 passes the address indicated by the input pointer to each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d.

  Each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d starts writing the print image data with the address indicated by the input pointer passed from the printer controller 14 as the head address. Similarly, when the printer controller 14 reads print image data from each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, it passes the address indicated by the output pointer to each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d. .

  Each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d starts reading data from each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d using the address indicated by the output pointer passed from the printer controller 14 as a head address.

  When the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 receives notification from the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d that the writing of one page of print image data to the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d has been completed, the input The pointer is updated by moving the address by one page. Similarly, the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 notifies that the reading of print image data for one page from the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d from the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d has been completed. When received, the output pointer is updated by moving the address by one page.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the write start position and the read start position of each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d are the virtual memory on the printer controller 14 side, respectively. Since the input pointer and the output pointer for 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d are centrally managed, it is easy to secure and release the storage areas of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d in units of pages.

  The virtual memory 60 is configured as an address map that is information indicating the memory space of each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, for example. The address map may be configured to be stored in advance in the ROM 324 in addition to being constructed on the RAM 323 by the control unit 23 (that is, by the CPU 321) as in the present embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the CPU 321 exchanges information with each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d via the interface 322 at the time of initialization processing when the printer device 13 is started. It is also possible to directly acquire information indicating the memory space of each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d. Further, the virtual memories 60a to 60d may be constructed by actually securing a memory space on the RAM 323 of the printer controller 14.

  Next, regarding the control of the input pointer and the output pointer on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d, the operation of the virtual memory 60a when three pages of print image data is stored in the memory 31a is taken as an example. I will explain. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining control of the input pointer and the output pointer on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d. In FIG. 12, it is assumed that the addresses increase from the upper side to the lower side in the figure.

  As shown in FIG. 12A, in the virtual memory 60a, both the input pointer and the output pointer indicate the address P0 in the initial state.

  When the data transfer request for the first page is transmitted from the host device 10 to the printer controller 14, the data transfer control unit 30a sends an address corresponding to the address P0 indicated by the input pointer on the virtual memory 60a to the memory 31a. From this, the print image data of the first page is written. When the transfer of the first page of image data is notified to the printer controller 14 and it is determined that the transfer of the first page of image data has been completed, the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 moves the input pointer of the virtual memory 60a from the address P0. The input pointer is updated as the address P1 after being moved by one page, and the transfer destination address of the next print image data is designated.

  The print image data of the second page is written to each memory 31a using the address P1 indicated by the input pointer on the virtual memory 60a as the transfer destination address.

  Then, when the transfer of the image data for the second page is completed and the data transfer request for the next page has been made, the control unit 23 further moves the input pointer by one page from the address P1 to obtain the address P2. Then, the input pointer is updated, and the transfer destination address of the image data for the next page is designated (see FIG. 12B).

  When the printing of the first page is completed, as shown in FIG. 12C, the control unit 23 moves the position of the output pointer by one page from the address P0 to update the output pointer as the address P1. The next print start position is designated at the top of the second page.

  When printing for one page is completed, the control unit 23 instructs the data transfer control unit 30a to clear the area where the print image data for which printing has been completed in the memory 31a is written to zero along with the movement of the output pointer. Put out. In accordance with this instruction, the data transfer control unit 30a fills the area where printing of the memory 31a has been completed (area specified as the addresses P0 to P1 on the virtual memory 60a) with the value “0”, and executes zero clear of the area To do. In this way, by clearing the area where printing in the memory 31a is completed to zero, erroneous printing in subsequent printing can be prevented.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the area that is zero-cleared to the memory 31a is the area in which the print image data that has been printed is written, but is not limited thereto. For example, an area that is zero-cleared with respect to the memory 31a can be an area where print image data that has been discharged is written. As a result, the data before being discharged is stored in the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, respectively. Therefore, for example, even if it is necessary to reprint a page due to the occurrence of a jam or the like of the printing paper 201, it is possible to eliminate the need to retransmit print image data from the upper level device 10.

