JP3026907B2 - Non-impact printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-impact printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a non-impact printer such as an electrophotographic printer, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of a charged photosensitive drum by irradiating the charged photosensitive drum with a light source, and toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image. Then, development is performed to form a toner image, and the formed toner image is transferred and fixed on paper.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a printer control circuit in a conventional non-impact printer. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 1 denotes a print control unit including a microprocessor, a ROM, an input / output port, a timer, and the like. The entire printer unit is sequence-controlled by signals, video signals, and the like, and executes a printing operation. When a print instruction is received by the above-described control signal, the print control unit 1 first detects via the fixing unit temperature sensor 4 whether or not the fixing unit 3 including the heater 2 is in a usable temperature range. Heater 2 if not in temperature range
Is turned on to heat the fixing device 3 to a usable temperature. Next, the developing / transfer process motor (PM) 5 is rotated via the driver 6, and at the same time, the charging high-voltage power supply 7 is turned on by the charge signal to charge the developing device 8.

Subsequently, the type of paper set is detected by the paper remaining amount sensor 9 and the paper size sensor 10, and the paper feed corresponding to the paper is started. Here, the paper feed motor (PM) 11 can rotate bidirectionally via the driver 12, and reversely rotates first, and the set paper is set in advance until the paper inlet sensor 13 detects it. Amount, then rotate forward,
The paper is conveyed into a printing mechanism inside the printer.

[0005] When the paper reaches the printable position, the print control unit 1 sends a timing signal to the host device and receives a video signal. The video signal edited on a page-by-page basis in the host device and received by the print control unit 1 is converted into a bitmap data signal by the LED head 1.
4 is sent. At this time, the print control unit 1 also transmits a clock signal for transmitting the bitmap data signal to the LED head 14. When receiving the video signal for one row, the print control unit 1 transmits a latch signal to the LED head 14 and converts the bitmap data signal into the LED head 1.
4. Further, before receiving the next data from the host device, the print control unit 1 transmits a print drive signal to the LED head 14 to execute a print process corresponding to the bitmap data signal.

Here, the transmission and reception of the video signal described above
This is performed for each printing line. The information printed by the LED head 14 is converted into a latent image as a dot having an increased potential on the photosensitive drum charged to a negative potential. Then, the image forming toner charged to the negative potential is attracted to each dot by an electric attraction force, whereby a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum. Thereafter, the toner image is sent to the transfer unit, and on the other hand, the transfer high voltage power supply 15 having a positive potential is turned on by a transfer signal, and the transfer unit 16 transfers the toner image onto a sheet passing through a gap with the photosensitive drum. . The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred in this manner is transported in a state in which the sheet contacts the fixing device 3. Thus, the toner image is fixed on the sheet by the heating action of the fixing device 3. Further, the paper on which the toner image is fixed is discharged from the printing mechanism of the printer to the outside of the printer through the paper discharge sensor 17.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional non-impact printer, when printing characters and the like, fonts stored in a ROM or the like of a higher-level device are developed and modified inside the higher-level device to modify the font. Since the print control unit 1 creates a bitmap data signal to be printed based on this, when printing is performed by emphasizing, for example, outlines of characters and the like, the print data received from the higher-level device is used. Draw outlines (outer frames) of characters and the like by the print control unit 1
It is necessary to perform processing such as filling in the inside, and furthermore, when emphasizing the outline of characters etc. and modifying the inside, it is necessary to determine the part to be filled and the part not to be filled at the time of filling As a result, a long processing time is required until the printed sheet is discharged.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in order to achieve the above object, expand into bitmap data signals print data received from the host device by the print controller, the bit map data signal Based light emitting device
In a non-impact printer that performs a printing process by irradiating light from the printer, a bit developed by the printing control unit is used.
The bit map in the scanning direction of the
If a part of the data signal is detected as a boundary data signal
In addition, the actual print data where the boundary data signal should be actually printed
Boundary detection means for outputting data signals
Specific pattern signal representing a mask pattern having an incidence
Pattern generating means for generating
Expanded bitmap data signal and pattern generation
Performs a logical AND with the specific pattern signal generated by the
To output the actual print data signal to be printed at the time of printing
Means, and a real mark output by the boundary detecting means.
Printing data signal and actual printing output by the gate means
The light emitting device has a data conversion circuit for supplying a logical sum with a data signal to the light emitting element .

