JP2019142080A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To appropriately perform image processing by using a plurality of circuits.SOLUTION: A printer 1 comprises: print control circuits 22 and 23 converting image data into printing data; and a printing part 30 performing printing of image data corresponding to one page by performing first printing and second printing onto the one page. The first print control circuit 22 performs first processing to image data of a first page, and the second print control circuit 23 performs second processing to image data of a second page. The first print control circuit 22 individually converts image data corresponding to the first printing of the first page after the first processing and image data corresponding to the first printing of the second page after the second processing into printing data of the first page and printing data of the second page, and outputs them to the printing part 30. The second print control circuit 23 individually converts image data corresponding to the second printing of the first page after the first processing and image data corresponding to the second printing of the second page after the second processing into printing data of the first page and printing data of the second page, and outputs them to the printing part 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs image processing using a plurality of circuits.

  Conventionally, patent document 1 is known as this kind of technique. Patent Document 1 discloses a color laser printer that generates image data to be output to a laser engine by a microprocessor system corresponding to each color of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

JP 2000-351239 A

  However, as in Patent Document 1, when image processing is performed using a plurality of circuits, although an improvement in processing speed can be expected, there is room for improvement such as a reduction in image quality.

  A printing apparatus according to the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires image data including a plurality of pages, a first circuit that converts image data into print data, and a circuit that converts image data into print data. A printing device comprising: a second circuit different from the first circuit; and a printing unit that prints image data corresponding to the page by performing first printing and second printing on one page, The first circuit performs a first process on the image data of the first page, the second circuit performs a second process on the image data of the second page, and the first circuit performs the first process on the first page after the first process. The image data corresponding to the first printing and the image data corresponding to the first printing of the second page after the second processing are converted into the printing data for the first page and the printing data for the second page, respectively, and output to the printing unit. The second circuit performs an image corresponding to the second printing of the first page after the first process. Performing a fourth process of converting the data and the image data corresponding to the second print of the second page after the second process into the print data of the first page and the print data of the second page, respectively, and outputting them to the printing unit; The printing unit performs the first printing based on the print data generated by the first circuit, and performs the second printing based on the print data generated by the second circuit.

  Another printing apparatus of the present invention includes an image acquisition circuit that acquires image data, a plurality of print control circuits that perform image processing of the image data, and output print data generated based on the image processing result to a printing unit; A second communication different from the first communication line for supplying a signal output from the image acquisition circuit to each of the plurality of print control circuits and exchanging signals between the plurality of print control circuits. And a communication line.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a control part. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the process by a 1st printing control circuit and a 2nd printing control circuit. It is a figure which shows the address space seen from CPU. It is a figure which shows the execution timing of RGB data generation processing, image processing, copy processing, and head control. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of an image process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a copy process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of head control. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the process by the 1st printing control circuit and 2nd printing control circuit which concern on 2nd Embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, an inkjet printer is exemplified as the printing apparatus, but a thermal printer or an electrophotographic printer may be used.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printing apparatus 1. The printing apparatus 1 includes an interface 11, an operation panel 12, a control unit 20, and a printing unit 30. The interface 11 is a communication unit for receiving various data such as a print job, an image file, and a document file from an external device such as a PC (Personal Computer) 110, a scanner 120, and a memory card 130. The operation panel 12 is, for example, a display with a touch sensor, and is an operation means for the user to perform various operations and a display means for presenting various information to the user.

  The control unit 20 includes a main circuit 21, a first print control circuit 22, a second print control circuit 23, a first bus 26, and a second bus 27. The main circuit 21 is an example of the “acquisition unit” and “image acquisition circuit” of the present invention. The first print control circuit 22 is an example of the “first circuit” in the present invention, and the second print control circuit 23 is an example of the “second circuit” in the present invention. The first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 are examples of the “plurality of print control circuits” in the present invention. The first bus 26 is an example of the “first communication line” in the present invention. The second bus 27 is an example of the “second communication line” in the present invention.

  The main circuit 21, the first print control circuit 22, and the second print control circuit 23 are all integrated circuits, and various microcontrollers can be used. However, the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 are preferably the same type of circuit, that is, the same type of integrated circuit. For example, the same type SOC (System-on-a-chip) or the same type ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) may be used as the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23.

