JPH0343281A - Printer control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten processing time for writing when image data is blank by providing simulated font memory, a simulated font reading device, a simulated front data writing device, a blank data counting device and a blank data control device. CONSTITUTION:A printing controller 4 consists of bit map memory 4A, font memory 4B, a bit map reading part 40 and a bit map control part 4D. The bit map control part 4D is composed of a blank data counting device 23 and a blank data control device 24. A blank data counting part 23 counts the number of blank data items. A blank data control part 24 controls so that blank data is not sent to the bit map reading part 40. In addition, the part 24 sends image data to the bit map reading part 4C, if image data becomes data other than blank data, and controls a pointer which indicates a position where simulated font data is written in bit map memory 4A in accordance with image data so that the pointer is updated depending on the count value of the blank data counting part 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer control device, and is used, for example, when printing a page printer by connecting it to a host computer that outputs image data for dot blinking. .

[Conventional technology]

Laser printers that utilize laser beams and electrophotographic processes are capable of high-speed, high-density printing or image recording, and are therefore widely used as output devices for various data processing systems and image creation systems that use computers. .

A laser printer develops and writes a large amount of image data including image data consisting of multiple bits into a bitmap memory, which is a two-dimensional virtual screen, according to the image, and then scans the bitmap memory to write the data. Readout image formation is performed. It is also called a page printer because it writes an image for one page into a bitmap memory, reads it out, and prints out one page at a time. However, it is called a page printer even if it prints not only one page but two pages, half a page, or other pages.

Recording information from a host computer to a page printer is normally sent as serial data using one signal line. When developing and writing recorded information from a host computer into a bitmap memory, if the recorded information is a character code as character information corresponding to the characters that make up the image to be recorded, each character code is If the recorded information is image data corresponding to the image itself to be recorded, the image data is read from the font memory and written to a predetermined position on the bitmap memory. The device is configured to scan and write to a predetermined area of the image.

By the way, in addition to the above-mentioned page printers, there are other printers for recording record information such as image information and character information.
Impact-type wire dot printers are known, which are more popular.

Wire dot printers may have 8, 16, or 2 wire dot printers, for example.
It has a recording head in which a plurality of wire bins, such as four wire bins, are arranged vertically, and while moving the recording head in the horizontal direction, the plurality of wire bins are selectively hit with a hammer according to the recording information, and the ink is injected. It is designed to record on paper via a ribbon. Therefore, when the recorded information from the host computer when using a wire dot printer as an output terminal is image data corresponding to the image itself to be recorded, the image data is data with a number of bits corresponding to the number of wire bins. It is configured to sequentially and serially output data in response to the horizontal movement of the recording head.

Conventionally, a recording system consisting of a host computer and a printer as its output end device has a dedicated It was made up of combinations.

However, as the price of laser printers has declined, there has been an increasing desire to connect and use laser printers in recording systems consisting of wire dot printers and compatible host computers. Therefore, a control device (interface device) for connecting between the host computer and the laser printer, or a control device that is built into the laser printer so that the laser printer can be directly connected to the host computer is required. Ta.

It is conceivable to realize the entire configuration of such a control device using hardware, but in that case, there is a risk of increasing costs due to the addition of hardware even if it is compatible with a single protocol. In order to support multiple types of protocols, dedicated hardware for each protocol is required, which may result in a more complex configuration and a significant increase in cost.

Therefore, in order to be cost-effective and easily compatible with a wide variety of protocols, it is necessary to use a software emulator for protocol conversion that can handle these changes rather than just changing the data processing process. It is necessary to realize a control device.

Furthermore, since the dot density (pixel density) of page printers is higher than that of wire dot printers, simply converting the data for wire dot printers so that they correspond bit by bit will not allow the data formed by page printers to be processed. A problem also arises in that only images of a smaller size than the required image size can be obtained.

Therefore, even if an emulator for protocol conversion is prepared, if there is a problem with the difference in dot density as described above, post-processing such as further enlargement of the converted data will be required, which will slow down the processing speed. There is also a risk that it will decline significantly.

