JP7191713B2 - Printer controller, printer control program, and printer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printer control device, a printer control program, and a printer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a queue-managed printing device that is shared via a host device corresponding to a plurality of users and sequentially performs print processing based on the priority and order of acceptance of print requests, print processing is performed ahead of other print requests. a waiting queue for collectively performing print processing after waiting until a predetermined amount of print requests are accumulated or a predetermined time elapses; a management unit that manages an index, decreases the index for a user who has sent a print request to the priority queue, and increases the index for a user who has sent a print request to the waiting queue. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-287425

By the way, conventional printing apparatuses (printers) do not control printing based on whether or not paper (printed paper) is placed in the discharge stacker. For example, when a certain number of sheets are accumulated in the discharge stacker, it may not be necessary to print immediately. Also, if there is no paper in the discharge stacker, it may be better to print immediately.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer control device, a printer control program, and a printer that can perform printing efficiently according to the amount of paper accumulated in a discharge stacker.

A printer control device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a number determination unit that determines whether bitmap image data held by a data storage unit of a printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets; a paper determination unit for determining whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker of the printer when it is determined that the number of sheets is not equal to or more than the number of minutes; When the print control section that does not print the bitmap image data held by the data holding section and the paper judgment section judge that there is paper in the discharge stacker, creation of bitmap image data for one job is completed. and a data creation end determination unit that determines whether or not . When the data creation end determination unit determines that the creation of the bitmap image data for one job is completed, the number determination unit is configured to store the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit in a predetermined number of copies. If the print control unit determines that the number of sheets is equal to or more than the predetermined number of sheets, the print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit.

It is possible to provide a printer control device, a printer control program, and a printer that efficiently print according to the amount of paper accumulated in a discharge stacker.

1 shows a printer 100 according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer 100 according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of a computer system that implements the printer control device 110. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the printer control device 110. FIG.

Embodiments to which a printer control device, a printer control program, and a printer according to the present invention are applied will be described below.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a printer 100 according to an embodiment. The printer 100 is connected to a PC (Personal Computer) or the like via a network, and performs print processing using print data input from the PC or the like. The network is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network).

The printer 100 has a discharge stacker 123A provided in the upper part of the housing 101, and the discharge stacker 123A is provided with a paper detection sensor 123B. The discharged paper stacker 123A is an example of a discharged paper stacker and stores paper printed and output by the printer 100 . The paper detection sensor 123B is a sensor that detects whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A. The paper detection sensor 123B may be any sensor capable of detecting whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A. For example, an infrared sensor or other various sensors can be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer 100 according to the embodiment. The printer 100 is connected to a plurality of PC1, PC2, etc. via a network. PC 1 , PC 2 , etc. can issue a print command (print request) to the printer 100 . A device such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory may be connected in addition to the PC1 and PC2, and the printer 100 may print data stored in the USB memory by user's operation.

The printer 100 includes a printer control device 110, a printer mechanism section 120, a display section (display) 130, a network interface (NW I/F (Network Interface)) 140, an operation section 150, and an interface (I/F (Interface)) 160. contains. An interface (I/F) is interposed between the printer control device 110 and the printer mechanism section 120 .

The printer control device 110 is implemented by a computer system including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like.

Printer control device 110 includes main control unit 111 , data reception unit 112 , print determination unit 113 , number of sheets determination unit 114 , paper determination unit 115 , print control unit 116 , data creation end determination unit 117 , and memory 118 .

The main control unit 111, the data receiving unit 112, the print determination unit 113, the number of sheets determination unit 114, the paper determination unit 115, the print control unit 116, and the data creation end determination unit 117 perform the functions of the programs executed by the printer control device 110. It is shown as a block. A memory 118 functionally represents the memory of the printer controller 110 .

The printer mechanism section 120 includes a paper feed mechanism 121 , a print mechanism 122 and a paper discharge mechanism 123 . Paper feed mechanism 121 includes a paper cassette. The printing mechanism 122 includes a drum and fuser. The paper ejection mechanism 123 includes a paper ejection stacker 123A for ejected printed paper and a paper detection sensor 123B.

The display unit 130 is a display that shows the operation contents of the printer 100 and the like. The network interface 140 is an interface that connects the printer control device 110 and the network connected to the PC1 and PC2. The operation unit 150 is a switch or the like for the user of the printer 100 to perform input operations such as setting of print contents. Operation unit 150 may include a touch panel provided integrally with display unit 130 . The interface 160 is an interface provided between the printer control device 110 and the printer mechanism section 120 .

Next, the printer control device 110 will be described.

