JPH0725179B2 - Laser beam printer controller - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser beam printer control device, and more particularly to a control device that performs suitable control according to operating states.

[Background of the Invention]

1 and 2 show a conventional laser beam printer 1 and a host controller 2 for controlling the operation thereof. The host controller 2 is, for example, an image file system,
The print data in the file memory is printed out by using the laser beam printer 1 by inputting from the keyboard.

In the procedure for creating a print output, the operator first issues a print request from the keyboard. Next, necessary print data is transferred from the external file memory to the image memory.
This is a process of temporarily storing print data in the image memory in order to output the print signal by following the synchronization signal from the laser beam printer described later without delay.

Now, when all the necessary print data is set in the image memory, the host controller 2 outputs a print start signal to the laser beam printer 1. On the side of the laser beam printer 1, a sync signal (vertical sync signal, horizontal sync signal, etc.) for requesting a print signal to the host controller 2 by generating a xerographic process is generated. By this synchronizing signal, the print data is read from the image memory to give a print signal, and finally a print output is obtained.

In the above system, there is a problem in the fast print time (time until the first printed output is obtained) which is one of the performances. The shorter the fast print time, the better. In the system described above, there are two factors that slow the fast print time.

The first is loss time in which print data is transferred from the file memory to the image memory.

Second, the host controller 2 and the laser beam printer 1
The loss time from the generation of the print start signal to the synchronization signal until the synchronization signal, that is, the loss time required for the preparation of the xerographic process in the laser beam printer 1.

The former is due to the time taken to access the external memory.

The latter is due to the rise time until stable rotation of the laser beam polarization device or the stable operation of the thermal fixing device and the like.

However, keeping them constantly operating poses problems in terms of power consumption and life.

[Object of the Invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a laser beam printer control device capable of efficiently controlling a large portion of power consumption to reduce the power consumption, prevent the life from being shortened, and shorten the fast print time. .

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention relates to a laser beam printer control device comprising a printing means for performing a xerographic process and a process control means for controlling the printing means and printing image data from an external device, wherein the external device A pseudo start signal generating means is provided in the process control means, and the process control means generates a control signal for starting the operations of the polarizing device and the thermal fixing device in response to the pseudo start signal, and further within a set time after the input of the pseudo start signal. If the print start signal is not input to or if the next print start signal is not input within a certain set time after the end of printing, stop the operation of the polarizing device and stop the operation of the heat fixing device or set the temperature below the operating temperature. Is equipped with a preparation control means for generating a control signal for changing to the fast print type. Achieve shorter, and make them to reduce power consumption.

Example of Invention

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 8.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a laser beam printer showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an I / F of a laser beam printer of a host controller, FIG. 4 is its operation timing chart, and FIGS. FIG. 8 is an operation flow chart of the process control device.

As shown in FIG. 3, the laser beam printer 1 is connected to an external host controller 2 by a signal line group.
The process control device 4 receives the print start signal, the pseudo start signal, and the image data from the host control device 2 via this signal line.

On the other hand, the process control device includes, for example, a photosensitive drum, a charger, a laser light source, a developing device, which performs a xerographic process,
The xerographic process device 5 includes a transfer device, a static eliminator, a cleaning device, a paper transport device, and the like, a deflecting device 6 including a rotary polygon mirror, a lens, and the like, and a fixing heater and the like. The load to be controlled, which comprises the thermal fixing device 7, is configured to be controlled as shown in FIG.

When the print start signal or the pseudo start signal from the host controller 2 is not input to the process controller 4 from the laser beam printer 1, the process controller 4 is operated.
Generates a control signal for stopping the xerographic process device 5, controlling the temperature of the thermal fixing device 7 to the standby temperature TMP2, and stopping the polarizing device 6. This standby temperature control may be performed by turning off the power of the thermal fixing device 7. This state will be called a standby state.

On the other hand, on the host control device 2 side, if the operator issues a print request from the keyboard, the host control device 2
First, the pseudo start signal is generated and output to the laser beam printer 1, and then the print data is transferred from the external file memory to the image memory.

