JPH03138184A - Printing data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the use as the printing area to imperfect line feed and the max. printing area of the space of a paper surface possible by shifting printing data by a shifter to send the same to a printer. CONSTITUTION:When a printer performs line feed operation relatively moving paper and a printing head by a predetermined quantity, the relative moving quantity of the paper and the printing head is detected by a counter means 2 and, when the end of the paper is detected during this line feed operation by a detection means 3, the printing data stored in a memory means 1 is shifted on the basis of the moving quantity detected by the counter means 2 by a deta shift means 4. Therefore, when the end of the paper is detected during line feed operation, the printing data shifted corresponding to line feed quantity is supplied to the printer. By this method, printing is applied to a remaining printable printing area without performing double-printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a print data processing device for processing print data and supplying the processed data to, for example, a serial dot printer.
In particular, it relates to data processing when detecting paper end.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention makes it possible to print even incomplete line breaks by shifting print data using a shifter and sending it to the printer when paper end is detected in the middle of a line feed. This allows maximum space on the paper to be used as a printing area.

[Prior Art] For example, an information processing device such as a word processor or a personal computer and a serial dot printer serving as a printing device are connected via a printer controller. This kind of printer controller is
It may be built into the information processing device, or the printer, or may be used separately. This type of printer controller includes, for example, an LF motor control device for controlling a printer's line feed motor, and a CR motor $-IJ for controlling a printer's carriage return motor.
The printer is comprised of an I device, a print data transfer device for transferring print data to the printer, a timing control device for controlling their timing, and the like.

In a printer controller having such a configuration, the line feed motor is driven under the control of the LF motor control device, and the vapor serving as printing paper is fed by a predetermined number of dots corresponding to the number of dots on the print head, and a line feed is performed. .

Then, after the line feed, the carriage return motor is driven under the control of the CR motor control device to move the print head, and in synchronization with the movement, print data is supplied from the print data transfer device to the vapor. One line of printing is done. Thereafter, the carriage return motor is driven under the control of the CR motor control device.
As the print head is returned to its predetermined position, a line feed is performed as described above.

If a paper end signal is supplied from the paper end detector installed in the printer during this change operation, the printer controller sets a printer error flag and stops the subsequent change operation and printing operation. There is.

[8 Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in recent years, printers with a print head having a large number of dots have come into use. With such printers, for example, if characters such as letters,
Since printing corresponding to multiple lines can be performed in one operation, printing speed can be increased.

However, as mentioned above, in conventional printer controllers, when the end of paper is detected, the line feed operation is stopped in the middle of a line feed, so the space on the paper below one line of print is not used as a print area. It will be ignored. Therefore, in printers in which the number of dots in the print head is large, the space that is ignored becomes large, and the problem has emerged that the vertical width of the print area is narrowed. In particular, it has been pointed out that a printer that can print multiple lines of characters at once has a drawback in that it cannot print even though there is still space for several lines of characters.

Such a problem is caused by the fact that the printing operation is stopped when the paper end is detected.

If you try to do this, even if the paper feed operation stops when the paper end is detected, the subsequent printing operation will continue.
It is clear that the printing area can be used effectively. However, if only the printing operation continued,
Since the printing area at this time and the printing area before the line break partially overlap, that portion will be printed twice.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to print in the remaining printable area without double printing when the paper end is detected.

[Means to solve the problem] The means of the present invention are as follows.

(1) Storage means 1 for storing one line of print data according to the size of the print head of the printer (see the block diagram in FIG. 1; the same applies hereinafter).

For example, if the number of dots on a printer's print head is n dots,
If the width of the print area is m dots, then it is a 1-line print buffer that stores print data for nXm dots.

(2) When the printer is performing a reversing operation in which the vapor and the print head are relatively moved by a predetermined amount, a counter means 2 for detecting the relative movement amount between the vapor and the print head, for example, the reversing operation This is a counter that is reset at the start and counts up as the paper is fed one dot at a time.

(3) Detection means 3 for detecting paper end, for example, a paper end detector provided within the printer.