  The main circuit 21 acquires various data via the interface 11, performs rendering processing, and generates RGB data. The RGB data is an example of the “image data” in the present invention. RGB data refers to image data after rendering processing including red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color elements. The rendering processing includes image enlargement / reduction processing and language conversion processing. The first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 perform image processing and print data generation processing on the RGB data output from the main circuit 21 in parallel. In the present embodiment, the main circuit 21 generates RGB data including a plurality of pages.

  On the other hand, the first bus 26 includes two buses: a bus that connects the main circuit 21 and the first print control circuit 22, and a bus that connects the main circuit 21 and the second print control circuit 23. Become. That is, the first bus 26 is a bus for supplying a signal output from the main circuit 21 to each of the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. The second bus 27 is a bus that connects between the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. That is, the second bus 27 is a bus for exchanging signals between the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. These three buses are independent buses that are not connected to each other. Both the first bus 26 and the second bus 27 are PCI EXPRESS (registered trademark) buses. That is, data transfer between the main circuit 21 and the first print control circuit 22, between the main circuit 21 and the second print control circuit 23, and between the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. Register control and interrupt notification are all performed via the PCI EXPRESS bus.

  Note that a PCI EXPRESS bus may be used for connection between the interface 11 and the main circuit 21, between the operation panel 12 and the main circuit 21, and between a carriage motor 33 and the main circuit 21, which will be described later. Other communication lines may be used.

  The printing unit 30 includes a head controller 31, a print head 32, a carriage motor 33, and a carriage 34. The print head 32 is a serial type ink jet head, and a nozzle row composed of a plurality of nozzles is provided for each color. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the print head 32 is provided with four types of nozzle arrays corresponding to four colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). The print head 32 performs printing by discharging ink of each color from each nozzle row to a print medium (not shown).

  The head controller 31 performs drive control of the print head 32 based on the print data output from the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. Here, the print data refers to digital data indicating whether or not ink is ejected from each nozzle during a printing operation. Although details will be described later, the first print control circuit 22 outputs print data for driving the nozzle rows corresponding to the C color and the M color, and the second print control circuit 23 outputs the Y color and the K color. Print data for driving the corresponding nozzle row is output.

  The carriage 34 mounts the print head 32 and reciprocates the print head 32 with respect to the print medium. The carriage motor 33 is a drive source for reciprocating the carriage 34 by a carriage movement mechanism (not shown). The print head 32 ejects ink to the print medium when the carriage 34 moves. The print head 32 may eject ink only during forward movement or backward movement of the reciprocating movement of the carriage 34, and may discharge ink during both forward movement and backward movement. Also good. Moreover, it is preferable that the plurality of nozzles constituting each nozzle row of the print head 32 are arranged in the print medium conveyance direction. On the other hand, the print medium is transported in a direction crossing the moving direction of the carriage 34 by a transport mechanism (not shown). In other words, the printing apparatus 1 performs printing on the print medium by moving the carriage 34 and transporting the print medium.

  In the present embodiment, a serial type head is exemplified as the print head 32, but a line type head may be used. Further, when the printing apparatus 1 is a thermal printer, a thermal head may be used as the print head 32. Furthermore, when the printing apparatus 1 is an electrophotographic printer, a photosensitive drum may be used instead of the print head 32.

  Next, a detailed configuration of the control unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The main circuit 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 41, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 42, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 43.

  The CPU 41 is a processor that controls the main circuit 21. The ROM 42 is a nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program for operating the main circuit 21. The RAM 43 is a volatile storage medium and is used as a work area for the CPU 41. Note that a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) may be used as the RAM 43. The same applies to the RAMs 53 and 63 of the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 described below.

  The first print control circuit 22 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, a first image processing circuit 54, a first copy processing circuit 55, and a first head control circuit 56. The RAM 53 is an example of the “storage unit” in the present invention. The first image processing circuit 54 is a circuit for performing the “first processing” of the present invention. The first head control circuit 56 is a circuit for performing the “third process” of the present invention.

  The CPU 51 is a processor that controls the first print control circuit 22. The ROM 52 stores a program for operating the first print control circuit 22. The RAM 53 is used as a buffer for temporarily storing various information. The first image processing circuit 54, the first copy processing circuit 55, and the first head control circuit 56 will be described later.

