JP2851973B2 - Output method and device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output method and apparatus capable of controlling output by a control command or a page description language.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of output device, a control command group is prepared, and the host computer transmits this control command together with print data, so that the host computer instructs the printing device on various operations. Had been done. Specific control commands include, for example,
A command to specify the number of copies to print multiple copies of the same page, a font selection command to select the font and size of characters,
Adjusting the position of the entire print area on the paper, top, bottom, left, and right margin setting commands, specifying enlargement and reduction of the print image, and instructing the printing of B4 images on A4 paper Various commands, such as enlargement and reduction commands, are defined for each printing device. When the printing apparatus receives the data from the host computer, the printing apparatus performs data analysis to discriminate between the print data and the control command, and the control command further analyzes a type of the control command and a given command parameter to perform a predetermined operation. Execute.

[0003]

However, in such a printing apparatus, data is usually stored as one data file in which control commands and print data are mixed, and transmitted to the printing apparatus as needed. The data is generally first entered with a reset command to reset the various control settings of the printer to eliminate the effects of the previous jog, and then a control command for defining the operation for the group of data in question, eg, a copy command. Enter the number of copies. Then, a control command for changing the font and size of the character is inserted as needed, even in the print data in which the print data for a plurality of pages continues. Such data may be created by a user directly inputting a control command, or may be created as a data file on so-called application software such as a word processor or database software.

However, if the printing operation is not changed in the data file once created, the control command is already embedded in the data file. Therefore, the print file is checked again and corrected by the control command. Or re-execute the application software and give instructions again.

For example, when the number of copies is set to 1 and the number of copies is changed to 5, or when the print area on the paper is slightly shifted to the right in order to obtain a margin, a left margin setting command is temporarily issued. This is the case when you want to change it.

In addition, when the printing apparatus expands the function of the control command as a new product or adds a control parameter, the version of the application software itself is not supported because the application software itself does not support the added function. There was a drawback that the function could not be used unless you waited for the upload.

For example, in a printing apparatus in which various fonts can be changed by replacing a font cartridge, application software that wants to specify a new font for a font cartridge that has been additionally released later is supported. If not, that is, if it cannot be converted to a control command, it means that the typeface cannot be used.

[0008]

According to the present invention, data is transferred prior to a data group sent from the outside and first control information for controlling an output operation based on the data group. Then, control is performed to replace the first control information with the second control information based on instruction information instructing to replace the first control information with the second control information.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer control unit 100 of a laser beam printer (hereinafter, referred to as LBP) as an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire LBP and analyzing input data, and 103 receives data transmitted from the host computer 102, and
An input interface circuit 104 for transmitting data to the CPU 101 is a program ROM for storing a printer control program of the CPU 101 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and a reset value table shown in FIG. This is a font memory that stores character patterns corresponding to character codes, and is configured by a general ROM. Reference numeral 106 denotes a page memory used to temporarily store data from the host computer and to secure image memory for a plurality of pages. The use state is controlled by a memory management table 108 described later. Reference numeral 107 denotes a page control table for controlling the input / output of a page buffer and an image memory on a page memory.
The structure will be described later with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 108 denotes a memory management table for managing the use status of the page memory 106 and securing and releasing the memory, and its structure is shown in FIG. Note that the page memory 106, the page control table 107, and the memory management table 108 are configured by a general RAM. A timer unit 109 outputs a timer interrupt signal S01 to the CPU 101 at a cycle of, for example, 50 ms. Timer interrupt signal S01 is CP
The task management is performed by activating a timer interrupt processing routine of a multi-task processing type printer control program incorporated in U101. 110 is the page memory 106
A scan buffer constituted by a static RAM for temporarily storing data for one scan of the laser on the image memory secured above. The scan buffer 110 has a double buffer structure, and the CPU 101
6 while writing the image data on one of the scan buffers 110 to the other buffer,
1 reads it, converts it into an image signal S02, and outputs it to the output interface circuit 112.

The output interface circuit 112 is an LBP
A circuit for outputting various control signals and image signals to the printing mechanism 113, and a printer start signal S0 from the CPU 101
3, the LBP printing mechanism 113 is activated, and a series of control processes such as paper feeding, image transfer to paper, and fixing are executed.