  Next, when the data transfer for the second page is completed, the control unit 23 moves the position of the input pointer on the virtual memory 60a by one page from the address P2, as shown in FIG. The input pointer is updated, and the transfer destination address of the data on the third page is designated.

  As described above, in this embodiment, at the end of the data transfer for one plane, the input pointer indicating the transfer destination address of the print image data is moved on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d, and one plane for each color. At the end of printing, the output pointer indicating the start position address for reading the print image data is moved on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d. Then, the printing image data is written to and read from the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d according to the addresses indicated by the input pointer and the output pointer on the virtual memories 60a, 60b, 60c, and 60d. For this reason, the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 can easily grasp the state of each of the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d, and as a result, printing of all colors is completed in printing one page. It can be easily determined whether or not.

(Access to memory of other data transfer control unit)
Next, each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d accesses the memories 31a, 31b, 31c and 31d of the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d via the data line 34, Details of the process of reading the print image data will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30a and the procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30b, 30c, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30a.

  The data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d reserve address spaces of addresses a to a + (n−1) in order to access the memories 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d that are respectively mounted. Further, the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d secure an address space of addresses a + n to a + (5n−1) that is four times the address space in addition to the address space.

  The address space 31aa of addresses a + n to a + (2n-1) is sent to the memory 31a, the address space 31ab of addresses a + 2n to a + (3n-1) is sent to the memory 31b, and the address space 31ac of addresses a + 3n to a + (4n-1) is sent to the memory 31a. The address space 31ad of addresses a + 4n to a + (5n-1) is used for accessing the memory 31d.

  In order to read the print image data stored in the memory 31b of the other data transfer control unit 30b from the data transfer control unit 30a, the data transfer control unit 30a designates the address space 31ab. Then, the data transfer control unit 30a (the data transfer control unit controller 135a) accesses the data transfer control unit 30b via the data line 34, and the address of the address space 31ab is stored in the logic circuit 32b of the data transfer control unit 30b. The address conversion unit 39b converts the address into the address of the memory 31b.

  Similarly, when the data transfer control unit 30a designates the address space 31ac, the data transfer control unit 30a (the data transfer control unit controller 135a) accesses the memory 31c of the data transfer control unit 30c via the data line 34, When the data transfer control unit 30a specifies the address space 31ad, the data transfer control unit 30a (the data transfer control unit controller 135a) accesses the memory 31d of the data transfer control unit 30d via the data line.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30b and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30c, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30b.

  In order to read out the print image data stored in the memories 31a, 31c, and 31d of the other data transfer control units 30a, 30c, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30b, it is the same as the access procedure from the data transfer control unit 30a. When the address space 31ba is designated by the data transfer control unit 30b, the data transfer control unit 30a is accessed via the data line 34, and the address conversion unit 39a of the logic circuit 32a of the data transfer control unit 30a is used. Converted to an address.

  Similarly, when the address space 31bc is designated, it is converted into the memory 31c of the data transfer control unit 30c, and when the address space 31bd is designated, it is converted into the memory 31d of the data transfer control unit 30d.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30c and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, and 30d from the data transfer control unit 30c. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a memory address assignment of the data transfer control unit 30d and a procedure for accessing the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, and 30c from the data transfer control unit 30d.

  The data transfer control unit 30a, 30b also accesses the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30d, and the data transfer control unit 30d accesses the other data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c. This is performed in the same manner as the access procedure from.

(Print sequence)
Next, printing processing by the printing system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram of print processing according to the present embodiment.

  Here, it is assumed that full color printing is performed on the first page using the colors C, Y, M, and K, and monochrome printing is performed on the second and third pages. When the printer controller 14 receives information about the print paper 201 as control information from the upper level apparatus 10 (SEQ100), the printer controller 14 sets a paper feed length for the transport control unit 51 based on the received information (SEQ110). The paper feed length is, for example, the size of one page in the transport direction.

  Upon receiving the first page (page # 1) print job from the upper level device 10 (SEQ101), the printer controller 14 creates a transfer management table to be described later based on the received print job, and controls the engine according to the created transfer management table. A page identifier indicating the first page for each of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d using the lines 40a to 40d, and a page indicated by the page identifier for each of the colors C, Y, M and K Request to start data transfer (SEQ 110a, 110b, 110c and 110d).

