JPH08116417A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a hindrance from being caused in other processing even when the other processing is executed in parallel by generating character data representing a content of a report to be outputted as the processing unit of one page of the report so as to save the memory quantity when the report comprising plural pages is outputted. CONSTITUTION: The printer 10 generates character data representing a report in the processing unit of one page of report, the character data are converted into image data and coded once. The report is printed out based on the image data obtained by decoding the coded data at a print section 44. The character data and the coded data generated to output the report in this processing are tentatively stored in a storage device 18 and when the output of the report is finished, the data are deleted from the storage device 18. Thus, the memory residual quantity when the report is outputted is tentatively reduced to store an intermediate file, but it is recovered in a short period attended with the output of the report.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having a report output function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a scanner unit for reading an original document and a communication control section for communicating with another facsimile apparatus via a communication line are provided, and the original document read by the scanner unit or another facsimile machine via the communication line. There has been proposed a printer capable of printing an image represented by image data received from a device. In this type of printer, since the reading of the document by the scanner unit and the reception of the data from the other facsimile device occur asynchronously, the image data of the document read by the scanner unit and the image of the document received from the other facsimile device are generated. A memory for temporarily storing data and the like is provided, and the image data once stored in the memory is taken out and printed.

[0003]

By the way, the above-mentioned printer has a function of printing out various reports such as a speed dial list, a function setting list, a communication management report, an error history list, and the like. Is common. For these various reports, the text data representing the report is expanded into fonts, converted into image data, and then temporarily stored in the memory, and the stored image data is taken out and printed. Especially, the report is composed of a plurality of pages. If this is the case, the amount of image data will be enormous, and the storage of this image data will cause a significant decrease in the remaining amount of memory, memory overflow, etc. When processing (for example, reading of an original by the scanner unit, reception of data by the communication control unit, etc.) is executed in parallel, there is a case where the other processing executed in parallel may be hindered. .

Although the above problem can be solved by increasing the capacity of the memory for storing the image data, the use of the large capacity memory undesirably increases the cost of the printer.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts. Even when a report consisting of a plurality of pages is output, the amount of memory used is reduced and other processing using the memory portion is performed in parallel. An object of the present invention is to obtain a printing apparatus that can prevent the other processing from being disturbed even when the printing apparatus is being executed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention generates a memory section and character data representing the contents of a report to be output, and stores the character data in the memory section. Character data generating means for storing, converting means for converting the character data stored in the memory portion into image data, and image data converted by the converting means is encoded to generate encoded data and stored in the memory portion. Encoding means, first erasing means for erasing the character data encoded by the encoding means from the memory section, and decoding the encoded data stored in the memory section to generate image data. Decoding means, second erasing means for erasing the coded data decoded by the decoding means from the memory section, and the decoding Printing means for printing using the image data generated by the columns; and outputting the report consisting of a plurality of pages, the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first 1 erasing means, the decoding means,
The second erasing means and the printing means are sequentially operated to output one page of a report repeatedly, and a control means for outputting a report composed of a plurality of pages is included.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the control means outputs the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first erasing means, when outputting the report consisting of a plurality of pages. Whether the decoding means, the second erasing means, and the printing means are sequentially operated with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or one page of the report is sequentially operated as a processing unit is repeated. It is characterized by selecting based on.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, the control means outputs the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first means when outputting the report composed of a plurality of pages. The erasing means, the decrypting means, the second erasing means, and the printing means of the report are sequentially operated by using a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or by sequentially operating one page of the report as a processing unit. It is characterized in that the selection is made based on the rate of change of the remaining memory amount of the copy.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the control means controls the encoded data to be held in the memory section when the output of the report is interrupted. It is characterized in that the erasing of encoded data by the erasing means 2 is prohibited.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the control means compares the size of the character data with the size of the encoded data when the output of the report is interrupted. However, it is characterized in that erasing of data by the first erasing means or the second erasing means is prohibited so that the smaller size data is held in the memory section.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the remaining memory capacity of the memory section is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, the control means is arranged so that the encoded data is held in the memory section. The deletion of the encoded data by the deletion means is prohibited.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the character data generating means generates character data representing the content of the report to be output, and the generated character data is stored in the memory section. The converting unit converts the character data stored in the memory unit into image data, and the encoding unit encodes the image data to generate encoded data and stores the encoded data in the memory unit. In the decryption means,
The coded data stored in the memory unit is decoded to generate image data, and the printing means prints using the generated image data. Further, the character data encoded by the encoding means is erased from the memory section by the first erasing means, and the encoded data decoded by the decoding means is removed from the memory section by the second erasing means. Erased.

In the above, the character data and the encoded data obtained by encoding the image data before being converted into the image data are stored in the memory unit, and the image data itself having a very large data amount is not stored in the memory unit. Since the encoded character data and the decoded encoded data are erased from the memory unit, the memory amount of the memory unit used for outputting the report can be reduced.

Further, the control means outputs a report consisting of a plurality of pages, with one page of the report as a processing unit, character data generating means, converting means, encoding means, and first means.
The erasing means, the decrypting means, the second erasing means, and the printing means are sequentially operated to output one page of the report, and the report having a plurality of pages is output. As a result, in the series of operations for outputting one page of the report, the character data and the encoded data stored in the memory unit have a small data amount corresponding to one page of the report, and the character data and the encoded data are Since the character data and the coded data corresponding to the next page of the report are erased by the first erasing means and the second erasing means until the character data and the encoded data are stored in the memory unit, the output of the report composed of a plurality of pages is possible. Until the completion, the data amount of character data and encoded data stored in the memory unit does not always exceed one page of the report.

Therefore, even when a report consisting of a plurality of pages is output, the memory capacity of the memory unit used for storing the character data and the encoded data can be reduced, and the memory unit is used. Even when other processing is executed in parallel, it is possible to prevent the other processing from being disturbed.

If there is a sufficient amount of memory remaining in the memory section (the size of the storage area of the memory section that does not store data) when the report output processing is performed, the report output processing is performed. Even if the amount of memory used in is somewhat large, there is almost no possibility of interfering with other processes executed in parallel. Therefore, as described in claim 2, when outputting the report including a plurality of pages, the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first erasing means, the decoding means, the second erasing means, and Printing means
Operate sequentially using multiple pages of the report as a processing unit,
It is preferable that one page of the report is sequentially operated as a processing unit or it is selected based on the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit.

Thus, for example, when the remaining memory capacity is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the above-mentioned respective units are sequentially operated with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, so that the time during which the respective units perform the processing for outputting the report. (Time occupied by the report output process) can be shortened. Also,
By using multiple pages of a report as a processing unit, the data amount of character data and encoded data stored in the memory unit increases, but as described above, the memory remaining amount is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. Even when the other processing to be used is executed in parallel, there is almost no possibility that the other processing will be disturbed. Further, when the remaining memory capacity is less than the predetermined value, the respective units are sequentially operated with one page of the report as a processing unit. Therefore, in order to store the character data and the encoded data as in the invention according to claim 1. The amount of memory used can be saved, and it is possible to prevent other processing that is being executed in parallel from being disturbed.

