JPH01178474A - Printer controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a print processing to be continued, by a method wherein, data is stored in a storage as intermediate codes until one-page printing is completed, and the data of the page which has not been discharged is again read from the storage after recovery from a trouble. CONSTITUTION:A print engine 4 in a printer system 10 incorporates a bit-map system data processor 3, and a first information processing part 320 in a bit map control unit 30 temporarily stores data from a data processor interface 308 in an R-buffer 304 to successively process them. In a second information processing part 330, intermediate codes written in a FIFO 305 are successively read and processed. The intermediate codes are stored in a JOB memory 310 by being blocked per page to be held until the appropriate page is completely discharged. Because the data has been stored in the memory as the intermediate codes until one-page printing is completed, the data can be again read from the memory to be printed after the recovery from a trouble such as a paper jamming.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printer control device that prints data sent from a data processing device such as a host computer.

(Prior Art) Generally, data sent from a host computer or the like to a printer consists of print data indicating an actual print pattern and control data for controlling the printing method of the print data and the mode of the print engine. A printer control device (hereinafter simply referred to as a controller) processes this data, converts it into a dot image to be actually printed, and supplies it to a print engine that performs printing.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Conventionally, in an electrophotographic printer that applies the principle of a copying machine, when troubles such as Hepersham occur during printing operations, when restarting printing operations after eliminating the cause of the troubles, I had to turn the printer off and on again or press the reset button. If the printer recovers from the problem in this way, the data stored inside the printer will be lost, so it is necessary to send the data again from the host. In order to resume printing using this method, it is necessary to wait for the data to be transferred, resulting in a large time loss.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer control device that is capable of continuing print processing without retransferring data from the host after recovery from a problem.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A printer control device according to the present invention includes at least a first input means for inputting print data and control data, and an analysis means for analyzing data input by the first input means. and a first storage means for storing the analysis result by the analysis means, an output means for outputting print data to a print section of the printer, a second input means for inputting the state of the print section, and one or more pages. a second storage means for storing information related to printing control; and a second storage means that is activated by starting input to the first input means and controls the printing section according to the analysis result of the input data by the analysis means. The present invention is characterized by comprising a first control means and a second control means that is activated by starting input to the second input means and controls the printing section according to the contents of the second storage means.

(Function) The page data is stored as an intermediate code in the memory of the printer control unit until the ejection work for a certain page is completed, that is, until the printing of that page is completed. After recovering from a problem such as a paper jam, the data of the pages for which the ejecting operation has not been completed is read again from the memory and printed.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(a) Configuration of electrophotographic printer First, the general configuration of the printer and controller will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a printer system 10 which is an embodiment of the present invention.
The configuration of the processing system is shown below.

In order to improve the throughput of the data processing device 1, data from the general-purpose data processing device 1 is temporarily stored in an external 7-aisle buffer 2, and then transferred to the printer system 1O.
is output to.

The printer system IO consists of a bitmap type data processing device 3, a print engine 4 using an electrophotographic process and a laser, and accessory devices such as an external paper feed unit 5 and a sorter 6.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the printer system IO. The print engine 4 incorporates the bitmap type data processing device 3, and can be connected to an external paper feed unit 5 and a sorter 6 as accessories. In addition, on the upper front side of the print engine 4, there is an operation panel 4 with a display showing the system status and keys for performing simple operations.
4 is installed.

FIG. 3 shows details of the operation panel 44. Here, 901 to 903 are input keys, and 910 to 91
8 is a display element. A key 901 is a PAUSE key for temporarily stopping the printing operation. key 903
is the TEST key for starting TEST print. Key 903 is a shift key, and by pressing it at the same time as key 902, you can select CANCEL to interrupt printing.
This is the key. The reason why keys 902 and 903 are pressed at the same time to function is to prevent interruptions due to careless operations.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of printer system IO.

The bitmap type data processing device 3 includes a bitmap control unit (BMC) 30 and a bitmap R for bitmaps.
AM (BM-RAM)32, this BM-RAM32
Bitmap writing unit (BMW) 31 (sixth
(see figure) and a font section 33. Connection with the print engine 4 is made through a bus B3 for control data (number of sheets, accessory control, etc.) and a bus B4 for image data. The print engine 4 is mainly composed of three controllers. First, the interface control section (
The IFC 40 processes control data from the bitmap control section 30, controls the operation panel, and controls the overall timing of the print engine 4 through the internal bus B5.