  The second print control circuit 23 includes a CPU 61, a ROM 62, a RAM 63, a second image processing circuit 64, a second copy processing circuit 65, and a second head control circuit 66. The second print control circuit 23 has the same configuration as that of the first print control circuit 22, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The RAM 63 is an example of the “storage unit” in the present invention. The second image processing circuit 64 is a circuit for performing the “second processing” of the present invention. The second head control circuit 66 is a circuit for performing the “fourth processing” of the present invention.

  Next, an overview of processing by the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and subsequent drawings, the first image processing circuit 54 is “image processing (1)”, the first copy processing circuit 55 is “copy processing (1)”, and the first head control circuit 56 is “head control ( 1) ”. Similarly, the second image processing circuit 64 is referred to as “image processing (2)”, the second copy processing circuit 65 as “copy processing (2)”, and the second head control circuit 66 as “head control (2)”. .

  The CPU 51 of the first print control circuit 22 temporarily stores, in the RAM 53, data corresponding to odd pages among the RGB data output from the main circuit 21. The CPU 51 reads out odd-numbered page RGB data from the RAM 53, and performs image processing including color conversion processing and multilevel processing by the first image processing circuit 54. The image processing executed by the first image processing circuit 54 corresponds to the first processing. In the color conversion process, the image data is converted from the RGB system to the CMYK system. In the multi-value processing, the CMYK system image data is converted into binary data. At this time, the CPU 51 generates binarized data by halftone processing. As the halftone processing, for example, an error diffusion algorithm can be used. The error diffusion algorithm is a pseudo gradation expression algorithm that averages gradation values of pixels constituting an image to express intermediate gradations, and can express an image smoothly. The CPU 51 temporarily stores the odd-numbered page binarized data generated by the first image processing circuit 54 in a predetermined area in the RAM 53. The binarized data of the odd pages corresponds to the image data after the first processing. In the multi-value processing, multi-value data corresponding to the amount of ink ejected from the nozzles of the print head 32, that is, the dot size, may be generated instead of the binary data. Of course, other processes may be performed. The image processing performed by the first image processing circuit 54 includes at least processing performed collectively for the entire page. The above-described halftone processing by error diffusion improves the image quality by sequentially diffusing errors over the entire page. Therefore, it is desirable that the halftone processing is performed collectively for the entire page. Note that there are other processes that are desirably performed collectively on the entire page, such as a nozzle complement process that performs complementation by increasing the discharge amount of the nozzles around the nozzle instead of a defective nozzle.

  Subsequently, the first print control circuit 22 performs a copy process. In the copy process, the first copy processing circuit 55 reads the binarized data of the C color and the M color out of the binarized data of the odd pages stored in the RAM 53. In addition, the first copy processing circuit 55 reads out even-numbered page C and M color binarized data from the RAM 63 of the second print control circuit 23. Note that data read by the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 will be described later. The CPU 51 temporarily stores the C color and M color binarized data read by the first copy processing circuit 55 in a predetermined area in the RAM 53. The C color corresponds to the first color component, and the nozzle group that ejects the C color ink corresponds to the first nozzle group. Of course, the same applies to the M color instead of the C color.

  The CPU 51 reads the binarized data of C color and M color from the RAM 53, and performs head control by the first head control circuit 56. In the head control, print data of C color and M color is generated based on the binarized data of C color and M color, and the generated print data is output to the head controller 31. This corresponds to the third process. The head controller 31 drives the C-color and M-color nozzle rows 71 based on the print data generated by the first head control circuit 56. The printing performed by driving the C nozzle row 71 corresponds to the first printing. Of course, the same applies to the M color instead of the C color.

  On the other hand, the CPU 61 of the second print control circuit 23 temporarily stores, in the RAM 63, data corresponding to even pages among the RGB data output from the main circuit 21. The CPU 61 reads out even-page RGB data from the RAM 63, and performs image processing including color conversion processing and multi-value processing by the second image processing circuit 64. The CPU 61 temporarily stores the binarized data of the even pages generated by the second image processing circuit 64 in a predetermined area in the RAM 63. The image processing executed by the second image processing circuit 64 corresponds to the second processing. Further, the binarized data of the even pages corresponds to the image data after the second processing.