(4) When the paper end is detected by the detection means 3 during the paper change operation, the print data stored in the storage means 1 is read based on the movement amount detected by the counter means 2. Shifting data shifting means 4゜For example, the above-mentioned counter stops its operation when a paper end detection signal is supplied from the paper end detector of the above printer and outputs the count value S at that time; Based on the count value S, it is a shifter that shifts the print data stored in the one-line print buffer so that it becomes null data by S dot lines.

[Effect] The operation of the means of the invention is as follows.

When the printer is performing a changeover operation in which the paper and the print head are relatively moved by a predetermined amount, the relative movement amount between the paper and the print head is detected by the counter means 2, and during this changeover operation, the detection means 3 When the paper end is detected by the counter means 2, the print data stored in the storage means 1 is shifted by the data shift means 4 based on the movement amount detected by the counter means 2. Therefore, when the paper end is detected during a line feed operation, print data shifted according to the line feed amount is supplied to the printer.
Printing can be performed on the remaining printable area without double printing.

[Example] An example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

(1) Configuration of the Embodiment FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a printer controller 10 including a print data processing device of the embodiment, and reference numeral 11 is a CPU that controls the entire printer controller. 12 is CP
The printer controller 10 executed by U11
This is a ROM that stores control programs and the like. 1
3 is a RAM that stores print data communicated from an information processing device (not shown) or created by a data creation section (not shown). Reference numeral 14 denotes a print control unit that controls each motor (not shown) of the printer 15, and includes the print data processing device 16 of the embodiment.

These CPU11. ROM12. RAM1B.

and the print control unit 14, the address bus and the data bus 1
are connected to each other by 7. In addition, the print control section 1
4 supplies the print data PD or print data PD' shifted as described later to the printer 15, and the printer 15 supplies the print data PD' to the print control unit 14.
50 is connected so that a paper end detection signal PE is supplied from a paper end detector (not shown). Further, although not particularly shown, the paper end detection signal PE is also supplied to the CPU 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the print control section 14.
In addition to the print data processing device 16, there is an L for driving and controlling the line feed motor (not shown) of the printer 15.
It has an F motor control device 18. This LF motor control device 18 applies a line feed motor drive signal DS to the printer 15, and further outputs a count up pulse and a pulse CP in synchronization with the paper feeding one dot at a time by the line feed motor. ing. Although not particularly shown, the print control unit 14 further includes a CR motor control device for controlling a carriage return motor (not shown) of the printer 15, and a timing control device for controlling their timing. etc.

The print data processing device 16 generates print data PD for one line to be printed out of the print data stored in the RAM 13.
a 1-line print buffer 19 that transfers and stores the 1-line print buffer 19 via the bus 17, and a print buffer 19 that transfers the print data PD stored in the 1-line print buffer 19 or the print data PD' shifted as described later to the printer 15. It has a data transfer section 20. Here, if the number of dots of the print head (not shown) of the printer 15 is n dots, and the width of the print area of paper (not shown) as printing paper is m dots, then the one-line print buffer 19 has a fourth line. figure(
As shown in a), it is assumed that it has a storage capacity to store print data for nXm dots. In FIG. 4(a), d11'd, . . . , d each indicate the print 12'ni data for one dot.

Further, the print data processing device 16 further includes the LF
A dot number counter that counts up in response to the supply of the count-up pulse CP from the motor control device 18 and counts how many printed dots the length of the line feed is, that is, detects how many dots the line feed has occurred. It has 21. This dot number counter 21 is connected to the printer 15.
The counting operation is stopped in response to the supply of the paper end detection signal ' from the paper end detection signal ', and the count value at that time is outputted as the shift dot number data/SD.

Further, the print data processing device 16 reads the print data PD stored in the one-line print buffer 19 in response to the shift dot number data SD supplied from the dot number counter 21, and reads the supplied shift dot number data SD. It has a shifter 22 which shifts the print data PD by the number of dots indicated by and then stores it again in the one-line print buffer 19 as the shifted print data PD'. That is, assuming that the number of dots indicated by the supplied shift dot number data SD is S dots, the print data PD having the data structure shown in FIG. 4(a) is read out and the print data PD shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
The read print data PD is shifted so that 1112 degrees starts.