The electrophotographic control section 41 controls the electrophotographic processing section 45 in accordance with data sent from the interface control section 40 through the internal bus B5.

The print head control unit (PHC) 42 uses an internal bus B4.
In order to write the image data sent from the bitmap writing section 31 through the internal bus B5, the semiconductor laser of the print head section 43 emits light and the polygon motor (not shown) is operated according to the information sent from the interface control section 40 through the internal bus B5. control the rotation of

In addition, the external paper feed unit 5 and the sorter 6 are also connected to the internal bus B5.
It is controlled by the interface control section 40 through the interface control section 40.

(b) Bitmap Control Section FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the bitmap control section 30. In the first information processing unit 320, data from the data processing device interface 308 is temporarily stored in the R,< buffer 304, and then sequentially processed. The main processing contents include protocol analysis, temporary editing of print data, conversion of temporary editing results to intermediate code, and FIFO 305 of intermediate code.
I have memories of. Temporary editing of print data refers to determining the print position for each piece of print data sent according to the protocol analysis results. Therefore, the intermediate code representing the print data includes a pattern code of the print data, a drawing address on a bitmap, and the like.

On the other hand, the second information processing unit 330 sequentially reads the intermediate codes written in the FIFO 305 and processes them. The processing content is to send control commands for the print engine 4 according to the intermediate code to the flint engine interface 307.
Output to. Further, the intermediate code read from the FIFO 305 is stored in blocks in page units in the JOB memory 310, and is held until the paper ejection process for that page is completed.

FIG. 7(a) shows the configuration of the JOB memory 310, which takes the form of a ring buffer and has a TOP memory.

Address management is performed using three pointers: PTOP and NOW. TOP indicates the starting address of the oldest page data, PTOP indicates the starting address of the page data currently being analyzed, and NOW indicates the address currently being written. The configuration of the page block is as shown in Figure 7(b), and the MCB has a constant capacity regardless of the amount of data.
The intermediate code is stored as is after the stack area. The MCB stack area includes a NEXTADD area that holds the start address value of the next page block, a C0PYCNT area that stores the number of copies, an EXITCNT area that stores the number of sheets that have been ejected, as well as margin settings at the start of page editing, Parameters necessary for page editing, such as paper size, are stored. This has exactly the same configuration as the MCB, and data can be transferred as is when saving the MCB.

FIG. 6 is a detailed block diagram of the bitmap writing section 31. The functions of the bitmap writing section 31 can be roughly divided into:
Drawing function to BM-RAM32 and BM when printing
- a function of outputting data in the RAM 32 to the print engine 4;

The drawing function to the BM-RAM 32 is further divided into two parts: drawing of lines and circles performed by the graphic image writing unit 316, and font drawing performed by the font image writing unit 311. Both are logic units that operate on packets sent from the bitmap control unit 30 through the hitmap control unit interface 317, but most of the processing in the graphic image writing unit 316 is performed by analyzing the parameters in the packet (FIFO) and writing the BM- In contrast to drawing in the RAM 32, most of the processing by the font image writing unit 311 is based on packets (FI
The font image read from the 7-ont part 33 through the font part interface 314 is drawn in the BM RAM 32 according to the data in the FO).

On the other hand, the function of outputting data during printing is performed by the print head control unit interface 315. That is, from the bitmap control unit 30 to the interface 31
When the print start code sent via the bus B4 is received, the BM
- Outputting the data in the RAM 32 to the print head control unit 42.

Figure 8 shows the 1. A configuration example of the second information processing unit 320 and 330 is shown. 322 (332) is a system ROM in which a CPU program is written, and 323 (333) is a working storage area of the CPU.

Also, the timer 329 (339) is used to enable the CPU to manage timing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram explaining the image area. The part indicated by the total area AI corresponds to the size of the paper, and corresponds to the area set in the BM-RAM 32. The margin area A2 is a blank space when printing is actually performed on paper, and the print data is drawn in the remaining image area A3.

