JP3321323B2 - Print management method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print management technique for a printer, and more particularly to the handling of print data in consideration of a reduction in memory capacity, mainly for expanding print data into a print buffer and transferring the print data from the print buffer to the printer. The present invention relates to a technology that is effective when applied to a print management method for performing an operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a printer which develops print data in a print buffer and transfers the print data from the print buffer for printing, when printing one page of print data, a reduction in memory capacity is considered. There are three types of print management methods, which will be described below in order. It is assumed that the print data for one page is composed of one line of mechanical data of “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D” as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

First, a first print management method is a method in which a print buffer has a capacity of one logical line. When printing one page of print data shown in FIG. 6 by this method,
As shown in FIG. 7, the line data is expanded in the print buffer,
Since the transfer of the contents of the print buffer to the printer must be sequentially repeated, there is much waste of printing time. This method is hereinafter referred to as “prior art 1”.

[0004] In order to eliminate the waste of printing time in the prior art 1, a method of providing a print buffer for a plurality of lines is generally known. According to this method (hereinafter referred to as “prior art 2”), as shown in FIG. 8, the line data can be developed into the print buffer and the contents of the print buffer can be apparently transferred to the printer at the same time. The printing time can be reduced as compared with the technique 1.

However, when a logical line exists over a plurality of mechanical lines as shown in FIG. 9, in the prior art 2, as shown in FIG. And the transfer of the contents of the print buffer to the printer must be repeated twice, which increases the printing time. In this case, it is apparent that the printing time similarly increases in the related art 1.

In the case where a logical row exists over a plurality of mechanical rows, Conventional Technique 3 is considered in order to eliminate the increase in printing time in Conventional Techniques 1 and 2. A printing example in the case where a logical line exists over a plurality of mechanical lines in the prior art 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the prior art 3, three or more print buffers are provided, and print data is sequentially and alternately stored in the print buffers. At this time, the input data of the logical line extending over two or more mechanical lines is expanded into two or more print buffers, and the print data already expanded in the print buffer is transferred to the printer. The control is performed repeatedly. Such conventional technologies 1
No. 3 is described in JP-A-6-19652.

[0008]

However, in the print management method of the prior art 3 as described above, the efficiency of the CPU is improved and the printing time is shortened as compared with the prior art 2, but three or more print management methods are used. , The capacity of the memory is increased as compared with the prior arts 1 and 2.

Further, in the prior arts 1, 2, and 3, when a logical line is present across a mechanical width that can be printed on one line, a portion where the logical line extends, that is, in FIG. Since the data is transferred to the printer separately from the portions that do not straddle the characters "B", "D", and "F", the processing speed increases when these methods are applied to a line printer.

This is because the line printer performs printing every time print data is transferred. In particular,
In a line printer that performs printing by operating a print head, the number of operations of the print head increases, and the printing speed increases more remarkably.

Further, when the conventional method 1, the conventional method 2 and the conventional method 3 are applied to a line printer which performs printing by operating a print head, it is necessary to superimpose a plurality of rows by operating the print head. In addition, there is a possibility that the print quality may not be guaranteed due to a mechanical shift in the operation of the print head.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to develop a print data into a print buffer and to transfer the print data from the print buffer to a printer in consideration of a reduction in the memory capacity, especially when the print data can be printed on one line in a mechanical height. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print management method capable of improving printing speed and improving print quality while reducing memory capacity when print data of a plurality of lines overlap.

[0013]

A print management method according to the present invention relates to handling of print data in consideration of a reduction in memory capacity, and the capacity of this print buffer is set to [(1 of a print head).
1 line mechanical height that can be printed in one horizontal movement +
This is applied to a print management method of (character height of one line which is the height of a character) × (horizontal size of paper), and expands print data of one logical line from the head of the print buffer. Repeating the first step and this first step,
A second step of transferring the mechanical one-line print data to the printer when the head of the arbitrary print data exceeds the mechanical one-line height position from the head of the print buffer; And a third step of returning to the first step using the position where the next print data is developed as the head of the print buffer.

