JP2821911B2 - Printing control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a print medium reversing mechanism,
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of performing double-sided printing.

[Related Art] Conventionally, in a printing apparatus of this type, after printing on the front surface of a print medium by a print medium reversing mechanism, the print medium is reversed and printing on the back surface is performed.

In this printing apparatus, after converting image information into page format information, the page format information is developed into pattern information and printed on a print medium. After printing of one page is completed, the pattern information of the next page is completed. And prints this page.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described conventional example, when printing is performed on both sides of the print medium, the pattern information of the next page, that is, the back page is created within the time required for the reversal operation of the print medium. In some cases, the back page was output without being printed.

The present invention provides a printing apparatus that can reliably print a back page even when the time for generating pattern information is longer than the reversal operation time of the print medium because the amount of information on the back page is large. The purpose is to provide.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention relates to a printing control device for controlling a printing device capable of performing double-sided printing, a printing device for converting input information from a higher-level device into pattern information, and printing on a surface of a printing medium. In the case where the print medium is reversed and printed on the back side, a mode in which input information to be printed on the front side and input information to be printed on the back side are converted by the conversion means before starting printing on the front side. And control means having the same.

Further, the present invention further provides a prediction unit for predicting a time required for conversion of input information to be recorded on the back surface, and based on the time predicted by the prediction unit, the disclosure on the back surface before disclosing printing on the front surface. Determining means for determining whether or not the input information to be recorded is to be converted by the conversion means.

Further, according to the present invention, when the time predicted by the predicting means exceeds a predetermined time, the determining means causes the converting means to convert the input information to be recorded on the back face before starting printing on the front face. It is characterized by making a judgment.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

This apparatus includes a data source 101 such as a host computer for outputting character codes and graphic data information, a control unit 102 for controlling a printing apparatus, and a printer engine 109 for printing.

The control unit 102 includes an input buffer 103 for temporarily storing data.
And a CPU 104 for calculating and analyzing input data, and a pattern memory 10 for storing pattern information for character codes.
5 and a page format memory 106 for storing page format information
And an image memory 107 for storing the developed image pattern, and a printer interface 108 for passing the image pattern of the image memory 107 to the printer engine 109.

The printer engine 109 includes a paper feed mechanism 110 for supplying a print medium, a transfer mechanism 111 for transferring image information to the print medium, an inversion mechanism 112 for inverting the print medium and enabling printing on the back surface, Paper discharge mechanism 113 for discharging print media
And

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a mechanism of the printer engine 109.

The printer engine 109 uses the cut sheet 203 as a print medium, and feeds the cut sheet 203 from the cassette 200 to a paper feed unit 202 and a transfer unit 204 that transfers image information.
And a reversing mechanism 112 for switching between single-sided printing and double-sided printing by moving the reversing lever 205 up and down, and a reversing path 206 for the reversed medium.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the page format memory 106.

The page format memory 106 is first provided with header section areas 301 to 305 set for each page.

In the header section area 301, the number of the current page is set. In the header area 302, a time value required for pattern development of the current page is set. Further, the header area 303 is for checking the presence / absence of copying, and if yes, the number of copies is set. In the header area 305, an address at which the information of the next page starts is set.

In the subsequent memory area, information to be patterned on a page is set, and the format differs depending on the type of pattern.

That is, the area 306 stores an address having the following format. The area 307 stores information indicating that this format is for patterning characters. Further, an area 308 stores information indicating a start position for patterning, and an area 309 stores an address of a font to be used on the pattern memory 105.

The area 310 stores character codes to be patterned.

The area 311 stores an address linked from the area 306, and indicates that information of another format is stored by this address. In the area 312, information indicating that the format is a line is stored, and in the area 313,
The line start position, area 314 stores the type of line (straight line, chain line), and area 315 stores the line width and length.