Printing starts from the upper left of image area A3,
Characters are printed sequentially according to the printing direction AIO. in the middle,
When a line feed code is input, the next printing position is moved by the line feed width A12 in the line feed direction All. Also, when the go-around code is input, the left end of the image area, go-around position A13
The next print position moves to . Note that the margin area can be changed on a page-by-page basis as specified by the host.

(c) Bitmap Control 70 - The operation of this system will now be explained with reference to the flowchart. The flowchart of this system is divided into two main routines, a first information processing section 320 and a second information processing section 330, and each routine operates asynchronously.

(1) Flow of the first information processing unit FIGS. 1O to 14 are flowcharts showing the processing of the first information processing unit 320. In Figure 1O, first,
When the power was turned on (step #1, steps will be omitted hereinafter), internal initialization was performed (#2), and the R-buffer 304, which stores the received data from the data processing device 1, was cleared. After that (#3), the control flag is initialized (#4). Specifically, the received data processing routine clears LPWRITE indicating that temporary image editing is in progress. Further, the FIFO 305 is cleared by hardware when the power is turned on. Then, in preparation for creating intermediate code,
Load font attributes (#5).

After completing these preparatory operations, enter the main loop (#6 to #8
). The main loop processes the received data and converts it into intermediate code. The data flow is as follows. First, data from an external data processing device is stored in R-, (buffer 304) by a receive interrupt routine (FIG. 14) that is activated by a request from data processing device interface 308 asynchronously with the main loop. The received data is processed by the received data processing routine (
#8, see Figure 11) is converted into intermediate code and FI
Stored in FO305.

That is, data is transferred to the second information processing unit in the form of an intermediate code via the PIFO 305. This intermediate code includes the selection of the 7-ont pattern and the calculated value of the drawing address to the BM-RAM of the pattern according to the 7-ont size, and can be said to be virtually temporarily edited. Furthermore, the reason why the font attributes are read at the time of initialization is to perform temporary editing asynchronously with the drawing of characters in the second information processing section.

Received Data Processing> Received data processing 70- is shown in FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b). Received data is classified into the following four types.

・IFC related code (print engine related code) - JOB control code (JOBSTART%PAGE, E
JECT) - Format control code - Print data (character code, graphic code) First, in the case of print data, it is converted into an intermediate code of the corresponding format and output to the FIFO 305. In the case of a character code, the format is the same as the format to the font image writing section 311, and the address of the font pattern (#59
), BM-RA corresponding to the print position on the image area
Write address to M (#60), write mode (
#61). If it is a graphic code, it is output in the same format as the command to the graphic image writing unit 316 (#65). At this time, in the case of character code, update the next character printing position (#62
).

In the case of the current page clear code (Figure 11 (b)
(see), after determining whether temporary image editing is in progress using the LPWRITE flag (#44), the FIFO305
Send intermediate code of clear request function to (#4
5). Then, in order to write a new page, change the cursor position to the top of the page (#46),
Send a function that sets the number of sheets to 1 (#47)
, LPWRITE7 lag is set to 0 (#48). Therefore, the second information processing section 330 only needs to start drawing in the BM-RAM and then enter the clearing process when it receives a clear request function, thereby achieving synchronization with the print data.

In the case of an all-page clear code, the second information processing unit 3
30 via the CLREQl signal line;
Informs that a clearing request has occurred (#51), FI
Clear FO (#52).

The subsequent processing (#45 to #48) is the same as the current page clear code processing. Therefore, through this process, the second information processing unit 330 receives a clear request that is synchronized with the print data and a clear request that is physically synchronized, and can know the range in which data is to be cleared.

The IFC related code is output to the interface control unit 40, but in order to synchronize with the print data,
Output to the PI FO305 as an intermediate code of a function type that is different from the print data (
#32. #33).

The JOB control code includes the PAG used to separate pages.
E, EJECT code and JO used to separate page groups
There are two types: BSTART. Both are output to FIFO 305 in the same way as IFC related codes (#35 to #38
, #38, see #102 in FIG. 12).

The format control code (#40, see FIG. 13) controls the printing format. Especially for the margin setting code here (
#168, see FIG. 13) after changing the cursor (#169), outputs an intermediate code to the FIFo 305 in order to notify the second information processing unit 330 of the margin change (#170).