In particular, this print management method is used for a line printer that performs printing by moving a print head to the left and right, and furthermore, there are logically multiple lines of characters within a width that can be printed on one mechanical line. This is used in the case where

[0015]

According to the above-described print management method, in the print data expansion step, print data transfer step, and return step to the expansion step in which the capacity of the print buffer is limited, the print data of the line being processed and the next and subsequent lines are read. Print data is superimposed on the internal print buffer, and printing is performed when the top position of the print data exceeds the width of one mechanical line. In the management method, the print data is transferred to the printer by the number of logical print data lines. However, the print management method according to the present invention reduces the number of times the print data is transferred from the print buffer to the printer as compared with the conventional method. As a result, the printing time can be reduced.

In a line printer in which the print head operates left and right, for example, in a line printer such as an impact system, the print head operates left and right every time print data is transferred from the print buffer to the printer. By applying the management method, the number of times of transfer of print data from the print buffer to the printer can be reduced as compared with the conventional method, so that the number of operations of the print head can be reduced as compared with the conventional impact line printer. As a result, the printing time can be reduced.

Further, when there are logically plural lines of characters within the width that can be printed on one mechanical line, the conventional method is used to transfer print data to the printer in logical line units. Although the upward movement of the head occurs, the print head is moved downward (normal direction) in the print management method of the present invention.
Therefore, the printing time can be reduced and the mechanical error associated with the operation of the print head can be eliminated as compared with the conventional method, and the printing quality can be improved.

Thus, the print data with the memory capacity limited to ((the height of one mechanical line + the height of one logical line) × the horizontal size of the paper) is developed into the print buffer and the In the transfer to the printer, especially when the print data of a plurality of logical lines are overlapped in the mechanical height capable of printing in one line, the print speed is improved while reducing the memory capacity, and Printing quality can be improved.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printer controller according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing result of an event which is an object of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a comparison with this embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of the printer according to the conventional method in the case, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control of print management according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of the printer according to the present embodiment.

First, the configuration of the controller of the printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The controller of the printer according to the present embodiment is applied to, for example, a line printer in which a print head moves left and right, an input unit 1 for inputting a command and selecting an appropriate character font, and a character storing a character font. A font section 2, a print management section 3 for expanding print data in a print buffer and transferring the print data expanded in the print buffer to the print section, a print buffer 4 for expanding print data,
It comprises a printing unit 5 for printing the transferred print data.

The present embodiment is particularly directed to the operation of the print management unit 3 which is a feature of the present invention. In the control of the print management unit 3, [(A single operation of the print head in the horizontal direction is performed. The print data is expanded in the print buffer 4 having a capacity of (a logical one line height which is the height of one line that can be printed + the height of a character) × the horizontal size of paper, and the printing unit 5 Each time the print data is transferred, the printing operation of the printer is performed.

Next, regarding the operation of the present embodiment, a printing result of an event to which the present invention is applied will be described first with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the line printer,
Depending on the setting of the line feed amount and the designation of the vertical enlargement of characters, the print data of the first and second logical lines may overlap. In this case, in the conventional method, one of the logical rows
After printing the line, the print head is at the position shown at 201. Therefore, in order to print the second logical line, the print head must be moved to the position indicated by 202.

Here, for a concrete comparison with the print management method of the present embodiment, the operation of the printer when the conventional method is applied to obtain a print result as shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. .

First, the print data "A", "B", and "C" of the logical first line are edited in the print buffer (30).
1) Print on the first line of printer paper (302, 30)
3). At this time, the print head print data "A",
It operates twice in the horizontal direction to print the upper half and the lower half of “B” and “C”. Then, the print head is moved to the printing start position of the second line (304).

Next, after clearing the print buffer, the print data "D", "E", and "F" of the logical second line are edited in the print buffer (305), and the second line of the printer paper is edited. Print (306, 307). At this time, the print head operates once upward with a reverse line feed in the vertical direction to print the upper half of the print data “D”, “E”, and “F”, and then print data “D”, “E”. , "F" operate twice in the horizontal direction to print the upper and lower halves.

