JPH07250228A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a low-cost printer system equipped with a large capacity reception buffer provided with a high-speed data interface. CONSTITUTION:A sub CPU 15 temporarily stores data received from an external interface 23 in a hard disk device 20 and alternately writes the data in line buffers A16 and B21. A data control means 19 alternately successively reads opt printing data written in the line buffers B21 and A16 and conducts DMA transfer to an IC memory 14. When the data are completely transferred for one item, the sub-CPU 15 restarts the reception processing of the next item. Since the large capacity hard disk device is used as the reception buffer and the data are transferred at every time of printing each color, low-priced memory configuration can be provided and further since the sub-CPU is separately provided, the printer system equipped with the high-speed interface can be provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device, and more particularly to a high-speed data interface using a large-capacity storage device in a color printer which handles a large amount of print data and a data control technique.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a color printer of this type, received print data is converted into actual energization data, and three color inks of yellow (hereinafter Y), magenta (hereinafter M), and cyan (hereinafter C) are used. Although the color is expressed by overlapping, if the received data is expressed in three colors of red (hereinafter R), green (hereinafter G), and blue (hereinafter B), R, G, B , To Y, M, and C color conversion processing is required. Normally, this color conversion is performed by R, G,
Since the printing energization is performed while converting the three colors of B to the printing color, for example, Y, it is necessary to realize a data reading speed higher than the printing speed for conversion processing and the like. Therefore, normally, as a print data buffer inside the printer,
IC memory that can read continuously at a constant speed is R, G,
Built-in B3 colors.

Further, in other printers, an information holding medium is required to incorporate information such as the font used for printing and the type of host computer.
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 254528, there is also one in which an external storage device is used to increase the memory capacity of the printer device. FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional printer device using an external storage device. A hard disk device 115 as an external storage device is provided outside the print control circuit 121, and an interface device 111 is provided between them. Data transfer control circuit 1 in interface device 111
Reference numeral 12 controls data transfer between the printer control circuit 121 and the hard disk device 115 via the buffer memory 113 therein. This buffer memory 113 is
A memory that is accessed as an external expansion memory when viewed from the connection terminal 122 of the printer control circuit 121.
Used for temporary storage of data. Further, the disk control circuit 114 controls the hard disk device 115. The hard disk device 115 is a large-capacity external storage device, and stores a large amount of information as an additional memory such as a font used for printing and the type of a connected host computer. The connection terminal 122 for connecting the memory module of the printer control circuit 121 connects the memory cartridge or the interface device 111.
For this connection, part or all of the interface device 111 is mounted in the form of a memory module, and the hard disk device 115 is wired from there.

In such a configuration, the contents of the hard disk device 115 are temporarily stored in the buffer memory 113 in the interface device 111, and the printer control circuit 121 accesses the buffer memory 113 to transfer data. If the data flow is reversed, the procedure is reversed from the above operation. In this case, as the access timing to the hard disk device 115, for example, a part of the access address to the memory module from the printer control circuit 121 is used as an operation command of the hard disk device 115, or a designation exceeding the access range of the buffer memory 113 is performed. At this time, the hard disk device 115 is accessed, and the operation is performed in a so-called cache memory manner.

Thus, by using the interface device 111, the hard disk device 115 can be operated as if it were a memory module. As a result, it is possible to minimize the cost increase and increase the capacity of the additional memory of the printer.

[0006]

However, the above-described method of the conventional example is effective in increasing the memory for the functions such as storing the print font and strengthening the emulation function of the host computer. Since the access speed of large-capacity storage devices such as hard disk devices is slow, it is not possible to specify the access time once.
It cannot be used for print data buffers such as color printers that perform continuous printing. Therefore, the memory of the print data buffer is composed of an IC memory which is higher in cost and faster in access speed than a hard disk device or the like.

Further, since the IC memory is expensive, it is impossible to mount a memory for a plurality of terms, so that the printer cannot receive the data for the next term during printing. Therefore, the host computer has to wait until the printing operation is completed and the next data can be received, resulting in a decrease in system efficiency.

[0008]

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention temporarily stores the data received from the external interface and the main CPU that controls the mechanical portion of the printer and the printing operation. A sub-storage unit to be stored, a sub-CPU for receiving processing of the external interface and controlling the sub-storage unit, a data conversion unit for converting the received data into print data, and the received data read from the sub-storage unit, and an IC memory Data transfer means for transferring data to the main storage means, two line buffers that are alternately switched to temporarily store the data read from the sub storage means, and two between the sub CPU and the data control means. Selector means for switching between two line buffers, and command transfer between the main CPU and the sub CPU A command register for performing provided.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In various types of printers, especially color printers for printing color images, the data received from the host computer mainly consists of control commands for controlling printing of the printer and actual print data. The host computer not transmitting the print data and the printer control command through the external interface 23, and the embodiment described here is also such a printer device.

In FIG. 1, the sub CPU 15 controls the reception from the host computer via the external interface 23. Further, the sub CPU 15 also controls the hard disk device 20 which is a sub storage unit, and temporarily stores the received data in the hard disk device 20. Main CPU
Reference numeral 11 controls a printer mechanism (not shown),
Since data cannot be received during initialization of the printer mechanism unit or during printing operation, the sub CPU 15 is the main CPU 11
Irrespective of the above operation, the receiving process from the external interface is advanced, and if there is a free area in the hard disk device 20, it will be stored as needed.