If the code specifies the number of copies of the same image (
#41), FIFO3 to synchronize with print data
The function corresponding to 05 is output (#42).

Format control and PAGE, EJECT Asahi Figure 13 is
This shows the processing sequence of format control codes.

In the case of a return code (#161), the next printing position is moved to the left end (#162), and in the case of a line feed code (#164), the next printing position is moved one line down (#165). When random is specified (#l66), the next printing position is updated after adding the offset value. As mentioned above, when setting the margin, after moving the cursor, use the FIF
Output to O.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of PAGE and EJECT processing. This PAGE and EJECT processing is
This is a virtual process when temporarily editing onto the FO as an intermediate code, and is different from actually ejecting paper in intermediate code processing (FIG. 17).

PAGE and EJECT processing first transfers PAG to FIFO.
Output an intermediate code indicating E, EJECT (# l
O2). Here, the actual paper ejecting operation is performed when the second processing section receives this intermediate code. After that, return the next print position to the beginning in preparation for editing the next page (#103)
. These series of operations are LPWR indicating temporary image editing.
Identified by the ITE flag (#lO1, #104)
, prevent empty page output.

70-Chart of Second Information Processing Unit FIGS. 15 to 26 are flowcharts showing the processing of the second information processing unit 330. Here, the preparation operation is the same process as the first information processing unit 320 (#l).

#2. Perform #4). First, when the power is turned on (#20
0), performs internal initialization (#201), and BM-RAM
Clear the image area (#202) and initialize the control flag (#203). Specifically, clear JOBACT, which indicates the print status, clear BMWRITE, which indicates the drawing status to BM-RAM, set C0PY, which indicates the number of copies of the same number, to l, and set CC0UNT, which counts the number of copies of the same number, to 1. CLEAR7 indicating that a physical clearing request has been received from the first information processing unit.
Clear the lag, set the PFCM flag to allow first-out rule in paper feed, and BM-R when canceling (clearing) processing.
Clears the BPPM flag that indicates that the data already drawn in AM should be cleared and output; clears the EPEND flag that indicates that an interrupt has been received by the exposure end command from the print engine; and by a trouble detection command from the print engine. Clear the TRBLIN flag indicating that an interrupt has occurred, and clear the TRBLOUT flag indicating trouble recovery.

After the above, the main loop enters, and the processing performed by the main loop is as follows: - Analysis of intermediate code and drawing to BM-RAM (# - Print sequence control (1205 to #21O) - Trouble processing (1211 to #214) There is a BM-RAM clearing process (#218) as an additional function.

The data flow is as follows. First, when the paper discharge condition flags JO and BACT are 1, the print sequence (
#205 to #210). Also, if JOBACT is not 1 and the TRBLIN flag is not set, the PIF
Check that there is an intermediate code from O (#216
), intermediate code processing (#217) is performed.

゛〈Intermediate code processing and print sequence control〉No. 20
The figure shows the interrupt processing of the CLREQl signal line. When an interrupt occurs, the CLEAR flag is set to 1, and the JOBACT7 lag is reset so as not to enter the print sequence in the main loop. Furthermore, stop drawing in the bitmap writing section (#253)
.

The processing flow of the intermediate code stored in FIFO is shown in the 17th
As shown in the figure. Here, we will mainly focus on BM-R according to the intermediate code.
It performs sequence processing such as drawing to AM and outputting commands to the print engine.

First, extract the intermediate code from the FIFO (#3
01), TRBL IN flag is not set (#3
02), that is, when there is no trouble such as a jam in the print engine, check the free space in the JOB memory (#303), and then write the intermediate code to the area indicated by the NOW pointer in the JOB memory (#304). ,
Update the NOW pointer (#305). Check the CLEAR flag and if the flag is on (#306
(No), return without doing anything. If the flag is not set and the data is print data (YES in #307), the intermediate code is output to the font image writing unit (#308), and in the case of graphics (No in #311), the intermediate code is output to the graphic image writing unit ( #312) Do.

If you are writing data for the first time (BMWRITE=
O, #309), BMWRITE is l (#31
0).

