JP3313462B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a built-in printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving an image is provided with an image recording apparatus such as a thermal recording apparatus and a laser printer for recording an image such as a received image.

[0003] The thermal recording apparatus has a relatively simple structure and can be constructed at a low cost, and is suitable for miniaturization. Therefore, the thermal recording apparatus is widely used in relatively inexpensive popular type and small type facsimile apparatuses.

However, when this thermal recording apparatus is used, due to the characteristics of the thermal recording paper used as the recording paper,
There is a problem that the image is easily deteriorated due to heat, friction, chemicals, oxidation, and the like, and the preservability of the recorded image is poor.

[0005] Therefore, if a relatively inexpensive printer device which is commercially available as a hard copy device in a personal computer or the like is incorporated in a facsimile device as an image recording device, a facsimile device having good recorded image preservability can be produced at a relatively low cost. It is considered possible.

[0006]

However, such a conventional apparatus has the following disadvantages.

That is, a printer device is generally used for recording and outputting graphic characters, and has a different data structure from that of a facsimile device that records an image in line units. Simply incorporated into a facsimile apparatus cannot be used as an image recording apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a facsimile apparatus incorporating a commercially available printer apparatus and capable of efficiently recording an image.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an external interface for inputting character code data for each character, and a parallel printing for outputting to a printing unit using recording data input independently of the external interface. A printer device having a gate circuit that gates data in units of bits and outputs a print timing signal indicating the output timing of print pattern data corresponding to the character code data is built in, while the arrangement of facsimile image data is raster-scanned. Orthogonal transform means for transforming from a direction to a direction orthogonal to the raster scan direction;
Outputting the character code data representing all black characters to the external interface means, inputting the print timing signal in response thereto, and converting the image data output from the orthogonal transform means into a format which can be input by the printing unit. The printer interface means for transferring the converted print pattern data to the gate circuit in synchronism with the input of the print timing signal for the same data length as the parallel print data, and the orthogonal transform means Are provided, and an image corresponding to the print pattern data is replaced and recorded at the recording position of the all black character. Also,
The orthogonal transformation means may store the facsimile image data after the orthogonal transformation in a free area of the plurality of work buffers.

[0010]

Therefore, when converting facsimile image data into printer recording data, it is possible to use a plurality of work buffers for orthogonal transformation processing of data requiring the longest processing time, so that printer recording data is continuously created. And the processing time during data conversion can be reduced.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a group 3 facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a control unit 1 performs a control process of each unit of the facsimile apparatus, a printer interface control process for exchanging data with a printer (described later), and a facsimile transmission control procedure process. The system memory 2 stores a control processing program to be executed by the control unit 1 and various data necessary for executing the processing program, and constitutes a work area of the control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 stores various information unique to the group 3 facsimile apparatus.

The scanner 4 is for reading an original image at a predetermined resolution.
Is connected to one of the printer interface circuit 7 and the external connector 8.

The printer 6 has a predetermined resolution (for example, 3
60 (dot / 25.4 (mm)) for recording and outputting an image, and has a signal interface function conforming to the so-called Centronics interface specification. Various data are exchanged between the devices.

The printer interface circuit 7 realizes a physical connection circuit function among signal interface functions conforming to the Centronics interface specification, and at the time of data recording, synchronizes with a load clock LDCK output from the printer 6, It outputs recording data PDT of an 8-bit parallel signal. The operation display unit 9 is for operating the facsimile machine, and includes various operation keys and various displays.

The encoding / decoding section 10 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal.
Implements an orthogonal transformation process for converting the arrangement direction of the facsimile image signals and a resolution conversion process for converting the facsimile image signals to the recording resolution of the printer 6. The image storage device 12 has a large capacity. It is composed of a RAM (random access memory) or the like, and is used to store a large number of image information in a coded and compressed state.

The group 3 facsimile modem 13 is for realizing a group 3 facsimile modem function, and is a low-speed modem function (V.21 modem) for exchanging transmission procedure signals and mainly exchanging image information. High-speed modem function (V.33 modem,
V. 29 modem, V.29. 27 ter modem).

The network controller 14 is for connecting the facsimile apparatus to a public telephone line network, and has an automatic transmission / reception function.

The control unit 1, the system memory 2,
Parameter memory 3, scanner 4, plotter 5, printer interface circuit 7, operation display unit 9, encoding / decoding unit 10, image processing device 11, image storage device 12, group 3 facsimile modem 13, and network control device 14.
Are connected to a system bus 15, and data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via the system bus 15.

Data exchange between the network controller 10 and the group 3 facsimile modem 9 is directly performed. The switching operation of the switching circuit 5 is controlled by the control unit 1.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the printer 6.