Further, even if the remaining memory capacity at the time of starting the report output processing is the same, for example, another processing executed in parallel is writing a large amount of data at high speed in the memory section. In this case, there is a possibility that a significant decrease in the remaining memory amount or memory overflow may occur while the report output process is being performed. Therefore, as described in claim 3, when outputting a report composed of a plurality of pages, character data generation means, conversion means, encoding means, first erasing means, decoding means, second erasing means, and Select whether the printing unit is sequentially operated with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit or repeatedly operating with one page of the report as a processing unit based on the rate of change in the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit. Is preferred.

By using the rate of change of the memory remaining amount in this way, it is possible to estimate the transition of the memory remaining amount due to other processing while the report output process is being performed, and for example, the memory remaining amount increases in the decreasing direction. In the case of a change or the like, it is possible to repeat the sequential operation of each of the above-mentioned units with one page of the report as a processing unit so that the memory amount used by the report output process is reduced. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of inconveniences such as a significant decrease in the remaining amount of memory and overflow of the memory unit during the report output process. If the selection is performed based on the remaining amount of memory and the rate of change of the remaining amount of memory in combination with the invention of claim 2, it is possible to more reliably prevent a significant decrease in the remaining amount of memory and the occurrence of overflow. .

Further, in the printing apparatus, the processing may be interrupted due to an obstacle such as a jam of the recording paper. If the above-mentioned failure occurs during the report output process and the output of the report is interrupted, the timing of the failure and the character data or the code by the first erasing means or the second erasing means. Depending on the timing of erasing the encoded data, the character data and the encoded data may be stored in the memory unit. Since these data are continuously stored in the memory unit until the trouble is resolved, if another process that uses the memory unit is executed until the fault is resolved, the other process will be disturbed. There is a risk of causing

In order to solve this, it is conceivable to delete the character data and the encoded data stored in the memory section when the report output processing is interrupted due to a failure, but the failure is resolved. After that, the report output process needs to be performed again from the beginning (from the generation of the character data by the character data generation means), which imposes a great load on the printing apparatus. Therefore, in consideration of the above, when the output of the report is interrupted due to a failure or the like, it is preferable to hold only the character data or the encoded data in the memory unit.

As to which of the character data and the encoded data is held when the output of the report is interrupted, for example, as described in claim 4, the encoded data is retained when the output of the report is interrupted. It can be configured to prohibit the erasing of the encoded data by the second erasing means so as to be held in the memory section. This allows
When the failure is resolved, the output of the report can be restarted using the encoded data held, so that the character data generation means, the conversion means, and the code are obtained in order to obtain the held encoded data. It is not necessary to reactivate the activating means, and the load on the printing apparatus can be reduced.

Further, as described in claim 5, when the output of the report is interrupted, the size of the character data is compared with the size of the encoded data, and the data having the smaller size is held in the memory section. As described above, the erasing of data by the first erasing means or the second erasing means may be prohibited. As a result, it is possible to increase the amount of memory remaining in the memory section until the report output is resumed after being interrupted, and other processing that uses the memory section was executed until report output was resumed. However, it is possible to prevent the other processing from being disturbed.

If the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit is relatively large when the output of the report is interrupted, the data having the larger size of the character data and the encoded data should be retained in the memory unit. Even if it does, there is almost no possibility of hindering other processing. Therefore, claim 5
The invention according to claim 6, wherein when the output of the report is interrupted, the remaining memory capacity of the memory section is equal to or more than a predetermined value.
As described above, it is preferable that the erasing of the encoded data by the second erasing means is prohibited so that the encoded data is held in the memory section. As a result, when the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit when the output of the report is interrupted is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, it is possible to reduce the load on the printing apparatus without affecting other processing.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Although the following description will be given using numerical values that do not hinder the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the numerical values given below.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a printing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The printing device 10 includes a CPU 12 and a program RO.
M14 (hereinafter referred to as PROM14), RAM16, D
A large-capacity storage device 18 as a memory unit including a RAM and a hard disk device is provided, and these are connected to each other via a data bus 20. Further, the data bus 20 has a scanner unit 22, a communication control unit 24, and a panel control unit 2 for reading an image of a set original.
6. An encoder 28 as an encoding means and a decoder 30 as a decoding means are connected to each other.

The CPU 12 operates as a character data generating means, a first erasing means, a second erasing means, and a control means by executing a program stored in the PROM 14 in advance. The encoder 28 and the decoder 30
The general MH (Modified Huffman), MR (Modified Read), and the like can be applied to the encoding and decoding by. The communication control unit 24 is a modem 32.
Is connected to the communication line via.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the scanner unit 22 is provided above the casing of the printing section 44. In addition, the panel control unit 26 includes a key input unit 3 configured by a keyboard (not shown) provided in the printing apparatus 10 for inputting various commands and data.
4 and a display unit 36 including a liquid crystal display and the like are connected. A buffer 38 is connected to the encoder 28, and a font conversion unit 40 as conversion means is connected to the buffer 38.

Further, a buffer 42 is connected to the decoder 30, and a printing section 44 as a printing means is connected to the buffer 42. This buffer 3
As will be described in detail later, the capacities of 8 and 42 are significantly smaller than the size of the image data for one page of the report. The buffers 38 and 42 may be combined into a single buffer.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structure of the printing unit 44. As shown in FIG. 2, the print unit 44 is loaded with stackers 50A and 50B in which a large number of recording sheets P1 and P2 of different sizes are stacked.
The print unit 44 has an arm 52A whose one end is rotatably supported, corresponding to the loading positions of the stackers 50A and 50B.
52B and pull-out rollers 54A and 54B rotatably supported at the other ends of the arms 52A and 52B, respectively. Further, rollers 56A, 56 arranged coaxially with the center of rotation of the arms are provided on one end side of the arms 52A, 52B.
B, and rollers 58A, 5 provided corresponding to the rollers.
8B is provided.

In FIG. 2, the conveyance path of the recording paper P is shown by an imaginary line, and a plurality of roller pairs 60, 6 are arranged along this conveyance path.
2 and the feed sensor 64 are provided. When the pulling-in of the recording paper P1 or P2 is instructed, in the print 44, the corresponding pull-out roller 54 is moved downward (in FIG. 2, the pull-out roller 54A is moved downward) and the pull-out roller 54 is also shown. Is rotated while being in contact with the uppermost recording paper P, and the recording paper P is pulled out. The recording sheet P pulled out is nipped by the rollers 56 and 58. The recording sheet P pulled out is nipped by the roller pair 62 (and the roller pair 60) and conveyed. When it is detected that the recording paper P has reached the portion where the feed sensor 64 is disposed, the printing unit 44 causes the pull-out roller 5 via the arm 52.
Move 4 up.