The IFC related code (#313) and JOBSTART code (#316) are output to the IFC (#314).

After that, the MCB parameters are updated (#315).

When setting the margin (#330), it is output to the graphic image writing section (#331), and is used for setting the margin for graphic drawing. Output from the FIFO 305 to the bitmap writing unit 31 is performed sequentially as long as there is intermediate code data, but when a PAGE or EJECT code is detected (YES at #320), the signal conversion for one page has been completed, so printing is performed. Get into action. First, if TRBL IN is not set (YES in #321), set the preset number of copies in CC0UNT for counting the number of copies, and enter #322L print startup processing (#323, see Figure 19). ). Also, during the trouble recovery process, an RE indicating the number of sheets of paper that has not been ejected is displayed in CC0UNT.
Set SCOPY and print the remaining pages.

In the print startup process (#323, Fig. 19), BM-
Prohibit RAM update #401), then output PRNCMD to IFC only when the first-out setting flag is not set #402. #403), and after setting the print head control interface to a printable state (#404)
), the print command P is sent to the interface control unit 40.
Output RNCMD (#405). As a result, the print head control unit interface 315 outputs the data in the BM-RAM through the bus B4 in synchronization with the pulses sent from the control circuit of the print head control unit 42. Next, MCB stack write processing is performed to save MCB information to the JOB memory (#324, FIG. 21). In the MCB stack write process, MCB data before page editing is stored at the beginning of the JOB area of the next page. Specifically, the M of the page currently being exposed
Inside CB stack area +7) NEXTADDi, :NO
Input the value of the W pointer and memorize the starting address of the next page (#411). Furthermore, the value of the NOW pointer is entered into the PTOP pointer (#412), and the data of the MCB is saved (#413).

After this, in order to write intermediate data, set the value of the NOW pointer after the page parameter area (#3
25).

When printing is finished, the JOBACT flag is still set, so Stella 7'#2 starts from step #204.
The process advances to step 05 and waits for an interruption of the exposure end command EXPEND from the interface control unit 40.

When EPEND is detected, EXP and END75 become 1, exit the loop, and perform copy control of the same image (
#205 to #210). First, count the number of copies by counter C.
COUNT is subtracted (#207), and it is checked whether a predetermined number of copies have been completed (#208). When finished, enter Print END/Geography (#209, see Figure 16). Here, clear the BM-RAM to draw the next image (#241, Fig. 16), reset the JOBACT7 lag to cancel the printing state (#242), and BM-RAM.
-Clearing BMWWRITE, which indicates the drawing status to RAM,
The copy number counter is restored (#243). If copying is not completed, printing is started again with the same image (#210).

<BM RAM Clearing Process> The clearing process is forcibly performed, and even if the previous character or graphic is being drawn, it is forcibly interrupted and executed.

First, if the code retrieved from the FIFO by intermediate code processing (#217, FIG. 15) is not a clear request code, the process returns without executing anything (#351).

If it is a clear request code (YES in #351), CLE
The drawing unit is stopped only when the AR7 lag is not set (#352), that is, when the current page clear code is being sent from the host (#353). Next, BM-R
After clearing AM (#354), the NOW pointer is reset to clear the data in the JOB memory (#355). Thereafter, the CLEAR flag is cleared (#356). Therefore, after this, the print start processing operation is performed in the same way as the PAGE and EJECT processing (#209).

Also, if all page clear is requested from the first information processing unit and the CLEAR flag is set, the intermediate code processing skips the FIFO and continues until the clear request code is checked in #351, so the CLREQl interrupt The intermediate code disappears after the occurrence of the error until a clear request command is received.

<Trouble recovery processing> □ As shown in Figure 25, when the print engine detects some abnormality and sends a TR0UBLE command (#719, Figure 29), it enters interrupt processing (#55).
2). Here, set the trouble occurrence flag TRBLIN (#553) and stop drawing in BM-RAM.
4) Clear the BM-RAM #555) and forcefully set the exposure end flag EPEND.

In the main routine (FIG. 15), if the TRBL I N flag is set (No in #211), trouble geography is performed (#212 to #214). When you first start troubleshooting, the TRBLOUT flag is not set, so
Enter trouble handling routine C#214. Figure 22).