When a pseudo start signal is input from the host control device 2 to the process control device 4 while the laser beam printer 1 is in the standby state, the process control device 4 causes the xerographic process device 5 to perform the xerographic process. Before the exposure step, that is, the static elimination step, the cleaning step, the step of controlling the xerographic process up to the charging step are advanced, and the operation of the rotary polygon mirror of the polarization device 6 is started to control the rotation at a constant speed. It also generates a control signal for controlling the temperature of the thermal fixing device to the fixing operation temperature TMP1. That is, the laser beam printer 1 is controlled so that the latent image can be formed immediately. This state will be called a ready state.

On the other hand, in this ready state, the host controller 2 is creating print data in the image memory. The host controller 2 generates a print start signal after the print data is completely created on the image memory. The process control device 4 receiving this input controls the xerographic process device 5, the deflection device 6, and the heat fixing device 7 so as to start the latent image formation, perform the steps of development, transfer, and fixing, and complete the printing. To do. This state will be called an operating state.

After the operating state, the process control device 4 returns to the above-described preparation state, and if a continuous print start signal or pseudo start signal is input from the host control device 2, it becomes a state in which immediate latent image formation is possible. The states of the xerographic process device 5, the deflecting device 6, and the heat fixing device 7 are maintained. In this way, if the pseudo start signal or the print start signal is not generated from the host control device 2 even after the preliminary time T2 has passed from the operating state to the preparation state, the process control device 4 returns to the standby state described above. Is configured.

On the other hand, the process control device 4 also described above in the case where the print start signal is not input from the host control device 2 even after the preparation time T1 has passed after the control state is changed from the standby state to the preparation state by the pseudo start signal. The deflection device 6 and the thermal fixing device 7 of the xerographic process device 5 are returned to the standby state.
To control. The aforementioned preparation time T1 and standby time T2 are waiting times for the next operation and can be set arbitrarily.

The process control device 4 as described above is configured using a microcomputer.

The process control device 4 executes the signal processing as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 are main control processing flows, and FIG. 8 is a timer interrupt processing flow to the main control processing flow. When the laser beam printer 1 is powered on, the process control device 4 enters a control signal generating state for controlling the xerographic process device 5, the deflecting device 6, and the heat fixing device to the standby state described above, as shown in FIG. In the processing step 40, the standby state flag is turned on. Next processing step 41
Check whether or not the pseudo start flag is ON. If NO, the process goes to processing step 42 to check if the print start flag is ON, and if NO, the process returns to processing step 40. If the pseudo start flag is turned on in the check of processing step 41, the process proceeds to processing step 43 to turn off the pseudo start flag,
Furthermore, the timer TiM1 is cleared. After the processing step 43 and when the print start flag is turned on at the check of the processing step 42, the process proceeds to the processing step 44, the standby flag is turned off and the preparation state control flow is started.

As shown in FIG. 6, the preparation state control flow is such that the preparation state flag is turned on in processing step 50, and then the processing step is performed.
Go to 51 to run the preparation process. In this preparation process, a control signal for controlling the xerographic process device 5, the deflecting device 6, and the heat fixing device 7 to a print-ready state is generated. After that, the process goes to the processing step 52 to check whether the print end flag for one page is on or off. If it is on, the process moves to the processing step 53 to check whether the time of the timer TiM1 has reached a certain set value T1. If not, the process proceeds to processing step 53 to check whether the print start flag is on or off, and if it is off, the processing returns to processing step 50.

If the end flag is turned on at the check of processing step 52, move to processing step 55 to set the time of timer TiM2 to the set value.
It checks whether or not T2 has been reached, and if not, it moves to processing step 54. If it has reached, the process proceeds to processing step 56 to turn off the print end flag for one page.