  In accordance with this request, the data transfer control unit 30a requests print image data of the first page of color C from the upper level device 10 via the data line 11a, and the color transferred from the higher level device 10 in response to this request. The print image data of the first page of C is stored in the memory 31a.

  Similarly, for each data transfer control unit 30b, 30c and 30d, the first page of each color Y, M and K is sent to the host device 10 via the data lines 11b, 11c and 11d in accordance with the request of SEQ 110b, 110c and 110d. Request print image data. Each data transfer control unit 30b, 30c, and 30d stores the print image data of the first page of each color Y, M, and K transferred from the host device 10 in response to this request in the memories 31b, 31c, and 31d, respectively. .

  On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 17, while the printer controller 14 requests the data transfer control units 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, and 30 d to transfer data for the first page, the printer controller 14 The transmitted second and third page print jobs are received (SEQ102, SEQ103). The printer controller 14 generates a transfer management table for the second page and the third page on the RAM 323 based on the received print job.

  When the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d complete the transfer of print image data for the first page of each color from the upper level device 10, they notify the printer controller 14 accordingly (SEQ111a, 111b, 111c, and 111d). In response to the notification, the printer controller 14 requests the data transfer control units 30a and 30b to start data transfer for the second page (page # 2) and the third page (page # 3), respectively. (SEQ112a, 113a).

  In response to this request, the data transfer control units 30a and 30b respectively request the second page and third page print image data of each color from the upper level device 10, and from the higher level device 10 in response to this request. The transferred print image data of the second and third pages of each color is stored in the memories 31a and 31b, respectively.

  A method for selecting which data transfer control unit to store the print image data in will be described later.

  On the other hand, when the printer controller 14 receives notification of the end of data transfer for the first page from all of the data transfer control units 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d, the printer controller 14 requests the transfer control unit 51 to start paper transfer (SEQ114). ). In response to this request, the conveyance control unit 51 starts conveying the printing paper 201 at a predetermined speed.

  In addition, the printer controller 14 requests the conveyance control unit 51 to start conveyance of the paper and instructs each data transfer control unit 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d to start printing the first page ( SEQ115).

  For example, when the printing paper 201 reaches a predetermined position, the conveyance control unit 51 notifies the printer controller 14 that the printing is possible (SEQ120). The printer controller 14 instructs each data transfer control unit 30a, 30b, 30c, and 30d on the print start position in response to the printable state report from the transport control unit 51 (SEQ121). Each data transfer control unit 30a, 30b, 30c and 30d starts printing in response to a print head instruction. In this example, it is assumed that the heads of the respective colors C, Y, M, and K are arranged in the order of the heads 56a, 56b, 56c, and 56d along the conveyance direction of the printing paper 201. In this case, when the leading position of printing of the first page on the printing paper 201 reaches the printing position by the head 56a, first, the data transfer control unit 30a starts reading the print image data of the first page from the memory 31a. . The color C print image data read from the memory 31 a is transferred to the image output unit 50. Then, the print image data is supplied to the head 56a via the output control unit 55, and printing on the printing paper 201 is performed (SEQ122a). When the printing of the first page of color C is completed, this is notified to the printer controller 14 (SEQ123a).

  Subsequently, when the top position of printing of the first page on the printing paper 201 reaches the printing position by the head 56b, the data transfer control unit 30b starts reading the print image data of the first page from the memory 31b. The print image data of color Y read from the memory 31b is transferred to the image output unit 50. Then, it is supplied to the head 56b via the output control unit 55, and printing on the printing paper 201 is started (SEQ122b). When printing of the first page of color Y is completed, this is notified to the printer controller 14 (SEQ123b).

  Similarly, printing of the colors M and K is sequentially started (SEQ 122c and 122d), and when printing is completed, the printer controller 14 is notified of this (SEQ 123c and 123d).

