JPH04205622A - Printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently utilize a memory by dividing a frame into numbers which are corresponding to information of a print length at the time of providing the frame memories of plural faces. CONSTITUTION:Print information received as a code is contained in an input buffer area 61, is bit-extended at the same time, and is contained as the form of a bit pattern in the remaining area 62 of RAM. Print length information is included in received print information and it is devided into the plural frame memories 620, 621... whose number corresponds to the print length so as to be used. The frame memory 620 is used as a reference frame memory and the frame memories 621-623 are used for variable information processing. That is, respective memories are devided in such a way that they have storage capacity able to contain information for one print length which is bit-extended and are devided into a large number when the print length is shorter. Thus, the memory is efficiently utilized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a printer device, particularly a method in which print information is stored in advance in the tq element of the printer and printing is performed based on a print command from an external device. The present invention relates to a printer device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, printed information is received from an external device in the form of a code and stored in a memory element in the form of a code.
When a print command is issued, a predetermined amount of print information in the form of a code is developed into a binote pattern, stored in the output cover memory, and printed.

In this method, the pill pattern development starts after receiving a print command from an external device, so it takes several seconds from receiving the print command to starting printing, which is an obstacle to increasing the speed of the printer. was.

(Generally, when printing a document or pattern using a printer, what takes the most time other than the actual printing?

This is the process of developing it into a bit pattern. The time required for this is generally referred to as editing processing time, and in some cases may amount to about 2/3 of the total printing time. ) Many proposals have been made to solve this problem, but no fundamental solution has been found yet.

(Problem B to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-mentioned conventional method, after receiving a print command, print information in the form of a code is developed.

Items that require editing processing time in addition to actual printing.

When variable items are included, there is a problem in that bit expansion of the entire frame is required.

The present invention can perform printing processing in immediate response to a printing command.

The present invention also aims to provide a high-speed printer device that can perform continuous printing with almost no downtime.

(Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention receives information transferred from an external device in the form of a code, and develops the print information into a pattern for actually printing on the recording element of the printer. In a printer device that stores information in advance and starts printing upon receiving a print command from an external device, multiple frame memories are provided to develop print information into bit patterns, and the print information in one frame memory can be printed while printing. , bit expansion and storage of the subsequent print information in the remaining frames is performed in parallel, and when multiple frame memories are provided as described above, the frame is divided into numbers according to the print length information. This allows for more efficient memory usage.

The present invention also includes: The present invention further provides a function of using at least one of a plurality of frame memories as a reference frame and copying bit-expanded print information stored in this reference frame to a plurality of frames. The printing information transferred from the . . . includes information that identifies variable items whose printing content changes for each page and fixed items whose printing content does not change throughout all pages, and based on this information, only variable items are By adding a function to develop the bit pattern into a bit pattern and overwrite it on the corresponding page frame, we were able to further speed up the overall printing process.

(Function) In a printer that stores print information in advance in a memory element and prints based on a print command, it is almost a problem in practical use that it takes time to store the print information in the memory element (at the time of registration). do not become.

In the present invention, by absorbing the editing processing time, which conventionally occupied most of the required time, into the registration time or the printing time before the previous page, printing can be started immediately after receiving a printing command from an external device. Therefore, the printing process can be completed in the minimum amount of time.

Further, in the present invention, frame memories for storing the bit-expanded print information described above are provided for multiple frames, and can be used alternately and in parallel for printing and for bit expansion/storage. The development time can be absorbed within the printing time of the other memory, and actual printing operations can be performed continuously.

Also, one of the plurality of frame memories is used as a reference frame memory to store print information of fixed items expanded in bits,
By copying this information to another frame memory for variable item processing and sequentially overwriting the bit-expanded printing information of variable items into the frame memory of the corresponding page, the overall amount of printing information can be reduced. ~ It has become possible to significantly shorten the editing processing time such as development.

(Example) 6- Fig. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a printer device of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a comparison diagram of the state of use of memory divisions inside the RAM of the device of the present invention with a conventional one.

In FIG. 1, (1) is an external device such as a personal computer, and (2) is a printer device, such as a line printer, but is not limited to this.

(3) is a pass line, (4) is an input/output device, (5)
is cpu.

(6) is a memory for storing print information, for example, RAM
It has a storage capacity that can store bit-expanded print information for a maximum print length of 2 pages or more, preferably several times, but in some cases, a memory that can hold a whole series of print information in bit-expanded form. It may also have a capacity.

(7) is a memory for storing control programs.

For example, it is configured with a ROM, and includes a data editing program, a print control program, and various other control programs normally required for a printer, as well as five programs specific to the present invention, such as those shown in FIG.
A program for performing the processing shown in the flowchart in a) is stored. (8) is the gutter for printing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram comparing the internal usage of the RAM according to the present invention with the conventional case (FIG. 2). In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, print information received in the form of a code is stored in an input buffer area (61) and is subsequently or immediately bit-expanded.

Bin 1 ~ Remaining area of RAM in the form of patterns (62)
is stored in The received print information includes old print information, and a number of frame memories (620), (621), (623) corresponding to the print length are stored.
, (624)... Frame memory (620) is used as a reference frame memory, frame memory (621), (622),
(623) is used for variable information processing. That is, each frame memory is divided into a larger number of pieces as the print length becomes shorter, so that each frame memory has a storage capacity capable of storing bit-expanded information for one print length.

On the other hand, in the conventional method, as shown in Figure 4, print information is received in the form of a code, passes through the input Hanofa (65), and is divided into areas (66) and (67) into fixed items and variable items in code form. It is stored, and when a print command is received, a predetermined amount of code information is taken out, bit-expanded, and stored in the output buffer area (68) for printing.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the processing flow and time of print information from reception of print information to printing in the present invention, and is compared with the conventional case shown in FIG. 5.

In the conventional method, as shown in Figure 5, print information is received in the form of a code and stored in the form of a code.
Since the operations of bit expansion and printing were repeated, the time required for printing from the printing start command to the printing end was relatively long.However, in the present invention, as shown in Fig. 3, the printing information received in the code is is memorized in code form, and at the same time,
Subsequently, the bits are expanded and stored.

FIG. 3 will be further explained using an example in which the memory is divided into four parts and three variable item processing frame memories are formed.

−8 = A) For printing information, first fixed items, that is, format information, are received in the form of a code, stored in a buffer area (61), and the print length is covered according to the print length information contained therein. The frame is divided into units of sufficient storage capacity, and a corresponding number of frame memories are formed.

B) Next, the fixed items stored in the buffer memory as codes are expanded and stored in the reference frame (620), as well as in the variable information processing frame (621),
(622), (623)...

C) When variable item information is sent, it is stored in the buffer area (61) at the same time as it is received, and is immediately bit-expanded, and the first page of information V1 is stored in the first variable information processing frame (621). ) is expanded and stored (overwritten) in
Printing of the fixed items and ■1 starts immediately.

D) Regarding variable item (2) on the second page, code storage, bit expansion, and "-writing" to the second frame are similarly performed. At this stage, printing of Vl etc. of the first frame is still in progress, so there is a temporary standby.

(2) Immediately after the printing of the first frame is finished, the printing of the second frame V2, etc. is started.

E) When printing of Vl, etc. is completed, the fixed items from the reference frame are copied again to the first frame, and the first frame is returned to the initial state again.

F) Regarding processing such as V3 in the third frame, the second
Similar processing is performed for subsequent frames. Also ■4
The above operation is repeated for subsequent processing.

G) As a result, the variable item information Vl, V received one after another
2. Along with the fixed items to which V3... corresponds, the first. Second. The third frame is processed in parallel in a cyclical manner, and two printing operations are efficiently performed consecutively without wasting waiting time for bit expansion or the like.

In the present invention, as can be seen from FIG. 3 and the above explanation,
Since the bit expansion for both fixed items and variable items is completed before the printing of the previous page is completed, and the actual printing bit pattern is completed, a pattern including variable items is created, and the printing speed can be further increased.

The degree of reduction in the time required for printing depends on the printing pattern, but it can be reduced to, for example, about 1/2 of that of the conventional method, and can be further reduced by increasing the actual printing speed itself.

Although a considerable amount of storage capacity is required to hold the printed information in the H/I-expanded form, this is not a problem as storage elements have already become denser and faster. for example,
When printing (24F) 1- x 24 dots/character) x 1000 characters per page, 0.576 Mbit is sufficient.

For line printers, the required storage capacity is determined by the total print area rather than the number of characters; for example, 104. mm width x 256m
Information enough to print m areas on two sides can be stored in approximately 2M bits. (This storage capacity can also be used for repeated parallel processing of printing processing of bit-expanded information and bit-expanding/storing of subsequent information.) Also, the total storage capacity from the reception of print information to the end of printing can be used for one cycle. The time required can be reduced as well.

(Effects of the Invention) As outlined above, the present invention provides the following effects.

1) When printing information is received, it is stored in the RAM in bit-expanded form, so when a printing command is received, it can be executed immediately.

2) Therefore, the entire printing process can be made faster and faster, and it can be applied to, for example, a logistics system that prints on labels and labels it, a production control line, and other various uses to achieve efficiency in the entire system. be able to.

3) Before the printing of the previous page is finished, dot expansion for both fixed items and variable items is completed, and the actual printing 1/' sort pattern is completed, so both the pattern including variable items and the actual printing pattern are continuous. Can be printed. (Since the next preparation is completed before the previous page print is finished, the printing operation does not stop.

That is, the editing time is absorbed by parallel processing within the printing time of the previous page. ) 4) Processing time is faster because there is no need to secure an excessive area.

5) The maximum number of frames can be secured depending on the printing target, and therefore the number of parallel processing can be increased.

In the end, processing time can be shortened.

6) Since the contents of the fixed items are always retained, the standard printing pattern can always be reproduced even after processing such as overwriting.

7) Since printing patterns can be created in advance by the number of frames (strictly speaking, n-1), two editing times can be absorbed into the printing time for the previous page.

8) It can handle cases where even the printing area of variable items changes, and is more advantageous than a method that simply provides a multi-sided frame.

That is, even with the simple multi-sided frame method, continuous printing is achieved, but if the overwritten (variable items) contents become complicated, continuous printing breaks down.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since there is a relatively long waiting time for the entire processing of one sheet, it is possible to sufficiently deal with the above-mentioned problem.

9) Since frames are divided depending on the print length, the capacity per frame is often small.

Since a large number of frames can be secured, the processing time per frame is short, and the above-mentioned tendency 8) is further promoted.

10) After printing, since the initial state is restored, the collection process for the next print can be started immediately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a printer device according to the present invention. Figure 2 shows information in a part of Figure 1 (RAM))
A diagram comparing the state with FIG. 4 in the conventional case, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of the relationship between the processing flow and time of the apparatus of the present invention, and is shown in comparison with No. 5M in the conventional case. . (1) Personal computer (2) Printer device (3) Lotus line (4) Input/output device (5) CPU (6) Memory for storing print information (7) Memory for storing control program (8) Printing hole 1ζ (61), (65) Input cover sofa memory area (62
0) Reference frame area (621), (622)...Variable front t-processing frame area (66) Fixed item storage area (67) Variable item entry unique area (F) Fixed item print information

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Receive print information in the form of a code, develop and store the print information into a bit pattern to be actually printed in the memory element of the printer, and start printing upon receiving a print command from an external device. What is claimed is: 1. A printer device according to the above-mentioned method, characterized in that a storage element for storing a hit pattern is divided and used based on a print length of the print information. (2) A printer device characterized in that it uses one of a plurality of frame memories as a reference frame and has means for copying the contents of the memory to another frame memory. (3) In claim (2), information that identifies variable items whose printed content changes for each page and fixed items whose printed content does not change throughout all pages, which is included in the printed information transferred from an external device. Based on this, fixed items are bit-expanded and stored in the reference frame memory, and after this content is transferred to another frame memory for variable item processing, variable items are bit-expanded and the variable items of the corresponding page are stored. A printer device comprising means for sequentially overwriting a processing frame memory. (4) The printer apparatus according to claim (3), further comprising means for automatically copying the contents of the reference frame memory to the former frame memory after printing of the contents of the variable item processing frame memory is completed.