In order to solve this problem, the present applicant previously proposed a control device that made it possible to use a page printer instead of a wire dot printer in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-194148.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, the image data in the application software used on the host computer includes graphs, ruled lines,
Alternatively, there are various types of data such as data captured from an image scanner. The density of these data (ratio of black dots) varies, and in particular, ruled line data has blank data (
Most of the data is data whose data value is "0" or a collection of such data.

However, with the previously proposed control device, all such blank data is written as is into the bitmap memory and printed, so the amount of data that needs to be analyzed when writing to the bitmap memory or the amount of data required for writing is limited. The amount of data has increased, and as a result, even seemingly simple ruled lines actually require a lot of processing time.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention allows a page printer to be easily used in place of a wire dot printer, and further reduces the processing time for writing when the image data is blank data. The purpose is to provide a printer control device that can

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention develops and writes a large amount of image data including image data consisting of multiple bits into a bitmap memory according to the image image, and writes the data written into the bitmap memory. In a printer control device that scans and reads out various image data, there is a pseudo font memory that stores a large number of pseudo font data that is labeled in correspondence with the image of each image data, and a a pseudo font reading means for reading corresponding pseudo font data from the pseudo font memory; and writing the pseudo font data read by the pseudo font reading means into the bitmap memory at a write position specified according to the image image. a pseudo font data writing means, a blank data counting means for counting a number according to the number of blank data when the image data is blank data, and a bit map of the blank data when the image data is blank data. In addition to controlling not to write to memory, when the image data becomes data other than blank data,
Blank data control means updates the writing position in the bitmap memory according to the count value of the blank data counting means.

[For production]

The pseudo font memory stores a large number of pseudo font data configured to correspond to images of various image data.

The pseudo font reading means reads pseudo font data corresponding to the image data from the pseudo font memory.

The pseudo font data writing means writes the pseudo font data read by the pseudo font reading means into the bitmap memory at a writing position designated according to the image.

The blank data counting means counts a number corresponding to the number of blank data when the image data is blank data.

The blank data control means controls not to write the blank data to the bitmap memory when the image data is blank data, and also controls to write the blank data to the bitmap memory when the image data becomes data other than blank data. The writing position in the bitmap memory is updated according to the count value of the counting means.

〔Example〕

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

First, an overview of the entire recording system including the printer control device according to the present invention until actual recording is performed based on recording information from the host computer 1 will be explained.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a recording system using a control device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, recording information from a host computer 1 is input to a laser printer LP via a cable 2. As shown in FIG.

The laser printer LP includes a recording section 3 that develops a latent pattern formed on a photoreceptor with a laser beam, and then transfers and fixes it onto recording paper to form an image, and a recording section 3 that receives recording information and controls recording operations in the recording section 3. The print controller 4 serves as a control device for controlling the printing process.

Recording information is transmitted from the print controller 4 to the recording unit 3 via a data bus 5, and recording control information is mutually transmitted between the two via a command bus 6. has been done.

The print controller 4 writes and reads recording data to and from a bitmap memory 4A having a two-dimensional virtual space with a capacity equivalent to 1, a font memory 4B that stores font data, and a bitmap memory 4A. It has a bitmap reading section 4C and a bitmap control section 4D that controls data writing and recording operations to the bitmap memory 4A.

These bitmap reading section 4C and bitmap control section 4D are made up of hardware such as a central processing unit such as a microcomputer, memories such as ROM and RAM, programs stored therein, peripheral devices thereof, and other logic elements. It consists of Further, although not shown, operation switches, indicator lights, and various control devices are connected as necessary.

Recorded information from the host computer 1 is input to the bitmap control section 4D. A text buffer 4E with a capacity equivalent to one page of recording is attached to the bitmap control unit 4D, and the bitmap control unit 4D temporarily edits one page of input recording information using the text buffer 4E. After tentative editing, data of each byte is sent to the bitmap reading section 4C.

