JPH0211355A - Multicolor printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent that a printing result becomes difficult or impossible to decode by mounting a color selection means for discriminating the color of a printing sheet to select the printing color corresponding to a discrimination result. CONSTITUTION:A receiving buffer 4 for storing the receiving data such as a printing instruction or color specifying command from a host computer 2, a ROM element 5 for storing a program for executing a series of control flows, a paper color detector 6 for detecting the color of paper to be printed, a RAM element 7 functioning as a work area when a CPU apparatus 3 executes a program and a power supply device are connected to the CPU apparatus 3. A table area 5a is stored in the ROM element 5 and a list of the optimum printing color to the color of paper is constituted. A color flag area 7a for temporarily storing the color printed next is secured in the RAM element 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a multicolor printing device that prints in two or more colors.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in a multicolor printing device that prints in two or more colors, the selection of the colors to be printed has relied solely on color specification instructions from a host computer or the like connected to the multicolor printing device. It had been decided.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] According to the above-mentioned conventional example, when a printing color that is clearly different from the color of the printing sheet or printing paper used for printing is specified, the printing result may be affected. No problems arise. For example, when printing blue on a white printing sheet, no problem occurs because the printing is clear.

However, if a color that is the same as or close to the color of the printing paper is specified, there is a problem in that the printed result becomes difficult or impossible to read. For example, if red is printed on a red print sheet, it will become unreadable.

Therefore, the multicolor printing device of the present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to print by automatically selecting a printing color suitable for the color of a printing sheet or printing paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multicolor printing device that prevents the results from becoming difficult or impossible to decipher.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the multicolor printing device of the present invention has the following configuration, that is, it has the ability to reproduce two or more printing colors. The multicolor printing device includes a color identification means for identifying a printing color of a print sheet printed out by the multicolor printing device, and a color selection device for a printing color according to the identification result of the color identification device, The printing sheet is printed in a printing color different from that of the printing sheet.

[Operation] In the multicolor printing device configured as described above, the color of the print sheet is identified by the color identification means that identifies the color of the print sheet printed out by the multicolor printing device, and the identification result of the color identification device is The corresponding color is selected by the color selection means, and printing is performed in a printing color different from the color of the printing sheet.

[Examples] Examples according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the main body 1 of the multicolor printing device is indicated by a broken line.
An external host computer 2 is connected to the host computer 2 via a connector (not shown), and is configured to receive print commands, color designation commands, etc. from the host computer 2 and print them out.

The CPU device 3 that performs all the controls within the main body 1 includes:
A reception buffer 4 that stores received data such as print commands and color specification commands from the host computer 2, a ROM element 5 that stores programs for executing a series of control flows described later, and the color of paper to be printed. A paper color detector 6 for detecting a color, a RAM element 7 that functions as a work area when the CPU device 3 executes a program, and a power supply device (not shown) are connected. A table area 5a is stored in this ROM element 5, and constitutes a list of optimal printing colors for paper colors. On the other hand, R.A.
A color flag area 7a is secured within the M element 7 to temporarily store the next color to be printed.

Next, the operation of the multicolor printing apparatus configured as described above will be explained based on a flowchart.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of printing in two colors, red and yellow.

In FIG. 2, when the power is first turned on to the main body 1, the color of the paper to be printed next is detected in step S1, for example, the yellow color of the paper to be printed is detected. Next, the process proceeds to step S2, in which the table area 5a is searched to select the optimum print color, and the optimum print color red corresponding to the yellow detected in step S1 is obtained. Then, in step s3, the optimum printing color red is temporarily stored in the flag area 7a. Next, the process proceeds to step S4, where data from the host computer 2 is received, the received data is stored in the reception buffer 4, and data for one unit code is read from the stored reception buffer. Next, the process proceeds to the command branch step of step S5, and it is determined whether the data read in step S4 is a print command or a paper ejection command.If it is determined that the data is a print command, the process proceeds to step S6, and the R
A print image is created on AM7 and the process returns to step S4.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that it is not a print command but a paper discharge command, the process proceeds to step S7, where the color is specified from the color flag area 7a to the output section 8, and then the process proceeds to step S8, where the print on the RAM 7 is executed. After outputting the image to the output unit 8, printing operation and paper ejection are performed in step S9,
That is, red printing is performed on the yellow printing paper and the process returns to step S1.

By repeating the above operations, it becomes possible to print in the printing color that is most suitable for the color of the printing paper.

Note that the table storing the optimum color selection does not necessarily need to be in the ROM, and may be modified to process instructions from the host computer in the RAM.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, only the case of two colors, red and yellow, was described as an example, but the combination is not limited to red and yellow, and any combination of two or more colors may be used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the multicolor printing device of the present invention prevents printed results from becoming difficult or indecipherable by automatically selecting a printing color suitable for a printing sheet or printing paper. A multi-color printing device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the multicolor printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. In the figure, ■...Main unit, 2...Host computer, 3
...CPU device, 4...Reception buffer, 5...
ROM element, 5a... table area, 6... paper color detector, 7... RAM element, 7a... color flag area. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] A multi-color printing device having the ability to reproduce two or more printing colors includes a color identification means for identifying the color of a printing sheet printed out by the multi-color printing device, and a color identification device according to a color identification result by the color identification device. 1. A multicolor printing device, comprising: color selection means for selecting a printing color, and printing on the printing sheet in a printing color different from the color of the printing sheet.