  Subsequently, the second print control circuit 23 performs a copy process. In the copy processing, the second copy processing circuit 65 reads out binary data of Y color and K color from the binarized data of even pages stored in the RAM 63. Further, the second copy processing circuit 65 reads out the binary data of the odd-numbered pages of Y color and K color from the RAM 53 of the first print control circuit 22. The CPU 61 temporarily stores the binarized data of Y color and K color read by the second copy processing circuit 65 in a predetermined area in the RAM 63. The Y color corresponds to the second color component, and the nozzle group that discharges the Y color ink corresponds to the second nozzle group. Of course, the same applies to K color instead of Y color.

  The CPU 61 reads the binary data of Y color and K color from the RAM 63, and performs head control by the second head control circuit 66. In the head control, print data of Y color and K color is generated based on the binarized data of Y color and K color, and is output to the head controller 31. This corresponds to the fourth process. The head controller 31 drives the Y-color and K-color nozzle rows 72 based on the print data generated by the second head control circuit 66. The printing performed by driving the Y nozzle row 72 corresponds to the second printing. Of course, the same applies to K color instead of Y color.

  Next, reading of data by the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 will be described with reference to FIG. The figure shows an address space 80 viewed from the CPUs 51 and 61 in the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. As shown in the figure, in the address space 80, a RAM area 81, an IO (Input Output) area 82, and a PCIe (PCI EXPRESS) area 83 are mapped.

  For example, when the address space 80 shown in the figure is that of the first print control circuit 22, the RAM area 81 is an area for the CPU 51 to access the RAM 53 of the first print control circuit 22 that is its own circuit. . The IO area 82 is an area for the CPU 51 to store settings related to the hardware of its own circuit. The PCIe area 83 is an area for the CPU 51 and the first copy processing circuit 55 to access the RAM area 81 and the IO area 82 in the address space 80 of the second print control circuit 23 which is another circuit.

  With this configuration, the first copy processing circuit 55 accesses the RAM area 81 on the address space 80 of the other circuit from the PCIe area 83 on the address space 80 of its own circuit via the second bus 27, and DMA (Direct Memory Access) reads out binary data of C and M colors for even pages from the RAM 63 of the second print control circuit 23. Similarly, the second copy processing circuit 65 accesses the RAM area 81 on the address space 80 of the other circuit from the PCIe area 83 on the address space 80 of the own circuit via the second bus 27, and by DMA read, The binarized data of the odd-numbered pages of Y color and K color is read from the RAM 53 of the first print control circuit 22. The DMA read is a read method using DMA transfer, and refers to directly reading data without using the CPUs 51 and 61.

  Next, the flow of each process of image processing, copy processing, and head control will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows the execution timing of each process on the time axis when a print job consisting of four pages is received. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the time axis. In the figure, the main circuit 21 causes the first page of the print job to be “odd page 1”, the second page of the print job is “even number page 1”, and the third page of the print job is “odd page 2”. ”, A case where RGB data for a total of four pages of“ even page 2 ”, which is the fourth page of the print job, is generated.

  First, the first image processing circuit 54 performs image processing on the RGB data of “odd page 1” generated by the main circuit 21, and the second image processing circuit 64 generates an “even number” generated by the main circuit 21. Image processing is performed on the RGB data of “Page 1” (S01, S02).

  The first copy processing circuit 55 generates C-color and M-color copy processing of the “odd page 1” binarized data generated by the first image processing circuit 54 and the second image processing circuit 64. The C data and M color copy processing of the binarized data of “even page 1” is performed (S03, S04). Further, the second copy processing circuit 65 generates a Y-color and K-color copy process for the binarized data of “odd page 1” generated by the first image processing circuit 54 and a second image processing circuit 64. Then, the Y-color and K-color copy processing of the binarized data of “even page 1” is performed (S05, S06).

  The first head control circuit 56 binarized data of the C and M colors of “odd page 1” copied by the first copy processing circuit 55, and 2 of the C and M colors of “even page 1”. Head control is performed based on the digitized data (S07, S08). In addition, the second head control circuit 66 performs binarized data of “odd page 1” Y color and K color copied by the second copy processing circuit 65, and “even page 1” Y color and K color. The head control is performed based on the binarized data (S09, S10).