Further, on the downstream side of the feed sensor 64 in the conveying direction of the recording paper P, a roller 66, a roller pair 68 and a registration sensor 70 for changing the conveying direction of the recording paper P by 90 °.
Are arranged in order. A tray 72 for manually inserting the recording paper P into the print unit 44 is provided near the roller 66. The tray 72 is provided with a sensor 74 that detects that the recording paper P is placed, and a roller pair 76 is provided inside the printing unit 44 corresponding to the tray 72. When the pulling-in of the recording paper P is instructed, the printing unit 44 causes the recording paper P placed on the tray 72 to be transferred if the sensor 74 is turned on.
If the sensor 74 is off, the recording paper P drawn from the stacker 50 is conveyed to the position where the registration sensor 70 is turned on.

On the other hand, a cylindrical image carrier 78 is rotatably arranged on the upper side in the printing unit 44, and a charger 80 and an image recording unit 82 are arranged on the outer peripheral side of the image carrier 78. It is set up. The charger 80 charges the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 78. Image data representing a recorded image is input to the image recording unit 82 for each page, and the input image data is converted into a continuous electric signal in units of one line,
Further, a light beam modulated according to the electric signal is applied to the image carrier 7
The outer peripheral surface of 8 is irradiated to form an electrostatic latent image on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 78. Further, the image recording section 82 is provided with a developing device, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 78 is developed by the developing device to form a toner image.

A transfer roller 84 is disposed below the image carrier 78, and the toner formed on the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier 78 is attached to the recording paper P conveyed to the transfer roller disposition site. The image is transferred. Recording paper P of transfer roller 84
The fixing roller 86 and the fixing roller 86 are provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction.
A roller 88, a roller pair 90, and a passage sensor 92 that are arranged to face each other are sequentially arranged. The print section 4
4 is provided with a tray 94 corresponding to the roller pair 90 so as to project to the outside. The recording paper P on which the toner image has been transferred is sandwiched between the fixing roller 86 and the roller 88 to fix the toner image, conveyed by the roller pair 90, discharged to the outside of the printing unit 44, and placed on the tray 94. It

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. When the printing apparatus 10 is in operation, the free space in the storage area of the storage device 18 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “memory remaining amount”) changes due to various processes as shown in FIG.

That is, when the image data of the original obtained by reading the original with the scanner unit 22 is transmitted to another facsimile apparatus, the power of the destination facsimile apparatus is turned off, or the destination facsimile apparatus. When the apparatus is in a state of not being able to receive data, such as when communicating with another facsimile apparatus, or when an instruction to send data is input at a preset time, "Document reading" is displayed in FIG. As indicated by "reservation for transmission", the image data obtained by reading the original is written in the storage device 18, and is held in the storage device 18 until the transmission to the destination facsimile machine is completed. In this case, the remaining memory capacity continues to decrease until the transmission is completed.

Further, as shown as "transmission" in FIG.
When the destination facsimile machine becomes ready to receive data or when a preset time arrives, the storage device 18
The image data stored in is fetched, and the fetched image data is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine.
Then, when the transmission is completed, the transmitted image data is deleted from the storage device 18. Along with this, the remaining memory amount increases.

Further, when image data is received from another facsimile apparatus via the communication line, the printing unit 4
4 is printing by another process, the received image data is written in the storage device 18 as indicated by "reception" in FIG. 3, the received image data is printed, and the print is performed. Is held in the storage device 18 until the above is completed. In this case as well, the remaining memory capacity continues to decrease until printing of the received image data is completed.

Further, as indicated by "reception print" in FIG. 3, when printing by the other processing in the printing unit 44 is completed, the image data stored in the storage device 18 is taken out, and the image data taken out by the printing unit 44 is taken out. To print. When the printing is completed, the printed image data is deleted from the storage device 18. Along with this, the remaining memory capacity increases.

When a document read by the scanner unit 22 is simply printed as in a copying machine, image data representing the image of the read document is stored in the storage device 18 as shown as "copy" in FIG. Then, the print unit 44 prints the image data. Then, when the printing of the image data is completed in the printing unit 44, the temporarily stored image data is deleted from the storage device 18. As a result, the remaining memory capacity is temporarily reduced, but it will be recovered in a short time as the printing is completed.

Further, the printing device 10, as shown as "report print" in FIG.
It has a function to output various reports such as a function setting list, a communication management report, an error history list, and the like. Although details of the report output process will be described later, character data representing the report is generated, the character data is converted into image data, and further encoded. The printing unit 44 prints a report based on the image data obtained by decoding the encoded data. The character data and the encoded data generated for outputting the report in the above process are temporarily stored in the storage device 18, and are deleted from the storage device 18 when the output of the report is completed. Therefore, the memory remaining amount at the time of outputting the report is temporarily reduced because the intermediate file is stored, but it is recovered in a short time with the output of the report.

The printing device 10 includes a scanner unit 22 and a printing unit 4 such as "document reading transmission reservation" and "reception print", "report print" and "reception".
It is possible to execute a plurality of processes in parallel, which may not conflict with each other. For this reason, the size of the remaining memory capacity and the manner of its change differ depending on the processing being executed in the printing apparatus 10. When the power of the printing apparatus 10 is turned on, the CPU 12 constantly executes the remaining memory amount monitoring process shown in FIG.

That is, in step 170, the RAM 16
A predetermined area for holding the remaining amount of memory provided in, for example, is initialized, and in the next step 172, a timer is started. In step 174, it is determined whether the timer started in step 172 has timed out,
Wait until it times out. When the determination in step 172 is affirmative, in step 176, the remaining memory amount is detected, the detected remaining memory amount is stored in a predetermined area, and the process returns to step 172. As described above, assuming that the memory remaining amount changes as shown in FIG. 5 as an example, the memory remaining amount p1 is detected at time t1, the memory remaining amount p2 is detected at time t2, and so on. The remaining memory amount is detected, and the detected remaining memory amount is stored in the RAM 16.

Next, the report print processing executed by the CPU 12 when outputting various reports will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that the execution timing of the report print processing differs depending on the type of the report. For example, when the speed dial list is instructed by the user to output the list via the key input unit 34, the communication management report is output every predetermined period. The error history list is regularly executed when the number of stored errors exceeds a predetermined number.

In step 100, the counters I, J, and K are set to 0, and the total number of pages of the report to be output is assigned to the variable N. In step 102, the memory remaining amount stored in the predetermined area of the RAM 16 by the memory remaining amount monitoring process described above is fetched, and it is determined whether the memory remaining amount is less than 50% of the total capacity of the storage device 18.