The main CPU 11 controls the printer mechanism section, and when the preparation for the printing operation is completed, the command register 13
Write the data request command to. Sub CPU 15
Is the main CPU written in the command register 13.
In response to the data request command from 11, the received data stored in the hard disk device 20 is written to the command register 13 in a predetermined manner. That is, since the received data is composed of the control command for controlling the printing and the actual printing data as described above, the sub CPU 15 causes the main CPU to print.
Only the control command required for U11 to perform the print control is written in the command register 13, and the actual print data is written in the line buffer A16 or the line buffer B21 for data transfer. At this time, the sub CPU 15 controls the selector 17 to switch to the line buffer on the access side.

As described above, in the color printer, since the color expression is normally performed by superposing the inks of three colors of Y, M, and C, the input print data is in the R, G, and B formats. Color conversion needs to be done. Therefore, the sub CPU 15 reads out the data of R, G, B, and 3 colors for each print of each color from the disk device 20 and writes them in the line buffer A 16 where addresses are separated for each color. Sub CPU
15 writes the data for one line of three colors of R, G and B in the line buffer A16, switches the selector 17 to the line buffer B21 side and the selector 18 to the line buffer 16 side to access the data control means 19 by direct memory access. (Hereinafter, DMA) Transfer permission is given.

When the data control means 19 receives the permission of the DMA transfer, the print data for three colors of R, G, B and one line stored in the line buffer A16 or the line buffer B21 selected by the selector 18 is printed. The data is read out and output to the data conversion means 22. Data conversion means 2
Reference numeral 2 converts the input R, G, B and data into printing color data. For example, when Y is printed, Y printing color data is obtained from R, G, and B and returned to the data control means 19. The data control means 19 receives the color-converted print color data and performs DMA transfer to a predetermined amount, for example, an address corresponding to the print position of the IC memory 14 having a capacity of one term. When the color conversion and the DMA transfer for one line are completed, the data conversion means 19 notifies the sub CPU 15 of the end of the DMA transfer.

While the DMA transfer is being performed, the sub CPU 15 reads the next line R, G, B data from the hard disk device 20 and writes it in the line buffer which is not accessed by the data control means 19.

When the DMA transfer for one term is completed by repeating the above operation, the sub CPU 15 issues a Y data transfer end command to the command register 13. Main C
When the PU 11 receives the command for ending the DMA transfer from the command register 11, the PU 11 controls the printer mechanism unit to start the printing operation. When the printing operation is started, the printing control means 12 sequentially reads the Y printing color data stored in the IC memory 14 in accordance with the printing speed.

While the main CPU 11 is performing a printing operation, that is, while the printing control means 12 is reading data from the IC memory 14, the data control means 19 cannot perform DMA transfer, so the sub CPU 15 is If the reading from the hard disk device 20 is stopped and there is a free area in the hard disk device 20, the external interface 23
The reception process from is restarted.

When the printing of Y is completed, the main CPU 11
Prints the following print color data in the command register 13, for example M
Issue a transfer request for print color data. Sub CPU 15
In response to this, R reads the R, G, and B data from the hard disk device 20 and writes it in the line buffer in the same manner as the data reading for Y printing. The data control means 19 switches the printing color, for example M data, to the conversion mode and performs the above operation.

The above operation is performed for each printing color to realize a color printing operation. The sub CPU 15 controls the hard disk device 20 to clear the area where printing has been completed and set it as an area for receiving the next data.

In the present embodiment, the input print data RGB format has been described, but when the host computer side performs color conversion and YMC format data is sent, the data control means 19 operates. Data conversion means 2
The DMA conversion is directly performed to the IC memory 14 without performing the color conversion by 2.

Although the printing colors are three colors Y, M, and C, the printing colors are not limited to these, and four colors Y, M, C, and K (black) may be used, and other colors are also possible. .

Further, although the embodiment in which the hard disk device is used as the sub storage means is shown, another large capacity storage device may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, two line buffers for data transfer are provided and the address is switched to access, but more line buffers may be provided, and one line may be provided. The data to be written in the buffer may not be one line, but data for a plurality of lines may be transferred at one time.

[0024]

As described above, the printer device of the present invention is provided with the main CPU for controlling the printing operation and the sub CPU for controlling the data reception, and the received data is temporarily stored in the large-capacity auxiliary storage means. By storing and transferring each color print to the IC memory that is the main storage means, the print data buffer memory can be configured with the minimum capacity, and the cost is lower than when the print data buffer memory is entirely configured with the IC memory. Become.

Further, since a large-capacity, inexpensive hard disk drive or the like can be used, the receiving buffer has a large capacity, and a sub CPU for controlling data reception is provided, so that the data of the next item is received during printing. This will allow the host computer to be released faster and the system will be more efficient.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 main CPU 12 printing control means 13 command register 14 IC memory 15 sub CPU 16 line buffer A 17 selector 18 selector 19 data control means 20 hard disk device 21 line buffer B 22 data conversion means 111 interface device 112 data transfer control circuit 113 buffer memory 114 disk control circuit 115 hard disk device 121 printer control circuit 122 connection terminal

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sub-storage unit for temporarily storing received print data in a printer device for storing print data received from the outside in an internal memory and converting the print data into print data. Sub CPU for controlling the data reception of the sub memory and the control of the writing and reading of the sub storage means.
And a line buffer that temporarily stores a predetermined amount of received data read from the sub storage unit and transfers the data, and a main storage unit that reads the received data from the line buffer and stores the print color data. A printer device comprising a data control means for transferring data, and a main CPU for controlling the printer mechanism and printing operation. 2. A data conversion means for converting the print data read from the line buffer into print color data in accordance with the read timing of the data control means when the print data is not print color data. Item 1
Printer device. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the line buffer has a first area for receiving the received data from the sub storage means and a second area for reading the received data into the main storage means. apparatus. 4. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the sub CPU sends control data other than the print data included in the received data to the main CPU. 5. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the line buffer includes at least two line buffers, and writing and reading are switched each time predetermined reception data is stored.