JPH0675979B2 - Color printer control system - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control system for a color printer such as a multicolor laser printer, and more particularly to a print control system suitable for printing at the time of a failure related to a specific color.

[Conventional technology]

In a conventional printer, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-48658, printing is stopped immediately when a print stop factor (for example, no toner, failure of optical system, etc.) occurs. On the other hand, in some color printers, for example, as shown in JP-A-60-73645, the density of each color is checked to change the toner density. On the other hand, when a print stop factor such as no toner occurs even for one color, printing is stopped for the other colors even if no print stop factor has occurred.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the case of color printing, not all colors are always used, but rather some colors are used. Therefore, even if a print stop factor occurs for a certain color, it is not necessary to stop the printing if that color is not used in the print data that is currently being printed or is about to be printed.
However, in the related art, such a point is not taken into consideration, and when a print stop factor occurs for a certain color, the print is unconditionally stopped even if the print can be performed in another color. There was a problem in terms of operability.

An object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency and operability of the printer by preventing the printing from stopping in the color printer even if a printing stop factor occurs for a certain color when the desired printing can be performed for another color. To raise.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention stores the color designation information in each print data and “E”, and when a factor that stops printing occurs,
Which color is used is checked based on the stored color designation information, and printing is stopped only when the color matches the color of the print stop factor.

[Work]

When performing color printing with a color printer, it is necessary to specify a color for each print data. Although this color designation is performed by the user, the user does not necessarily designate all colors that can be color printed by the printer. For example, in the case of two-color printing of black and red, black is character data,
If red is the format data, some users do not need the format,
Only black may be used as character data. In such a case, even if the red toner for the format is used up, the character data can be printed with only the black toner, and it is not necessary to stop the printing.

In the present invention, when a print stop factor occurs for a color,
Printing is stopped only when the color of the print stop factor is associated with the color specified in the print data. This allows
Even if a print stop factor occurs for a certain color, if the color is different from the color of the print data, printing is performed, and therefore the reliability of the color printer can be improved.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, data to be printed is stored in the data memory 1 for one to several pages, but a color code (color designation information) designated by the user is added to each page of the print data. . The color code has a one-to-one correspondence between the color and the bit position, and the bit position corresponding to the color to be used is "1". Access control of the data memory 1 is performed by the control unit 9. On the other hand, the color table 5 stores the color code of the print stop factor.

FIG. 2 is a specific example of the color table 5. For example, when the printing stop factor is no paper (error code 01), all the corresponding toner colors are set to "1". If there is no black toner (error code 02), set the black toner column to "1". If the red laser is down (error code 10), set the red toner column to "1". This is also the case when there is no red toner.

When printing is started by a print start instruction from a user or the like, the control unit 9 sets an address in the data memory 1 in which the color code used for the page is stored in the address register 6, and the color code Read from memory 1 and set in register 2. On the other hand, when the print stop cause detection unit 12 detects the occurrence of the print stop cause, it outputs the cause content 13 and the failure occurrence signal 14. The factor content 13 is sent to the color table 5, and a color code corresponding to the print stop factor is output from the color table 5 using it as a keyword and set in the register 3. The color code of register 2 and register 3 is the comparison circuit 4
Then, if there is a bit that takes "1" for both, the print stop command 15 is reported to the control unit 9 through the AND gate 10. When the control unit 9 receives the fault occurrence signal 14 and subsequently receives the print stop command 15, the print start is suspended.

If the color codes of the register 2 and the register 3 do not match (that is, the bit positions of "1" do not match), the print stop command 15 is not sent, and the control unit 9 outputs the failure occurrence signal 14. After receipt, wait for a predetermined time to start printing. Further, in this case, the trace memory 7 is accessed through the AND gate 11, and the printing stop factor and its color code are recorded in the address on the trace memory 7 indicated by the address register 8. The address register 8 is updated under the control of the control unit 9. That is, even if the print stop factor occurs, if the color related to the stop factor is not used for printing, the print stop factor is recorded and printing is started.

If the print stop factor detection unit 12 does not detect the print stop factor, the failure occurrence signal 14 is not output, and the print stop command is issued.
Since 15 is also not reported, the control unit 9 causes the printing to start as usual. Moreover, writing to the trace memory 7 is not performed.

Even when a failure occurs during printing, similarly, the color code of the corresponding page is read from the data memory 1 and set in the register 2, and the color code corresponding to the print stop factor is read from the color table 5 and registered in the register 3. Set to, comparison circuit 4
You can compare with. The subsequent operation is the same as that at the start of printing. The color code of the register 2 may be set at any time.

As described above, in the embodiment, the color code is set on the data memory 1 for each page. However, the same may be set for each line, character, or several pages.

The detection of the print stop factor is performed as follows, for example. For example, when there is no paper, an optical sensor is placed on the hopper, and when the paper runs out, the optical sensor detects this. In addition, the absence of toner is detected by providing a toner container for each color with an on / off switch depending on the weight and turning on or off when the toner is used up and becomes lighter. These detection signals are interrupted by the microprocessor and coded (error coded) by the microprocessor.

[Effect of the Invention] According to the present invention, even if a print stop factor due to a color such as running out of toner of a specific color occurs, if the color is different from the color designated for printing, the printing is stopped at all. Because there is no
Unnecessary machine down for the user can be avoided, and the use efficiency and reliability of the printer are improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of a color table. 1 ... data memory, 4 ... comparison circuit, 5 ... color table, 9 ... control section, 12 ... print stop factor detection section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A color printer for color printing print data, a means for storing color designation information for each print data unit, a means for detecting the occurrence of a print stop cause, and a print stop cause. A control method for a color printer, comprising means for comparing color information related to the stop factor with color designation information of print data and determining whether to stop printing based on the comparison result. .