When the remaining memory capacity is less than 50%, the information stored in the RAM 16 or the like in step 104 and necessary for creating a report (for example, a speed dial data for a speed dial list, hereinafter referred to as report generation data). )
Is read out, and as shown in FIG. 7, a character file (character data) for one page representing a report for one page (for recording on one recording sheet P) is generated, and as shown in FIG. Then, the generated file is temporarily stored in the storage device 18. As shown in FIG. 7, the character file has headers for the required number of lines,
It is composed of a character code group corresponding to each header. When the generation of the character file for one page is completed,
Count up the counter I.

The processing of the next step 106 is performed by the font conversion unit 40, and as shown in FIG. 7, the character file for one page of the report stored in the storage device 18 is extracted, and the data of the extracted character file is stored in the character file. The font is sequentially expanded based on the character code to generate image data, and the generated image data is sequentially stored in the buffer 38. Further, in parallel with the process of step 106, the encoder 28 performs the process of step 108. That is, as shown in FIG.
Then, the image data temporarily stored in the buffer 38 is sequentially encoded according to a predetermined encoding rule, and the encoded data is sequentially stored in the storage device 18 as a code file as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7 as an example, this code file has a structure in which an end code EOL is added at the end of each line and the compression-coded image data is arranged between EOL and EOL. ing. A termination code RTC is added to the end of page 1. As described above, the character file stored in the storage device is once taken out, subjected to font expansion and encoded, and then stored again in the storage device 18 as a code file. When the font conversion unit 40 completes the font expansion process for the character file for one page of the report, the counter J is incremented in step 106. In parallel with the encoding process by the encoder 28, the print unit 44 is instructed to pull in the recording paper P. As a result, the recording paper P is conveyed to the position where the registration sensor 70 is turned on.

When the processing of steps 106 and 108 is completed, the character file stored in the storage device 18 is deleted in step 110. Then, in the next step 112, it is obtained by decoding the code file stored in the storage device 18 by the decoder 30 as shown in FIG. 7 and by decoding as shown in FIG. Printer unit 44 performed using image data
The report printout by is performed in parallel. The decoding and print output processing will be described in detail later.

Report 1 stored in storage device 18
When the decoding of the code file for pages and the print output are completed, the counter K is incremented and then step 11
Move to 4. In step 114, the code file whose print output is completed is deleted from the storage device 18, and in the next step 116, whether all pages of the report have been printed based on whether the counter K matches the total number N of pages or not. Determine whether or not. If the determination in step 116 is negative, the process returns to step 102, and steps 104 to 116 are repeated if the remaining memory capacity is less than 50%.
If the determination in step 116 is affirmative, the process ends.

As described above, if the state where the remaining memory capacity is less than 50% continues, as shown in FIG. 8, one page of the report is used as a processing unit and the character file generation by the CPU 12 and the font conversion unit 40 are performed. Font expansion,
Encoding by the encoder 28, drawing of the recording paper P from the stacker 50, decoding by the decoder 30, and printing by the printing unit 44 are sequentially performed, and by repeating this, a report consisting of a plurality of pages is printed out. (In FIG. 8, the printout of each page of the report is shown as ...).

In the above, a code file is generated from the character file corresponding to one page of a report stored in the storage device 18 by font expansion and encoding. When the code file is stored in the storage device 18, the character file is stored. When the file is deleted and the code file corresponding to one page of the report stored in the storage device 18 is decoded and is printed out as a one-page report, the code file is deleted. The character file and the code file are never stored in excess of the data amount exceeding one page.

Therefore, even when a report consisting of a plurality of pages is output, it is possible to reduce the amount of memory used to store the character file and the code file, and to store other data in the storage device 18. Even when processing (for example, “document reading transmission reservation” or “reception” shown in FIG. 3) is executed in parallel, it is possible to prevent the other processing from being disturbed. However, for each resource (font conversion unit 40, buffer 38, encoder 28, decoder 30, buffer 42, and printing unit 40) other than the CPU 12, until the processing for all pages of the report is completed.
Since it is occupied by the report print process, the occupied time of each resource becomes long.

If it is determined in step 102 that the remaining memory is 50% or more, step 1
In step 118, the remaining memory capacity is fetched again to determine whether the remaining memory capacity is 40% or more of the total capacity of the storage device 18. In this case, it is determined that the remaining amount of memory is 40% or more, the report creation data stored in the RAM is read in step 120, and a character file for one page representing a report for one page is generated and generated. The character file is stored in the storage device 18, and the counter I
To count up. In the next step 122, it is determined whether the generation of the character file has been completed for all the pages of the report, based on whether the counter I matches the total number N of pages.

If the determination in step 122 is negative, the process returns to step 118, and in step 118 it is determined again whether the remaining memory amount is 40% or more. 40% remaining memory
If the above state continues, steps 118 to 122 are repeated until the determination at step 122 becomes affirmative, and character files for all pages of the report are generated and stored in the storage device 18. When the determination at step 122 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 124, where it is determined whether the remaining memory amount is 30% or more.

If it is determined in step 124 that the remaining memory capacity is 30% or more, in step 126 the font conversion unit 40 retrieves the character file from the storage device 18, and the data of the retrieved character file is sequentially font-printed. The developed image data is sequentially stored in the buffer 38. Further, in parallel with step 126, in step 128, the image data stored in the buffer 38 is sequentially encoded in the encoder 28 and sequentially stored in the storage device 18 as a code file. When the font conversion processing on the character file for one page in the font conversion unit 40 is completed, the counter J is counted up. When the processes of steps 126 and 128 are completed, the character file stored in the storage device 18 is deleted in step 130.

In the next step 132, it is determined whether or not the generation of the code file is completed for all the pages of the report based on whether or not the counter J matches the total number N of pages.
If the determination in step 132 is negative, step 1
Returning to step 24, in step 124, it is determined again whether the remaining memory amount is 30% or more. If the remaining amount of memory is 30% or more, steps 124 to 132 are repeated until the determination at step 132 is affirmed, and code files for all pages of the report are generated and stored in the storage device 18. At the same time, the character file corresponding to the generated code file is sequentially deleted from the storage device 18.

When the determination at step 132 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 134, where the code file for one page of the report stored in the storage device 18 is taken out, and the decoding of the code file and the printout of one page of the report are performed in parallel. When the print output is completed, the counter K is incremented. In the next step 136, the code file corresponding to one page of the printed report is deleted from the storage device 18, and the process proceeds to step 138. Step 138
Then, based on whether or not the counter K matches the total number N of pages, it is determined whether or not the print output of all pages of the report is completed. If the determination in step 138 is negative, the process returns to step 134, and steps 134 to 138 are repeated until the determination in step 138 is positive. Step 138
If the determination is positive, the report print processing ends.

According to the above, if the remaining memory capacity is 40% or more while the character file is being generated and the remaining memory capacity is 30% or more while the code file is being generated, As shown in Figure 9, all pages of the report (Fig. 9
Represents a case where the total number of pages of the report is 4) as a processing unit, and the character file generation by the CPU 12, the font expansion by the font conversion unit 40, and the encoder 2
8, the recording paper P is pulled in from the stacker 50, the decoder 30 decodes it, and the printing unit 44 prints it.