The bitmap reading section 4C performs appropriate processing on the recorded information sent from the bitmap control section 4D and writes it into the bitmap memory 4A. Further, after the writing of recorded information to the bitmap memory 4A is completed, the bitmap reading unit 4C receives a print start command from the bitmap control unit 4D, and scans the bitmap memory 4A to sequentially read the recorded information and data. It is output to the recording section 3 via the bus 5.

The bitmap reading section 4C is composed of a bitmap control section interface 11, a data writing section 12, a print head control section interface 13, a font memory interface 14, and the like.

The bitmap control unit interface 11 separates the input data from the bitmap control unit 4D into recording data and printer control data, and sends the recording data to the data writing unit 12 and the printer control data to the print head control unit interface. 13 to the print head control section 3a.

The print head control unit interface 13 reads recorded information from the bitmap memory 4A and outputs it to the print head control unit 3a in response to a print start command sent as printing control data.

The data writing section 12 writes data to a predetermined position on the virtual matrix of the bitmap memory 4A according to the recording information.

By the way, there are two types of recording information sent from the host computer 1. One of them is character information that is sent as a set of characters that make up an image, and is usually sent as a character code called an ASCII code in units of one byte.

The other type is image information that is sent as a set of pixels obtained by decomposing the image itself.

If the input recorded information is image information, it is determined by the bitmap control section 4D, and the image information is written into a bitmap by the data writing section 12 via the bitmap control section interface 11 of the bitmap reading section 4C. The information is sequentially written starting from a predetermined position in the memory 4A.

On the other hand, if the input record information is character information,
Normally, a command code is sent before the character code, which is the character information, so it is determined by the bitmap control section 4D, and based on the determination result, the data writing section 12 writes the command code via the font memory interface 14. font memory 4B, reads out font data corresponding to the character information, and writes it into bitmap memory 4A.

Next, the configuration of the font memory 4B and the data writing section 1 will be explained.
The operation of reading font data from the font memory 4B and writing the font data to the bitmap memory 4A according to No. 2 will be briefly described.

For example, the font data in the font memory 4B is 24
It is constructed by arranging binarized data according to the brightness and darkness of the image on a virtual matrix of rows and 24 columns.

In the data writing section 12, based on the input character code, the address of the font memory 4B corresponding to the character code is specified, the font data is read out, and a bit map is written based on the input character code arrangement. Indicates the start address of the font data writing area on memory 4A with a pointer,
The read font data is written into the bitmap memory 4A.

Multiple character codes as character information from the host computer are arranged in the order in which each line of a record consisting of multiple lines is arranged from top to bottom, and in the order in which each character in each line consisting of multiple characters is arranged from left to right. It will be sent to you. Therefore, the data writing unit 12 creates a set in which font data corresponding to each character code is arranged from left to right on the virtual matrix of the bitmap memory 4A.
The configuration is such that a pointer indicating the writing position of each font data is controlled so that the font data are arranged in order from the top to the bottom.

Specifically, the pointer controlled by the data writing unit 12 only indicates the write position of the dot data in the first row and first column of a certain font data (hereinafter referred to as the start address position), and The remaining dot data is configured to be written automatically.

When storing a plurality of font data in the bitmap memory 4A in the above order, the pointer is increased (moved in the positive row direction) by an amount (characters) corresponding to the size of the font data. is configured to do so.

As described above, the data written in the bitmap memory 4A by the print controller 4 is read out by scanning the virtual matrix of the bitmap memory 4A by the print head control unit interface 13, and the data is read out by the print head control unit interface 13, and the data is read out by scanning the virtual matrix of the bitmap memory 4A. It is output to the head control section 3a. The print head control section 3a is configured to modulate the laser beam scanned on the photoreceptor based on the read data in the same manner as scanning for reading out the bitmap memory 4A.