  On the other hand, when the transfer of monochrome print image data (only K) for the second page started in SEQ112a is completed, the data transfer control unit 30a notifies the printer controller 14 to that effect (SEQ116). Similarly, when the transfer of the monochrome print image data of the third page is completed, the data transfer control unit 30b notifies the printer controller 14 to that effect (SEQ118). In response to the data transfer completion notification, the printer controller 14 instructs the data transfer control unit 30a to start printing the second and third pages (SEQ117, SEQ119).

  The data transfer control unit 30d starts printing the second page after finishing printing the first page. After the printing of the first page is completed (SEQ 122d), the data transfer control unit 30d transfers the data via the data line 34 when the print start position of the second page on the printing paper 201 reaches the print position by the head 56d. The print image data of the color K for the second page stored in the memory 31a of the control unit 30a is read and supplied to the image output unit 50, and printing on the print paper 201 is started (SEQ124). When printing is completed, the printer controller 14 is notified of this (SEQ125).

  Similarly to the second page, the data transfer control unit 30d also prints the third page on the print sheet 201 to the print position by the head 56d after the second page has been printed (SEQ125). When it reaches, the print image data of the color K of the third page stored in the memory 31b of the data transfer control unit 30b is read through the data line 34 and supplied to the image output unit 50, and printing on the printing paper 201 is started. (SEQ126). When printing is completed, the printer controller 14 is notified of this (SEQ127).

  When the printer controller 14 receives the print end notification for the color K of the third page from the data transfer control unit 30d, the printer controller 14 determines that the printing of the last page by the print job has been completed, A stop is requested (SEQ128). In response to this request, the conveyance control unit 51 stops the conveyance of the printing paper 201 and reports to that effect to the printer controller 14 (SEQ129). Thereby, a series of printing processes is completed.

  Next, details of processing on the printer controller 14 side in the printing sequence will be described. 18 and 19 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the print control process in the printer controller 14 of the present embodiment. 18 and 19 illustrate processing on the printer controller 14 side from SEQ101 to SEQ119 in the print sequence of FIG. 18 and 19 is executed for each page of print image data.

  When receiving the page printing job (step S1801: Yes), the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 generates a transfer management table for each page (step S1802). Here, the transfer management table will be described. The transfer management table is used to manage data transfer processing by the data transfer control units 30a to 30d and print processing in the image output unit 50. The control unit 23 of the printer controller 14 creates this transfer management table based on the print job and paper information transmitted from the upper level apparatus 10 and (3) information indicating the print conditions described with reference to FIG. Hold.

  In addition, when the control unit 23 issues a data transfer start request, a print instruction, or the like to each of the data transfer control units 30a to 30d, the control unit 23 obtains necessary information from the information in the transfer management table. Hold at ~ 30d. For example, the control unit 23 transmits the information from the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 to the data transfer control units 30a to 30d via the engine I / F control lines 40a to 40d, and the data transfer control units 30a to 30d. Write to the storage means such as a register of 30d.

  A more specific example will be described using the data transfer control unit 30a as an example. The control unit 23 transmits necessary information among the information in the transfer management table from the control signal transmitting / receiving unit 21 to the data transfer control unit 30a via the engine I / F control line 40a, and a logic circuit in the data transfer control unit 30a. Write to the register of 32a (data transfer controller controller 135a).

  Each of the data transfer control units 30a to 30d issues a print image data transfer request to the upper level device 10 and a print instruction to the image output unit 50 in accordance with the information of the transfer management table written in this register. The transfer management table includes a page identifier for identifying a page, and each data transfer control unit 30a to 30d selects information in the transfer management table based on the page identifier, and executes data transfer and print processing. .

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer management table according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 20, the transfer management table includes information common to each color of C, M, Y, and K and information for each color. The information common to each color includes information for printing which is information related to a print instruction to the image output unit 50. The information for each color includes data transfer information used for transfer of print image data from the host device 10 and the print information. Each piece of information included in the transfer management table is not limited to being managed in a table format, but may be managed in another data management format.