[0009]

According to the non-impact printer of the present invention,
The bitmap data signal developed by the print controller is
The data is supplied to the light emitting element via the data conversion circuit. That
At the time, inside the data conversion circuit, it is developed by the print control unit
In the scanning direction of the bitmap data signal
Boundary detection as part of the bitmap signal as a boundary data signal
The boundary data signal detected by the means
Is output as an actual print data signal. Hand on the gate
In the column, the bitmap data developed by the print control unit is displayed.
Pattern and the specific pattern generated by the pattern generator
Logical product of the actual print data
Output as a signal. Then, the data conversion circuit
For optical elements, the actual mark output by the boundary detection means
Print data signal and the actual print data output by the gate means.
The logical OR with the data is supplied.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the above-described conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a data conversion circuit according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer unit control circuit according to the present invention. First,
In FIG. 2, the components indicated by reference numerals 1 to 17 are as described in the above conventional example. In this embodiment,
A data conversion circuit 20 is provided between the print control unit 1 and the LED head (light emitting element) 14, and the data conversion circuit 20 is developed based on print data received from a higher-level device (not shown). A bitmap data signal (a);
Clock (CK) that provides a time reference for data transmission and reception
A signal (b) and a timing signal (c) generated each time one line of print data is received from the host device are input from the print control unit 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the data conversion circuit 20 mainly includes a boundary detection circuit section 21, a pattern generation circuit section 22, and a gate circuit section 23. First, the configuration of the boundary detection circuit unit 21 will be described.
Is supplied from a D-type flip-flop (hereinafter, simply referred to as a flip-flop)
24 D (data) inputs. Flip-flop 24
Is the D (data) input of the flip-flop 25, and the Q output of the flip-flop 25 is the D (data) input of the flip-flop 26. The clock signal (b) output from the print control unit 1 is input to each of the flip-flops 24, 25, and 26.

Meanwhile, to one input terminal of the AND circuit 27 the Q output of the flip-flop 25 is, and the other input terminal Q _N outputs of the flip-flop 24 (the inverted signal of the Q output) is inputted. Moreover, to one input terminal of the AND circuit 28 Q _N outputs of the flip-flop 26 and the other input terminal Q output of the flip-flop 25 are inputted respectively. Further, the output of the AND circuit 27 is input to one input terminal of the OR circuit 29, and the output of the AND circuit 28 is input to the other input terminal.

Next, the pattern generation circuit section 22 will be described. This is the first counter 30 which is a first measurement section.
, A second counter 31 as a second measuring unit, and a pattern generating unit 32 for generating a specific pattern signal. First, the clock signal (b) is input to the first counter 30, and the timing signal (c) is input to the second counter 31. Thereby, the first counter 30 measures the clock signal (b) and supplies the measured value to the pattern generation unit 32, and the second counter 31 measures the timing signal (c) and transmits the measured value to the pattern generation unit 32. Give to 32. The pattern generation unit 32 is configured by, for example, a logic circuit, specifies a print position based on the measurement values given from the first counter 30 and the second counter 31, and specifies a specific pattern signal corresponding to the specified print position. Generate

The gate circuit section 23 includes, for example, the AND circuit 3
The Q output of the flip-flop 25 is input to one input terminal of the AND circuit 33, and the output of the pattern generation circuit unit 22 (pattern generation unit 31) is input to the other input terminal. You.

Further, the output of the boundary detection circuit section 21 (OR circuit 29) is provided at one input terminal of the OR circuit 34, and the gate circuit section 23 (AND circuit 33) is provided at the other input terminal.
Are input, and the output of the OR circuit 34 is transferred to the LED head 14 which is a light emitting element.

Next, the operation of the non-impact printer of this embodiment will be described. First, when a control signal (d) and a video signal (e) are received from a host device such as a personal computer, the print control unit 1 expands the print data received from the host device into a bitmap data signal (a) based on the control signal (d) and the video signal (e). This is supplied to the data conversion circuit 20. FIG. 3 shows an example of a character pattern developed on the bitmap data signal (a) by the print control unit 1. In the case of the example shown in FIG. Are displayed in a matrix.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing the operation of the data conversion circuit 20 when performing data conversion on the uppermost pattern of the character pattern shown in FIG. First, when the bitmap data signal (a) is received from the print control unit 1, the Q outputs of the flip-flops 24, 25, and 26 sequentially rise to the Hi level in synchronization with the clock signal (b). At this time, Q of the flip-flop 24
_{When both the N} output and the Q output of the flip-flop 25 become Hi level, the output signal of the AND circuit 27 rises to the Hi level, and both the Q output of the flip-flop 25 and the Q _N output of the flip-flop 26 become Hi level. Then, the output signal of the AND circuit 28 rises to the Hi level. The output signal of the OR circuit 29 is
7 rises to the Hi level or when the output signal of the AND circuit 28 rises to the Hi level.

Here, the output signal of the OR circuit 29 is a boundary data signal in the scanning direction of the original character pattern (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3), and this boundary data signal is used as the actual print data signal (f). It is supplied from the detection circuit section 21 to the LED head 14 via the OR circuit 34. FIG. 5 shows an output pattern when printing processing is performed based on the actual print data signal (f) transmitted from the boundary detection circuit unit 21. At this time, only the outline portion of the original character pattern is marked with a “●” mark. Are displayed in a bit pattern indicated by the symbol, whereby only the outline of the character “A” is emphasized.

