JPH0640121A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sequentially conduct printing to the last page by providing a printing control means for conducting one printing action per page in order of page, a means for repeating the printing action by the printing control means based on information of the number of copies, and the like. CONSTITUTION:A printer comprises a printer controller 11, a printer engine 12, and a hard disk 13. The printer controller 11 comprises a CPU 14, a ROM 15, a RAM 16, a printer engine interface(I/F) 17 for controlling the printer engine 12, a host I/F 18 for receiving printing data from a host computer, and a hard disk I/F 19 for controlling the hard disk 13. The ROM 15 stores a program 20 used from the reception of printing data from the host computer by bringing the host I/F 18 under the control of the CPU 14 to the execution of printing by the printer engine 12 by bringing the printer engine I/F 17 under the control of the CPU 14. The ROM 15 also stores font data 21 for printing characters.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of printing a plurality of copies of a plurality of pages of printed matter by a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer has a function of printing a plurality of copies by receiving print data once by instructing the number of print copies from a host computer or an operation panel. However, when using such a function and printing multiple copies over multiple pages, the first
The page was printed continuously for the set number of copies, the second page was printed continuously for the set number of copies, and thereafter, each page was continuously printed for the set number of copies until the final page. As a result, it is necessary to sort the printed paper so that the set number of copies is continuous from the first page to the last page as shown in FIG. 8 and each page has one copy. Or, a sorter that has a plurality of trays and sorts printed sheets into pages is added to the printer.

[0003]

However, the conventional printer to which the sorter is added has a problem that it is upsized by providing a plurality of trays. Further, there is a problem that even if a printer provided with a sorter is used, it is not possible to carry out sort printing with more copies than the trays provided.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and as shown in FIG. 8, the first page 31 to the last page 33 of the first part are sequentially printed, and then the second page is printed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a small-sized printer capable of performing multiple copy printing in which the first page 34 to the last page 36 of a set are sequentially printed, and the printing is continued to the last page 37 of the last set.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, the printer of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, receives a print copy number transfer means 1 to which print copy number information is input, and print data from a host computer. A communication unit 2, a storage unit 3 for storing print data for all pages, and the communication unit 2
The writing means 4 for writing the print data received by the storage means 3 into the storage means 3, the reproducing means 5 for reading the print data written in the storage means 3, the printing means 6 for printing the data to be printed on a sheet, and the printing thereof. A print control unit 7 that controls the unit 6 and the reproduction unit 5 to print each page once in the page order, and a control unit 8 that repeats the printing operation by the print control unit 7 based on the print copy number information. With. The printed copy number transfer means 1 may be composed of an operation panel including a printed copy number setting means and a printed copy number display means.

[0006]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the print copy number transfer means 1 inputs the print copy number information. The communication unit 2 also receives print data from the host computer.

Then, the writing means 4 writes the received print data for all pages into the storage means 3.

Next, the control means 8 repeats the printing operation of the print control means 7 based on the print copy number information. The printing control unit 7 controls the printing unit 6 and the reproduction unit 5 to perform a printing operation for printing each page once in the page order.

[0009]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer of this embodiment.

This printer includes a printer controller 11
And a printer engine 12 and a hard disk 13.

The printer controller 11 receives print data from a well-known CPU 14, ROM 15, RAM 16, a printer engine interface (hereinafter abbreviated as I / F) 17 for controlling the printer engine 12, and a host computer (not shown). Host I / F1
8 and a hard disk I / F 19 that controls the hard disk 13.

The ROM 15 is used by the CPU 14 as a host I.
Program 2 for controlling / F18 to receive print data from the host computer and controlling printer engine I / F17 for printing by printer engine 12
It stores 0. It also stores font data 21 for printing characters.

The RAM 16 stores a page memory 22 for storing bitmap data formed by the CPU 14 expanding the print data received from the host I / F 18, a print copy number 23 and a print page number 24 instructed by the print data,
The print page 25 is stored.

The print data received from the host computer by the host I / F 18 is PostScri
This is a data string for performing page description similar to pt, and includes a drawing command, a print copy number setting command, a page end command,
It is classified as a data end command. The drawing command is a command representing a character or a graphic, and is expanded in the page memory 22 on the RAM 16 as bitmap data. The print copy number setting command is a command for specifying the number of copies to be printed, and includes an integer value of 1 or more, and the value is stored in the print copy number 23 on the RAM 16. The page end command is a command indicating the end of print data for one page. The data end command is a command indicating the end of print data received from the host computer.