  Information common to each color according to the present embodiment will be described. The information common to each color includes a page identifier PBID and the number of data per page as information other than data transfer and printing. The page identifier PBID is a page identifier for identifying a print page, and the transfer management table is identified by the page identifier PBID. The number of data per page is the number of colors used for the page identified by the page identifier PBID. For example, the value is “1” for monochrome and the value is “4” for full color.

  Information for printing in information common to each color applied to the present embodiment will be described. The information for printing includes resolution and gradation as information of print image data to be printed, and includes a sheet feed length, a sheet width, and a print surface (front / back) as information regarding a print target.

  In the information of the print image data to be printed, the resolution indicates the print resolution in each of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. The gradation indicates the number of bits per pixel.

  Information for each color according to the present embodiment will be described. In the information for each color, a color identifier indicating which print color information among C, M, Y, and K colors is described as information other than data transfer and printing. Since the information for each color has the same configuration, the following describes the information with the color identifier “cyan” (C). The transfer management table includes information for each color for each color of C, M, Y, and K.

  The information for data transfer in the information for each color applied to the present embodiment includes data transfer necessity / unnecessity, transferred flag, transfer source address, storage data transfer control unit, data storage destination address, data Including transfer size.

  Data transfer necessity indicates whether or not transfer of print image data of the print color is necessary. For example, when blank paper, that is, when printing is not performed, the data transfer necessity / unnecessity is set to “No” for all colors C, M, Y, and K. Further, the data transfer necessity / unnecessity is set to “No” for colors other than those indicated by Color (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black).

  The transferred flag is a flag indicating whether or not print image data has been transferred from the upper level apparatus 10 to the data transfer control units 30a to 30d. The transfer source address indicates an address where the print image data of the page indicated by the page identifier PBID is stored in the upper level device 10. For the transfer source address, print image data is designated in units of raster (lines), for example.

  The data storage destination address is an address indicated by the input pointer in the virtual memories 60a to 60d of the printer controller 14 described above. Therefore, every time the input pointer is updated, the data storage destination address is also updated.

  The data transfer size indicates the data size of print image data transferred in response to a request from the data transfer control units 30a to 30d, and is, for example, the data size of the print image data of the page indicated by the page identifier PBID.

  The data transfer size includes a boundary adjustment size for aligning the size of print image data in a predetermined unit (for example, byte unit). When one page is printed, print image data having a data size indicated by the data transfer size is stored in each of the memories 31a to 31d. For example, the data transfer size is a value obtained by adding the boundary adjustment size to “print data size” in the information indicating the print condition (3) described with reference to FIG.

  The stored data transfer control unit is a parameter indicating which data transfer control unit the print image data is stored in. This stored data transfer control is determined by the control unit 23 of the printer controller 14.

  The information for printing in the information for each color applied to the present embodiment includes necessity of printing. The necessity of printing includes the necessity of printing the print image data of the print color, the non-printable area (up / down / left / right), and pixel information.

  The pixel information indicates a bitmap printing position X and a bitmap printing position Y, and an X-direction effective size and a Y-direction effective size. For example, when blank paper, that is, when printing is not performed, the necessity of printing is set to “No” for all colors of C, M, Y, and K. Further, for the colors other than those indicated by the Color identifier, the necessity of printing is set to “No”.

  Returning to FIG. 18, when the transfer management table is generated, the control unit 23 repeatedly executes the following processing from steps S1803 to S1806. That is, first, the control unit 23 refers to the virtual memories 60a to 60d, grasps the usage status of the memories 31a to 31d of the data transfer control units 30a to 30d corresponding to the virtual memories 60a to 60d, and prints the print image data. A stored data transfer control unit that is a data transfer control unit in which a memory to be stored is mounted is determined (step S1803).

  Here, the determination of the storage data transfer control unit includes the following. For example, in the case of a monochrome image, first, from the state of the virtual memories 60a to 60d, the memory 31a to 31d is determined to be a data transfer control unit mounted with a memory having the largest free space capacity (free capacity), Secondly, when the free areas of the memory are the same, the priority is assigned in the order of the memory 31a, the memory 31b, the memory 31c, and the memory 31d, and the data transfer control unit in which the memory is mounted is determined as the saved data transfer control unit. Thus, the control unit 23 can be configured.