Reference numeral 114 denotes a work RAM area used by the conventional printer control program shown in FIGS.
Various control parameters and flags are defined. The structure will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, a method of managing the page memory 106 using the memory management table 108 of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The page memory 106 is logically divided into 256-byte memory segments, each of which is associated with one bit of the RAM constituting the memory management table. The memory management table 108 stores bytes (8
Bit), and the m-th bit of the first byte corresponds to the {8 × (l−1) + m} -th memory segment from the head of the page memory 106. Address can be calculated easily. Further, for each bit on the memory management table 108, if it is "1", it indicates that the corresponding memory segment is in use, and if it is "0", it indicates that it is not used. It is possible to grasp and especially secure an empty memory segment.

FIG. 3 shows a page control table 10.
7 is a diagram showing an internal structure of FIG. A page buffer control unit 301 includes a page buffer address area 303 for storing the head address of the page buffer 307 secured on the page memory 106 and a page buffer 3.
07, a data capacity area 302 for storing the data capacity to be stored. The page buffer 307 checks a free space in the memory management table 108 to secure a required amount, and temporarily stores input data input via the input interface circuit 103 for one page.

The page memory 106 stores the page buffer 30
7 and image memories 308 to 31 for generating and storing one page of output images in the form of dot patterns.
A plurality of zeros or the like can be secured, and each time data of one page is input to the page buffer 307, an output image is sequentially generated in the image memory. For input / output control of the image memory for a plurality of pages, an image page control table 306 including page control units 401a to 401e of # 1 to # 5 is provided on the page control table 107.

The page control units 401a to 401e on the image page control table 306 are accessed by an output page pointer 304 and an input page pointer 305. The output page pointer 304 is stored in the image memory of the page being printed out or the page control unit 401a corresponding to the image memory to be output next.
To e, the input page pointer 3
Reference numeral 04 denotes a page control unit 401 a to 401 e corresponding to a page image memory in which an image pattern of input data via the page buffer 307 is written, or a page control unit 40 to which an image is to be written next.
These are pointers indicating 1a to 1e.

The above-mentioned page buffer 307 is secured in units of memory segments managed by the memory management table 108. When the page buffer 307 runs short, an empty space in the memory management table 108 is searched and secured each time, and a buffer is provided at the head of the page buffer 307. A pointer 311 is prepared and a link is taken.

FIG. 4 shows a print area on paper corresponding to the internal structure of the page control units 401a to 401e.

Page control units 401a to 401e
Contains various kinds of management information relating to one page of output image.
Status flags indicating the states 01a to e are stored. The status flag 402 holds one of the following statuses: “empty”, “input”, “output waiting”, and “output”. The status of “empty” indicates that the page control units 401a to 401e are unused. The status of "input" indicates that the page control units 401a to 401e are writing input data via the page buffer 307 to the corresponding image memory as an image pattern. The status of “waiting for input” indicates a state in which the page control units 401 a to 401 e are waiting for printing to start. The status of "outputting" indicates that the printing operation is being executed for the image data corresponding to the page control units 401a to 401e.

Reference numerals 403 and 404 denote areas for storing the coordinates (x _i , y _i ) of the upper left corner of the image area to indicate the actual position on the paper of the output image for one page generated in the image memory. It is. Reference numerals 405 and 406 denote areas for storing the size X _{i in} the x direction and the size Y _i in the y direction of the corresponding output image of one page. 409, paper 408
Shows the position and size of the output image above. The coordinates represent the upper left corner of the sheet as the origin. The coordinates (x _i , y _i ) and sizes X _i , Y _i of the upper left corner of the output image area
Is calculated by checking the effective print area used by the input data when the input data for one page is stored in the page buffer 307 via the input interface circuit 103.

When an image pattern is generated on the image memory from the input data on the page buffer 307, the size X
_The required memory capacity is calculated from _i 405 and the size Y _i 406, and the required amount of image memory is secured on the page memory 106. An image memory address pointer 407 stores the head address of the secured image memory.

The page buffer 307 and the image memories 308, 309, and 310 store the memory management table 1
08 is checked and the addresses are sequentially secured from the lowest address, and are released when the output is completed.

Reference numeral 410 denotes a copy number setting area for storing the number setting for printing a plurality of image memories indicated by the image memory address pointer 407. The number of copies is specified by a command input from the host computer 102. The mechanism for setting the number of copies will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows an input system of data input from the host computer 102.

Reference numeral 501 denotes setup data for changing the control system of the normal data shown in 506, and has the following data flow.

First, reference numeral 502 denotes the setup data 5
A setup start command indicating the head of 01 defines a setup command group 503 that instructs replacement of control parameters following the command.