Here, first clear BM-RAM #501
), MC of the oldest page stored in JOB memory
Input data from B stack and set it to MCB (
#502). Next, calculate the remaining number of sheets during multi-copying and enter RESCOPYj (#503). EXITCNT used for this calculation counts the number of sheets that are actually completely ejected for one job, including options, etc. There is. As shown in Fig. 26, this counting method performs paper ejection processing by interrupting the paper ejection command EXIT from the engine section. First, C0PYCNT and EXITCNT are taken out from the MCB stack of the page being ejected, and
X Increase ITCNT by 1 and return it to the MCB stack (
#572). After this, compared with C0PYCNT (#5
73), if they are equal, it is determined that the JOB paper ejection operation has ended,
Update ToP pointer to next page (#574.#5
75). If they are not equal, it is determined that multi-copying is in progress and the process returns as is.

Therefore, if a problem occurs during multi-copy, C0P
The difference between YCNT and EX ITCNT (7) is the remaining number of sheets. To determine the end of troubleshooting, use NOW
After saving the pointer value to TRBLEND (
#505), JO of the page to reprint the NOW pointer
Set it at the beginning of the B storage area (#507).

After this, trouble recovery check processing (#508, 23rd
If a trouble recovery is detected by the figure), set the TRBLOUT7 lag so that trouble recovery processing begins.
510), clear the JOBACT flag (#511
).

In the trouble recovery geography, the intermediate code is taken out from the JOB memory until TRBLEND and the NOW pointer become equal (#52L #522), and then the drawing operation is performed by intermediate code processing (#523) in the same way as normal processing. When all intermediate codes in the JOB memory are output (No in #521), TRBL IN, TRBL
Set the OUT flag to 0 and return to normal operation (#52
5, #526).

FIG. 27 is a processing flow of the interface control unit 40.

The interface control unit 40 performs internal initialization (#'600) and then initializes each parameter (#'600).
601). The function of each parameter is as follows.

PRNSTAT: Indicates that the engine section is printing.

5TART: Indicates that PRNCMD from the bitmap control unit 3o has been detected (see #657 and #658 in FIG. 28).

PRNFLAG: Indicates that PFCMD from the bitmap control unit 3o has been detected (see #659 and #660 in FIG. 28).

lN5TALL: Indicates that the engine initial state check has been completed (see #715 and #716 in Figure 29).

After flag initialization, enable two interrupts #60
2) If there is no problem with the print engine (#60.3
C'lN5TALL=1), /<7.85 through the sorter 6, external paper feed unit 5, electrophotographic control unit 41. Output a start signal to the print head control unit 42 #604)
, move on to the processing loop.

Note that the interrupts include a bitmap control unit interrupt (second
8), and a system timer interrupt (FIG. 29) that controls the operation panel 44 and performs timer processing.

The presence or absence of an abnormality in the print engine section is checked by a system timer interrupt (FIG. 29), and can be confirmed by the IN5TALL flag in the main routine.

Before explaining the processing loop, two types of interrupt processing will be explained. First, bitmap control block interrupt (Figure 28)
I will explain about it. In the bitmap control unit interrupt, a command sent from the bitmap control unit 30 is received. Further, in the bitmap control unit interrupt, the received command is not directly executed, but only a flag in the interface control unit is set, and actual processing is performed when this flag is detected during processing looseness. This is to make the communication between the processing loop and the bitmap control section 30 asynchronous, thereby simplifying the configuration of the processing loop. The flag actually set is the PR output at the start of exposure.
P set when NCMD is detected (#659)
5 is set when RNFLAG (#660) and FCMD output during paper feeding are detected (#657).
TART (#658). In addition to this, JOB 5
When using TART (#652), initialize the mode information.
653), print and accessory mode information (
#655) is stored in the − scale area (#656),
Officially captured within the processing loop. Furthermore, when a paper feed cassette is specified (#661), the paper feed cassette code is stored in a temporary area, and when error information is detected (#663), the operation panel display information is updated (#664).