Therefore, according to the conventional method, when the print data of the first and second logical lines overlap, the print head is moved four times in the horizontal direction to obtain the print result as shown in FIG. It will operate once in the direction.

On the other hand, in the printing management method of the present embodiment, the following is performed based on the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 5 shows the state of the development of print data in the print buffer 4 and the state of printing on printer paper in the present embodiment, which will be described in accordance with the processing procedure.

First, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the character height is twice the mechanical line height, and the print buffer 4 is set to [(mechanical line height × 3) × width of paper. Size]. When the present embodiment is applied to the conventional method, the size of the print buffer 4 is [(mechanical line height × 1) × the horizontal size of the paper] in the conventional method 1, and [( In the conventional method 3, [(mechanical line height × 3) × (mechanical line height × 2) × paper horizontal size]
× paper horizontal size] minutes.

First, in step 401, print data is developed from the development start position of the print buffer 4, and in step 402, the start position of the print buffer 4 is moved to the development start position of the next data.

In step 403, it is determined whether or not the development start position of the print buffer 4 has moved below the width of one mechanical line. If not, the process returns to step 401, and On the other hand, if it has moved, the developed data is transferred to the printing unit 5 in step 404. Data printing is performed during the processing of step 404.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, print data "A", "B",
After editing "C", the print data of the logical second line is edited in the print buffer 4 (501).

At this time, the head of the print data of the second line is 1
Since it exceeds the mechanical line width of the line, the mechanical first line is printed (502). In this case, the print head is
Works twice.

Next, in step 405, it is determined whether or not the development of the print data has been completed. If the processing has been completed, the processing is terminated. The process from step 401 is repeated with the top of 4 as the start position of the next data.

That is, as shown in FIG.
After printing the line (502), the contents of the print buffer 4 are cleared and the head of the print buffer 4 is set as the head position of the print data of the second mechanical line.

Further, after the contents of the print buffer 4 are cleared, the print data "D", "E",
"F" is edited in the print buffer (503). Next, the edit start position of the logical third line of print data is set to mechanical 1
At the point when the width of the line is about to be exceeded, a mechanical second line is printed (504). At this time, the print head operates once in the horizontal direction.

After printing, the lower end of the previous data becomes the head of the print buffer 4. The lower half of the print data "D", "E", and "F" is printed by operating the print head once in the horizontal direction after the end of editing the next data.

As a result, in the present embodiment, the operation of the print head in the horizontal direction is performed three times, and the operation of the print head in the horizontal direction is smaller than in the conventional method 1 shown in FIG. improves. Further, since there is no mechanical displacement caused by the upward movement of the print head, print quality is improved.

The print buffer 4 has one page, and
In the method of superimposing characters on the print buffer 4,
A printing speed and a printing quality equivalent to the conventional method 2 shown in FIG. 8 are obtained. However, in the conventional method 2 shown in FIG. 8, since the print buffer 4 has only [(mechanical line height × 3) × the horizontal size of the paper], the conventional method 2 has the print buffer 4 for one page. The memory capacity can be reduced in comparison.

Further, when the conventional method 3 which is a print management method in consideration of the reduction of the print buffer 4 is applied to this embodiment, the print buffer 4 becomes [(mechanical line height × 3) ×
In this embodiment, a reduction effect of the print buffer 4 equivalent to the conventional method 3 can be expected.

For example, in the case where the height of a character is equal to the height of a mechanical line, the size of the print buffer 4 is [(mechanical line height × 2) × horizontal size of paper] in the method of the present invention. ]
In contrast, in the conventional method 3, the print buffer 4 is [(mechanical line height × 3) × the horizontal size of the sheet]. Are better.

Therefore, according to the print management method in the printer of this embodiment, the print buffer 4 having a limited capacity is used, and the print data of the line being processed and the print data of the next and subsequent lines are stored in the internal print buffer 4. By superimposing the above data and performing printing when the leading position of the print data exceeds the width of one mechanical line, the following operation and effect can be obtained.