The above-mentioned recording system includes a laser printer LP,
It is combined with a dedicated host computer l. However, some recording systems combine a conventionally widely used wire dot printer with a dedicated host computer. In the case of image data, which is image information, recorded information from a host computer dedicated to a wire dot printer, data with a number of bits corresponding to the number of wire bins is sequentially output serially to correspond to the horizontal movement of the recording head. It is configured as follows.

Therefore, a laser beam printer cannot be used as it is as an output terminal for a host computer dedicated to a wire dot printer.

In this embodiment, the laser printer LP is configured to be able to be used as an output terminal for a host computer dedicated to a wire dot printer, and to shorten the processing time. This will be explained below.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of recorded information for a wire dot printer.

As shown in FIG. 6, the dot host computer 1a
In the wire dot printer, the 1-byte serial data BO to 7 transmitted via the cable 2a is configured to correspond to eight wire bins WO to 7 of the recording head HD.

On the other hand, in the laser printer LP described above, the 1-byte serial data BO to 7 are arranged vertically in 8
Since the serial data corresponds to wire bins WO to WO7, if the serial data is image data as image information, the image data is expanded onto the bitmap memory 4A in the same way as character information is handled. In order to do this, the bitmap control section 4D is configured to output the image data (serial data BO to 7) to the bitmap reading section 4C of the print controller 4 as a pseudo character code having the same structure as the above-mentioned character code. .

The bitmap control section 4D temporarily edits the image data from the dot host computer 1a using the text buffer 4E, in the same way as when the character code is input from the host computer 1 described above. Further, the bitmap reading section 4C also uses the image data after temporary editing from the bitmap control section 4D.
Dot data for recording is written into the bitmap memory 4A.

In other words, since the image data that has passed through the bitmap control unit 4D is grouped into 1-byte units, the set of 1-byte image data is treated as if it were a character code, and its pseudo-character By preparing pseudo font data corresponding to the code, when writing image data, which is image information from the dot host computer 1a, to the bitmap memory 4A, the same processing as when the character code is manually entered is performed. In particular, this type of printer is designed to be advantageous in terms of cost by effectively utilizing its inherent functions.

Therefore, a pseudo font memory 4H having almost the same configuration as the font memory 4B described above is provided, and the data writing section 12 includes a pseudo font reading section 21 for reading pseudo font data from the pseudo font memory 4H.
and a pseudo font data writing section 22 for writing pseudo font data into the bitmap memory 4A.

Further, the bitmap control unit 4D includes a blank data counter (blank data counter G-COUNT to be described later).
) 23 and blank data control means 24 are provided.

The blank data count unit 23 counts the number of blank data (number of bytes) when the input 1-byte data is image data and the image data is blank data.
count. The blank data control section 24 controls not to send the blank data to the bitmap reading section 4C when the image data is blank data, and when the image data becomes data other than blank data after that, The image data is sent to the bitmap reading section 4C, and at the same time, a pointer indicating the position for writing pseudo font data corresponding to the image data is sent to the bitmap memo I74A according to the count value of the blank data counting section 23. Performs control for updating.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the pseudo font memory 4
The configuration of H will be explained.

As is clear from FIG. 6, the structure of the data from the dot host computer la is such that 1 byte of image data corresponds to eight wire pins arranged vertically in recording.

Therefore, each of the pseudo font data FD stored in the pseudo font memory 4H is a row vector of the row vector BO to BO7 as shown in FIG. The column vector bo~ shown in FIG. 2(b) which has a transposed matrix relationship with
7 is doubled in the row direction (horizontal direction) and 2.5 times in the column direction (vertical direction), forming a virtual matrix consisting of 40 dot data shown in FIG. 2(c).

To further explain the pseudo font data FD, the image data from the dot host computer 1a is intended for a wire dot printer with a resolution (dot density) of 120 dpi. On the other hand, the resolution of the laser printer LP of this embodiment is 300 dpi. Therefore, when pseudo font data is constructed from eight dot data, the column vectors shown in FIG. for,
An image obtained using this pseudo font data becomes 1/2.5 of the required image size in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

Therefore, as the pseudo font data FD, we prepared the above column vector expanded in the row direction (horizontal direction) and column direction (vertical direction) using r 2.5J, which is the ratio of the resolutions of both printers, as a multiple. By doing so, you can obtain images of approximately the same size.