In the above, after the character files for all pages of the report are generated and stored in the storage device 18, font expansion and encoding are performed, and the code files corresponding to all pages of the report are generated and stored in the storage device 18. Since the decoding and the print output are performed after this, the data amount of the character file and the code file stored in the storage device 18 is larger than that in FIG. 8, but each resource including the CPU 12 (the font conversion unit 40, Buffer 38, encoder 2
8, decoder 30, buffer 42 and print unit 40)
Operates continuously until the processing for all pages of the report is completed, so that the occupied time of each resource can be short.

By the way, when the remaining memory capacity is less than 40% while the character file is being repeatedly generated in steps 118 to 122, the process proceeds from step 118 to step 142, and the remaining memory capacity is 40% or more. It is again determined whether or not. If the memory remaining amount is 40% or more, the process proceeds to step 122. If the memory remaining amount is less than 40%, steps 144 to 152 and steps 106 to 1
Similar to 14, using the data for one page of the report as a processing unit, font expansion of the character file, counting up of the counter J, encoding of the image data generated by the font expansion and storage in the storage device 18, deletion of the character file. Decoding of the code file stored in the storage device 18, print output of the image data obtained by the decoding, count-up of the counter K, and deletion of the code file are sequentially performed.

In the next step 154, it is determined whether or not the printing for all the character files already generated in step 120 has been completed, based on whether or not the counter K matches the counter I. . If the determination in step 154 is negative, step 142
If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 102. Due to the above, the remaining memory is 40% while generating the character file for all pages of the report.
When the value falls below the lower limit, the report of the page corresponding to the character file stored in the storage device 18 is printed out first, and when the remaining memory capacity is recovered to 40% or more, the process returns to the processing for all the pages of the report. Become.

If the remaining memory capacity is less than 30% while the code file generation is being repeated in steps 124 to 132, steps 124 to 15 are performed.
Go to 6 and judge again whether the remaining memory capacity is 30% or more. If the remaining memory is 30% or more, step 1
Returning to step 32, if the remaining memory capacity is less than 30%, in steps 158 and 160, as in steps 112 and 114, the storage device 18 uses the data for one page of the report as a processing unit.
Decoding of the code file stored in, the print output by the image data obtained by the decoding, the count up of the counter K, and the deletion of the code file are sequentially performed.

At the next step 162, step 128 is performed based on whether the counter K matches the counter J.
It is determined whether or not the printing for all the code files generated in step 3 has been completed. If the determination in step 162 is negative, the process returns to step 156, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 102. Due to the above, if the remaining memory capacity drops below 30% while the code file is being generated for all pages of the report, the storage device 1
The report corresponding to the code file stored in No. 8 is printed out first, and when the remaining memory capacity is recovered to 30% or more, the process returns to all pages of the report.

Next, details of the decoding by the decoder 30 and the print output of the report by the printing unit 44 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 shows a control process of the buffer 42 provided between the decoder 30 and the printing unit 40.
In this buffer control process, in step 180 the decoder 3
Start the operation of 0. As a result, the decoder 30 starts a decoding process in which the code files stored in the storage device 18 are sequentially taken out from the beginning, decoded according to a predetermined rule, and output as image data. Further, in step 182, the decrypted data transfer process (see FIG. 11).
And activates direct memory access (DMA) for transferring data from the decoder 30 to the buffer 42.

The decryption data transfer process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Step 2
At 10, it is determined whether or not the image data is output from the decoder 30, and the process waits until the image data is output from the decoder 30. When the image data is output from the decoder 30, 1 byte of the image data is transferred from the decoder 30 to the buffer 42 by the above-described DMA in step 212. In the next step 214, it is determined whether the image data for one page has been output from the decoder 30.
If the determination in step 214 is negative, step 2
Returning to step 10, steps 210 to 214 are repeated until the determination in step 214 is affirmative. And step 214
If the determination is YES, the operation of the DMA for transferring the data from the decoder 30 to the buffer 42 is stopped in step 216, and the process is ended.

On the other hand, while steps 210 to 214 are repeated in the above-mentioned decryption data transfer processing,
The following buffer control processing is performed. That is,
In step 184, it is determined whether or not the buffer 42 has become full. The buffer 42 is used as a ring buffer, and the start and end addresses of the area where the image data is stored are managed by the operating system (OS). Therefore, the determination can be made based on whether or not the addresses at the beginning and the end of the storage area match. Until the buffer 42 is full, only the data output from the decoder 30 is written to the buffer 42, so only the address at the end of the storage area is updated and the remaining amount of the buffer 42 remains. Decreases monotonically.

The buffer 42 becomes full, and step 184 is performed.
If the determination is positive, the printing unit 44 starts printing in step 186. As a result, the printing unit 44 sequentially reads the image data stored in the buffer 42, and starts printing the report on the recording paper P based on the read image data. With the reading of the image data from the buffer 42, the start address of the storage area of the buffer 42 is sequentially updated.

At the next step 188, it is judged whether or not the decoding of the code file for one page is completed in the decoder 30. If the determination in step 188 is negative,
In step 190, it is determined again whether the buffer 42 is full. If the determination in step 190 is also denied, the process returns to step 188, and either step 188 or 190
Until the determination is positive, the state in which the decoding by the decoder 30 and the printing by the printing unit 44 are being performed in parallel is continued. When the buffer 42 is full, the determination at step 190 is affirmative, and at step 192, the decoder 3
The operation of 0 is temporarily stopped.

In step 194, it is determined whether or not the buffer 42 is still full, and the process waits until the buffer 42 is released. Since the operation of the decoder 30 is stopped during this period, only the image data is read from the print unit 44 to the buffer 42, and the remaining amount of the buffer 42 monotonically increases, so that the determination in step 194 is negative. To be done. When the determination in step 194 is negative, the operation of the decoder 30 is restarted in step 196, and the process returns to step 188.

If the determination in step 188 is affirmative, the operation of the decoder 30 is stopped in step 198, and it is determined in step 200 whether or not the buffer 42 is empty. Until the buffer 42 is empty, that is, the print is performed. The section 44 waits until the printing of the report for one page is completed.
If the determination in step 200 is positive, step 202
Then, the operation of the printing unit 44 is stopped, and the buffer control process ends.

As described above, by way of example, as shown in FIG. 12, when decoding of the code file and start of print output processing of the report by the image data are instructed (FIG. 1).
2 shows as "decoding / print start instruction"). First, the operation of the decoder 30 is started, and when the time Q has passed and the buffer 42 becomes full, the printing unit 44 starts printing. Then, until the decoding is completed, when the buffer 42 becomes full, the operation of the decoder 30 is temporarily stopped until the buffer 42 becomes empty, and the decoder 30 operates intermittently. During this time, the print unit 44 is always operating. Then, when the decoding is finished, the operation of the decoder 30 is stopped, and when the printing is finished, the operation of the printing unit 44 is stopped.