  Next, a flowchart for each process will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of image processing by the first print control circuit 22. The first print control circuit 22 determines whether or not one page of odd-page RGB data has been stored in the RAM 53 (S11). If it is determined that it has been stored (S11 second image processing circuit Yes), the first print control circuit 22 The one image processing circuit 54 is activated to start image processing (S12). If the first print control circuit 22 determines that the image processing by the first image processing circuit 54 has been completed (S13: Yes), it returns to S11. In S13, when binarized data for one odd page is stored in the RAM 53, it is determined that the image processing is completed.

  On the other hand, if the first print control circuit 22 determines that one page of RGB data of odd pages has not been stored (S11: No), the process returns to S11, and the image processing by the first image processing circuit 54 is completed. If it is determined that it is not (S13: No), the process returns to S13.

  Note that image processing by the second print control circuit 23 differs depending on whether an even page is processed instead of an odd page and that the second image processing circuit 64 is started instead of the first image processing circuit 54, but otherwise. Since this is the same as FIG. 6, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of copy processing by the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. In the following description, “the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23” are referred to as “print control circuits 22 and 23”. If the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the image processing by the first image processing circuit 54 has been completed (S21: Yes), the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 are activated to copy odd pages. The process is started (S22). If the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the odd page copy process has been completed (S23: Yes), the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine whether or not the image processing by the second image processing circuit 64 has been completed (S24). When the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the image processing by the second image processing circuit 64 has been completed (S24: Yes), the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 are activated to copy even pages. Processing is started (S25). If the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the even page copy process has been completed (S26: Yes), the process returns to S21.

  On the other hand, if the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the image processing by the first image processing circuit 54 has not been completed (S21: No), the process returns to S21, and the odd page copy process has not been completed. When it determines (S23: No), it returns to S23. When the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the image processing by the second image processing circuit 64 has not been completed (S24: No), the process returns to S24, and the copy processing for even pages has not been completed. When it determines (S26: No), it returns to S26.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of head control by the print control circuits 22 and 23. When the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the odd page copy processing by the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 has been completed (S31: Yes), the first head control circuit 56 and the second head control The circuit 66 is activated and head control for odd pages is started (S32). If the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the odd page head control has been completed (S33: Yes), whether or not the even page copy processing by the first copy processing circuit 55 and the second copy processing circuit 65 has been completed. Is discriminated (S34). When the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the even page copy process has been completed (S34: Yes), the print control circuits 22 and 23 activate the first head control circuit 56 and the second head control circuit 66, and start the head control for the even pages. (S35). When the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the head control for the even pages has been completed (S36: Yes), the process returns to S31.

  On the other hand, if the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the odd page copy process is not completed (S31: No), the process returns to S31 and determines that the odd page head control is not completed. (S33: No), it returns to S33. If the print control circuits 22 and 23 determine that the even page copy process has not been completed (S34: No), the process returns to S34, and if it is determined that the even page head control has not been completed. (S36: No), it returns to S36.

  As described above, the print control circuits 22 and 23 of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment share RGB data for each page as image processing, and binarize in units of pages by processing the RGB data in units of pages. Generate data. In addition, the print control circuits 22 and 23 share the binarized data for each page by color as print data generation processing, and acquire the binarized data for each page color generated by the own circuit and other circuits. Based on the binarized data for each page color, print data for two pages for each color is generated, and the generated print data is output to the head controller 31. As described above, since the printing apparatus 1 performs image processing in units of pages, it is possible to realize image processing (for example, halftone processing using an error diffusion algorithm or the like) suitable for a case where one image is prepared. it can. As a result, it is possible to realize high-speed processing using a plurality of print control circuits 22 and 23 while maintaining high image quality.

  The print control circuits 22 and 23 include RAMs 53 and 63 for storing binarized data after image processing, and repeatedly execute image processing each time image data for one page is acquired. With this configuration, image processing can be sequentially repeated without completing a series of processing from image processing to print data generation. Further, since the print control circuits 22 and 23 read the binarized data from the other circuits by the DMA read by the copy processing circuits 55 and 65, the processing load on the CPUs 51 and 61 can be reduced.