However, specifically, since it is not possible to approximate the fraction in the row direction, it is doubled, and in the column direction, including the fraction, it is 2.5.
It's double.

In other words, the structure of the pseudo font data FD in the column direction is as follows:
As shown in parentheses in Figure 2(c), by doubling the column vectors in the column direction for odd rows and multiplying them by 3 in the column direction for even rows, the overall , this pseudo font data FD is approximated by multiplying the column vector by 2.5 in the column direction.

In addition, regarding the row direction, since the pseudo font data FD is the column vector doubled as described above, when writing to the bitmap memory 4A described later, the pseudo font data FD written in the even numbered position in the row direction is By rewriting the third column, an image with an overall resolution 2.5 times that of the original image can be obtained.

FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d) are diagrams showing specific examples of correspondence between image data D and pseudo font data FD.

Image data D of "r3CH" shown in FIG. 3(b) is sent corresponding to the wire pins WO to 7 in the bit state shown in FIG. 3(a), but this image data r3cH
For J, pseudo font data FD3C shown in FIG. 3(c) is prepared.

However, in reality, the pseudo font memory 4H is often configured to provide a 1-byte memory area in the row direction for each pseudo font data FD, so in that case, the pseudo font memory 4H The data read out is 8×20 dot data, as shown in FIG. 3(d). Therefore, in order to obtain the above-mentioned pseudo font data FD3C from this data, it is written into the bitmap memory 4A with, for example, the third column (three dots from the left) and below masked.

Now, the bitmap control section 4D receives and receives the recording information sent from the dot host computer 1a.
Based on the command data attached to the head portion before the serial data, it is determined that the subsequent serial data is image data D of the protocol for wired dot printers.

If the bitmap control section 4D determines that the subsequent serial data is image data D of the wire dot printer protocol, the data writing section 12 selects the pseudo font memory 4H as the readout target. Specifically, the pseudo font reading unit 21 of the data writing unit 12
The address to be accessed is stored in the pseudo font memory 4H.
This is done by setting the address determined by the pseudo character code corresponding to the image data D in .

Furthermore, in order to write the read pseudo font data FD into the bitmap memory 4A, the pseudo font data writing section 22 indicates the write position (address) using a pointer.

Specifically, the pointer indicating the writing position is moved horizontally by two dots (one character) each time writing of one piece of pseudo font data FD is completed. However, if the image data D is blank data, the blank data is sent from the bitmap control unit 4D, and when the image data D becomes data other than blank data, the pointer is moved to the blank data count. Since control information for moving the image according to the count value of the section 23 is sent together with the image data D, based on this, the pseudo font data FD read out by the pseudo font reading section 21 is transferred to the bitmap memory 4A. write to.

In addition, in order to multiply the column vector bO~7 by 2.5 times in the horizontal direction, the pseudo font data FD written in the even numbered position in the horizontal direction is set by moving the pointer horizontally to the negative value after the first writing is completed. The second writing is performed by moving one dot (moving one dot to the left).

That is, as each byte of image data is input from the bitmap control unit 4D, the data writing unit 12 of the bitmap reading unit 4C converts each image data D into a pseudo character code and writes the corresponding pseudo font data FD. is read from pseudo font memory 4H,
The read pseudo font data FD is expanded and written on a virtual matrix in a bitmap memory 4A so that sets arranged from left to right are arranged from top to bottom without gaps.

In addition, as mentioned above, the positive and negative directions of the pointer movement are positive in the direction in which the bitmap memory 4A is scanned for normal reading and writing, and negative in the opposite direction. In this embodiment, from right to left. The direction toward the direction and the direction from the top to the bottom are positive.