In this way, the decoder 30 and the printing unit 44 are
Are operated in parallel and the decoder 30 operates for a period A
And the period B in which the printer unit 44 is operating overlap. Therefore, the time Q from the start of decoding to the time when the buffer 42 becomes full due to the data sequentially output from the decoder 30 is added to the time B for printing one page in the printing unit 44. Since the printing of the report for one page is completed when the time elapses, the processing time can be shortened and the decoding time of the decoding unit 4 can be reduced as compared with the case where the decoding unit 44 and the printing unit 44 are serially operated.
It is not necessary to provide a large capacity buffer 42 for storing the image data output from No. 4.

The shortening of the processing time and the reduction of the capacity of the buffer 42 will be further described with specific numerical values. As an example, when the frequency of the synchronizing signal for the printing unit 44 retrieves the data for each pixel from the signal representing the image data read out from the buffer 42 and 5MH _z, comprising transmission time of data per pixel and 0.2μsec . Further, assuming that the image recording density of the printing unit 44 on the recording paper P is 400 pixels / inch, the recording paper P of A3 width has 4864 dots per line, so the data transmission time per line is 0.2 μsec × 4864 = 972.8 μsec. In addition, in the signal representing the image data, the time corresponding to the blanking period in one line is 27
If it is set to μsec, 972.8 μsec +27 μsec = 999.8 μsec, that is, it is printed in about 1 msec per line. Assuming that the size of the recording paper P is A3, the number of lines is 6614, so the time required to print an A3 original by the printing unit 44 is about 6.614 seconds.

On the other hand, when MH, MR, etc. are applied to the coding and decoding of the image data, the length of the coded data corresponding to one line is indefinite, and the coded data for one line is decoded. The processing time of the decoder 30 for this is also indefinite. Here, the minimum processing speed of the decoder 30 is set to 1.25 mse.
c / line, maximum value 0.5 msec / line, average value 0.
If 8 msec / line is set, the time required for the decoder 30 to decode the coded data of the A3 original document is 0.8 msec / line × 6614 lines = about 5.291 sec. Therefore, in the conventional method in which the decoder 30 and the printing unit 44 are serially operated, the processing time for printing one page of the A3 original document is as long as the recording paper P from the stacker 50 while the decoder 30 is operating. Even if the pull-in is performed, 6.614sec + 5.291sec ≈ 11.9sec, about 11.9sec is required. Further, in the above conventional method, it is necessary to temporarily store the decoded image data.
If three originals are read at 400 pixels / inch, the size of the image data will be about 4 Mbytes, which requires a huge memory of 4 Mbytes.

Next, as described in this embodiment, the decoder 3
The processing speed and the capacity of the buffer 42 when the 0 and the printing unit 44 are operated in parallel will be described. In the present embodiment, the buffer 42 is used as the ring buffer as described above, and when the operating speed of the decoder 30 is slower than the printing speed of the printing unit 44, the buffer 42 is used.
The amount of image data stored in the buffer 42 decreases, and the amount of image data stored in the buffer 42 increases when the operation speed of the decoder 30 is faster than the printing speed. Become. When the buffer 42 becomes full, the operation of the decoder 30 may be temporarily stopped, but the printing unit 44 rotates the image carrier 78 at a constant speed to print an image on the recording paper P. It is not allowed that the buffer 42 becomes empty before the printing unit 44 finishes printing one page. Therefore, the capacity of the buffer 42 may be determined so that the buffer does not become empty even when the decoder 30 operates at the minimum processing speed.

The printing speed of the printing unit 44 is 1 msec.
/ Line, the decoder 30 has the minimum processing speed (1.
1msec when operating at 25msec / line)
The image data of 0.25 msec is left unprocessed and remains. Converting this to the amount of image data, 4864 × (1.25-1) ÷ 1.25 ÷ 8 = 121.6 bytes. Therefore, every time the printing unit 44 prints one line, the remaining amount of the buffer 42 decreases by 121.6 bytes. Therefore, during printing one page of the A3 original, the remaining amount of the buffer 42 decreases by the number of bytes shown below.

121.6 bytes × 6614 lines = 785.4125 K bytes Therefore, if the capacity of the buffer 42 is set to about 800 K bytes, the buffer 42 will not become empty before the printing unit 44 finishes printing one page, and the decoding will be performed. The container 30 and the printing unit 44 can be operated in parallel. This is the memory capacity of 4M required by the conventional method described above.
The size is obviously smaller than that of the bite, and the cost of the printing apparatus 10 can be reduced.

Regarding the processing time required for printing one page of the A3 original, the time Q until the buffer 42 becomes full due to the data sequentially output from the decoder 30 and the printing of one page in the printing unit 44 are performed. Time to execute B
Therefore, even if it is assumed that the decoder 30 operates at the minimum processing speed, the processing time is 1.25 msec / line × 800 Kbytes / 4864
Bit / Line + 6.614sec = 1.645sec + 6.614sec
≈ 8.3sec Completion takes about 8.3 seconds, and the processing time can be greatly reduced.

It should be noted that the above is an example of the capacity of the buffer 42 required to prevent the buffer 42 from becoming empty even when using a special image in which the decoder 30 continues to operate at the minimum processing speed. Is. Generally, the processing speed of the decoder 30 does not continue at the minimum value, and the buffer 42
In most cases, the operation of the decoder 30 is temporarily stopped when the buffer is full, so the capacity of the buffer 42 can be made smaller than the capacity obtained above. If the capacity of the buffer 42 is reduced, the above processing time is further shortened.

Further, in this embodiment, as the image data for printing one page of the report, as described above, it is possible to handle image data of a data amount which is obviously larger than the capacity of the buffer 42. Therefore, it is also possible to print a report on a recording paper P of a non-standard size having a longitudinal dimension larger than A3 size, which is obtained by cutting a roll-shaped recording paper P, for example.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the second embodiment has the same configuration as the first embodiment, the description of the configuration will be omitted, and the report print processing according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Only parts different from the embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, when it is determined in step 102 that the remaining memory capacity is less than 50%, the processes of steps 104 to 108 are sequentially performed as in the first embodiment, and then the character file Step 1 without deleting
At 12, the code file is decoded and printed out.
Further, in the next step 250, it is determined whether or not a conveyance failure of the recording paper P, that is, a so-called paper jam has occurred before the printing of the report is completed. If the determination in step 250 is negative, the character file and the code file are deleted in steps 110 and 114, and the process proceeds to step 116.

On the other hand, if a paper jam has occurred before the end of printing, the determination at step 250 is affirmative and whether or not the capacity of the code file stored in the storage device 18 at step 252 is larger than the capacity of the character file. Determine whether. If the determination in step 252 is negative, the load applied when the report output is restarted is taken into consideration, the character file stored in the storage device 18 is deleted in step 254, and the paper jam is resolved in step 262. Wait until it is done. Note that this step 252
The process of branching from 254 to 254 is the process corresponding to claim 5.