In FIG. 1, a recording control section 20 executes control processing of each section of the printer 6 and signal interface function control processing of the Centronics interface specification.

The input data buffer 21 is for temporarily storing recording data (character code data) input from an external connection terminal, and is a FIFO (first in first out).
Is configured. The image data buffer 22 holds data recorded by the print head at each recording position when the print head (not shown) moves once in the main scanning direction of recording. The font memory 23 stores character shape data (font data) for printing and recording graphic characters corresponding to character code data in a dot set for a predetermined character code set.

The paper transport section 24 transports recording paper (so-called plain paper) in the sub-scanning direction of recording.
The carriage driving unit 25 is for reciprocating a carriage (not shown) for moving the print head within a predetermined moving range.

The gate unit 26 uses the print data PDT input from the printer interface circuit 7 to gate the parallel print data output from the print control unit 20 in bit units and outputs the gated parallel print data to the print unit 27. It outputs a load clock LDCK indicating the output timing of print data.

Therefore, the recording control unit 20 takes out one character code data input from an external device and stored in the input data buffer 21, reads out the corresponding font data from the font memory 23, Image data buffer memory 22 corresponding to the character position
The read font data is stored at the address of. The process of expanding the character code data into font data (image data) is repeated until a line feed code is found.

Next, until the print head moves to the print start position designated by the external device, the carriage driving unit 2
5, the carriage is moved at a high speed. Thereafter, the carriage is moved at a lower printing mode speed, and the recording data corresponding to the printing position of the printing head is sequentially read from the image data buffer, and the printing data is read by the printing head. The print data is converted into print data (to be described later) for recording, and the print data is sent to the print unit 27.

When the printing operation by one movement of the carriage is completed, the paper transport unit 24 is driven in accordance with the feed amount specified by the external device, and the recording paper is moved by a distance corresponding to the feed amount in the line direction ( (Sub-scanning direction).

By repeating this operation, an image for one page is recorded. When the recording operation for one page is completed, the recording end page is discharged, and when recording the subsequent page, the recording paper of the next page is transported to the recording position.

Further, when the carriage is moved in one of the moving directions, the printing operation of the number of dots of the print head is performed, and the printing operation is performed twice during the reciprocation of the carriage to reduce the printing time. A printing operation mode is also provided.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the gate section 26.

In this embodiment, the printing unit 27 has a printing width of 64 dots in the vertical direction (ie, the sub-scanning direction of the recording paper), and this printing unit 27 is divided into eight blocks every eight dots. Has been split. Of the print data output from the recording control unit 20, the signals HCOM1 to HCOM8 (negative logic) are used to select one of the eight blocks to be driven for printing, and the signals HSEG1 to HSEG8 are for the selected block. This is for specifying the color (black or white) of each print dot. Also, the signal HSE
In G1 to HSEG8, the logical H level represents black, and the logical L level represents white.

The signals HCOM1 to HCOM8 are transmitted to the printing unit 2
7, and the signal HSE
G1 to HSEG8 are applied to the input terminal of the OR circuit 30, and AND circuits 31, 32, 33, 34, 3
5, 36, 37 and 38 are applied to one input terminal.

AND circuits 31, 32, 33, 34, 3
Bit data of the print data PDT output from the printer interface circuit 7 are added to the other input terminals of 5, 36, 37, and 38 in the bit order.

Here, for example, when printing data of all black characters, the recording control unit 20 performs one recording operation of the printing unit 27 as shown in FIGS. Output print data.

That is, the signals HCOM1 to HCOM8 are sequentially set to the logic L level for a predetermined period, and the blocks BL1, BL2, B
L3, BL4, BL5, BL6, BL7, and BL8 are selected, and all the signals HSEG1 to HSEG8 are set to a logic H level representing black in synchronization with the selected period.

Thus, each block BL1,
BL2, BL3, BL4, BL5, BL6, BL7, B
In L8, all the dots are printed in black (see FIG. 9 (q)), whereby all of the 64 dots in the printing unit 27 are printed in black.

When printing all black characters in this manner, all signals HCOM1 to HCOM8 are output.
Since the signals HSEG1 to HSEG8 are all set to the logic H level at the output timing of, all AND circuits 3
1, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38 become operable at the output timings of all the signals HCOM1 to HCOM8.

At the same time, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5P, a period in which at least one of the signals HSEG1 to HSEG8 rises to the logic H level at the output timing of all the signals HCOM1 to HCOM8. , The load clock LDCK rises to the logic H level (see (q) in the figure).