  The printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a main circuit 21 and a first print control circuit 22, a main circuit 21 and a second print control circuit 23, and a first print control circuit 22 and a second print control circuit 23. Since the buses 26 and 27 are connected to each other, communication between circuits can be performed without being affected by the communication status of other circuits. Further, since the buses 26 and 27 are PCI EXPRESS buses, the communication speed is increased, the input / output control is simplified, the mounting cost is reduced, and the like compared to the case where other buses such as a PCI bus are used. There is an effect. Further, since the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 are the same type of circuit, the nozzle rows 71 and 72 corresponding to the respective colors can be similarly driven and controlled.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, as the print data generation processing performed by the print control circuits 22 and 23, the binarized data for each page is shared by color, but in the present embodiment, it is shared by print area. More specifically, the print data generation processing is performed by sharing the binarized data in units of pages into two areas, an upper part of the print area and a lower part of the print area. Here, “upper print area” means the upstream side in the transport direction of the print medium, and “lower print area” means the downstream side in the transport direction of the print medium. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. Moreover, the modification applied about the component similar to 1st Embodiment is applied similarly about this embodiment. The printing in the “upper printing area” corresponds to the first printing, and the printing in the lower printing area corresponds to the second printing.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment. The printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment includes a head controller 31 and a print head 32 for each of the print control circuits 22 and 23. That is, the printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment includes a first head controller 31a that acquires print data from the first print control circuit 22, a first print head 32a that is driven and controlled by the first head controller 31a, and a first print controller 32a. 2 includes a second head controller 31b that acquires print data from the print control circuit 23, and a second print head 32b that is driven and controlled by the second head controller 31b.

  The first print head 32a and the second print head 32b are mounted on a single carriage 34 such that the first print head 32a is upstream of the second print head 32b in the transport direction of the print medium. Yes. In addition, the first print head 32a and the second print head 32b are arranged such that the lowermost position of the nozzle row mounted on the first print head 32a and the nozzle row mounted on the second print head 32b in the conveyance direction of the print medium. The position of the carriage 34 is shifted in the scanning direction of the carriage 34 so as to be equal to or smaller than the inter-nozzle pitch of the plurality of nozzles constituting the nozzle row. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the entire print area for one page can be printed by one scan of the carriage 34. That is, the upper print area is printed by the first print head 32a, and the lower print area is printed by the second print head 32b.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an outline of processing by the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23 according to the second embodiment. The processes of the first image processing circuit 54 and the second image processing circuit 64 are the same as in the first embodiment. The CPU 51 of the first print control circuit 22 reads out binarized data of odd pages, which is data after image processing by the first image processing circuit 54, from the RAM 53, and performs copy processing by the first copy processing circuit 55. In the copy process, the binarized data in the upper part of the print area is read out from the binarized data of the odd pages stored in the RAM 53. Further, the first copy processing circuit 55 reads the binarized data at the upper part of the print area of the even page from the RAM 63 of the second print control circuit 23. The CPU 51 temporarily stores the binarized data in the upper part of the print area read by the first copy processing circuit 55 in a predetermined area in the RAM 53.

  The CPU 51 reads the binarized data at the upper part of the print area from the RAM 53 and performs head control by the first head control circuit 56. In the head control, print data at the upper part of the print area is generated and output to the first head controller 31a. The first head controller 31a drives the nozzle rows 91 corresponding to all C, M, Y, and K colors of the first print head 32a based on the print data generated by the first head control circuit 56. The first print head 32a prints the upper part of the print area on the print medium. The nozzle row 91 corresponds to the first group of nozzles, and the printing by the first print head 32a corresponds to the first printing.

  On the other hand, the CPU 61 of the second print control circuit 23 reads the binarized data of the even page, which is the data after the image processing by the second image processing circuit 64, from the RAM 63, and performs the copy processing by the second copy processing circuit 65. Do. In the copy process, the binarized data in the lower part of the print area is read out from the binarized data of the even pages stored in the RAM 63. Further, the second copy processing circuit 65 reads the binarized data at the lower part of the print area of the odd page from the RAM 53 of the first print control circuit 22. The CPU 61 temporarily stores the binarized data at the bottom of the print area read by the second copy processing circuit 65 in a predetermined area in the RAM 63.

  The CPU 61 reads the binarized data at the lower part of the print area from the RAM 63 and performs head control by the second head control circuit 66. In the head control, print data in the lower part of the print area is generated and output to the second head controller 31b. Based on the print data generated by the second head control circuit 66, the second head controller 31b drives the nozzle rows 92 corresponding to all the colors C, M, Y, and K of the second print head 32b. The second print head 32b performs printing in the lower part of the print area on the print medium. The nozzle row 92 corresponds to the second group of nozzles, and printing by the second print head 32b corresponds to the second printing.

