JP3181776B2 - Image recording apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for mounting an external storage device such as a memory card and recording input image data on a recording medium, and a control method therefor .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electrically rewritable memory card has been used for storing various information of an image recording apparatus and for giving various information to the image recording apparatus.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, even if a dedicated writing device is required to rewrite the contents of the memory card, or if the image recording device itself rewrites the contents of the memory card, the contents are rewritten. It is necessary to separately supply a control program for rewriting the contents of the memory card to the image recording apparatus separately from the memory card to be used.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a dedicated device for rewriting the contents of an external storage device such as a memory card or a medium for supplying a rewriting control program. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of rewriting the contents of an external storage device such as a memory card and a control method thereof .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a control program for rewriting the storage content itself of a rewritable external storage means is previously stored in a predetermined area. An image recording apparatus for recording image data on a recording medium to which the external storage means can be attached, wherein the control program is read from the external storage means and stored in a memory, and then stored in the external storage means. Erasing means for erasing the control program from the external storage means. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the erasing unit erases the control program stored in the external storage unit from the external storage unit by activating the control program stored in the memory. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control program stored in the memory writes new data to the external storage means. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the new data is input data from an external device of the image recording apparatus. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, image data is recorded on a recording medium to which the external storage unit in which a control program for rewriting the storage content itself of the rewritable external storage unit is previously stored in a predetermined area can be mounted. A method for controlling an image recording apparatus, comprising: after reading out the control program from the external storage unit and storing the control program in a memory, erasing the control program stored in the external storage unit from the external storage unit. It has. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the erasing step, the control program stored in the external storage unit is deleted from the external storage unit by activating the control program stored in the memory. As the present invention according to claim 7, the control program stored in the memory includes a writing step of writing new data to the external storage unit. According to another aspect of the present invention, the new data is input data from an external device of the image recording apparatus.

[0006]

According to the first and fifth aspects of the present invention, for example, a control program for rewriting the contents of a memory card is stored in advance in the memory card as external storage means, and the control program is stored in an image recording apparatus. After the control program stored in the memory provided in the memory card is deleted, the control program stored in the memory card in advance can be erased. Thereby, it is possible to provide a memory card and the like that can rewrite the contents of an external storage device without requiring a separate medium for supplying a control program for rewriting the data contents in the memory card. it can. In addition, by erasing the control program stored in the memory card in advance, data can be written to the entire storage area of the external storage means, and the external storage device can be usefully specified. According to the second and sixth aspects of the present invention, the control program itself can have a function of deleting the control program stored in the memory card in advance. According to the third and seventh aspects of the present invention, new data can be stored in the memory card by the control program stored in the memory of the image recording apparatus. Claims 4 and 8
According to the present invention, new data to be recorded on the memory card can be used as input data from an external device of the image recording apparatus. Can be recorded on a memory card.

[0007]

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

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser beam printer (printing apparatus) according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an input / output control unit which inputs document information and recording data such as image data from an external device such as a host computer (not shown), and transmits information such as the status of the printer to the host computer or the like. To an external device to perform input / output control with the external device.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a page memory having a capacity capable of recording at least one page of recording data input through the input / output control unit 1. The recording data input from the external device includes image information (image data), graphic information (data for drawing a graphic), and document information (character code).
And various kinds of control information (for example, a command for instructing a specific character to perform an emphasis process) for instructing an output form of the information.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a character generator which stores font pattern data corresponding to the character code. When the character information stored in the page memory 2 comprises the character code, the main controller 4 When these character codes are input, the corresponding pattern data is output to the main control unit 4.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a main control unit which controls the entire printer, for example, a CPU 41 such as a microprocessor,
A ROM 42 storing a control program executed by the CPU 41 and various data; and a RAM used as a work area while the CPU 41 operates according to the control program.
43 and the like.

The main control unit 4 sequentially reads out the recording data stored in the page memory 2 and, if it is a character code, causes the character generator unit 3 to generate character pattern data and sequentially develop it in the bit map memory 5. are doing. Thus, the bitmap image for one page is developed in the bitmap memory 5.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a scan buffer, which is a buffer 60 for reading and storing one line at a time in the bitmap image stored in the bitmap memory 5.
And 61. Here, two buffers 60, 6
1 is provided because when the content of one buffer is read and output to the image forming unit 8 through the parallel / serial converter 7, the other buffer inputs and stores the image data of the next line. This is to make it possible. When one line of image data is output to the image forming unit 8, the read buffer is switched. Further, the image data of the next line is transferred and stored in the buffer whose output has been completed at this time. Thereafter, by performing the processing while alternately switching the buffers, high-speed printing is enabled.