Then, this shifted print data PD" is stored in the one-line print buffer 19 again.

As a result, the shifted print data PD' supplied from the print data transfer unit 20 to the printer 15 is changed as shown in FIG.
The data structure is as shown in b).

(2) Operation of the Embodiment Below, the operation of the printer controller 10 including the print data processing device 16 configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the CPU II reads one line of print data PD determined by the number of dots in the print head and the width of the vapor print area from the beginning of the print data stored in the RAM 13, and sets it in the one line print buffer 19. (Step Sl).

This print data PD is transferred from the one-line print buffer 19 to the printer 15 by the print data transfer section 20, whereby printing for one line is performed (step S2).

Here, the CPU II determines whether there is print data stored in the RAM 13 (step S3).

If there is no print data, the process ends as printing is complete, but if there is print data, the CPU II resets the dot number counter 21 (step 84).

Then, the CPU 1 causes the LF motor control device 18 to generate a drive signal DS for driving the line feed motor of the printer 15, and causes the LF motor control device 18 to line feed, that is, feed the paper by one dot (step S5). 18 supplies a count up pulse CP to the dot number counter 21 in response to the generation of the drive signal DS.

As a result, the dot number counter 21 counts up, that is, increments by "1" (step S6).

Here, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the paper end detection signal PE is supplied from the printer 15 (step S7
). If the paper end detection signal PE is not supplied, the CPU 11 next reads the count value of the dot number counter 22 and determines whether it has reached a predetermined number n determined by the number of dots on the print head. (Step S
8).

If the predetermined number n has not yet been reached, step S5 is performed.
Return to , and perform a line edit for one more dot.

In this way, in the above step S8, when the count value of the dot number counter 22 reaches the predetermined number n, it is assumed that the line feed for one line has been completed, and the process returns to the above step S1 to print the next one line. Data PD is set in the 1-line print buffer 19.

Further, in step S7, when the paper end detection signal PE is supplied, the dot number counter 21 stops its counting operation and outputs the count value at that time as the shift dot number data SD. Therefore, shifter 2
2 reads the print data PD stored in the one-line print buffer 19 in response to the supply of the shift dot number data SD from the dot number counter 21, and calculates the number of dots indicated by the supplied shift dot number data SD. as described above, and the shifted print data PD' is stored again in the one-line print buffer 19 (step S9).

Then, the shifted print data PD' is transferred to the one-line print buffer 19 by the print data transfer unit 20.
The image is then transferred to the printer 15, and one line of printing is thereby performed using the remaining portion of the print head, excluding the upper S dot portion that overlaps with the previously printed portion (step 510). Therefore, printing can be performed in the remaining printable area without double printing.

In this way, the printing operation for one sheet of printing paper is completed. The printing operation for the next printing paper can be performed in the same way.

In this way, when the paper end is detected in the middle of a line break,
Since the print data is shifted by the number of line feed dots, the part above the print head that overlaps with the part printed last time has no print data, so nothing is printed.
The remaining portion of the print head continues printing on the previously printed portion. Therefore, printing can be performed in the remaining printable area without double printing.

Note that it is clear that the present invention can be applied even if the print data is character data or graphic data.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when the paper end is detected in the middle of a line feed, the print data is shifted by the number of line feed dots. Since there is no print data, no printing is performed, and the remaining portion of the print head continues printing on the previously printed portion. Therefore, printing can be performed in the remaining printable area without double printing, and the space on the paper surface can be used as printing space to the maximum within the printer's performance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer controller including a print data processing device according to the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the print data processing device according to the embodiment; 4(a) and (b) are diagrams for explaining the storage structure of print data in a one-line print buffer, respectively, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the printer controller including the print data processing device of the embodiment. It is a flowchart. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Storage means, 2... Counter means, 3... Detection means, 4... Data shift means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A storage means for storing one line of print data according to the size of a print head of a printer; a counter means for detecting the relative movement amount between the paper and the print head when the paper is at the end of the paper, a detection means for detecting the paper end, and a paper end is detected by the detection means during the paper feed operation. and data shifting means for shifting the print data stored in the storage means based on the movement amount detected by the counter means.