In the present embodiment, control of the number of copies will be described below, and attention is focused on the copy number replacement command 504 in the set-up command group 503. The copy number replacement command 504 is the normal data 50
6 cancels the copy number instruction and instructs the validity of the copy number given by this command. The control operation will be described later with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 505 denotes a setup end command indicating the end of the setup data 501, and indicates that the subsequent data is normal data 506.

The normal data 506 includes various control command groups 50 represented by a reset command 507 for resetting various control parameters (here, setting of the number of copies) and a copy number designation command 508 for instructing the number of copies.
9, a character code 510 and an FF (form feed) code 511 indicating a page break, and are arbitrarily combined to form a series of print pages.

FIG. 6 shows the storage location and update operation for the number of copies, which is one of the control parameters.

A control parameter reset value table 601 stores preset control parameter reset values on the program ROM 104. The reset value of the number of copies is also included in the copy number reset value area as one element of the table 601. 602 is set as a fixed value. Reference numeral 603 denotes a control parameter table in the work RAM area 114 which the printer control program 700, which will be described later, refers to and updates for print control, and prepares control parameter values and replacement flags as elements for each parameter. . Regarding the number of copies, whether the number of copies is instructed by the current copy number area 604 storing the currently designated number of copies and the instruction of the copy number replacement command (504 in FIG. 5) is determined. A copy number replacement flag (605 in FIG. 6) is provided.

A replacement control parameter table 606 for storing replacement values of control parameters for which replacement has been instructed by the setup instruction group 501 in FIG. 5 is also prepared in the work RAM area 114. However, a copy number replacement area 607 for storing the replacement number specified by the copy number replacement command 504 is prepared on the table 606. A copy counter 608 is also provided on the work RAM area 114 for the output task 800 to be described later to count the number of copies.

In such a table group, the current number of copies 604, which is a control parameter for the number of copies, is updated as follows.

First, when the copy number replacement command 504 in the setup data 501 in FIG. 5 is input, the designated number is stored in the copy number replacement area 607, and the copy number replacement flag 605 is set (ON). You. Therefore, when the normal data 506 shown in FIG. 5 is input, when the reset command 507 is input, the current copy number 604 is normally reset to the copy number reset value 602. However, when the copy number replacement flag is set, the value of the copy number replacement area 607 is prioritized and set to the current copy number 604. Similarly, when the copy number designation command 508 in FIG. 5 is input, the designated value is normally set to the current copy number 604, but when the copy number replacement flag is set, the value of the copy number replacement area 607 is set. Is prioritized and set to the current number of copies 604.

Based on the above-described mechanism for setting the number of copies, the details of the control for replacing the number of copies according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of the printer control program 700 of FIGS. 7 to 9. .

The control program of the printer employs a multitask system having a real-time monitor, and timer management is performed by a timer interrupt signal S01 from the timer unit 109 in FIG. The main tasks include an input task 700 and an output task 900, which will be described later. An input process for creating an output image for one page and an output process for printing the created output image are performed in parallel.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an input task which is a main task of the printer control program 700.
The input processing will be described in detail.

First, in step S701, various variables are initialized. The main variables used in the input task are as follows. The coordinates (x, y) representing the printing position of the input code to be input, where (x, y) are represented by coordinates with the origin (0, 0) at the upper left corner of the sheet. Moreover, 1 of x and y
As variables to be stored as the minimum and maximum values in the page, the minimum value of x x _min , the maximum value of x x _max , the minimum value of y y _min ,
A maximum value y _max of y is prepared. Therefore, assuming that the character width w and the character height of the character pattern stored in the font memory 105 in FIG. 1 are h, the coordinates (x _min , y _min -h),
(X _min , y _max ), (x _max + w, y _min -h),
An area surrounded by four points (x _max + w, y _max ) is an effective print area of the page, that is, an area requiring an image memory.

The printing position (x, y) is a position corresponding to the lower left corner of the character pattern frame, and x is w for each character.
The line advances left by one minute, and at the time of a line feed, y advances by h.

The current number of copies 604 is initialized with a copy number reset value 602. Similarly, the control parameter table 603 is initialized with the contents of the control parameter reset value table 601.

When the initialization of the variables is completed in step S701, the process proceeds to step S702, where the memory management table 10
8 is checked, the page buffer 307 is secured for one memory segment, and updated in the memory management table 108. Subsequently, in step S703, as an update of the page buffer control unit 301, first, the data capacity area 302 is cleared and the page buffer address area 3 is updated.
03, the page buffer 3 secured in step S701
07 is set. Next, step S7
In step 04, the input data from the host computer 102 is extracted via the character interface circuit 103, and the input data is checked in step S705. If the input data is a command, a command analysis process 800 described later is executed in step S706, and the process returns to step S704. If the input data is a character code, steps S707 to S707
Perform 15 character processing. First, steps S707 to S71
2, the current print position (x, y) and x _min , x _max , y
By comparing _min and y _max , if (x, y) exceeds the respective minimum and maximum values, then (x, y) is taken as the new minimum and maximum value, and x _min , x _max , y _min , Y _max are updated.

