JPH0628123A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform optimum output control at all times, to save a multicolored ink sheet and to shorten the output time by automatically selecting a storage device according to input information. CONSTITUTION:A monochromatic laser printer 32 is connected to a thermal color printer. A CPU 23 processes print information sent from a personal computer 21 and stores a RAM 25 with the data in specific data structure. An output device selecting circuit 29 retrieves colors of the print information when an automatic output bit 26 is '1' and sets a color decision bit 28 to '1' when color print information is included. When the color decision bit 28 is '1', the print information is transferred to an internal printing process part 31. When the color decision bit 28 is '0', on the other hand, the print information is transferred to an external output interface part 30 and sent to the monochromatic laser printer 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording device which can be connected to an external recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a color recording apparatus as an example of a conventional recording apparatus. This device is composed of a print information receiving unit 61, a print information processing unit 62, a recording device switching unit 63, an internal recording processing unit 64, and an output information transfer unit 65.

The print information receiving section 61 receives print information from the outside and passes the print information to the print information processing section 62. The print information processing unit 62 creates output information based on the sent print information. The recording device switching unit 63 switches between recording with an external recording device and recording with a color recording device. The internal recording processing unit 64 is a unit that performs recording processing by the color recording apparatus itself. Output information transfer unit 65
Transfers the output information to the external recording device.

In such a conventional recording apparatus, the user needs to set the recording apparatus switching unit 63 in advance. When the print information is sent from an input device typified by a personal computer, the information is processed by the print information processing unit 62 via the print information receiving unit 61, and then the data is changed according to the switching state of the recording device switching unit 63. It is transferred and recorded by the set recording device. That is, when this color recording device is set by the recording device switching unit 63, recording processing is performed by this color recording device via the internal recording processing unit 64, and the external recording device 66 is set. In this case, the data is output by the external recording device 66 via the external output interface circuit 65.

[0005]

However, in the color recording apparatus as described above, the recording information is recorded by the preset recording apparatus regardless of whether the print information is monochrome or color. Due to inadequate settings, etc., there were drawbacks that expected output results could not be obtained and monochrome print information was recorded in color.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a recording apparatus capable of automatically selecting a recording apparatus based on input information and always performing optimum output control. It is intended to be provided.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, the recording apparatus of the present invention is connectable to an external recording apparatus, and a receiving means for receiving print information from a host,
A color recognition means for checking the color information contained in the print information received by the receiving means and recognizing the color being used, and a bit image developing means for analyzing the print information to obtain bit image information. A recording means capable of recording the bit image information obtained by the bit image developing means; a transfer means for transferring the bit image information to the external recording device; It is provided with an automatic control means for automatically controlling which of the recording means and the external recording device should process the bit image information.

[0008]

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention having the above structure,
The receiving means receives print information from the host. The color recognition means recognizes the color used by checking the color information included in the print information. The bit image developing means analyzes the print information to obtain bit image information. The recording means records the bit image information. The transfer means transfers the bit image information to an external recording device. Then, the automatic control means automatically controls whether the recording processing of the bit image information is performed by the recording means or an external recording device.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the construction of the thermal transfer color printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the thermal transfer color printer of this embodiment.

This thermal transfer color printer includes an input interface circuit 22, a CPU 23, a program ROM 2
4, a RAM 25, an output device selection circuit 29, an external output interface circuit 30, and an internal print processing unit 31.

The input interface circuit 22 functions to receive print information from a data input device such as a personal computer 21 and notify the CPU 23 of the receipt of print information. The CPU 23 performs overall calculation processing of this thermal transfer printer. The program ROM 24 stores a control program for controlling the entire thermal transfer color printer.

The RAM 25 temporarily stores the received print information and the print information processed through the CPU 23 and the program ROM 24. In addition, RAM2
5 has an auto output bit 26, an output selection bit 27, and a color judgment bit 28, which are used in the output device selection circuit 29. The auto output bit 26 is a flag for determining whether or not the printer automatically selects the output device. When this bit is "1", the printer automatically selects the output device, and when it is "0". The output device is selected by the printer user.

The output selection bit 27 is a flag for judging the output device selected by the printer user, and is effective when the auto output bit is "0". When the output selection bit is "1", the external output device is selected, and when it is "0", the internal output is selected. Auto output bit 2
6. The output selection bit 27 is set by the printer panel.

The color judgment bit 28 is a flag for judging whether or not the print information includes color data.
A value of "1" indicates that the print information includes color data. The color determination bit 28 is initialized to "0" when the printer power is turned on and after the print output. The output device selection circuit 29 selects an output device to which print information is to be output, depending on the state of the color determination bit 28 and the like. The internal print processing unit 31 performs print processing when the thermal transfer color printer itself is selected by the output device selection circuit 29. Further, the external output interface circuit 30 can be connected to an external output device, for example, a monochrome laser printer 32, and when the monochrome laser printer 32 is selected by the output device selection circuit 29, the processed print information is output to the monochrome laser printer. 32 to 32.