In the area 316, an address linked from the area 311 is stored. The area 317 stores information indicating that the format information is related to a circle. The area 318 stores the center position of the circle, the area 319 stores the type of line, the area 320 stores the line width, and the area 321 stores the radius.

Also, in the area 302, 1
A development time value for a page is derived and set.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, when data is input from the data source 101, the program is started.

First, data is extracted from the input buffer 103 (S
2) Check the current printing status (S3).

Here, in the case of single-sided printing, page format information of the input data is created (S4).

In the case of double-sided printing, page format information of the front page is created (S5), and the presence or absence of data on the back is checked (S5).
6). If there is no data, it is regarded as one-sided printing, and S
Proceeding to step 8, if there is back page data, creating page format information of the back page (S7), and then proceeding to S8.

In S8, in the case of one side, the current page format information is subjected to pattern development and written to the image memory 107. In the case of both sides, the pattern development of the front page is performed.

Next, double-sided printing is checked again (S9). Then, in the case of double-sided printing, the reversal time and the back side development time are compared (S10), and if the development time is longer, the back page pattern development is also performed (S11).

If single-sided printing is performed in S9 and the development time is shorter in S10, the contents of the image memory 107 in which the current pattern format information is developed are output to the printer engine 109 (S12).

Next, in the case of double-sided printing, if the development time is longer than the reversal time (S13), since the development of the pattern on the back page has already been completed, the flow returns to S12 to output the image of the back surface.

If there is more data (S14), the process returns to S2 and data is input again.

If there is no data, the program ends.

In the above embodiment, the development time is calculated by creating the page format information. However, the time value may be calculated only by analyzing the instruction.

According to the above-described embodiment, when the time required for the pattern conversion on the back surface exceeds the time value required for reversing the print medium, the front page is output after the pattern conversion between the front page and the back page is completed. Therefore, there is an effect that the back page can be reliably printed without being subjected to the time restriction regarding the reversal operation of the print medium.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, when printing on the front side of a print medium and then printing the reverse side of the print medium on the back side, printing is performed on the front side before starting printing on the front side. A mode is provided in which input information to be printed and input information to be printed on the back side are converted into pattern information by conversion means.

For this reason, when printing on the front and back sides, it is possible to respond by changing the processing timing of the conversion means for converting the input information into the pattern information, and the operation of the reversing mechanism of the print medium can be performed at a constant speed. I did it.

Therefore, according to the conversion time to the pattern information, without performing a control operation such as temporarily stopping or restarting the reversing mechanism, it is possible to reliably perform printing on the back surface, without causing image loss and the like, Appropriate double-sided recording can be performed. Further, the structure and control of the print medium reversing mechanism can be simplified, and an inexpensive device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a mechanism of the printer engine in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of a page format memory in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment. 101: Data source 102: Control unit 103: Input buffer 104: CPU, 105: Pattern memory 106: Page format memory 107: Image memory 108: Printer interface 109: … Printer engine, 110… Paper feed mechanism, 111… Transfer mechanism, 112… Inversion mechanism, 113… Paper ejection mechanism, 203… Cut paper.

Continuation of front page (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 5/30 B41J 21/00 B41J 13/00 B41J 29/38 G06F 3/12 B41J 2/60

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing control device for controlling printing means capable of performing double-sided printing, a converting means for converting input information from a higher-level device into pattern information, and printing on a surface of a printing medium, and then inverting the printing medium. When printing on the back side, control means having a mode for converting the input information to be printed on the front side and the input information to be printed on the back side by the conversion means before starting printing on the front side, A print control device, comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a prediction unit for predicting a time required for converting input information to be printed on the back surface, and printing on the front surface based on the time predicted by the prediction unit. And a determination unit that determines whether or not the input information to be printed on the back surface is converted by the conversion unit before starting. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, if the time predicted by the prediction means exceeds a predetermined time, the input information to be printed on the back side before starting printing on the front side. A printing control device, wherein the printing control device determines that the conversion is performed by the conversion unit.