JPH0532766B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] In a printer device that operates by receiving data and print control data from a host device, a POC buffer capable of storing a plurality of pieces of print control data is provided,
To update print control data without performing a clear print operation.

[Industrial application field]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printer device, and particularly to its print control data storage method.

[Conventional technology]

Although laser printer equipment was initially fast,
Due to its high price, it was mainly used in large machines as an alternative to line printers. Regular work using large machines like this is usually done in batches, in which large quantities of the same format are printed.

When printing using a laser printer device, the host device sends print control data before sending print data to the laser printer device. This print control data is information necessary for printing, including paper size, top margin (top margin), rest margin (temporary margin), print direction, line density, number of line columns, overlay, and printing. Specify the number of sheets, etc. This print control data is also called POC data, and POC is an abbreviation for Print Out Control.

FIG. 4a is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional laser printer.

FIG. 4b is an explanatory diagram of the character management table, FIG. 4c is an explanatory diagram of the clear print operation (one screen), and FIG. 4d is an explanatory diagram of the clear print operation (two screens).

In the figure, 1 is data management, 2 is expansion processing, 3 is transfer control, 4 is transfer mechanism, 5 is reception buffer, 6 is
7 is a print data buffer, 8 is a bit map memory (BMM), 10 is a character management table, 11 is a tag, and 12 is a pointer.
The same symbols represent the same objects throughout all the figures below.

Data received from the host device via the host interface is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 5, and then the data management 1 transfers the received data to the POC.
Data is stored in the POC buffer 6, and print data is stored in the print data buffer 7.

Expansion processing 2 is based on the print data buffer 7 according to the POC data stored in the POC buffer 6.
The print data stored in the bitmap memory 8 is developed into a bit image and stored in the bitmap memory 8.

Once one page of character data has been developed, transcription begins, but since the character data corresponds to the print data for each page, a tag 11 indicating the page number and a print data buffer 7 are attached as shown in FIG. 4b. It is managed by a character management table 10 with N entries consisting of pointers 12 indicating addresses within.

When one page has been developed, the transfer control 3 activates the transfer mechanism 4 to develop and fix the image on the bitmap memory 8 onto the paper using a known electrophotographic process.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, due to subsequent miniaturization, lower prices, and multi-functionality such as vector image and overlay printing, laser printers have become available in small quantities as dedicated machines or shared printers connected to small and medium-sized machines, word processors, workstations, etc. It is increasingly being used for continuous printing of a wide variety of documents.

According to the conventional technology, only one piece of POC data is stored in the POC buffer 6, so new
When receiving POC data, the data currently stored in the printer is developed, transferred, and waits for paper ejection. ), sends a clear print completion notification to the host device.

Therefore, the host device is connected to the POC as shown in Figure 4c.
After sending the data, the next print data cannot be sent until the clear print completion notification is received. In applications such as this, where POC data changes frequently, the proportion of time required for the clear print operation increases, resulting in a long paper ejection waiting time, resulting in problems such as deterioration of the apparent performance of the laser printer device. .

In addition, due to the recent decline in memory prices, the bit map memory 8 has been expanded for two screens as shown in Figure 4d.
Laser printer devices have appeared that perform parallel processing of development processing and transfer processing by performing transfer alternately, but even in such laser printer devices, processing interruptions due to clear print operations are a major cause of performance deterioration. There is.

[Means for solving problems]

As shown in the principle diagram of FIG. 1, the above-mentioned problems include a reception buffer 5 that temporarily stores received data from a host device, a data management unit 1 that determines whether received data is print control data or print data, POC buffer group 9 storing multiple sets of print control data;
a print data buffer 7 for storing print data;
The expansion processing unit 2 develops the print data stored in the print data buffer 7 into a bit image using the print control data stored in the POC buffer group 9, and applies the print control data newly stored in the POC buffer group 9. Specify the starting point
A POC management table 20, a bit image buffer 8 that stores the bit image developed by the development processing section 2, and the bit image stored in the bit image buffer 8 are developed and fixed on printing paper by an electrophotographic process using a laser. This problem is solved by being composed of a transfer control 3 and a transfer mechanism 4.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, when new print control data is sent from the host device when one of the POC buffer groups 9 is operating with stored print control data, the new print control data is transferred to the POC buffer group 9. The page number on which the new print control data is to be applied is flagged in the POC management table 20, and the address of the corresponding new print control data is specified, so the new print is started immediately after the expansion using the old print control data is completed. Development based on the control data is started, and transfer is started immediately after paper ejection based on the old print control data is completed.

〔Example〕

The present invention includes a plurality of laser printers in a laser printer device.
By storing POC data and eliminating clear print operations, it reduces the reduction in processing speed that occurs when performing various print controls.

FIG. 2a shows an embodiment of a laser printer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2b is an explanatory diagram of a POC management table according to the present invention.

In the figure, 9 is multiple POC buffers, 20 is POC
Management table, 21 is a tag, 22 is a flag, 23
is a pointer, 30 is a main control unit, and 40 is a host interface.

Data sent from the host device is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 5 via the host interface 40, and the received data is processed by the data management unit 1.
POC data is stored in the POC buffer 9, and print data is stored in the print data buffer 7.

POC buffer 9 was described in the conventional technology section.
This buffer has a plurality of buffers similar to POC buffer 6. Therefore, multiple POC data can be stored at the same time.

In the present invention, in order to correspond between character data and POC data, a POC management table 20 with the same number of entries (N entries) as the character management table 10 is provided, and the POC data is managed by this POC management table 20. conduct.

The POC management table 20 is as shown in Figure 2b.
It consists of a tag 21, a flag 22 indicating the presence or absence of new POC data, and a pointer 23.
1 stores the page number corresponding to the tag 11, and pointer 23 stores the address of the POC data corresponding to the pointer 12, respectively.

Character management table 10 and POC management table 2
For 0, the same entry (1 to N) is always used,
It is updated by the data management section 1, and referenced and cleared by the expansion processing section 2.

FIG. 2c is a flowchart of the expansion process.

When performing the expansion processing section 2, the POC management table 20 is referred to to check whether there is a flag 22 indicating the presence or absence of new POC data.

If the flag 22 is "1", it is present; if it is "0", it is absent.

If there is none, perform the expansion process according to the POC data that has been performed so far, issue a notification of completion of expansion, and move on to transcription control.

Next, the entry in the POC management table 20 is updated and the above-described operation is repeated.

Flag 22 indicating the presence or absence of new POC data
When there is, set new POC data so that development can be performed using the new POC data.

FIG. 3a is an explanatory diagram of the operation (one screen) of the embodiment of the present invention.

When the bitmap memory (BMM) 8 has one screen, as shown in Figure 3a, when the laser printer device is developing, transferring, and ejecting paper, new
When POC data is received, it is stored in one of the multiple POC buffers 9, and print data corresponding to the new POC data is received and transferred to the print data buffer 7.
Store in. Immediately after all previous print data has been transferred, development based on new POC data (marked with *)
, and when the previous POC data finishes discharging the paper and a print completion signal is output, a new transfer starts.

That is, the clear print operation that was conventionally performed is eliminated.

FIG. 3b is an explanatory diagram of the operation (two screens) of the embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, as in the case of one screen, the clear print operation is no longer performed, and as soon as a print completion notification is issued, transfer based on new POC data is started.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since the clear print operation that was conventionally performed is eliminated, there is a great effect that the processing speed does not decrease due to a change in the print format.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention. FIG. 2a shows an embodiment of a laser printer device according to the present invention. FIG. 2b is an explanatory diagram of a POC management table according to the present invention. FIG. 2c is a flowchart of the expansion process. FIG. 3a is an explanatory diagram of the operation (one screen) of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3b is an explanatory diagram of the operation (two screens) of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4a is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional laser printer. FIG. 4b is an explanatory diagram of the character management table. FIG. 4c is an explanatory diagram of the clear print operation (one screen). FIG. 4d is an explanatory diagram of the clear print operation (two screens). In the figure, 1 is data management, 2 is deployment processing, 3 is transfer control, 4 is transfer mechanism, 5 is reception buffer, 6 is
POC buffer, 7 is print data buffer, 8 is bit map memory (BMM), 9 is multiple POC
Batsuhua, 10 is a character management table, 11 is a tag, 12 is a pointer, 20 is a POC management table,
21 is a tag, 22 is a flag, and 23 is a pointer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A reception buffer 5 that temporarily stores received data from a host device, a data management unit 1 that determines whether the received data is print control data or print data, and a plurality of the print control data. A POC buffer group 9 stores the print data, a print data buffer 7 stores the print data, and the print control data stored in the POC buffer group 9 converts the print data stored in the print data buffer 7 into a bit image. An expansion processing unit 2 that performs expansion, a POC management table 20 that specifies the application start point of the print control data newly stored in the POC buffer group 9, and a bit image that stores the bit image expanded by the expansion processing unit 2. A printer device comprising a buffer 8, a transfer control 3, and a transfer mechanism 4 for scanning and printing a bit image stored in the bit image buffer 8 onto printing paper.