  As described above, the print control circuits 22 and 23 of the printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment share the binarized data in units of pages for each print area as print data generation processing, and the pages generated by the own circuit. Based on the binarized data for each print area and the binarized data for each print area of the page acquired from another circuit, print data for each color for two pages is generated, and the generated print data is Output to the head controllers 31a and 31b for its own circuit. As described above, also in this embodiment, since image processing is performed in units of pages, high-speed processing using a plurality of print control circuits 22 and 23 is maintained while maintaining high image quality by halftone processing using an error diffusion algorithm. Can be realized.

Although two embodiments have been described above, the following modifications can be adopted regardless of these embodiments.
[Modification 1]
In the first embodiment, the four colors that can be printed by the print head 32 are divided into two colors of C color, M color, Y color, and K color to perform copy processing and head control. You may divide into four separately. In this case, printing control circuits corresponding to the number of divisions are required. However, compared with the case where the printing control circuits are divided into two, the speed can be expected to be nearly twice as high. Further, in this case, the image processing is divided into four parts of “odd page 1”, “even page 1”, “odd page 2”, and “even page 2”, and each copy processing circuit has another print control circuit. Therefore, the binarized data for three pages is acquired.
As a further modification, in the case of the printing apparatus 1 capable of printing more than four colors, the copy process and the head control may be performed by dividing the number of colors.

[Modification 2]
In the second embodiment, the print area is divided into two areas, an upper area and a lower area, and the copy process and the head control are performed. However, the print area may be divided into more areas. In this case, the print control circuit, the head controller 31, and the print head 32 corresponding to the number of divisions are required.
Further, as a further modification, instead of using the print heads 32 corresponding to the number of divisions, for example, the first nozzle group corresponding to the upper print area and the second nozzle corresponding to the lower print area are arranged. It may be divided into a plurality of nozzle groups such as a group, and each nozzle group may be driven and controlled by a different head controller 31.
As a further modification, the print area may be divided not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction. That is, the print area may be divided in a direction intersecting with the print medium conveyance direction instead of dividing the print area in the print medium conveyance direction. For example, one page may be divided into four parts vertically and horizontally.

[Modification 3]
In the second embodiment, the entire print area is printed by one scan of the carriage 34, but the entire print area may be printed by two or more scans. For example, when printing the entire print area by two scans, the first print head 32a is driven by dividing the print area into four areas of the first, second, third and fourth from the top of the print area. Print data of the first and third print areas is output to the first head controller 31a, and print data of the second and fourth print areas is output to the second head controller 31b that drives the second print head 32b. It may be configured.
The odd-numbered scan is the first print, the first print control circuit 22 outputs the print data used in the odd-numbered scan to the first head controller 31a, the even-numbered scan is the second print, and the second print The print control circuit 23 may output print data used in even-numbered scanning to the second head controller 31b.
As a further modification, in the case where the second embodiment is realized by two or more scans, the second print head 32b is put in a pause state while the upper print area is printed by the first print head 32a. While the lower print area is being printed by the second print head 32b, the first print head 32a may be in a resting state.
As a further modification, a line-type head may be used as the print head 32, and the print area may be divided in the left-right direction, that is, the direction intersecting the print medium conveyance direction.

[Modification 4]
The first embodiment and the second embodiment may be combined to perform copy processing and head control for each color and each print area. For example, when dividing into two colors of C color, M color, Y color, and K color and dividing into two upper and lower print areas, four print control circuits are required. In this case, the image processing is divided into four parts of “odd page 1”, “even page 1”, “odd page 2”, and “even page 2”, and each copy processing circuit is divided by 3 from other print control circuits. The binarized data for the page is acquired. For example, the first copy processing circuit copies the binarized data in the upper part of the C and M print areas from the other three copy processing circuits, and the second copy processing circuit copies the other three copy processes. The binarized data at the bottom of the C and M print areas is copied from the circuit. The third copy processing circuit copies binary data in the upper part of the Y and K color print areas from the other three copy processing circuits, and the fourth copy processing circuit copies the other three copy processes. The binarized data at the bottom of the Y and K print areas is copied from the circuit.