Next, the system timer interrupt (FIG. 29) will be explained. In the system timer interrupt, input/output processing of the operation panel 44 (#701, #702), counting processing of the timer set in the processing loop (#703), and checking of the status of each part of the print engine are performed (#705). ．．
#708. #711), if there is a change to notify BMC, output to BMC (#706. #709. #71
2). The size of the paper feed cassette and the presence or absence of paper are also checked here, and the paper is sent to the BMC (#704 to #706). At this time, please also check if there are any problems #71
5) If it has occurred, it will be displayed on the operation panel and the process will return to the initial state. Otherwise, the IN5T informs the processing loop that the print engine check has been successfully verified.
Set ALL7 lag (#716).

The processing loop in FIG. 27 will be explained below.

At the beginning of the processing loop, a print start request is waited (#605
), and when the receipt is accepted, the number of prints and accessory mode information are updated (#607).

In the case of multi-copy, the 5TA detected at this time
Reset RT and print status (PRNSTAT-1
) (#608). Thereafter, in order to perform the first print, a paper feed request signal (FEED, REQ) is output to the electrophotographic control unit 41 via the bus BS (#609).

As a result, the electrophotographic control section 41 starts activating the electrophotographic processing section 45 for paper feeding and printing. However, the paper is in a standby state at a predetermined position. however,
If the external paper feeding unit 5 is specified, the electrophotographic control section 41 only activates the electrophotographic processing section 45, and the external paper feeding unit 5 performs paper feeding. Note that the paper standby position is the same.

Then, the interface control unit 40 waits for a print command (PRNCMD) (#610).

In the interface control unit 40, the print command P
When PRNFLAG=■ indicating RNCMD reception is detected, the request flag is reset (#611), and EXP and ENB signals indicating exposure permission are output to the print head control unit 42 (#612).

Accordingly, the actual exposure is performed by the print head control section 42.

In the print head control unit 42, when the exposure is completed, the E
Outputs XP and END signals (#615).

In addition to the above-mentioned control, the interface control section 40 also controls communication within the print engine 4, and has a relay function for communication between each control section via the bus B5. Since this is not directly related to the present invention, detailed explanation will be omitted.

(Effect) The page data is saved as an intermediate code in the memory of the printer control unit until the printing of a certain page is completed, and after recovering from a problem such as a paper jam, the page data for which the paper ejection work has not yet been completed is saved. Since the data can be read out from the memory again and printed, there is no need to retransfer the data from the host, allowing troubleshooting.

Furthermore, since the data is stored as an intermediate code, troubleshooting can be done quickly, resulting in improved usability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an electrophotographic printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the printing system. FIG. 3 is a diagram of the operation panel. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the bitmap data processing device and print engine. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the bitmap control section. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the bitmap writing section. FIG. 7(a) is a configuration diagram of the JOB memory. FIG. 7(b) is a diagram showing MCB information. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the first information processing section and the second information processing section. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an image area in a print. 1.theta. to FIG. 14 are diagrams showing the processing 70- of the first information processing section in the bitmap control section. 15 to 26 are diagrams showing the processing flow of the second information processing section in the bitmap control section. FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the processing flow of the interface control section. FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the flow of bitmap control unit interrupt. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the flow of system timer interrupt. l...Data processing device, 3...Bitmap type data processing device, 4...
Flint engine, 30... Bitmap control unit, 310... JOB memory, 320... First information processing unit, 330... Second information geography unit, 31... Bitmap writing unit, 32...・Bitmap RAM. 304...R-buffer, 305...FIFO. Patent Applicant: Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney: Seihaku Ao and 2 others Fig. 1 TOP `` ''' m- (a) JOB memory (b) MCB ■Beak 戊Fig. 8 Fig. 10 Fig. 1214 p.11
Old figure 22 figure 24 figure 25 figure 4.3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A first input means for inputting print data and control data, an analysis means for analyzing the data input by the first input means, a first storage means for storing the analysis result by the analysis means, and a printer. an output means for outputting print data to a print section of the printer; a second input means for inputting a state of the print section; a second storage means for storing information related to print control for one or more pages; and a first input. A first control means that is activated by starting input to the means and controls the printing unit according to an analysis result of the input data by the analysis means, and a second control means that is activated by starting input to the second input means. , and second control means for controlling the printing section according to the contents of the second storage means.