Next, the operation of the thermal transfer color printer of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the output device selection circuit 29 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows an example of the multi-color ink sheet taken up in this embodiment. Further, FIG. 5 shows an example of the data structure of the print information processed by the CPU 23.

When the print information is sent from the personal computer 21, the input interface circuit 22 receives the print information and sends an interrupt signal to the CPU 23. CPU
When receiving the interrupt signal from the input interface circuit 22, the reference numeral 23 reads the print information held in the input interface circuit 22. Further, the CPU 23 sequentially processes the received information according to the print data processing program stored in the program ROM 24, and stores it in the RAM 25 in a data structure as shown in FIG. The print information includes a color code 51 and a data list 52.
Then, there is an end code 53, and the structure is such that these three pieces of information are repeated. The color code 51 is a portion indicating the color of the data list 52 that follows, and here, black is “0” and other colors are certain values other than “0”. The data list 52 includes information on where and how to print on the page, and the end code 53 is a portion indicating the end of the data list 52.

The operation of the output device selection circuit 29 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the print information is processed into the data structure shown in FIG. 5, the output device selection circuit 29 first checks the state of the auto output bit 26 (S1) (step 1, hereinafter referred to as S1). Other steps are the same). When the auto output bit 26 is "0" (S1: NO), the state of the output selection bit 27 is checked (S2). When the output selection bit is "0" (S2: NO), the internal print processing unit 31 prints. The information is transferred (S6). If the output selection bit is "1" (S2: YES), it is determined whether or not there is an external output device, which is the monochrome laser printer 32 in this embodiment, and if there is (S4: YES), external output is performed. The print information is transferred to the interface circuit (S5). However, when the monochrome laser printer 32 is not powered on or when the monochrome laser printer 32 cannot be used (S4: NO), only the thermal transfer color printer itself has an output means, so the internal print processing unit 3
The print information is transferred to 1 (S6).

Next, when the auto output bit 26 is "1" (S1: YES), the color of the print information is searched first. The color search is performed by sequentially checking the color code 51 in FIG. 5, and when the color code 51 has a value other than “0”, that is, when color print information is included, the color determination bit 28 is set to “1”. ”. Therefore, when the color determination bit 28 is "1", that is, when the print information includes color information other than black (S3: YES), the print information is immediately transferred to the internal print processing unit 31 (S).
6).

When the color determination bit 28 is "0", that is, when the print information is only black (S3: NO),
The state of the monochrome laser printer 32 is checked, and if the monochrome laser printer 32 is currently in a usable state (S4: YES), the external output interface circuit 30
The print information is transferred to (S5). However, if the monochrome laser printer 32 is not powered on,
When the monochrome laser printer 32 is not usable (S4: NO), the print information is transferred to the internal print processing unit 31 because only the thermal transfer color printer itself has the print output means (S6).

When the operation of the output device selection circuit 29 is completed and the print information is sent to the internal print processing section 31, the thermal transfer color printer itself prints out and sends it to the external output interface circuit 30. In this embodiment, it is output by the monochrome laser printer 32.

By operating as described above, when the printing is black only, the ink sheet shown in FIG. 4 is almost never used for monochrome printing, and the yellow ink application area 4 is used.
It is possible to prevent waste of 1, the magenta ink application area 42, and the cyan ink application area 43. Further, as compared with monochrome printing using this ink sheet, the print time is shortened when the monochrome laser printer 32 performs print output.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above in detail, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, although the thermal transfer color printer is used in this embodiment, any color recording device such as a thermal sublimation color printer or a dot impact color printer may be used. Further, it may be a monochrome recording device typified by a monochrome laser printer. In that case, a color recording device is used as an external output device and the output device selection circuit 2 is used.
The operation of 9 may be modified.

In this embodiment, a monochrome laser printer is used as the external output device, but any recording device may be used, such as a magnetic recording disk or CRT.
It may be a display.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, the recording apparatus of the present invention checks the color used in advance before recording on the recording medium, and if the result is only monochrome recording information, the external By outputting the recording information to the output device, it is possible to save the plural color ink sheets and shorten the output time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of an output device selection circuit 29.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an ink sheet used in an example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of print information taken up in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 personal computer 23 CPU 24 ROM 29 output device selection circuit 32 monochrome laser printer

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording device that can be connected to an external recording device, wherein a receiving means for receiving print information from a host and color information included in the print information received by the receiving means are checked and used. A color recognizing means for recognizing a color, a bit image developing means for analyzing the print information to obtain bit image information, and a recording means capable of recording the bit image information obtained by the bit image developing means. A transfer means for transferring the bit image information to the external recording device, and which of the recording means and the external recording device is to process the bit image information based on the recognition result of the color recognition means. A recording apparatus comprising: an automatic control unit for automatically controlling.