If the determination in step 252 is affirmative, the remaining memory amount is fetched in step 256 and it is determined whether the remaining memory amount is 30% or more, less than 30%, or less than 10%. If the remaining memory capacity is 30% or more, the storage device 1
Even if the data amount of the file stored in 8 is somewhat large, it does not hinder the other processing even when the other processing is executed in parallel. Therefore, in step 254, the character file is stored in the storage device 18. delete. This step 2
The process of branching from 56 to 254 corresponds to claim 6.

Further, when the memory capacity is less than 30% (however, 10% or more), the remaining amount of memory is relatively small, so that when other processing is executed in parallel, the other processing is hindered. Prioritizing prevention of damage, a code file having a larger capacity than the character file is deleted from the storage device 18 in step 258, and the process proceeds to step 262. Further, when the memory capacity is less than 10%, the remaining amount of the memory is considerably small. Therefore, even if only the character file is held in the storage device 18, when other processing is executed in parallel, the other Processing may interfere. Therefore, in step 260, the character file and the code file are deleted from the storage device 18, and the step 2
Move to 62.

In the above, when a paper jam occurs, at least one of the character file and the code file is deleted. Therefore, as compared with the case where the character file and the code file are stored until the paper jam is resolved,
In particular, when the remaining memory capacity is low (for example, less than 10%), it is possible to reduce the possibility that other processing that is being executed in parallel with the report print processing will suffer a shortage of the remaining memory capacity.

When the paper jam is cleared, step 262.
Is affirmative, the process branches depending on whether a character file or code file is stored in the storage device 18 in step 264. When the code file is stored in the storage device 18, the process proceeds to step 112, the process after the decoding is performed again using the code file, and the page that cannot be normally printed out due to the paper jam is printed again. Output. If a character file is stored in the storage device 18, step 10
Then, the process proceeds to step 6, and the processing after the font expansion is performed again using the character file, and the page that could not be printed out normally is printed out again. Further, when no file is stored in the storage device 18, the process proceeds to step 104, and the page which cannot be normally printed out is processed from the beginning.

On the other hand, in step 102, the remaining memory amount is 50%.
If it is determined that the above is the case, steps 120, 1
A character file is generated for all pages of the report in step 22, and then a code file is generated for all pages of the report in steps 126, 128 and 132. Then, in the next step 134, the code file is decoded and the print output is performed, and in the next step 270, it is determined whether or not a paper jam occurs before the print output of the report is completed, as in step 250. While the determination in step 270 is negative, all the pages of the report are decrypted and printed out in steps 134, 270, and 138, but if a paper jam occurs and the determination in step 270 is affirmative, the steps are performed. Move to 272.

The processing of steps 272 to 284 is the same as the processing of steps 252 to 264 described above. That is,
If the capacity of the character file is greater than the capacity of the code file, or if the remaining memory capacity is 30% or more, delete the character file, the capacity of the character file is smaller than the capacity of the code file, and the remaining memory capacity is 30%
If the size of the character file is smaller than the size of the code file and the remaining memory capacity is less than 10%, both files are deleted to eliminate the paper jam. Wait until

When the paper jam is eliminated, the storage device 18
If the code file is stored in, the process proceeds to step 134, the processing after the decoding is performed again using the code file, and if the character file is stored, the process proceeds to step 126 and the character file is used. The process after the font expansion is performed again, and if no file is stored, the process proceeds to step 120 and the process is performed from the beginning.

In the above description, it is determined in step 250 whether or not the report output is interrupted, and it is determined whether or not a paper jam has occurred before the end of printing. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, it may be determined whether or not various failures that interrupt the output of the report have occurred. In addition, when a failure occurs and the report output is interrupted, whether to retain the character file or the code file or to delete both files should be determined in consideration of the degree of the failure that occurred. May be. For example, when a serious failure in which recovery is expected to take a long time occurs, it is preferable to delete both files in consideration of the magnitude of the influence on other processing.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the third embodiment has the same structure as the first and second embodiments, the description of the structure will be omitted and only the parts different from the first and second embodiments will be described.

In the third embodiment, the memory monitoring process as shown in FIG. 14 is performed. That is, in step 300, 1 is assigned to the counters n and k as an initial setting. In step 302, the remaining memory capacity Z _n is fetched, and the next step 3
The timer is started at 04. In step 306, it is determined whether or not the timer has timed out, and the process waits until it times out. When the timer times out, the counter n is incremented in step 308, and step 31
When 0, the remaining memory capacity Z _n is fetched again.

In the next step 312, the amount of change M _n from the remaining memory capacity Z _n-1 fetched in the previous cycle is calculated according to the following equation (1).

M _n = Z _n −Z _n−1 (1) In step 314, the change amount M _{n of the} remaining memory amount calculated above is compared with the change amount M _n−1 calculated in the previous cycle. , It is determined whether the sign of the change amount M _n has been inverted. Step 3
If the 14 determined is negative, the difference between the change amount M _n and the amount of change M _n-1 calculated at the previous cycle in step 316 determines whether more than a predetermined value. If the amount of change M _n has not been calculated in the previous cycle immediately after the power of the printing apparatus 10 is turned on, in steps 314 and 316, the above determination is performed using a predetermined value. If the determination in step 316 is also negative, step 31
In step 8, the average value of the change amount M _n of the remaining memory amount is calculated as the change rate P of the remaining memory amount according to the following equation (2).

[0097]

[Equation 1]

In the above, as the change rate P of the remaining memory,
The average value of the change amount _Mn of the remaining memory amount is calculated during a period in which the sign of the change amount _Mn is constant and the change of the change amount _Mn is within a predetermined range. Further, the counter k represents the start of the predetermined range. On the other hand, if the determination in step 314 or 316 is affirmative, step 320
Then, as shown in the following expression (3), the change amount M _n calculated in step 312 is set as the change rate P of the remaining memory capacity.

P = M _n (3) At the next step 322, the value of the counter n is substituted into the counter k. Then, after performing the processing of step 318 or 322, the timer is restarted in step 324, the process returns to step 306, and the above processing is repeated.

Further, in the third embodiment, determination of the remaining memory capacity in the report print processing described in the first and second embodiments (for example, steps 102 and 118 in FIG. 6,
124, 142, 156, etc.) in consideration of the rate of change P of the remaining memory amount obtained in the memory monitoring process described above. Specifically, the rate of change P of the remaining amount of memory is also taken in for the above determination, and the value of the rate of change P of the remaining amount of memory that has been taken in indicates that the remaining amount of memory is decreasing at a reduction rate equal to or higher than a predetermined value. In this case, the report print process is performed so that the amount of data temporarily stored in the storage device 18 becomes small.