Next, in step S713, the input data (character code) is stored in the page buffer 307 (a). Here, when the memory segment of the page buffer 307 is full, the memory management table 108 is checked, one memory segment is reserved, and the address is set in the buffer pointer 311. Then, in step S714, the printing position (x, y) is updated to the next position. Then, in step S715, the data capacity area 30 on the page buffer control unit 301 is
2 is incremented by one. When the processing of one character code is completed, the process returns to step S704 and proceeds to the processing of the next input data.

In the input data check in step S705, if the input data is an FF (form feed) code indicating the end of one page, steps S716 to S716
At 27, a page end process is performed.

Here, as an example, the current input page pointer 305 is set to the page control unit 401 of # 3.
If it is pointed at c, the page status 402 of the page control unit 401c of # 3 is checked, and the status is "empty", that is, until it becomes available. Subsequently, in step S717, the input page status 402
Is "inputting" to indicate that the input task is using the page control unit 401c of # 3. Next, in step S718, x _min , x _max , y _min , y _max
Update the management information 403 to 406 of the page control unit 401c as follows.

X _i = x _min , y _i = y _min -h, X _i = x _max + w-x _min , Y _i = y _max- (y _min -h)

Then, in step S719, step S
Using the X _i and Y _i calculated in 718, the capacity of the image memory is calculated, the memory management table 108 is checked, and the image memory 310 is secured on the page memory 106. Subsequently, in step S720, the character code for one page stored in the page buffer 307 is taken out, the corresponding character pattern is read from the font memory 105, and written in the image memory 310 to generate an output image for one page. . When the output image of one page is completed, in step S721, the memory management table 1
08 is updated to release the area of the page buffer 307. Next, in step S722, the current copy number 6 is set in the copy number setting 410 of the page control unit 401c.
04 is set and the number of copies is determined. In step S723, "output wait" is set in the page status 402, and the output task is notified to the output task. Next, in step S724, the input page pointer 305 is moved to the next page control unit 401d.

Next, as preparation for the processing of the next page,
First, in step S725, the print position (x, y) is set to (0,
0), and in step S726, one memory segment is reserved as the page buffer 307 as in step S702. In step S727, as in step S703, the data capacity area 302 is cleared, the page buffer address area 303 is updated, and the page end processing ends. Upon completion of the page end processing, the flow returns to step S704 to enter the next page input processing.

Next, FIG. 8 shows details of the command analysis processing in step S706 in the above-mentioned flowchart FIG.
In FIG. 8, first, it is checked which command is input in step S801, and the process proceeds to each corresponding process.

If it is determined that the reset command is 507, the reset processing of steps S802 to S805 is executed. In step S802, the control parameters are reset. That is, the control parameter table 6
03 is reset with the value of the control parameter reset value table. For the number of copies for which the replacement flag is defined, the process advances to step S803 to check whether the copy number replacement flag 605 is set (ON). If the flag 605 is ON, the process advances to step S804 to set the copy number replacement value 607 in the current copy number 604 as a control parameter, and the flag 605 is turned OFF.
Then, in step S805, like other control parameters,
The copy number reset value 602 is set to the current copy number 604, the reset processing ends, and the command analysis processing ends.

In the command check in step S801,
If the input command is determined to be the copy number designation command 508, the copy number designation processing of steps S806 to S808 is executed. First, it is checked in step S806 whether the copy number replacement flag 604 is ON. ON
If so, the process proceeds to step S807, and the copy number replacement value 6
07 is set to the current number of copies 604, and if the flag 604 is OFF, the value specified by the number of copies specification command 508 is set to the current number of copies 604. Then, the number-of-copies designation process ends, and the command analysis process ends.

In the case of an input command or other normal data control command 509 (other than the number-of-copies designation command) in step S801, processing for each control command is executed in S808, and this command analysis is completed.

If the input command is the setup start command 502 in step S801, the process proceeds to steps S810 to S814.
Enter the setup data analysis process. First, in step S810, the next input data is received, and in step S8
In step 11, the input data (input command) is checked. When the input command is the setup end command 505,
This command analysis ends as it is. If it is determined in step S811 that the input command is the copy number replacement command 504, the copy number replacement flag 605 is set to ON in step S812, and the replacement command 504 is set.
Is stored, and in step S813, the number of copies specified by the command 504 is set to the copy number replacement value 607. Then, the process returns to step S810 to wait for the next input data. In step S811,
In the case of another setup command 503 (other than the copy number replacement command 504), the process proceeds to step S814 to execute corresponding processing, and returns to step S810 to wait for the next input data.

Next, the processing of the output task 900 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

As described above, the control program of the printer adopts a multitask system having a real-time monitor, and the timer is managed by the timer interrupt signal S01 from the timer unit 109 in FIG. There are an input task 700 (FIG. 7) and an output task 900 (FIG. 9) as tasks. An input process of creating an output image for one page and an output process of printing the created output image are processed in parallel. You.

First, in step S901, the page status 402 of the # 1 page control unit 401a indicated by the output page pointer 304 is checked, and the process waits until the status becomes "waiting for output", that is, until an output image is prepared. When "waiting for output" is entered, step S902 is executed.
Then, the value of the copy number setting 410 of the page control unit 401a is set to the copy counter 608 as the definition of the page copy number. And step S9
At 03, a printer activation signal S03 is output to activate the LBP printing mechanism.

Then, the flow advances to step S904 to send blank data to the scan buffer 110 to send blank data to the scan buffer 110 for a section from the upper end of the sheet to the start of the actual print image, that is, a section where the y coordinate is 0 to y _i. create. Note that y _i
Is the y _i coordinate 4 on the page control unit 401a
04.

Next, in step S905, the image memory 30
8 is transferred to the scan buffer 110. At this time, the writing position to the scan buffer 110 is set to x _{i in} order to obtain a blank in the writing section in the x direction.
Shifting, the amount of data transferred as X _i, transferring data Y _i scan min. Thereby, a predetermined image can be printed at a predetermined position on a sheet. Note that x _i , X _i , and Y _i are the x _i coordinate 403, the size X _i 405, and the size Y _i 406 of the page control unit 401a, respectively.

When the output of the image data is completed, step S
The process proceeds to 906, where the copy counter 608 is decremented by one, and it is checked in step S907 whether the copy counter 608 is φ. Steps S903 to S907 are repeated until the copy counter 608 becomes φ. When printing for the predetermined number of sheets is completed, the process advances to step S908 to update the memory management table 108 and release the area of the image memory 308. In step S909, the output page status 402 of the page control unit 401a is set to “empty”, and in step S910, the output page pointer 3
04 to the next page control unit 401b, and the output process for one page ends. Upon completion of the output process for one page, the process returns to step S901 to enter the output process for the next page.

As described above, the replacement flag and the storage location of the replacement parameter are prepared for the control parameter such as the number of copies, and if the replacement flag is set, the replacement value or the command designation value is used. Also, by adopting a structure that gives priority to the replacement parameter, the operation of existing normal data can be arbitrarily changed.

The set-up command group 503 is separated from the normal data 506 and set up as setup data 501 by being surrounded by a setup start command 502 and a setup end command 505. Therefore, in the future, the setup command group will not be mixed with the data created by the ordinary user, and the format in which a change instruction is given to the existing data (normal data) from the outside by a command can be maintained.

The set of instructions for changing the set values of the print data group described above is a set of print environment set value change instructions (setu
p JOB).

(Other Embodiments) (1) In this embodiment, the present invention was applied to a laser beam printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and will be described later with reference to FIG.
Also, the present invention can be applied to printing apparatuses of various printing methods such as an ink jet method and a thermal head method described below.

FIG. 12 shows another example of the printer according to this embodiment.
Inkjet printer 4 using bubble as an example
5 shows a configuration example. It replaces 113 shown in FIG.

Here, reference numeral 809 denotes a head cartridge having an ink jet recording head, and reference numeral 811 denotes a carriage on which the head cartridge is mounted and scans in the S direction in the drawing. 813
Is a hook for attaching the head cartridge 809 to the carriage 811, and 815 is a lever for operating the hook 813. The lever 815 is provided with a marker 817 for indicating a scale provided on a cover to be described later and enabling a print position, a set position, and the like of the recording head of the head cartridge to be read. A support plate 819 supports an electrical connection to the head cartridge 809. Reference numeral 821 denotes a flexible cable for connecting the electrical connection unit and the main body control unit.