[Modification 5]
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, there are two independent buses between the main circuit 21 and the first print control circuit 22 and between the main circuit 21 and the second print control circuit 23, respectively. Although the first bus 26 is connected, the first bus 26 may be realized by a switching bus. In this case, the main circuit 21 performs communication by switching the connection destination of the switching bus to either the first print control circuit 22 or the second print control circuit 23.

[Modification 6]
In the first and second embodiments, for example, in the first print control circuit 22, it is determined whether or not odd-numbered RGB data has been stored for one page in the RAM 53 of the first print control circuit 22. When the determination is made, the first image processing circuit 54 is activated (see S11 and S12 in FIG. 6), but it is determined whether or not the image data after the rendering process is stored for one page in the RAM 43 of the main circuit 21. When it is determined that the first image processing circuit 54 has been stored, the first image processing circuit 54 may be activated.

[Modification 7]
In the first and second embodiments, image processing is performed in the first print control circuit 22 and the second print control circuit 23. However, image processing is performed in the main circuit 21, and copy processing and head control are performed. The control circuits 22 and 23 may perform parallel processing.

[Modification 8]
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the copy processing circuits 55 and 65 acquire image signals from the other print control circuits 22 and 23 by DMA read. However, the copy processing circuits 55 and 65 perform image processing after image processing. The signal may be written to another print control circuit 22 or 23 by DMA write.

[Other variations]
A method for executing each process of the printing apparatus 1 shown in each of the above embodiments and modifications, a program for executing each process of the printing apparatus 1, and a computer-readable recording medium storing the program are also provided. Included within the scope of the invention. Other modifications can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus, 11 ... Interface, 12 ... Operation panel, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Main circuit, 22 ... 1st printing control circuit, 23 ... 2nd printing control circuit, 26 ... 1st bus, 27 ... 2nd Bus, 30 ... Printing section, 31 ... Head controller, 32 ... Print head, 33 ... Carriage motor, 34 ... Carriage, 110 ... PC, 120 ... Scanner, 130 ... Memory card

Claims (9)

An acquisition unit for acquiring image data including a plurality of pages;
A first circuit for converting image data into print data;
A circuit for converting image data into print data, a second circuit different from the first circuit;
A printing unit that performs first printing and second printing on one page to print image data corresponding to the page;
A printing apparatus comprising:
The first circuit performs a first process on the image data of the first page,
The second circuit performs a second process on the image data of the second page,
The first circuit outputs first image data corresponding to the first printing of the first page after the first processing and image data corresponding to the first printing of the second page after the second processing, respectively. Performing a third process of converting the print data of the page into the print data of the second page and outputting the print data to the printing unit;
The second circuit outputs first image data corresponding to the second printing of the first page after the first processing and image data corresponding to the second printing of the second page after the second processing, respectively. Performing a fourth process of converting the print data of the page and the print data of the second page and outputting the print data to the printing unit;
The printing apparatus, wherein the printing unit performs the first printing based on print data generated by the first circuit, and performs the second printing based on print data generated by the second circuit.   The first printing is printing using a first group of nozzles, and the second printing is printing using a second group of nozzles different from the first group of nozzles. The printing apparatus according to 1.   3. The nozzle according to claim 2, wherein the nozzles of the first group are nozzles that eject ink of a first color component, and the nozzles of the second group are nozzles that eject ink of a second color component. Printing device.   The first circuit includes a storage unit that stores image data of the first page after the first process, and repeatedly executes the first process every time the image data for one page is acquired. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printer.   The said 1st circuit acquires the image data of the 2nd page after the said 2nd process from the memory of the said 2nd circuit by DMA read, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Printing device.   5. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the first circuit writes the image data of the first page after the first processing into the memory of the second circuit by DMA write. apparatus. An image acquisition circuit for acquiring image data;
A plurality of print control circuits for performing image processing of the image data and outputting print data generated based on the image processing result to a printing unit;
A first communication line for supplying a signal output from the image acquisition circuit to each of the plurality of print control circuits;
A printing apparatus comprising: a second communication line different from the first communication line for exchanging signals between the plurality of print control circuits.   The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of print control circuits are the same type of circuit.   The printing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the first communication line and the second communication line are PCI EXPRESS buses.

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