When the time of the timer TiM1 reaches the set time T1 at the check of the processing step 53, or the processing step 56 moves to the processing step 57. This processing step 57 is processing for stopping the preparatory process executed in the processing step 51, and is a xerographic process device 5, a deflecting device 6, and a heat fixing device 7.
It outputs a control signal to put the device into a standby state. After this processing step 57, the preparation state flag is turned off at processing step 58 to enter the above-mentioned standby state. If the print start flag is on in the check of processing step 54, the processing step
Moving to 59, here, the print start flag and the preparation state flag are turned off, and the state shifts to the print operation state.

When the process control device 4 shifts to the print operation state, as shown in FIG. 7, the operation state flag is turned on in the processing step 60 and the processing step 61 is started. This processing step 61 executes a printing process and controls to print out print data. In processing step 62, it is checked whether or not printing for one page is completed. If not completed, the processing is returned to processing step 60 to continue the printing process. When the printing of one page is completed, the process proceeds to step 63, the printing completion flag for one page is turned on, and the timer TiM2 is set in processing step 64.
Is cleared, the operation state flag is turned off in the processing step 65, and the above-mentioned preparation state is entered.

Timers TiM1 and TiM2 consist of counters.
The count up of the TiM2 and the turning on of the pseudo start flag and the print start flag are executed by the timer interrupt processing shown in FIG. In this timer processing, processing step 70 checks whether the preparation state flag is on or off, and if it is off, the processing moves to processing step 71 to check the presence or absence of the pseudo start signal. If it is not present, the process proceeds to the processing step 72 to check the presence or absence of the print start signal, and if it is not present, the timer interrupt process is ended.

If the preparation status flag is ON in the check of processing step 70, the process proceeds to processing step 73 to check the ON / OFF of the print end flag for one page, and if it is OFF, the timer TiM1 is counted up in processing step 74, If it is ON, the processing step 75 counts up the timer TiM2, and then the processing step 71 is performed.

If the pseudo start signal is present in the check at processing step 71, the pseudo start flag is turned on at processing step 76 to end the timer interrupt processing.

If the print start signal is present in the check at processing step 72, the print start flag is turned on at processing step 77 to end the timer interrupt processing.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to generate a pseudo start signal before the external device creates print data in the image memory to start preparing the thermal fixing device and the deflecting device of the laser beam printer in the operating state. If the print start signal is issued later, the fast print time can be shortened and the efficiency of the entire system can be improved. In addition, it is possible to appropriately supply electric power to the thermal fixing device, the deflecting device, etc. according to the operating state of the laser beam printer, and thus it is possible to reduce power consumption and prevent shortening of life.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a laser beam printer, FIG. 2 is an interface block diagram between conventional host printers, and FIG. 3 is an interface block diagram between host printers of one embodiment of the present invention. Is an operation timing chart thereof, and FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are processing flow charts. 1 ... Laser beam printer, 2 ... Host controller,
4 ... Process control device, 5 ... Xerographic process device, 6 ... Deflection device, 7 ... Thermal fixing device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photoreceptor for performing a xerographic process,
Printing means having a charging device, an exposure source, a deflection device including a rotating polygon mirror, a developing device, a heat fixing device, a static eliminator, and a cleaning device, and operation management of the printing device, and further input from an external device. A laser beam printer having a process control means for timing control of a print start signal and print data, and an external device which is connected to the laser beam printer by a plurality of signal lines and generates the print start signal and print data. In the laser beam printer control device, the external device includes means for generating a pulse-like pseudo start signal, and the process control means sets the thermal fixing device to a standby temperature before inputting the pseudo start signal. A control signal is generated to control the deflection device to a stand-by state to stop it, and in response to the input of the pseudo start signal, the temperature of the thermal fixing device is changed to the operating temperature. To a preparatory state by generating a control signal for starting the operation of the deflecting device, and when a print signal is received from the external device, a signal for controlling the start of the print operation is generated, and further, a certain setting after printing is completed. When the print start signal is not input within a certain time or after a certain set time after the pseudo start signal is input, a control signal that causes the temperature of the thermal fixing device to fall below the operating temperature and stops the operation of the deflection device is generated. A laser beam printer control device comprising a preparation control means for controlling the laser beam printer.