In addition, in making the 1-byte image data D correspond to the pseudo character code, from "00H" to rlF
Since the codes up to H are used as printer control codes, r
It is configured to add 20HJ and handle it as a pseudo character code.

Table 1 shown on the next page shows pseudo character codes corresponding to image data D consisting of upper 4 bits and lower 4 bits.

(Margins below) In addition, for image data D from rEOHJ to "FFH," r is used as a pseudo character code as described above.
o 0 Since HJ to rlFHJ cannot be used, a single pseudo font data FD cannot handle it, so 2.
The pseudo font data FD is stored in the bitmap memory 4A.
This is handled by overlapping the data in the same location.

For example, to obtain the pseudo font data FDFF for the image data D of rFFHJ, as shown in FIG.
Using pseudo font data (r9 FHJ as pseudo character code) FD7F, move the pointer horizontally by -2 dots after writing pseudo font data FD80, and then write pseudo font data FD7F. These two pseudo font data FD80. FD7F is overwritten and rFFHJ
Pseudo font data FDF for image data D of
F is obtained.

As described above, the bitmap memory 4A stores image data (dots) so that they are arranged in the same way as the original image on the virtual matrix and have a resolution 2.5 times that of the original image. data) will be written. The operation of the print head control section 3a after writing is the same as in the case of the character code described above.

The print head control unit interface 13 scans and reads the virtual matrix of the bitmap memory 4A line by line starting from the first line, and based on the data, the recording unit 3 forms an image on the recording paper.

The resolution of the image developed in the bitmap memory 4A is 2.5 times that of the original image FM, and the resolution of the laser printer LP is 2.5 times that of the wire dot printer targeted by the dot host computer 1a. have the same magnification, the image formed on the recording paper by the laser printer LP has the same size as the image formed by the wire dot printer described above.

Next, the fifth step is to expand the image data input to the laser printer LP onto the 0% bitmap memory 4A.
This will be explained based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. (a) and (b).

The image information from the dot host computer 1a is usually a bit image specification command in which the first 1 byte indicates the type of data, the next 1 byte is image size data indicating the number of data in the image data D, and then It is sent in a format in which a plurality of image data D follows.

In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 5, explanations of operations that are not directly related to the features of the present invention, such as character code expansion and rewriting to match the size, may be simplified or omitted. be. Further, the processing operations in this flowchart are executed by the bitmap control section 4D. Therefore, a portion of the flowchart that describes the movement of the pointer means that control is performed to move the pointer in that manner.

First, there is a processing flag G-MODE that is set when image data D is being processed, a data counter GCOUNT that counts the number of image data D, and a blank data counter G that counts the number of blank data.
- Initialize various flags and counters, such as resetting each COUNT to rQJ (step #
10), then data is input in byte units (step #12).

Next, it is determined whether the processing flag G-MODE is set (step #14).

When the processing flag G-MODE is not set, that is, when the image data D is not being processed, it is determined whether the input data is a bit image designation command (step #84).

If it is determined that the input data is not a bit image designation command, the process corresponding to the command is performed (step #92).For example, if it is a character code designation command, the font data is stored in the bitmap memory 4A.
Expand on top. After that, the process returns to step #12 and the next data is input.

If it is determined in step #84 that the input data is a bit image specification command, first the processing flag G
- Set MODE (step #86), then save the currently selected font name (step #88)
.

This font name is an identification name given to each font when the font memory 4B stores font data corresponding to multiple fonts with different fonts, etc. If only font data corresponding to one font is stored, this is a name for identifying the font memory 4B itself.

Then select pseudo font memory 4H in step #
90), return to step #12 and input the next data manually.

If it is determined in step #14 that the processing flag C-MODE is set, that is, if image data D is being processed, first, the data counter G-COUNT is checked (step #16).

When the data counter G-COUNT is "0", for example, immediately after starting data input,
The image size data, which is the input data, is stored in the data counter G-COUNT (step #80), and the process returns to step #12 to input the next data.

At step #16, the data counter G-COUNT is set to “O”.
'', it is determined whether the input image data D is not blank data (step #1B).