Reference numeral 823 denotes a guide shaft for guiding the carriage 811 in the S direction, and is inserted through a bearing 825 of the carriage 811. Reference numeral 827 denotes a timing belt to which a carriage 811 is fixed and which transmits power for moving the carriage 811 in the S direction, and is stretched around pulleys 829A and 829B arranged on both sides of the apparatus. A driving force is transmitted to one pulley 829B from a carriage motor 831 via a transmission mechanism such as a gear.

Reference numeral 833 denotes a platen roller for regulating the recording surface of a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter also referred to as recording paper) and for transporting the recording medium during recording or the like. Reference numeral 837 denotes a paper pan 839 for guiding the recording medium from the paper feed tray side to the recording position. The paper pan 839 is disposed in the middle of the recording medium supply path, presses the recording medium toward the platen roller 833, and conveys the recording medium. It is a feed roller. 841 is in the recording medium conveyance direction,
A discharge roller is disposed downstream of the recording position and discharges the recording medium toward a discharge port (not shown). 842
Is a spur provided corresponding to the discharge roller 841;
The roller 841 is pressed through the recording medium, and the discharge roller 8 is pressed.
A recording medium conveyance force is generated by the recording medium 41. Reference numeral 843 denotes a release lever for releasing the urging of each of the feed roller 839, the pressing plate 845, and the spur 842 when setting a recording medium or the like.

Reference numeral 845 denotes a pressing plate for suppressing the floating of the recording medium in the vicinity of the recording position and ensuring the state of close contact with the platen roller 833. In this embodiment, an ink jet recording head that performs recording by discharging ink is employed as a recording head. Therefore, the distance between the recording head, the ink discharge port forming surface, and the recording surface of the recording medium is relatively small, and the distance must be strictly controlled to avoid contact between the recording medium and the discharge port forming surface. The arrangement of the holding plate 845 is effective. Reference numeral 847 denotes a scale provided on the holding plate 845, and reference numeral 849 denotes a marker provided on the carriage 811 in correspondence with the scale. The print position and the set position of the recording head can be read by these marks.

Reference numeral 851 denotes a cap made of an elastic material such as rubber which faces the ink discharge forming surface of the recording head at the home position, and is supported so as to be capable of coming into contact with and detaching from the recording head. The cap 851 is used for protection of the print head at the time of non-printing or the like and for recovery processing of the print head. The ejection recovery process is a process in which ink is ejected from all ejection openings by driving an energy generating element provided inside the ink ejection openings and used for ink ejection. This is a process for removing the cause of a discharge failure such as ink that is no longer suitable for printing (preliminary discharge) or a process for separately removing the cause of a discharge failure by forcibly discharging ink from the discharge port.

Reference numeral 853 designates a suction force for forcibly discharging ink, and a cap 85 for performing discharge recovery processing by such forced discharge or discharge recovery processing by preliminary discharge.
1 is a pump used to suck the ink received. Reference numeral 855 denotes a waste ink tank for storing the waste ink sucked by the pump 853, and reference numeral 857 denotes a tube that connects the pump 853 and the waste ink tank 855.

Reference numeral 859 denotes a blade for wiping the ejection port forming surface of the recording head. The blade 859 projects to the recording head side to perform wiping in the process of moving the head, and a retreat position not engaging with the ejection port forming surface. And is movably supported. Reference numeral 861 denotes a recovery system motor, and 863 denotes a cam device for receiving the power from the recovery system motor 861 to drive the pump 853 and move the cap 851 and the blade 859, respectively.

(2) Although the present embodiment deals with the number of copies as a control parameter to be replaced, the present invention is not limited to this, and various control parameters can be applied.

For example, when a host computer has a plurality of fonts and a font selection command is activated by the host computer to switch fonts arbitrarily, a font selection replacement command is provided as one of the setup commands for the font selection command. To enable internal replacement of selection. In this case as well, as shown in FIG. 10, when a reset command is received on the control parameter reset table 601 similarly to the copy number control, a reset font name 1001 for defining the name of the font to be returned is prepared. In the control parameter table 603, the name of the currently selected font is set.
03 and a font selection flag 1002 indicating that a font selection replacement command has been input in the past, that is, a font replacement request has been made. Further, a replacement font name 1004 in which the name of the replacement font specified by the font selection replacement command is set is added to the replacement control parameter table 606.