For example, in the report printing process shown in FIG. 6, in steps 118 to 122, the character file generation and storage device 18 corresponding to each page of the report is generated.
15A, the remaining amount of the memory gradually decreases at a predetermined rate or less as shown by a broken line in FIG. 15A unless another process is executed in parallel. Decrease. Here, when a large amount of image data is received from another facsimile apparatus at high speed in accordance with the G4 standard, the remaining memory amount sharply decreases as indicated by the solid line in. In the report print processing described in the first embodiment, since only the remaining memory amount is monitored in step 118, it is not possible to cope with a sudden decrease in the remaining memory amount, and the storage device 1 is not able to handle it.
8 overflow and the like may occur.

On the other hand, in the third embodiment, the increase of the decrease rate of the remaining memory amount as described above is caused by the change rate P of the remaining memory amount.
As a result, it is possible to predict that an overflow or the like may occur based on the rate of change P of the remaining memory capacity before the remaining memory capacity becomes a sufficiently low value. As a result, in the example described above, the process of printing out the report corresponding to the character file stored in the storage device 18 in steps 144 to 154 can be shifted from an early stage. Therefore, even when the remaining amount of memory suddenly decreases, it is possible to reliably prevent the overflow of the storage device 18, as shown in FIG.

In the above description, the printing apparatus according to the present invention has been described by exemplifying the printing apparatus 10 having both the function as a copying machine and the function as a facsimile apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. It may be provided with only one of the functions, or in addition to the above functions, so-called so-called character data, which is transferred from a workstation or personal computer, is expanded into image data and printed on recording paper. It may have a function as a printer.

[0104]

As described above, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when a report consisting of a plurality of pages is output, character data representing the contents of the report to be output, with one page of the report as a processing unit. Is generated and stored in the memory unit, the character data stored in the memory unit is converted into image data, encoded data obtained by encoding the image data is generated, stored in the memory unit, and encoded. The character data is erased from the memory unit, the encoded data stored in the memory unit is decoded to generate image data, the decoded encoded data is erased from the memory unit, and the decoded image data Since it was made to print a report consisting of multiple pages by repeating the printing using and to output one page of the report, Even when a report consisting of several pages is output, the amount of memory used is reduced, and other processes that use the memory section are also hindered even if they are being executed in parallel. The excellent effect of being able to prevent

According to the invention described in claim 2, in the invention described in claim 1, when outputting a report consisting of a plurality of pages, the report is output with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or one page of the report is processed as a processing unit. As a result, whether to output the report is selected based on the remaining memory amount. Therefore, in addition to the above effect, when the remaining memory amount is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the time that each resource is occupied in the report output process is shortened. The effect of being able to do is obtained.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, when a report including a plurality of pages is output, the report is output using a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or the report In addition to the above effects, whether to output a report using pages as a processing unit is selected based on the change rate of the remaining memory amount. It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of inconveniences such as overflow of the memory unit.

According to the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 1 or 2, when the output of the report is interrupted, the encoded data is erased so that the encoded data is held in the memory section. In addition to the above effect, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the printing device when the report output is resumed after being interrupted.

According to the invention described in claim 5, in the invention described in claim 1 or 2, when the output of the report is interrupted, the data having the smaller size of the character data and the encoded data is stored in the memory unit. To be retained in
Since it is prohibited to erase any of the above data,
In addition to the above effects, it is possible to increase the amount of memory remaining in the memory section until the report output is restarted after being cut off, and to perform other processing that uses the memory section until the report output is restarted. Even if it is executed, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to prevent the other processing from being disturbed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, when the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit is not less than a predetermined value when the output of the report is interrupted, the encoded data is held in the memory unit. As described above, the deletion of encoded data is prohibited, so in addition to the above effects, if the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit when report output is interrupted is greater than or equal to a specified value, other processing will be hindered. The effect that the load applied to the printing apparatus can be reduced without causing any trouble is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing unit of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a data input / output state with respect to a storage device that stores image data in the printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a memory remaining amount monitoring process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of changes in the remaining memory amount and the remaining memory amount detected in the remaining memory amount monitoring process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a report print process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing various intermediate files generated in the process of report print processing.

FIG. 8 shows a case where a plurality of pages of reports are processed with one page of the report as a processing unit in the report print processing.
7 is a timing chart for explaining the occupation status of resources such as a font conversion unit, an encoding unit, and a decoding unit.

FIG. 9 is a timing chart for explaining a resource occupancy state of a font conversion unit, an encoding unit, a decoding unit, and the like when a report of a plurality of pages is processed in a report print process using a plurality of pages as a processing unit. .

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a buffer control process that controls execution timings of a print process and a decryption process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transferring decoded data from a decoder to a buffer.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart showing an example of execution timing of print processing and decoding processing controlled by the buffer control processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a report print process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a memory remaining amount change rate monitoring process according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 15A is a view showing a case where a plurality of pages are processed as a processing unit in the report print processing, and FIG. 15B is switched to processing where one page is a processing unit while processing a plurality of pages as a processing unit. It is a diagram showing an example of a transition of the remaining amount of memory in the case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 printing device 12 CPU 18 storage device 28 encoder 30 decoder 40 font conversion unit 44 printing unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A memory unit, character data generation means for generating character data representing the contents of a report to be output, and storing the character data in the memory unit, and conversion for converting the character data stored in the memory unit into image data. Means, encoding means for encoding the image data converted by the converting means to generate encoded data, and storing the encoded data in a memory part; and character data encoded by the encoding means from the memory part. First erasing means for erasing, decoding means for decoding coded data stored in the memory section to generate image data, and coded data decoded by the decoding means from the memory section Second erasing means for erasing, printing means for printing using the image data generated by the decoding means, When outputting a report consisting of pages, the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first erasing means, the decoding means, the second erasing means A printing apparatus comprising: a control unit that sequentially outputs the report by one page by sequentially operating the printing unit to output a report including a plurality of pages. 2. The control means outputs the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first erasing means, the decoding means, and the second when outputting a report composed of a plurality of pages. Select whether to sequentially operate the erasing means and the printing means with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or to repeatedly operate one page of the report with a processing unit as a processing unit, based on the remaining memory capacity of the memory section. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The control means outputs the character data generating means, the converting means, the encoding means, the first erasing means, the decoding means, and the second means when outputting a report composed of a plurality of pages. Whether the erasing means and the printing means are sequentially operated with a plurality of pages of the report as a processing unit, or one page of the report is sequentially operated as a processing unit is set as a change rate of the remaining memory capacity of the memory unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printing apparatus is selected based on the printing apparatus. 4. The control means prohibits the erasure of the encoded data by the second erasing means so that the encoded data is retained in the memory section when the output of the report is interrupted. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The control means compares the size of the character data with the size of the encoded data when the output of the report is interrupted, and the data with the smaller size is held in the memory section. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein erasing of data by the first erasing means or the second erasing means is prohibited. 6. The control means prohibits erasure of the encoded data by the second erasing means so that the encoded data is held in the memory portion when the remaining memory capacity of the memory portion is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus.