JPH0550713A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the processing efficiency of data and to increase a printing speed by storing a bit map font in a non-volatile memory when a power supply is turned OFF, or in a rest time. CONSTITUTION:A font ROM 13 having various outline fonts stored therein, a non-volatile memory 15 and an outline/bit map developing memory 21 developing the outline fonts from the font ROM on a bit map font to store the same are provided and, when a printing command is received, a CPU 11 checks the memories 21, 15 and, when the bit map font concerned is stored, it is immediately used. When said bit map font is not stored, the outline font concerned is read from the font ROM and developed on the memory 21 as a bit map font to be used. When a power supply is turned OFF or reset, the bit map font developed on the memory 21 is stored in the non-volatile memory 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to printers that use outline fonts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of printer is internally provided with a ROM (read only memory) storing various outline fonts, and when a print command is received from an externally connected host computer, the ROM is based on the print command. Read out the corresponding outline font from RAM, develop it in RAM (Random Access Memory) as a bitmap font, store the bitmap font in another area of RAM as vector data for each page, and then store the vector data. The bitmap data is expanded in another area of the RAM and then output to the print output unit.

[0003]

However, in such a printer, when the power is turned off, the bitmap font developed in the RAM is lost, so the power is once turned off.
After turning on the power again and printing the same font as the bitmap font printed last time, R
RA by reading the corresponding outline font from OM
Since it has to be developed as a bitmap font in M, there is a problem that the data processing takes time and the printing speed decreases. Especially for users who frequently use the same type of font, the printing speed is significantly reduced.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to provide a printer capable of improving the efficiency of data processing by storing a bitmap font developed at the time of turning off the power or resetting it in a non-volatile memory and improving the printing speed. is there.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A first memory that stores an outline font, a second memory that stores a bitmap font expanded from the outline font, a non-volatile memory, and a second memory and a non-volatile memory based on a print command from the outside. Check whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored. If it is stored, the corresponding bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit. If not stored, the corresponding outline font is stored from the first memory. A control means for reading the font and developing it into a bitmap font in the second memory and outputting it to the print output unit, and a bitmap font developed in the second memory when the power is turned off and reset to a non-volatile memory. It is provided with a means for storing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a counting means for counting the number of fonts printed out based on a print command from the outside by font type and size,
There is provided means for expanding the font counted by the counting means at the time of power-off and reset to a bitmap font and storing it in the non-volatile memory.

The invention according to claim 3 is based on a first memory storing an outline font, a non-volatile second memory storing a bitmap font developed from the outline font, and a print command from the outside. It is checked whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the second memory, and if the bitmap font is stored, the bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit. A control means for reading the corresponding outline font from the memory, expanding it into a bitmap font in the second memory, and outputting it to the print output unit is provided.

[0008]

In the present invention having such a configuration, it is checked whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the second memory and the non-volatile memory based on the print command from the outside. Then, if the corresponding bitmap font is stored, the bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit. If the corresponding bitmap font is not stored, the corresponding outline font is read from the first memory, developed into the bitmap memory in the second memory, and output to the print output unit. When the power is turned off or the power is reset, the bitmap font developed in the second memory is stored in the non-volatile memory.

Further, in the present invention, the number of times the font is printed out based on a print command from the outside is counted for each font type and size. When the power is turned off or reset, the counting means expands the font counted the most and stores it in the non-volatile memory.

Further, in the present invention, it is checked whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the second memory based on the print command from the outside. If the corresponding bitmap font is stored, it is read and output to the print output unit. If the corresponding bitmap font is not stored, the corresponding outline font is read from the first memory, developed into the bitmap font in the non-volatile second memory, and output to the print output unit.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 1 is a printer controller, 2 is a printer main body that constitutes a print output unit, and 3 is an externally connected host computer.

The printer controller 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 11 which constitutes the main body of the control unit, and this CPU.
A program ROM (read only memory) 1 in which program data for controlling each unit 11 is stored
2. A font ROM 13 as a first memory that stores various outline fonts, a RAM (random
Access memory) 14, non-volatile memory 15, I / O
A port 16, an interface 17 for controlling transmission / reception of data with the host computer 3, and a reset circuit 18 for resetting the CPU 11 as necessary are provided. The CPU 11 and the ROMs 12, 13 and R
The AM 14, the non-volatile memory 15, the I / O port 16 and the interface 17 are connected via a bus line 19. The printer body 2 is connected to the I / O port 16.

The font ROM 1 is stored in the RAM 14.
Outline / bitmap expansion memory 21 as a second memory for expanding and storing the outline font from 3 into a bitmap font, vector data expansion memory 22 for storing the bitmap font as vector data for each page, vector Raster bitmap memory 2 that expands data as bitmap data
3 is provided.

The printer body 2 includes, for example, a photoconductor drum, a charging unit for charging the photoconductor around the photoconductor drum, a laser scanner unit for exposing the charged photoconductor to form a latent electrostatic image, and the photoconductor. A developing unit that attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface to make it visible, a transfer unit that transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor to the conveyed paper, and a cleaning that cleans residual toner on the photoconductor There are provided an electrophotographic process mechanism in which a charge removing unit for removing charge from the image forming unit and the photoconductor is arranged, a paper transporting mechanism, a fixing mechanism for fixing the image-transferred paper, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11 first performs initial processing such as RAM clear when the power is turned on. When the initial process is completed, the host computer 3 waits for a print command to be received.

When a print command is received from the host computer 3, it is checked whether the font based on the command is developed in the memory 21 as a bitmap font. If it has been expanded as a bitmap font, it is immediately expanded as a page of vector data in the memory 22.

If the font is not expanded in the memory 21 as a bitmap font, it is subsequently checked whether or not the font based on the command is stored in the nonvolatile memory 15 as a bitmap font. If it is stored as a bitmap font, it is immediately expanded in the memory 22 as page vector data.

If it is not stored in the non-volatile memory 15 as a bitmap font, the font based on the command is subsequently read from the font ROM 13 and expanded in the memory 21 as a bitmap font. When this expansion is completed, it is expanded in the memory 22 as vector data for pages. The vector data expanded in the memory 22 is further expanded in the memory 23 as bitmap data. And the I / O port 16
It is adapted to output to the printer main body 2 via the.

When the power is turned off or the CPU 11 is reset, the CPU 11 stores the memory 2 in the RAM 14 as shown in FIG.
The bitmap font expanded to 1 is stored in the non-volatile memory 15.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, when a print command is received from the host computer 3,
It is checked whether the font based on the command is expanded in the memory 21 as a bitmap font, and if expanded as a bitmap font, it is immediately expanded in the memory 22 as vector data for pages. If it is not expanded as a bitmap font in the memory 21, it is checked whether it is stored as a bitmap font in the non-volatile memory 15. If it is stored, it is immediately expanded in the memory 22 as vector data for pages. If it is not stored in the non-volatile memory 15 as a bitmap font, the font based on the received print command is read from the font ROM 13 and expanded in the memory 21 as a bitmap font. Then, it is expanded in the memory 22 as vector data for pages.

The vector data thus expanded in the memory 22 is further expanded in the memory 23 as bitmap data, and then the printer main body 2 is transferred through the I / O port 16.
Output to. In this way, a large number of bitmap fonts developed based on the received print command are stored in the memory 21. Then, when the power is turned off, the bitmap font developed in the memory 21 is stored in the non-volatile memory 15.

Therefore, when the power is turned on again, the bitmap font developed when the power was turned on last time is stored in the non-volatile memory 15 without disappearing. Therefore, when the same print command as the previous time is received from the host computer 3, the corresponding bitmap font can be immediately read from the non-volatile memory 15 and expanded in the memory 22 as vector data for a page. That is, the data processing of reading the corresponding outline font from the font ROM 13 and expanding the bitmap font in the memory 21 is not necessary.

In this way, the efficiency of data processing can be improved,
The printing speed can be improved. And when using the same type of font repeatedly, font ROM1
Data processing for reading the corresponding outline font from No. 3 and expanding the bitmap font in the memory 21 is almost unnecessary, and the efficiency of data processing can be surely improved.

In the above embodiment, the bitmap font expanded in the memory 21 is stored in the non-volatile memory 15 when the power is turned off or reset, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when a print command is received from the host computer 3, the type and size of the font are stored in the RAM 14, and when the same font as the font stored in the RAM 14 is received again, the number of times is determined. It is also possible to count, develop the font with the largest number of counts when the power is turned off or reset, and store it in the non-volatile memory 15 after expanding it into a bitmap font. In this way, if the capacities of the memory 21 and the non-volatile memory 15 are limited, frequently used bitmap fonts will be preferentially stored in the non-volatile memory 15 to improve the efficiency of data processing. You can definitely improve. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, this is a non-volatile outline / bitmap expansion memory composed of a non-volatile memory 31. The nonvolatile memory 15
Is unnecessary.

In this way, since the outline / bitmap expansion memory 31 is non-volatile, the bitmap font expanded in this memory 31 will not be lost even if the power is turned off or a reset occurs. Absent.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when a print command is received from the host computer 3, it is only necessary to check whether the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the outline / bitmap expansion memory 31. It is not necessary to save the bitmap font developed in the memory 31 when the switch is turned off or a reset occurs. It is needless to say that the same effects as those in the above-mentioned embodiment can be obtained in this embodiment as well.

[0028]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the data processing efficiency can be improved and the printing speed can be improved by storing the bitmap font expanded at the time of power OFF or reset in the non-volatile memory. It is possible to provide a printer that can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing font data processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process at power-off and reset in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing font data processing according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process at power-off and reset in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing font data processing in the embodiment.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Printer Controller, 2 ... Printer Main Body, 3 ... Host Computer, 11 ... CPU (Central Processing Unit), 1
3 ... Font ROM (first memory), 15 ... Non-volatile memory, 21 ... Outline / bitmap expansion memory (second memory).

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first memory storing an outline font, a second memory storing a bitmap font expanded from the outline font, a non-volatile memory, and the second memory based on a print command from the outside. Check whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the memory and the non-volatile memory. If the bitmap font is stored, the bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit. Control means for reading out the corresponding outline font from the first memory and developing it into a bitmap font for the second memory and outputting it to the print output unit; and developing it in the second memory when the power is turned off and reset. And a means for storing the existing bitmap font in the non-volatile memory. Printer to do. 2. A first memory storing an outline font, a second memory storing a bitmap font developed from the outline font, a non-volatile memory, and the second memory based on a print command from the outside. Check whether or not the corresponding bitmap font is stored in the memory and the non-volatile memory. If it is stored, the corresponding bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit. Control means for reading out the corresponding outline font from the first memory, expanding it into a bitmap font for the second memory and outputting it to the print output unit, and the number of times the font is printed out based on a print command from the outside. And a counting means for counting by font type and size,
A printer provided with means for expanding a font counted by the counting means to a bitmap font and storing the bitmap font in the non-volatile memory when the power is turned off and reset. 3. A first memory storing an outline font, and a non-volatile second memory storing a bitmap font developed from the outline font,
Based on a print command from the outside, it is checked whether or not a corresponding bitmap font is stored in the second memory, and if it is stored, the corresponding bitmap font is read and output to the print output unit, If not stored, a corresponding outline font is read from the first memory, developed into a bitmap font in the second memory, and provided with control means for outputting to a print output unit.