In general, the recording method in a laser beam printer is such that a laser beam from a semiconductor laser element whose light emission is turned on / off is scanned and exposed on a photosensitive drum based on image data, and a known electrophotographic recording method is used. An image is formed on the recorder. One line of image data for scanning exposure is converted into serial data via a parallel-serial converter 7 in order to use the image data for a semiconductor laser element as a drive signal. The image forming unit 8 actually records an image based on a signal (video signal) converted into serial data.

When recording external characters, logo marks, and the like created by the user on the host on the memory card, first, the printer uses the memory card input / output control unit 10 to rewrite the card contents recorded in the memory card. Is read and stored in the RAM 43.

Thereafter, the control program stored in the RAM 43 is activated, and the control program recorded on the memory card is deleted. A flash memory, an EEPROM, a ferroelectric memory, a battery-backed SRAM, or the like can be considered as a storage device of the memory card. When any of the above devices is used, the contents can be electrically erased. It is.

After the contents of the memory card are electrically erased, the data created on the host is received through the input / output control unit 1 and recorded on the memory card in accordance with the control program stored in the RAM 43.

Embodiment 2 In Embodiment 1 described above, the case where external characters, logo marks, and the like created by the user on the host are recorded on the memory card, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In FIG. 1, various settings such as a paper cassette, an external interface, and a page description language set by a command from the operation panel unit 9 or the host, or a combination of these settings may be recorded.

For example, by registering various setting conditions of a printer in a memory card and programming the printer to read the contents of the memory card when the power of the printer is turned on, the user can start up the printer with desired settings. .

Embodiment 3 FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer according to a third embodiment. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

When recording external characters and logos created by the user on the host and various settings of the printer on the memory card, the printer is first recorded on the memory card through the memory card input / output control unit 10. The control program for rewriting the card contents is read out and stored in the flash memory unit 44.

Thereafter, the control program stored in the flash memory unit 44 is activated, and the control program recorded on the memory card is erased. Subsequent operations are the same as those in the first and second embodiments.

As described above, by storing the control program for rewriting the card contents supplied by the memory card in the nonvolatile flash memory in the printer, the control program can be stored even if the power of the printer is turned off. By reading the control program stored in the flash memory unit 44 without loss, the contents of the memory card can be rewritten any number of times.

In the above embodiment, a memory card using an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory stores external characters and logos created by a user on a host, and various setting contents of a printer. Has been described, but the application of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where a memory card is used as a printer buffer for storing print data.

In each of the embodiments described above, the laser beam printer has been described, but the application of the present invention is not limited to this.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to rewrite the contents of the external storage means without requiring a dedicated device for rewriting the contents of the external storage means such as a memory card or a medium for supplying a control program.

Further, since new data is written after erasing the control program in the external storage means, data can be written in the entire storage area of the external storage means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser beam printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser beam printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input / output control unit 2 page memory 3 character generator 4 main control unit 5 bitmap memory 6 scan buffer 7 parallel / serial conversion unit 8 image forming unit 9 operation panel 10 memory card input / output control unit 41 CPU 42 ROM 43 RAM 44 flash memory Unit 60 buffer 61 buffer

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-47968 (JP, A) JP-A-3-268139 (JP, A) JP-A-4-232077 (JP, A) JP-A-5-286180 (JP JP-A-3-15936 (JP, A) JP-A-63-68928 (JP, A) JP-A-57-27500 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB Name) B41J 5/30 G06F 3/12

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] An image recording apparatus for recording image data on a recording medium capable of mounting said external storage means in which a control program for rewriting the storage content itself of the rewritable external storage means in a predetermined area is mounted. And erasing means for erasing the control program stored in the external storage means from the external storage means after reading the control program from the external storage means and storing the control program in a memory. Image recording device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said erasing means erases said control program stored in said external storage means from said external storage means by activating said control program stored in said memory. 2. The image recording device according to 1. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control program stored in the memory writes new data to the external storage unit. 4. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the new data is input data from an external device of the image recording apparatus. 5. An image recording apparatus for recording image data on a recording medium to which said external storage unit in which a control program for rewriting the storage content itself of the rewritable external storage unit itself is stored in a predetermined area in advance can be mounted. A control method, comprising: after reading out the control program from the external storage unit and storing the control program in a memory, erasing the control program stored in the external storage unit from the external storage unit. Characteristic control method. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the erasing step erases the control program stored in the external storage unit from the external storage unit by activating the control program stored in the memory. 6. The control method according to 5. 7. The control method according to claim 5, wherein the control program stored in the memory includes a writing step of writing new data to the external storage unit. 8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein the new data is input data from an external device of the image recording device.