  When the print image data is a four-color full-color image, the four-color print image data is arranged in the order of the data size, and the data size of the largest data size is ordered from the memory with the largest free space from the state of the virtual memories 60a to 60d. The control unit 23 can be configured to determine the data transfer control unit as the storage data transfer control unit by assigning the print image data. Note that the method for determining the stored data transfer control unit is not limited to these.

  Then, the control unit 23 determines the transfer source address (the address at which the print image data of the page indicated by the page identifier PBID is stored in the host device 10), the data storage destination address (the address indicated by the input pointer), the data transfer size, and the like. Information is determined (step S1804).

  Next, the control unit 23 writes information such as the storage data transfer control unit determined in step S1803, the transfer source address, the data storage destination address, and the data transfer size determined in step S1804 into the data transfer management table ( Step S1805). Then, the control unit 23 transmits an instruction to start data transfer of the color to the data transfer control units 30a to 30d designated by the storage data transfer control unit for each color (step S1806, SEQ110a, SEQ110b, SEQ110c and SEQ110d).

  For example, in the example of FIG. 17, when the print image data is a color image such as page # 1, the data transfer control unit corresponding to each color is determined as the storage data transfer control unit. The instruction to start data transfer for each color is transmitted to the data transfer control units 30a to 30d corresponding to the color (SEQ110a, SEQ110b, SEQ110c, SEQ110d, SEQ112a, SEQ112b).

  On the other hand, when the print image data is a monochrome image such as page # 2 or page # 3, the stored data transfer control unit for K (black) is the data transfer control unit corresponding to C (cyan) for page # 2. 30a and page # 3, the data transfer control unit 30b corresponding to Y (yellow) is determined. Therefore, the instruction to start K data transfer is the data transfer control unit 30a corresponding to C (cyan) in page # 2. In page # 3, it is transmitted to the data transfer control unit 30b corresponding to Y (yellow) (SEQ112a, SEQ112b).

  The data transfer management table is transmitted to the data transfer control units 30a to 30d together with an instruction to start data transfer. For this reason, the data transfer control units 30a to 30d may be configured to store the print image data for each color transmitted from the host device 10 with reference to the data transfer management table.

  Next, the control unit 23 waits to receive a notification of the end of the data transfer of the page from the data transfer control units 30a to 30d via the control signal transmission / reception unit 21 (step S1808). When the control unit 23 receives a notification of the end of page data transfer from the data transfer control units 30a to 30d (step S1808: Yes, SEQ111a, SEQ111b, SEQ111c, and SEQ111d), the sheet conveyance control unit 22 of the printer controller 14 is used. Transmits an instruction to start the sheet conveyance to the conveyance control unit 51 (step S1809, SEQ114). Then, the control unit 23 acquires the storage data transfer control unit and the storage destination address from the transfer management table (step S1810), and issues a page print instruction including the storage data transfer control unit and the storage destination address to the control signal transmission / reception unit 21. To the data transfer control units 30a to 30d (steps S1811, SEQ115, SEQ117, and SEQ119). The processing in steps S1810 and S1811 is repeatedly executed for each color.