The main control unit 111 is a control unit that supervises the control processing of the printer control device 110 . The main control unit 111 executes processes other than those performed by the data reception unit 112 , the print determination unit 113 , the number of sheets determination unit 114 , the paper determination unit 115 , the print control unit 116 , and the data creation end determination unit 117 .

The main control unit 111 also receives print commands from the PC1 and PC2, stores print data in the memory 118, creates bitmap data (bitmap expansion), stores bitmap data in the memory 118, and performs other processing. Run. The main control unit 111 associates the identification number, the print command, the print data, etc. received from the PC1 and the PC2 and stores them in the memory 118 .

The data receiving unit 112 receives print data from PC1 and PC2.

The print determination unit 113 determines whether printing is being performed by the print mechanism 122 of the printer mechanism unit 120 .

A number determination unit 114 determines whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the memory 118 of the printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets.

The paper determination unit 115 determines whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A based on the detection result output from the paper detection sensor 123B.

The print control unit 116 performs control processing as to whether or not printing is to be performed based on the determination result of the number determination unit 114 or the paper determination unit 115 .

The data creation end determination unit 117 determines whether or not the main control unit 111 has completed the creation of bitmap image data for one job.

The memory 118 stores a printer control program executed by the printer control device 110, data necessary for executing the printer control program, and the like. The memory 118 also stores print commands, print data, bitmap data, and the like. Memory 118 is an example of a data holding unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of a computer system that implements the printer control device 110. As shown in FIG.

The printer control device 110 has a CPU 51 , a memory 52 , a display 53 , an operation section 54 , an I/F 55 and a bus 56 . The CPU 51 , memory 52 , display 53 , operation unit 54 and I/F 55 are electrically connected to each other via a bus 56 .

The CPU 51 is an arithmetic unit that realizes control processing of the printer 100 by reading and executing a printer control program recorded in the memory 52 .

The memory 52 is a RAM, a ROM, an HDD, or the like, and is a storage device that stores the printer control program, data generated as a result of the CPU 51 executing the program, and the like. The RAM temporarily stores programs executed by the CPU 51 and temporarily stores bitmap image data created by the main control unit 111 . Programs executed by the CPU 51 are stored in the ROM or HDD. Memory 52 corresponds to memory 118 in FIG.

The display 53 corresponds to the display section 130 in FIG. 2, the operation section 54 corresponds to the operation section 150 in FIG. 2, and the I/F 55 corresponds to the network interface 140 and the interface 160 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing processing executed by the printer control device 110 . Referring to FIG. 4, processing executed by the printer control device 110 according to a print command received from the PC 1 will be described. The printer control device 110 performs similar processing in parallel in a multitasking manner with the PC 2 and each of the other devices.

When the process starts, the main control unit 111 starts receiving print data for one job from the PC 1 (step S1). One job is print processing performed by one print command from the PC 1 .

The data receiving unit 112 receives print data for one job from the PC 1 (step S2).

The main control unit 111 creates bitmap image data for one sheet from the print data received by the data receiving unit 112 in step S2 (step S3). The main control unit 111 stores the created bitmap image data in the memory 118 .

The print determination unit 113 determines whether the print mechanism 122 of the printer mechanism unit 120 is performing print processing (whether printing is in progress) (step S4). Whether or not the print mechanism 122 is performing print processing can be determined based on a signal representing the operating state that is input from the printer mechanism section 120 to the printer control device 110 via the interface 160 .

Further, in step S4, the print determining unit 113 determines NO when the continuous printing included in the same job is completed and the printing process is not performed by the printer mechanism unit 120, and the continuous printing included in the same job is determined to be NO. YES is determined while the printer mechanism unit 120 is performing normal printing. Whether continuous printing is included in the same job or not can be determined based on a signal representing the operating state input from the printer mechanism section 120 to the printer control device 110 via the interface 160 .

When the print determination unit 113 determines that the printing process has not been performed (S4: NO), the number determination unit 114 determines whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the memory 118 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets. (step S5). The predetermined number of sheets is three as an example. That is, it is determined whether or not the memory 118 holds bitmap image data for three sheets.

The reason why the determination in step S5 is performed is that printing a certain number of sheets at once can reduce the number of preliminary rotations (idle rotation) of the drum and reduce the consumption of toner associated with the preliminary rotation. Because you can.

When the sheet number determination unit 114 determines that the number of bitmap image data is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets (S5: NO), the sheet determination unit 115 sends a sheet to the discharge stacker 123A based on the detection result output from the sheet detection sensor 123B. It is determined whether or not there is paper (step S6).