Next, the actual processing procedure is followed, and FIGS.
This embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3, when the power is turned on (S1), the CPU 14 clears the page memory 20 on the RAM 16 according to the program 20 of the ROM 15 to make it blank (S2). Then
The number of prints 23 is set to 1 (S3). Further, the number of print pages 24 is set to 0 (S4). Further, the printer engine I / F 17 is initialized so that print control of the printer engine 12 can be performed (S5). Also, host I /
F18 is initialized so as to wait for print data from the host computer (S6). Further, the hard disk I / F 19 is initialized so that the data read / write control of the hard disk 13 can be performed (S7). Next, host I /
The print data is received through F18, and the CPU 14 reads R
The analysis of the print data is repeated according to the program 20 of the OM 15 (S8).

Next, the process of analyzing the print data will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, print data is received (S11).
This reception step does not occur multiple times during the process of analyzing the print data described below, because the host I / F 18 controls the reception. Therefore, the print data analysis process is not processed in parallel.

Next, it is compared whether or not the print data is the print copy number setting command (S12). If the print data is a print copy number setting command, CP
U14 stores the number of prints in the number of prints 23 in the RAM 16 (S13).

If the print data is not the print copy number setting command, it is compared whether or not the print data is a drawing command designating a character or figure to be printed (S14). If the print data is a drawing command, the CPU 14 draws in the page memory 22 according to the drawing command (S15). Specifically, if the drawing command is a command for instructing the drawing of a character, the character code is included, and the CPU 14 refers to the font data 21 on the ROM 15 by the character code,
The shape of the character is developed in the page memory 22 as bitmap data. If the drawing command is a drawing command indicating a figure, the drawing command includes a parameter indicating the shape of the figure, and the CPU 14 performs numerical calculation and expands the shape in the page memory 22 as bitmap data. This drawing command is based on PostSc
The command system such as ript may be used as it is. Further, in that case, drawing in the page memory 22 in accordance with the drawing command (S15) may be performed by using the PostScript interpreter or the like which has been conventionally used as it is.

If the print data is not a drawing command, it is compared whether or not the print data is a page end command (S16). If the print data is a page end command, page end processing is performed. In detail, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The PU 14 transfers the bitmap data stored in the page memory 22 on the RAM 16 to the printer engine I / F 17
To the printer engine 12 to control the printer engine 12 to execute printing (S21). After that, hard disk I / F1
9 is controlled to store the bitmap data saved in the page memory 22 in the hard disk 13 (S2
2). Further, the page memory 22 on the RAM 4 is cleared (S23), and 1 is added to the number of printed pages 24 (S2).
4).

If the print data is not the page end command in S16 of FIG. 4, it is compared whether or not the print data is the data end command (S1).
8). If the print data is a data end command, data end processing is performed (S19). Specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, first, the CPU
14 compares whether the number of print copies 23 on the RAM 16 is 1 (S41). If the number of prints 23 is 1, the page memory 22 on the RAM 16 is cleared (S44), and the number of prints 24 is set to 0 (S4).
5) The data end processing is ended. The number of prints is 23
If is not 1, the bitmap data stored in the hard disk 13 is sequentially read into the page memory 22 from page 1 to the final page, and all pages are printed (S4).
2). Next, 1 is subtracted from the number of prints 23 (S43), and the process returns to the step of comparing whether the number of prints 23 is 1 (S41).

By repeating the loop of steps S41 to S43 until the number of printed copies 23 becomes 1 in the step of S41, printing of all pages is completed. Done. 1 printed on the page end data received
When it is combined with the set, it means that the specified number of prints has been printed. Therefore, the page memory 22 on the RAM 16 is cleared (S44), and the number of printed pages 24 is set to 0 (S4).
5) The data end processing is ended.