(1) Since superposition of a plurality of lines of print data is realized on the print buffer 4, a mechanical error due to the operation of the print head is eliminated, and print quality can be improved.

(2) Since the number of operations of the print head can be reduced, the printing speed can be improved.

(3) Since the print buffer 4 has only the capacity of [mechanical one line height + logical one line height] × paper horizontal size, the memory capacity can be reduced. Can be.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the printer according to the present embodiment has been particularly described as applied to a line printer which performs printing by the operation of a print head. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be applied to a page printer or the like. It is also applicable to the case of applying to.

When applied to this page printer,
Since the configuration of the controller is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, the processing flow of the print management unit is also the same as that shown in FIG. 4. Therefore, when printing print data in which a plurality of logical lines overlap, printing to the printing unit is performed. The number of times of transfer of print data is reduced as compared with the conventional method.

For this reason, even in a page printer, when printing print data in which a plurality of logical lines overlap, a reduction in print processing time can be expected. However, if the printer is not a printer that performs printing by the operation of the print head, the effect of reducing the print processing time by reducing the operation of the print head cannot be expected. Only effects can be expected.

[0052]

According to the present invention, the print data of the line being processed and the print data of the next and subsequent lines are superimposed on the internal print buffer, and the leading position of the print data is set to a mechanical one.
Since printing is performed at the point in time when the line width is exceeded, the number of times of transfer of print data from the print buffer to the printer can be reduced, so that the printing time can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, the number of times that print data is transferred from the print buffer to the printer can be reduced. Therefore, in a line printer in which the print head moves left and right, the number of times the print head operates can be reduced. Therefore, the printing time can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the print head operates only in the downward direction, when there are logically multiple lines of characters within the width that can be printed on one mechanical line, the print time is reduced. The reduction and the mechanical error accompanying the operation of the print head are eliminated, and the print quality can be improved.

As a result, in the present invention, the print buffer is set to [(mechanical one line height + logical one line height) ×
The memory capacity is reduced by having only the [width of the paper], and the operation of the print head when a plurality of logical lines overlap in a mechanical width that can be printed on one line in a line printer is reduced. Therefore, printing speed and printing quality can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a controller of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a print result of an event that is a target of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of a printer according to a conventional method when compared with the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating print management control according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of the printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing print data for one page in a printer as an example of the related art.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a print execution example in a printer which is an example of a conventional technique.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of printing execution in a printer as an example of the related art.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a print execution example in a case where a plurality of logical lines exist over a plurality of mechanical lines in a printer which is an example of the related art.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of executing printing when a printer, which is an example of the related art, includes a plurality of mechanical lines and a plurality of logical lines.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing still another print execution example in a case where a plurality of logical lines extend over a plurality of mechanical lines in a printer as an example of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... input section, 2 ... character font section, 3 ... print management section, 4 ... print buffer, 5 ... print section.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Natsuhiko Hirayama 1-Horiyamashita, Hadano-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akira Honda 810 Shimo-Imaizumi, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Hitachi, Ltd. Office System Division (56) References JP-A-63-72556 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] [(1) The height of one mechanical line that can be printed by one horizontal operation of the print head + the height of a plurality of mechanical lines
Comprising a print buffer with a capacity of horizontal size] height) × sheet logical one row consisting of the print management method in consideration of the reduction of memory capacity carries out the handling of the print data using the print buffer A first step of expanding the logical one line of print data from the head of the print buffer; and repeating the first step, and the head of any print data is A second step of transferring the print data of one mechanical line to the printer when it is attempted to exceed the position of one mechanical line height; Return to the first step as the beginning of the buffer;
And a print management method. 2. The print management method according to claim 1, wherein:
A print management method, wherein the print management method is used for a line printer that performs printing by operating the print head left and right. 3. The print management method according to claim 1, wherein in the line printer to which the print management method is applied, the logical plurality of lines are printed within a width that can be printed on the mechanical one line. A print management method used when characters exist.