If it is blank data (Yes in step #18)
, the blank data counter C, -COUNT is incremented by one step #24), and the processing for writing data to the bitmap memory 4A (steps #26 to #4)
0) and jumps to step #42.

If it is not blank data (No in step #18),
Blank data counter C
, -COUNT to the right (step #20), and then reset the blank data counter G-COUNT to "0" (step #22).

Next, in step #26, it is determined whether the input 1-byte image data D is larger than rEOH. As explained earlier, this is from roOHJ to rl
Since up to FH are used as printer control codes, this is to determine whether overwriting of pseudo font data FD is necessary.

If the input data (image data D) is smaller than rEOH, it is not necessary to overwrite the pseudo font data FD, so r20J is added to the input data to create a pseudo character code (step 438), and the pseudo character code is In order to write data based on the code, a data write routine is called (step #40).

Although not shown, in the data write routine, pseudo font data FD corresponding to the pseudo character code is read from the pseudo font memory 4H, and the read pseudo font data FD is written at the position indicated by the pointer.

Then, move the pointer one character in the plus direction (to the right) of the line.

If the input data is larger than rEOH, it is necessary to overwrite the pseudo font data FD, so in order to create the first pseudo character code for overwriting, r60H'' (calculated by r80HJ-r20HJ) is created from the input data. ) is subtracted (step #2B), and the same data write routine as described above is called (step #30).

Then, move the pointer one character in the negative direction (leftward) of the line (step #32) and set rAOHJ as the second pseudo-character code for writing ffine.Step #34L Write the same data as above. Call the routine again (step #36).

Next, the data counter G-COUNT is decremented (step #42), and it is determined whether the data counter G-COUNT has reached "O", that is, whether all data has been input (step #44). .

If it is determined that the data counter G-COUNT is not "0", the process returns to step #12 and the next image data D
Enter.

If it is determined that the data counter G-COUNT has become "0", that is, the processing of all image data D has been completed, the font name saved in step #88 is selected again (step #46), and the processing flag G- To reset the MODE, step #48) returns to step #12 and prepares for inputting the next data.

Next, modifications to the above-described embodiment will be listed.

(1) In the above embodiment, the case where the recording information sent from the dot host computer 1a is 1-byte serial data BO to 7 has been explained, but data with other configurations, such as 1-byte unit serial data, is explained. consecutive 3
&ll serial data B10-17. B20-27.
B30-37 may be sufficient.

In this case, the recording head of the wire dot printer corresponds to 24 (8 x 3) wire pins that are continuous in the vertical direction, so the bitmap memory 4
When writing the pseudo font data FD to A, each pseudo font data FD should be written in 3 columns from top to bottom in the vertical direction, and the pseudo font data FD in 3 columns in the vertical direction should be written in 3 columns in the horizontal direction. Then, unfold them in order from the large to the right so that they are lined up without any gaps.

Therefore, in this case, the blank data control section 24
The pointer may be controlled according to the count value of the blank data counter 23 so that pseudo font data FD, which is not blank data, can be written at the correct position in the bitmap memo 1J4A after blank data continues.

(2) In the above embodiment, the pseudo font data F
Although D is composed of 40 dot data arranged in 20 rows and 2 columns, as mentioned earlier, the size of the storage area of the pseudo font memory 4H that stores this pseudo font data FD can be arbitrarily set. .

For example, the pseudo font data FD may be stored in the first and second columns of a virtual matrix of 20 rows and 20 columns, and the third and subsequent columns may be masked when writing to the bitmap memory 4A. Alternatively, write all data in 20 rows and 20 columns to the bitmap memory 4A without masking,
The next pseudo font data FD may be written overlapping the previous pseudo font data FD from the third column.

By doing this, when the font data in the font memory 4B is composed of 20x20 dots,
The configuration of the pseudo font memory 4H can be made completely the same as the font memory 4B. In addition, the font memory 4B in which the first and second columns of font data are all blank can be used as the pseudo font memory 4H, reducing the memory area for font data and pseudo font data FD. Is possible.