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 (r), the contents of the recording data PDT output from the printer interface 7 are converted into blocks BL1, BL2, BL3, BL4, BL4 at the falling timing of the load clock LDCK.
By sequentially changing the values to 5, BL6, BL7, and BL8, 64 bits of recording data PDT required for one printing operation of the printing unit 27 can be provided to the printing unit 27.

Now, for example, the printer 6 is set to 10 (characters /
When a printing operation is performed at a character interval of 25.4 (mm), one graphic character at this time has a size of 36 dots in the main scanning direction as shown in FIG. Therefore, one graphic character occupies a character box CPS of 36 dots in the main scanning direction and 64 dots (printing width of the printing unit 27) in the sub-scanning direction.

That is, by repeating the output processing of the recording data PDT described above 36 times, an image of a portion corresponding to one character box CPS can be recorded.

As described above, using the printer 6, 1
An image corresponding to the character box CPS can be recorded and output. By repeating this in accordance with the recording width, an image corresponding to one carriage scan can be recorded and output.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the printer 6
In the case of a character spacing of 10 (characters / 25.4 (mm)), a print width of 80 characters is provided in the main scanning direction. Therefore, the total number of print dots in the main scanning direction in this case is 28
It becomes 80 dots.

For example, when recording and outputting a facsimile received image, the control unit 1 decodes the facsimile image information into a line-based facsimile image signal by the encoding / decoding unit 10, and converts the facsimile image signal into an image processing unit 11.
And the resolution is converted to the printing resolution of the printer 6 to form print data. And
The print data is temporarily stored in a print data buffer as shown in FIG. This recording data buffer stores 2880 bits of data per line,
It has a storage capacity capable of storing 64 lines and is formed in the system memory 2.

Here, in the orthogonal transformation processing, the facsimile image data is data arranged in the main scanning direction, whereas the recording data PDT is data arranged in the sub scanning direction for 64 dots. This is performed because the direction of dividing data is different.

The image processing section 11 executes the following resolution conversion processing.

For example, if the resolution of a facsimile image signal is
8 (dots / mm) in the main scanning direction and 3.8 in the sub-scanning direction
When the recording resolution of the printer 6 is 360 (dots / 25.4 (mm)), as described above, at a so-called standard resolution of 5 (lines / mm), and in the main scanning direction, 17
A process of increasing the number of dots to 30 is performed, and a process of increasing the number of 17 dots (lines) to 62 in the sub-scanning direction is performed.

That is, in the main scanning direction, 17 dots of facsimile image data are extracted, and 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 1
The contents of the 3, 14, 15, and 17 dots are each increased to 2 dots, and the contents of the 4, 8, 12, and 16 dots are taken one dot at a time, and 30 dots are printed in a state where the dot order is preserved. Form the data.

In the sub-scanning direction, 1,4,8,11,
The 14th and 17th lines are each increased to 3 lines, and 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 1
The 5th and 16th lines are each increased to 4 lines, and 62 lines of print data are formed in a state where the line order is preserved.

As a result, the magnification in the main scanning direction after conversion is 99.6%, and the magnification in the sub-scanning direction is 99.1%.

Here, the case where the resolution of the facsimile image signal is a standard resolution of 8 (dots / mm) in the main scanning direction and 3.85 (lines / mm) in the sub-scanning direction has been described. For example, 8 in the main scanning direction
(Dots / mm) in the sub-scanning direction at 7.7 (lines / m
m), a resolution of 8 (dots / mm) in the main scanning direction and a resolution of 15.4 (lines / mm) in the sub-scanning direction (semi-super fine resolution). Execute the conversion process. For example, in the case of the detail resolution, 35 dots are increased to 64 dots in the sub-scanning direction, and in the case of semi-super fine resolution, 70 dots are reduced to 64 dots in the sub-scanning direction.

FIG. 9 shows an example of processing executed by the control unit 1 when recording and outputting an image of one facsimile document.

First, the control section 1 selects the printer interface circuit 7 by the switching circuit 5 because of the facsimile document recording operation. Then, the size of the empty area of the image storage device 11 is obtained, and the orthogonal transformation buffer for storing the data after the orthogonal transformation processing in the empty area is provided with the maximum number (at least at least) corresponding to the size of the empty area. 2 or more) (process 101).

Next, a page to be recorded is selected (Process 1).
02), the facsimile image information of the page is decoded by the encoding / decoding unit 10 to form an original facsimile image signal, and the orthogonal processing of the image processing unit 11 is started on the facsimile image signal (processing 103), the resolution (pixel density) conversion of the image processing unit 11 is started (process 104).

Until the recording operation for one page is completed, the carriage 1 scan recording process (process 105) of moving the carriage in one direction and performing the printing operation by the printing unit 27 is repeatedly performed (NO in decision 106). loop).