On the other hand, in the pattern generating circuit section 22, the first counter 30 measures a clock signal (b) for detecting the boundary data signal, and outputs a timing signal (c) for line feed to the second counter 31. Measure. Then, in the pattern generation unit 32, the first counter 30 and the second counter
The print position is specified based on the value measured by the counter 31, a specific pattern signal corresponding to the print position is generated, and the generated signal is output to the gate circuit unit 23.

In response to this, in the gate circuit section 23, when the Q output of the flip-flop 25 and the output of the pattern generation circuit section 22 are both at Hi level, the output signal of the AND circuit 33 rises to Hi level, LED head 1 via OR circuit 34 as actual print data signal (g)
4 That is, the gate circuit unit 23 supplies the specific pattern signal given from the pattern generation circuit unit 22 to the LED head 14 as the actual print data signal (g) only when there is the bitmap data signal (a).

FIG. 6 is a diagram in which the character pattern based on the boundary data signal and the mask pattern based on the specific pattern signal are superimposed. In an actual printing process, the actual print data signal (g) supplied from the gate circuit unit 23 is shown. As a result, dot printing is also performed at the printing position indicated by the “◆” mark in the figure. Incidentally, in the mask pattern shown in FIG.
As an example, the case where the dot generation rate of the mask pattern by the specific pattern signal is set to 25% as shown by the dotted mesh part in the figure is displayed.

Thus, the actual print data signal ((f) + (g)) is supplied from the data conversion circuit 20 to the LED head 14, and the electric charge corresponding to the actual print data signal ((f) + (g)) is supplied. When a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum by light irradiation from the LED head 14 and a predetermined printing process is performed,
The original character pattern shown in FIG. 3 is printed as an output pattern as shown in FIG. In the print output pattern shown in FIG. 7, the outline of the character "A" is emphasized, and the inside of the outline is modified according to the dot arrangement of the specific pattern signal.

In the above description of the embodiment, the case where the dot generation rate of the mask pattern by the specific pattern signal is set to 25% has been described as an example, but the setting of the dot generation rate in the pattern generation unit 32 is appropriately changed. By doing
The interior of the outline of the character pattern can be modified in various forms. FIG. 8 shows a case where the dot generation rate of the mask pattern by the specific pattern signal is set to 50%. In this case, the arrangement of the mark “◆” shown in FIG. The dot printing is performed at the printing position of the mark “◆”, and the inside of the outline of the character “A” is modified.

In the configuration of this embodiment, the print control unit 1
Although the pattern conversion circuit 20 is provided between the LED head 14 and the LED head 14, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the pattern conversion circuit 20 can be incorporated in the LED head 14, which is a light emitting element.

Further, in the present embodiment, the first counter 30, which is the first measuring means, and the second counter 30, which is the second measuring means,
Pattern generator 3 composed of counter 31 and logic circuit
The pattern generation circuit section 22 can be simply configured only by a combination of three digital circuits such as 2.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Bitmap data signal developed by the print control unit
Is supplied to the light emitting element through the data conversion circuit.
The same as normal processing (processing that does not require emphasis or modification)
During processing time, you can emphasize the outline of the characters to be printed,
The interior of the outline can be modified and printed.
As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the processing time for emphasizing the outline of the character or modifying the inside of the outline for printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a data conversion circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer unit control circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character pattern.

FIG. 4 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the data conversion circuit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output pattern based on a boundary data signal.

FIG. 6 is a diagram in which patterns are overlapped with each other.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a print pattern based on an actual print data signal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another specific pattern.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a printer unit control circuit in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 data conversion circuit 21 boundary detection circuit unit (boundary detection unit) 22 pattern generation circuit unit (pattern generation unit) 23 gate circuit unit (gate unit) 30 first counter (first measurement unit) 31 second counter (second unit) Measurement means) 32 pattern generator

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FIG09G 5/24 620 (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 2/485 B41J 2/44 B41J 2 / 45 B41J 2/455 B41J 2/505 G09G 5/24 620

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing print data received from the host device
Developed into a bitmap data signal by the control unit, and applied to light irradiation from a light emitting element based on the bitmap data signal.
Therefore, in a non-impact printer that performs a printing process, a bitmap data signal developed by the print control unit is transmitted.
Part of the bitmap data signal in the scanning direction of the signal
Is detected as a boundary data signal, and the boundary data is detected.
Data signal as the actual print data signal to be actually printed.
A boundary detection means for applying a force, and a mask having a predetermined dot generation rate.
A putter that generates a specific pattern signal that represents a disk pattern
Generating means, and a bit developed by the print control unit.
Generated by the map data signal and the pattern generating means.
The logical product of the specified pattern signal and the actual
Gate means for outputting as a print data signal,
The actual print data signal output by the
On the actual print data signal output by the gate means
A non-impact printer comprising a data conversion circuit for supplying Riwa to the light emitting element . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pattern generation unit measures a clock signal for detecting the boundary data signal, a second measurement unit that measures a line feed timing signal, and the first measurement unit. 2. A pattern generating unit for specifying a printing position based on a measurement value obtained by the unit and the second measuring unit and generating a specific pattern signal corresponding to the printing position. Non-impact printer.