(3) In the above embodiment, the resolution is 120 dpi.
An example has been described in which recorded information left in a wire dot printer is applied to a laser printer LP with a resolution of 3QOdpi. However, if the ratio of resolutions is an integral multiple, column vector bO is used as pseudo font data FD. ~
7 in the row and column directions by integral multiples (including equal magnification)
All you need to do is prepare a
Rewriting to A becomes unnecessary.

Furthermore, regardless of whether the resolution ratio is an integral multiple or not, the size of the pseudo font data FD in the row direction and column direction should be set appropriately, and the data should be rewritten to the bitmap memory 4A as appropriate. by Laser Printer LP
The size of the image formed can be made arbitrary with respect to the original image. Therefore, it is possible to enlarge or reduce the size of the original image to an arbitrary magnification.

(4) In the above embodiment, the image data D is 1
Although an example in which the bit configuration is configured in bytes has been described, other bit configurations may be used, and the pseudo font memory 4H may be configured accordingly.

Furthermore, it is also possible to prepare a plurality of types of pseudo font memories 4H with different bit configurations and to select and use them as appropriate.
The selection can be made manually or automatically by determining the command data included in the recorded information.

(5) In the above embodiment, the write operation by the pseudo font data writing unit 22 to the bitmap memory 4A is based on the configuration of the image data D and the pseudo font data FD, and the resolution of the wire dot printer targeted by the dot host computer 1a. Or depending on the configuration, resolution or configuration of the laser printer LP, or image magnification, etc.
Various changes can be made, and the above-described flowchart can also be changed as appropriate.

(6) In the above embodiment, a laser printer LP incorporating the control device of the present invention has been described, but instead of this, the control device may be provided in the output section of the dot host computer 1a, or the dot It may be configured as a single device independent from both the host computer 1a and the laser printer LP, and the form and installation state of the device are arbitrary.

(7) Pseudo font memory 4H and font memory 4B
may be constructed in the form of a ROM cartridge and made removable from the control device, so that various pseudo font data FD or font data can be used without increasing the memory capacity of the control device.

(8) In the above embodiment, the laser printer LP was taken up as an example of a page printer, but instead, it can be applied to various printers such as an LED printer, a liquid crystal printer, a thermal printer, or an inkjet printer. is possible.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily use a page printer instead of a wire dot printer, and when the image data is blank data, the processing time for writing can be shortened, and the page printer can be used easily. High-speed recording is possible by taking advantage of high-speed performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a recording system using a control device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the correspondence between image data and pseudo font data, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the correspondence between image data and pseudo font data. Figure 4 is a diagram showing pseudo font data synthesized by overwriting, Figure 5 is a flowchart showing image data processing operations, and Figure 6 is for wire dot printers. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of recorded information. 4...Print controller (control word 2), 4A...
・Bitmap memory, 4H... Pseudo font memory, 21... Pseudo font reading section (pseudo font reading means), 22... Pseudo font data writing section (pseudo font data writing means), 23... Blank Data count section (blank data counting means), 24... Blank data control section (blank data control means), D... Image data, FD... Pseudo font data.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A printer that develops and writes a large amount of image data including image data consisting of multiple bits into a bitmap memory according to the image, and scans and reads out the data written in the bitmap memory. In the control device, for various image data, a pseudo font memory that stores a large number of pseudo font data configured corresponding to the image of each image data, and reading pseudo font data corresponding to the image data from the pseudo font memory. pseudo font reading means; pseudo font data writing means for writing pseudo font data read by the pseudo font reading means into the bitmap memory at a write position specified according to the image; and the image data is blank data. In some cases, a blank data counting means counts a number according to the number of blank data, and when image data is blank data, controls not to write the blank data to the bitmap memory, Blank data control means for updating the writing position in the bitmap memory according to the count value of the blank data counting means when the image data becomes data other than blank data. printer control device.