FIG. 11 shows the internal structure of the font memory 105, in which a plurality of fonts are stored. The font memory 105 is divided into a header section 1101 and a pattern section 1100. The header section 1101 stores a plurality of font names 110 corresponding to a plurality of fonts.
3. Character size dot width 1104 and dot height 110
5 and a pattern pointer 1106 to an actual character dot pattern arranged in the order of character code is stored as a table on the pattern section 1102. The pattern unit 1102 stores the character dot pattern group for each font in the order of character codes.

Therefore, the character code is stored in the page buffer 30.
7, the value of the current font name 1003 and the character code are stored as a pair. Then, in the formation of the output image (step S720 in FIG. 7), the head 1101 in the font memory 105 is searched for the font name from the font name and character code pair extracted from the page buffer, and a predetermined font is selected. By extracting the dot pattern of the character corresponding to the character code from the predetermined font pattern group of the pattern portion indicated by the corresponding pattern pointer 1106, the font designated by the current font name 1103 can be printed. In the above structure, when a font selection / replacement command is input, the font replacement flag 1102 is turned on, and the name of the replacement font designated in the replacement font name 1104 is set. Therefore, even if a reset command or a font selection command is input, the font replacement flag is ON.
If so, the replacement font name 1104 is set to the current font name. Therefore, in the output image formation S720, the current font name, that is, the replacement font is selected.

The replacement of the font selection is particularly effective when the font is supplied by a font cartridge or the like. For example, if a new font cartridge is created and you want to use the font in it, such as brushstroke, but the existing data is a built-in font, such as Mincho, if the command is specified, set up before inputting the existing data. As a command, a font selection replacement command may be used to instruct replacement with a brush.

If the font replacement flag is ON when the font selection command is input, the replacement font name 1004 is changed to the current font name 1003. The replacement font 904 may be adopted only when the character size (dot width 1104, dot height 1105) of the font being used matches the character size (dot width 1104, dot height 1105) of the replacement font 904 and they match. By doing so, it is possible to prevent a font from being replaced with a font having a different size, thereby preventing line overflow or the like.

As described above, it is possible to prevent the output image from being disturbed by setting the condition that the attribute of the replacement parameter and the instruction parameter are checked and replaced only when the attribute is the same.

(3) In the present embodiment, various control commands for changing the control parameters on the normal data are specified and replaced. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Also applicable to For this purpose, the printer itself takes a predetermined value by resetting and resetting the control parameter, and also has a plurality of input interfaces and preferentially adopts the input interface to which data comes first. Depending on the situation,
In this case, an appropriate control parameter is selected.

In this case as well, the replacement flag and the replacement parameter are given by the replacement command, and when the control parameter is updated, if the replacement flag is ON, the replacement parameter is selected by the resetting by the method of selecting the replacement parameter as the current control parameter. It is possible to forcibly change parameters automatically selected according to predetermined values and situations to be set by a set-up command group.

(4) In this embodiment, the control parameter reset table is set as an identification value on the program ROM. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a nonvolatile RAM is prepared, and the control data is stored on the nonvolatile RAM. A parameter reset table may be provided. In this case, by replacing a predetermined value on the control parameter reset table directly with the specified value by the set-up command group, the specified value can be saved regardless of the power ON / OFF.

(5) In this embodiment, the replacement of the control command used for the existing data has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to newly added control parameters.

For example, in the case where existing data instructs a so-called form overlay function in which form and print data are superimposed and printed, and is composed of registered form data and print data, a new color printing apparatus is prepared. Add color specification to registration form data. in this case,
The existing data does not include a control command for specifying a color in the registered form data because it was not defined at the time when this data was created. In such a case, a color designation command of the registered form data is provided as a set-up command group in the new color printing apparatus, and when a form color designation is prepared as a control parameter, a replacement flag and a replacement form color are provided as in the present embodiment. If the existing data is input and the reset command is issued,
The replacement form color becomes the current form color designation, and the form color can be printed even with the existing data.

(6) In this embodiment, the contents of the corresponding parameters of the replacement control parameter group are set and the corresponding replacement flags of the control parameter table group are set for the replacement specification specified by the setup command group. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the replacement value may be set to the corresponding current parameter value of the control parameter table group at the time of the above processing.

As a result, even if there is no reset command in the existing data, the operation of the existing data can be changed by the instruction of the setup command if the setup command is given in advance.

As described above, it is possible to change the print operation of the existing print data by changing the set contents of the control parameter according to the presence or absence of a prior replacement request for the designated control parameter. Becomes

Further, the operation can be changed not only for the change of the content designated by the command in the existing print data but also for the control parameter having no command and reset by the reset instruction.