The reason for determining whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A is as follows. The presence of paper in the discharge stacker 123A means that the user of the printer 100 (the user of the PC1) has not come to pick up the paper since the print command was sent from the PC1 to the printer 100 and the printing was performed. , and the need for immediate printing is relatively low.

Further, the fact that there is no paper in the discharge stacker 123A means that the user of the printer 100 has come to pick up the printed paper at a relatively early timing after printing, and the print data is received in step S2. Since it is expected that the paper will be picked up from the discharge stacker 123A at a relatively early timing after the printing, the necessity of printing immediately is relatively high.

In order to distinguish between these two situations, the printer 100 includes a paper detection sensor 123B, and the printer control device 110 changes the timing of printing according to the detection result of the paper detection sensor 123B.

When the paper determination unit 115 determines that there is no paper in the discharge stacker 123A (S6: NO), the print control unit 116 performs control processing for printing, and all bits held by the memory 118 are The map image data is printed (step S7). In step S7, the print control unit 116 causes the printer mechanism unit 120 to print. Since there is no paper in the discharge stacker 123A, it is decided to print immediately.

Next, the data creation end determination unit 117 determines whether the creation of bitmap image data for one job has ended (step S8).

When the data creation end determination unit 117 determines that the bitmap image data for one job has been created (S8: YES), the main control unit 111 ends the series of processes (end). This completes the print processing for one job.

If the data creation end determination unit 117 determines in step S8 that creation of bitmap image data for one job has not been completed (S8: NO), the main control unit 111 returns the flow to step S2. . This is because the print data is received in step S2, the bitmap image data for one sheet is created in step S3, and the processing from step S4 onward is continued.

Further, when the number determination unit 114 determines in step S5 that the bitmap image data is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets (S5: YES), the print control unit 116 performs control processing for printing, and the memory 118 print all bitmap image data held by (step S7). Since the number of bitmap image data held by the memory 118 is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets, and the predetermined number of sheets has been accumulated, print processing is performed.

Further, when it is determined in step S6 that paper is present in discharge stacker 123A by paper determination unit 115 (S6: YES), data creation end determination unit 117 completes creation of bitmap image data for one job. (step S9). This is because there is no need to rush printing when there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A, so subsequent processing is determined depending on whether or not bitmap image data for one job has been created.

When the data creation end determination unit 117 determines that the bitmap image data for one job has been created (S9: YES), the number of sheets determination unit 114 determines that the bitmap image data held by the memory 118 is It is determined whether or not the number is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step S5). This is because the printer control device 110 performs processing in parallel in a multitasking manner, and therefore performs print processing if the number of bitmap image data held in the memory 118 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets.

If the data creation end determination unit 117 determines in step S9 that creation of bitmap image data for one job has not been completed (S9: NO), the main control unit 111 returns the flow to step S2. . This is because the print data is received in step S2, the bitmap image data for one sheet is created in step S3, and the processing from step S4 onward is continued.

If the print determination unit 113 determines in step S4 that print processing is being performed (S4: YES), the print control unit 116 performs control processing for performing printing, and the data stored in the memory 118 All bitmap image data in the image are printed (step S7). In step S4, a determination of YES is made while continuous printing included in the same job is being performed by the printer mechanism section 120, and when the continuous printing included in the same job is completed, the printing process is performed by the printer mechanism section 120. is not performed, NO is determined.

As described above, if the number of bitmap image data held by the memory 118 is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets (S5: NO) and there is paper in the discharge stacker 123A (S6: YES), the printer control device 110 , continue without printing. Specifically, the flow proceeds from step S9 to step S5, or the flow proceeds from step S9 to step S2.

That is, if the amount of bitmap image data held by memory 118 is relatively small and there is paper in discharge stacker 123A, the amount of bitmap image data held by memory 118 increases without immediately performing printing processing. wait for

Since it is assumed that the user will not immediately come to the discharge stacker 123A to pick up the paper, printing is not performed until the number of bitmap image data held in the memory 118 reaches a predetermined number or more, and the drum is moved. This is to reduce the number of preliminary rotation operations (idle rotation) and to reduce the consumption of toner associated with the preliminary rotation operations.

Therefore, it is possible to provide the printer control device 110, the printer control program, and the printer 100 that efficiently print according to the amount of paper accumulated in the discharge stacker 123A.

Further, when the number of bitmap image data reaches a predetermined number or more (YES in step S5), the printer control device 110 immediately starts printing (step S7). Therefore, when the number of bitmap image data reaches a predetermined number or more and a certain number of bitmap image data are accumulated, the printed paper can be immediately output to the discharge stacker 123A.