  As a result, the data transfer control units 30a to 30d that have received the print instruction read the print image data from the memory of the storage data transfer control unit and the data transfer control unit specified by the storage destination address included in the print instruction. Become.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the data transfer control units 30a to 30d are connected to each other so that print image data can be transferred between the data transfer control units 30a to 30d. The memory of the data transfer control unit that stores the print image data transferred from the host device 10 is determined according to the usage status of the memories 31a to 31d, and the print image data is stored in the determined memory. When there is a print instruction, print image data is acquired from the memory of the data transfer control unit of the storage destination and printed. For this reason, in the present embodiment, even when printing in which a monochrome image and a color image are mixed, areas for pages necessary for printing a color image are stored in the memories 31a to 31d when the monochrome image is printed. It is not necessary to secure the area, and the areas of the memories 31a to 31d can be used effectively.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the colors used for printing are so-called process colors of colors C, M, Y, and K. However, this is not limited to this example. For example, even when so-called special colors such as R (red), G (green), and B (blue), gold, silver, and white are used for printing, the present embodiment can be applied as it is. Further, the number of colors is not limited to four, and the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be applied as they are to printing using five or more colors or three or less colors.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Host apparatus 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d Data line 12 Control line 13 Printer apparatus 14 Printer controller 15 Printer engine 20 Control information transmission / reception part 21 Control signal transmission / reception part 22 Paper conveyance control part 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d Data transfer Control unit 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d Memory 34 Data line 39a, 39b, 39c, 39d Address conversion unit 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d Engine I / F control line 41 Transfer control line 50 Image output unit 51 Transfer control unit 55 Output Control unit 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d Head 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d Virtual memory

JP 2004-287519 A JP 2002-254663 A

Claims (9)

A plurality of data transfer controls that store image data transferred from a host device that includes a storage unit and generates image data for printing, and read the image data from the storage unit in response to an instruction to start printing And
A printing unit for printing the image data on a recording medium;
A print control unit that instructs the plurality of data transfer control units to start printing;
An output control unit that outputs each of the image data read from the storage unit by the plurality of data transfer control units to the printing unit;
The plurality of data transfer control units are connected to each other, and the image data can be transferred between the plurality of data transfer control units,
Each of the plurality of data transfer control units reads out the image data from its own storage unit or a storage unit of another data transfer control unit and outputs it to the output control unit,
A printing apparatus characterized by the above. Each of the plurality of data transfer control units uses the address specified by the other data transfer control unit in its own data transfer control unit when the image data is read from the other data transfer control unit. An address conversion unit for converting to an address, and passing the image data stored in the address converted by the address conversion unit of the storage unit to the other data transfer control unit,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The print control unit has storage space information indicating the same storage space as the storage space of each of the plurality of data transfer control units, and each of the plurality of data transfer control units is based on the storage space information. Managing address information for writing and reading image data to and from each of the storage units;
Each of the plurality of data transfer control units performs writing and reading of the image data to and from the storage unit according to the address information;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The print control unit determines the data transfer control unit of the storage unit that stores image data transferred from the higher-level device as a storage data transfer control unit based on the storage space information, and determines the determined storage Instruct the data transfer control unit to start data transfer,
The data transfer control unit stores, in the storage unit, image data transferred from the host device when an instruction to start data transfer is received from the print control unit;
The printing apparatus according to claim 3. The printing control unit determines the storage data transfer control unit based on a free capacity of the storage space information for each color;
The printing apparatus according to claim 4. The print control unit further determines the storage data transfer control unit according to a priority order predetermined for each color;
The printing apparatus according to claim 5. The print control unit further determines the storage data transfer control unit based on a data size of the image data for each color;
The printing apparatus according to claim 5. The print control unit gives the print start instruction including the designation of the stored data transfer control unit to each of the plurality of data transfer control units,
Each of the plurality of data transfer control units reads the image data from the storage unit of the data transfer control unit specified by the storage data transfer control unit included in the print start instruction;
The printing apparatus according to claim 4. A printing control method executed by a printing apparatus,
Data in which each of a plurality of data transfer control units stores image data transferred from a host device that generates image data for printing in a storage unit, and reads the image data from the storage unit in response to an instruction to start printing A transfer control step;
A printing unit printing the image data on a recording medium;
A print control step in which a print control unit instructs the plurality of data transfer control units to start printing;
An output control unit that outputs each of the image data read from the storage unit by the plurality of data transfer control units to the printing unit, and
The plurality of data transfer control units are connected to each other, and the image data can be transferred between the plurality of data transfer control units,
The data transfer control step includes:
Each of the plurality of data transfer control units reads the image data from its own storage unit or a storage unit of another data transfer control unit and outputs the image data to the output control unit;
A printing control method comprising:

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