Also, for the function of the newly added printing apparatus, a control parameter replacement instruction is issued before data input, and
By replacing the reset value of the newly added corresponding control parameter when resetting the existing data, it becomes possible to apply the new function to the existing data.

As described in detail above, the first control information for controlling the output operation based on the data sent from the outside according to the present invention, and the first control information are used as the second control information different from the first control information. Instruction information for instructing to change to information can be stored, and when the instruction information is stored, the first control information can be changed to the second control information to control the output operation. It has become possible to provide an output method and an output device capable of performing the above.

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the data is transmitted prior to the data group sent from the outside and the first control information for controlling the output operation based on the data group. An output method having a control function of performing control to replace the first control information with the second control information based on instruction information for instructing replacement of the first control information with second control information. And an apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer control unit of a laser beam printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a table structure diagram of a memory management table on a printer control unit.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a page control table on a printer control unit.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a page control unit on a page control table.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a data group input from a host computer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of a control parameter.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an input task which is a main routine of the printer control program.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a command analysis process of the printer control program.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an output task of the printer control program.

FIG. 10 is a data structure diagram of font selection.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a font storage format on a font memory.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a printer control unit of the laser beam printer according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 CPU 410 Number of copies setting area of page control unit 504 Number of copies replacement command 508 Number of copies designation command 603 Control parameter table 604 Current number of copies 605 Number of copies replacement flag 606 Replacement control parameter table 607 Number of copies replacement value 608 Copy counter

Claims (40)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein the first control information is transferred prior to a data group sent from the outside and first control information for controlling an output operation based on the data group. A receiving function of receiving instruction information for instructing replacement, and a determining function of determining whether or not the replacing function based on the instruction information is valid.If the determining function determines that the replacing function is valid, A control function of performing control to replace the first control information with the second control information. 2. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes output number information or a margin setting command. 3. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes a command for designating the number of copies of the same page to be output. 4. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes a command for instructing enlargement or reduction of a sheet. 5. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes a font name. 6. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes form data. 7. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes color information of form data. 8. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the control information includes typeface information. 9. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the first control information includes a reset command. 10. The output method according to claim 9, wherein the content of the reset command is changed by the second control information. 11. The set data is stored in a storage unit in order to change the content of the reset command according to the second control information.
Output method described in. 12. The output method according to claim 9, wherein a storage unit that stores reset data is used for the reset command. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the replacement changes the first control information to second control information.
Output method described in. 14. The output method according to claim 1, wherein a flag indicating that the replacement function is valid is set based on the replacement instruction. 15. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the determination function determines whether there is a flag that is set based on the replacement instruction. 16. The output method according to claim 1, wherein when the determination function determines that the replacement function is not valid, the first control information is used. 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the output method is applicable to control of a laser beam printer.
Output method described in. 18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the output method is applicable to control of an ink jet printer.
Output method described in. 19. A data group transmitted from the outside and first control information for controlling an output operation based on the data group are transferred before the first control information is transferred to a second group.
Receiving means for receiving instruction information for instructing replacement with control information, determining means for determining whether a replacement function based on the instruction information is valid, and determining means that the replacement function is valid A control unit for performing control to replace the first control information with the second control information. 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes output number information or a margin setting command.
An output device according to item 1. 21. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes a command for designating the number of copies of the same page to be output. 22. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes a command for instructing enlargement or reduction of the paper. 23. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes a font name. 24. The output device according to claim 19, wherein said control information includes form data. 25. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes color information of form data. 26. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the control information includes typeface information. 27. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the first control information includes a reset command. 28. The output device according to claim 27, wherein the content of the reset command is changed by the second control information. 29. Set data is stored in a storage unit in order to change the content of the reset command according to the second control information.
8. The output device according to 7. 30. The output device according to claim 27, wherein a storage unit that stores reset data is used for the reset command. 31. The method according to claim 1, wherein the replacement changes the first control information to second control information.
10. The output device according to 9. 32. The output device according to claim 19, wherein a flag indicating that the replacement function is valid is set based on the replacement instruction. 33. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the determination unit determines whether there is a flag that is set based on the replacement instruction. 34. The output device according to claim 19, wherein when the determination unit determines that the replacement function is not valid, the first control information is used. 35. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the output device is a laser beam printer. 36. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the output device is an ink jet printer. 37. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the instruction information is received prior to the data group and the first control information. 38. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the instruction information is received prior to the data group and the first control information. 39. The output method according to claim 1, wherein the output uses a multitask method having a real-time monitor. 40. The output device according to claim 19, wherein the output adopts a multitask system having a real-time monitor.