By accumulating bitmap image data for a certain number of sheets, it is possible to reduce the number of unnecessary preparatory rotations (idle rotation) of the drum and to reduce the consumption of toner associated with preparatory rotations. Processing can be done efficiently.

Further, when the paper stacker 123A runs out of paper (NO in step S6), the printer control device 110 immediately starts printing (step S7). Therefore, when the user comes to pick up the paper from the discharge stacker 123A, the printed paper can be immediately output to the discharge stacker 123A. It can be compatible with convenience for

In the above description, the printer control device 110 is implemented by a computer system. 116 and the data creation end determination unit 117 may be realized by, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Although the printer control device, the printer control program, and the printer according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and is subject to claims. Various modifications and changes are possible without departing from the scope of the.

100 Printer 110 Printer Control Device 112 Data Receiving Section 113 Print Determining Section 114 Number of Sheets Determining Section 115 Paper Determining Section 116 Printing Control Section 117 Data Creation Completion Determining Section 118 Memory 120 Printer Mechanism Section

Claims (8)

a number determination unit that determines whether or not the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit of the printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets;
a paper determination unit that determines whether or not there is paper in a paper output stacker of the printer when the number determination unit determines that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
a print control unit that does not print the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker ;
a data creation completion determination unit that determines whether creation of bitmap image data for one job is completed when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker,
When the data creation end determination unit determines that the creation of the bitmap image data for one job is completed, the number determination unit is configured to store the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit in a predetermined number of copies. minutes or more, and
The printer control device, wherein the print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the number determination unit determines that the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets . a number determination unit that determines whether or not the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit of the printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets;
a paper determination unit that determines whether or not there is paper in a paper output stacker of the printer when the number determination unit determines that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
a print control unit that does not print the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
a data creation end determination unit that determines whether generation of bitmap image data for one job is completed when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
a data reception unit that receives print data when the data creation end determination unit determines that the creation of the bitmap image data for one job is not completed ,
The printer control device, wherein the print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the number determination unit determines that the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets . 3. The printer control according to claim 1, wherein said print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by said data holding unit when said paper judgment unit judges that there is no paper in said discharge stacker. Device. further comprising a print determination unit that determines whether the printer is printing;
The number determining unit determines whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of pages when the print determining unit determines that the printer is not printing. 4. The printer control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . Determining whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit of the printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets;
Determining whether or not there is paper in the output stacker of the printer if it is determined that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
not printing the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when it is determined that there is paper in the discharge stacker ;
A printer control program for causing a computer to execute a process including, when it is determined that there is paper in the discharge stacker, it is determined whether creation of bitmap image data for one job has been completed,
Determining whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets is performed when it is determined that the bitmap image data for one job has been created. determining whether the bitmap image data held by the unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets;
A printer control program for causing a computer to execute a process of printing the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when it is determined that the number of sheets is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets . Determining whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit of the printer is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of sheets;
Determining whether or not there is paper in the output stacker of the printer if it is determined that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
not printing the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when it is determined that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
Determining whether or not creation of bitmap image data for one job is completed when it is determined that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
a printer control program for causing a computer to execute a process including: receiving print data when it is determined that creation of bitmap image data for one job has not been completed,
A printer control program for causing a computer to execute a process of printing the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when it is determined that the number of sheets is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets. a data holding unit that holds bitmap image data;
a paper detection sensor that outputs a detection result indicating the presence or absence of paper in the paper discharge stacker;
a number determination unit that determines whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number;
a paper determination unit that determines whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker based on a detection result output from the paper detection sensor when the number determination unit determines that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
a print control unit that does not print the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker ;
a data creation completion determination unit that determines whether creation of bitmap image data for one job is completed when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker,
When the data creation end determination unit determines that the creation of the bitmap image data for one job is completed, the number determination unit is configured to store the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit in a predetermined number of copies. minutes or more, and
The printer, wherein the print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the number determination unit determines that the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets . a data holding unit that holds bitmap image data;
a paper detection sensor that outputs a detection result indicating the presence or absence of paper in the paper discharge stacker;
a number determination unit that determines whether or not the number of bitmap image data held by the data holding unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number;
a paper determination unit that determines whether or not there is paper in the discharge stacker based on a detection result output from the paper detection sensor when the number determination unit determines that the number of sheets is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number;
a print control unit that does not print the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
a data creation end determination unit that determines whether generation of bitmap image data for one job is completed when the paper determination unit determines that there is paper in the discharge stacker;
a data reception unit that receives print data when the data creation end determination unit determines that the creation of the bitmap image data for one job is not completed,
The printer, wherein the print control unit prints the bitmap image data held by the data holding unit when the number determination unit determines that the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of sheets.

Images