Next, the control of printing all pages in S42 of FIG. 7 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the CPU 14 prints the print page 2 on the RAM 16.
5 is set to 1 (S31). Next, hard disk I
/ F19 is controlled to read the bitmap data of the first page from the hard disk 13 to the page memory 22 (S32). It is transferred to the printer engine I / F 17, and the printer engine 12 is controlled to execute printing (S33). Next, the print page 25 and the print page number 24 are compared (S34). If they are not equal, 1 is added to the print page 25 (S35). Then, the process returns to the step of reading the bitmap data of the next page into the page memory 22 (S31). This, S32 ~
The loop of step S35 is repeated until the number of print pages 25 becomes equal to the number of print pages 24 in step S34. As a result, all pages are printed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the first page 31 of the first part is added without adding a sorter.
To the last page 33 in sequence, then the first page 34 of the second part to the last page 36, which in turn may continue to the last page of the last part 37,
A small printer can be provided. Further, the number of copies to be printed is not limited to the number of trays as in the case of using a sorter, and a large number of copies can be printed. Further, even when printing a plurality of copies, it is not necessary to send data for the number of print copies from the host computer, so that it is possible to improve the usage efficiency of the host computer. Furthermore, by saving the bitmap data, it is not necessary to repeat the expansion of the drawing command when printing the second and subsequent copies, and it is possible to print multiple copies at high speed.

In the above embodiment, the number of printed copies is 23.
Although the setting is performed by the print copy number setting command in the print data transferred from the host, the printer may be provided with an operation panel and the print copy number may be set from the panel. In this case, it is possible to print a plurality of copies without modifying the host computer.

Further, before printing the first page of each of the first to last parts, the CPU 14 controls the printer engine I /
The printer engine 12 may be controlled through F17 to discharge one blank sheet. As a result, a blank sheet is printed between the last page of the first part and the first page of the second part printed, between the last page of the second part and the first page of the third part, and so on. Is inserted. Therefore, the boundary of each part becomes clear.

Further, before printing the first page of each copy from the first copy to the final copy, the CPU 14 calculates the number of copies to be printed according to the number of print copies 23 on the RAM 16, and calculates the numerical value. The character code string shown is obtained, the font data 21 on the ROM 15 is referred to, the shape of the string of numbers is developed as bit map data in the page memory 22, this is transferred to the printer engine I / F 17, and the printer engine 12 is controlled. Then, the printing may be executed. As a result, the paper printed with 1 is inserted in front of the first page of the first printed part, and 2 is inserted between the last page of the first printed part and the first page of the second printed part. The printed paper is inserted, and the paper printed with 3 is inserted between the last page of the second part and the first page of the third part, and so on. Insert a sheet of paper with a number printed indicating what is the first copy. Therefore, it is clear which part of the printed paper is included in the first copy.

Further, when recording the bitmap data expanded in the page memory 22 on the hard disk 13,
Data compression may be performed using the well-known Run Length method, LZW method, or the like, and the data may be expanded and printed when printing the second and subsequent copies. In this case, compared to the capacity of the hard disk 13, it is possible to print a plurality of sorted pages of more pages. Further, the hard disk 13 may be replaced with another external storage device. Furthermore, by having a plurality of page memories 22 on the RAM 16 and using them sequentially, the second and subsequent copies can be printed without recording or reading to the hard disk 13, and the hard disk 13 may be omitted. Further, the page memory 22 may be provided for only one page, the bitmap data thereof may be compressed and recorded in the RAM 16, and the page memory 22 may be expanded and printed when printing the second and subsequent copies.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the printer of the present invention, the print copy number transfer means is provided with the print copy number information, and the print data for all pages is transmitted from the host computer to the communication means once. As shown in FIG. 8, the first page to the last page of the first copy are printed in order, and then the first page to the last page of the second copy are printed in sequence, which is indicated by the print number information. Copies may be printed in succession.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram showing a configuration of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for print data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing for a page end command according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of printing all pages according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process for a data end command according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a printing result of the printer according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 print number transfer means 2 communication means 3 storage means 4 writing means 5 reproducing means 6 printing means 7 print control means 8 control means 11 printer controller 12 printer engine 13 hard disk 14 CPU 15 ROM 16 RAM 17 printer engine I / F 18 host I / F 19 Hard disk I / F 20 Program 21 Font data 22 Page memory 23 Number of prints 24 Number of print pages 25 Print page

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A print copy number transfer unit for inputting print copy number information, a communication unit for receiving print data from a host computer, a storage unit for storing print data for all pages, and a print received by the communication unit. Write means for writing data to the storage means, reproducing means for reading the print data written in the storage means, printing means for printing the data to be printed on paper, and controlling the printing means and the reproducing means. , Each page 1
A printer comprising: a print control unit that causes the pages to be printed in sequence in the order of pages; and a control unit that repeats the print operation by the print control unit based on the print copy number information. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the print copy number transfer means comprises an operation panel, and the operation panel comprises print copy number setting means and print copy number display means.