The recording operation for one page is completed, and a judgment 1 is made.
If the result of step 06 is YES, it is checked whether or not the recording operation has been completed for all pages of the facsimile document to be recorded and output (step 107). If the result of step 107 is NO, the process returns to step 102. The recording operation for the next page is performed. When the result of determination 107 is YES, a series of recording operations has been completed, and this processing is terminated.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the orthogonal transformation processing. This orthogonal transformation process is started by the main process and is executed in parallel with other processes.

First, a plurality of orthogonal transform buffers secured in the image storage device 11 are searched for unused ones (process 201), and this process is repeatedly executed until a usable orthogonal transform buffer is found. (NO loop of decision 202).

When a usable orthogonal transform buffer is found and the result of the judgment 202 is YES, the image information to be recorded at that time is decoded by the encoding / decoding section 10 and is processed in one processing unit (for example, 8 lines). ) Is formed (process 203), the obtained image signal is orthogonally transformed, and the converted data is stored in the orthogonal transform buffer selected at that time (process 204).

Then, it is checked whether or not the orthogonal transformation processing for one page has been completed (decision 205). If the result of decision 205 is NO, the process returns to the processing 201 and the next orthogonal transformation processing for one processing unit is performed. Execute. When the result of the determination 205 is YES, the orthogonal transformation processing ends.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the pixel density conversion process. . The pixel density conversion process is started by the main process and is executed in parallel with other processes.

First, it is determined whether or not data is stored in one or more orthogonal transformation buffers (decision 301).
When the result of the determination 301 is NO, the process waits until the processing data is stored in any of the orthogonal transformation buffers. When the processing data is stored, if the result of the judgment 301 is YES, it is checked whether or not the recording data buffer is empty (decision 302), and if the result of the judgment 302 is NO, the recording data buffer becomes empty. Wait until.

When the recording data buffer is empty, the judgment 302
Is YES, the data is extracted from the orthogonal transformation buffer storing the processing data at that time, the above-described pixel density conversion processing is executed, and the processing result data is stored in the recording data buffer ( Process 303).

Next, it is checked whether the processing for one page has been completed (step 304). If the result of the step 304 is NO, the process returns to the step 301 and the pixel density conversion processing for the next processing unit data is performed. Execute Also, judgment 3
When the result of step 04 is YES, this process ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, since a plurality of orthogonal transformation buffers are secured, the orthogonal transformation processing requiring the longest processing time at the time of recording and outputting an image is performed prior to the data recording operation to the printer 6. Since the recording operation of the printer 6 can be continuously performed,
The recording efficiency of the printer 6 is improved.

By the way, at the time of orthogonal transformation, for example, 8 × 8
It is also possible to find an all-white part for each processing unit of the image signal, and to store the all-white data directly in the orthogonal transformation buffer without performing the orthogonal transformation processing on the all-white part. In this case, since the orthogonal transformation is not performed on the all white portion, the processing time can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where facsimile image information is recorded and output has been described. However, the above-described processing can be similarly applied to a copy operation and a report image recording and output operation. .

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When converting facsimile image data into printer recording data, a plurality of work buffers can be used for orthogonal transformation processing of data requiring the longest processing time, so that printer recording data can be created continuously, The effect that the processing time at the time of conversion can be shortened is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a group 3 facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a printer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a gate unit.

FIG. 4 is an operation waveform diagram and a schematic diagram for describing a recording operation of a printing unit of the printer.

FIG. 5 is an operation waveform diagram for explaining an image data recording operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a character box.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a recording operation for one page of the printer.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining a print data buffer.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example when recording one document.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an orthogonal transformation process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a pixel density conversion process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 System memory 5 Switching circuit 6 Printer 7 Printer interface circuit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An external interface means for inputting character code data on a character basis, and parallel print data output to a printing unit using recording data input independently of the external interface means on a bit basis. While a printer device having a gate circuit for outputting a print timing signal representing the output timing of the print pattern data corresponding to the character code data is built in, the arrangement of the facsimile image data is orthogonal to the raster scan direction from the raster scan direction. An orthogonal transforming means for converting the character code data representing all black characters to the external interface means, and inputting the print timing signal in response thereto, and image data outputted from the orthogonal transforming means. The above printing section A printer interface means for transferring print pattern data obtained by converting the print pattern data into an inputtable format to the gate circuit in synchronism with the input of the print timing signal for each of the same data length as the parallel print data; An image processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of work buffers used by a conversion means for work; and replacing an image corresponding to the print pattern data at a recording position of the all black character and recording the image. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said orthogonal transformation means stores the facsimile image data after the orthogonal transformation in an empty area of said plurality of work buffers.