JPH08251372A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To quickly operate an entire system by making a control over a serial printer efficient. CONSTITUTION: Image data of a facsimile image are converted into a format of a serial printer 106 and stored in a memory 108. On the other hand, a printer interface 109 monitors the serial printer 106 and when the printer 106 is in a reception waiting state, data are extracted from the memory 108 under the control of the printer interface 109 and sent to the serial printer 106.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a print output section equipped with a serial printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some facsimile machines have a print output unit equipped with a serial printer. In this type of facsimile apparatus, image data of a facsimile image received from a communication destination is converted into a format of a serial printer and printed out from the serial printer. A conventional facsimile apparatus of this type has a system configuration in which a system control unit (CPU) collectively controls a series of operations from reception of a facsimile image to printing output by a serial printer.

[0003]

However, among the various controls performed by the system control unit, particularly the control for the serial printer becomes an obstacle to the efficient control of the entire system by the system control unit, and the operation of the entire system. Was causing the delay. That is, when controlling the serial printer, the system control unit must transmit data while monitoring the state of the serial printer, and cannot control other components during that time. Further, even if the serial printer is in the waiting state, if the system control unit controls other components at that time, the data transmission operation cannot be performed, and the serial printer waits wastefully. I had to continue.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the efficiency of control of a serial printer so that the entire system can operate quickly.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a facsimile apparatus which comprises a serial printer, converts image data of a facsimile image into a format of the serial printer, and transmits to the serial printer. A storage means for storing the data converted into the format of the serial printer, and a data transmission control means for monitoring the state of the serial printer and sequentially reading and transmitting the data from the storage means when the serial printer is waiting for reception are provided. It is as a configuration.

Further, according to the present invention, when the data to be transmitted to the serial printer includes the image data and the control data for controlling the image data, the storage means stores the image data line by line. The storage area is changed and stored, and means for pre-storing the control data is added to this storage means, and the data transmission control means reads out the control data stored in advance in the storage means and transmits it to the serial printer. It may be configured to do so.

Further, according to the present invention, when the data to be transmitted to the serial printer includes a plurality of types of control data for controlling the image data together with the image data, the storage means stores one line of the image data. A storage area is changed for each minute, and a plurality of types of control data are stored in different storage areas of the storage means in advance, and the image data for one line is stored in the storage means. Means for setting a control designation flag indicating the control data of the image data, and the data transmission control means reads the designated control data from the storage means based on the control designation flag of the image data read from the storage means. It may be configured to transmit to the serial printer.

[0008]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the data transmission control means monitors the status of the serial printer instead of the system control section. Then, when the serial printer is waiting for reception, data is sequentially read from the storage means under the control of the data transmission control means, and the data is transmitted to the serial printer. Therefore, the system control unit can control the components other than the serial printer quickly and efficiently regardless of the state of the serial printer.

Further, among the data to be transmitted to the serial printer, the control data for controlling the image data is stored in the storage means in advance, so that the system control unit controls to store only the image data in the storage means. Since it suffices to do so, the burden of control operation is reduced. In addition,
As the control data for controlling the image data, for example, there is data for instructing a carriage return, a page break, a line feed code, or the like.

If the data to be transmitted to the serial printer includes a plurality of types of control data, the plurality of types of control data are stored in the storage means in advance so that the system control unit can display the image in the same manner as above. Since only the data needs to be stored in the storage means,
The control operation load is reduced. However, in this case, it is necessary to set the control designation flag for each line of image data.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a scanner unit 101 is a component that reads an original image at a predetermined resolution, and an encoding / compositing unit 102.
Is a component having a function of encoding / compressing image data and of combining the encoded / compressed image data with the original image data. The operation display unit 103 is a component for realizing various operations of the facsimile apparatus by the user, and is provided with various operation keys, a display device for displaying operation guidance messages, and the like. The network control unit 104 is a component that executes data communication using a public communication network, and the communication control unit 105 is a component that executes a predetermined facsimile transmission procedure.

The facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment uses the serial printer 106 as a print output unit. Therefore, the printer data conversion unit 107 is provided, and the printer data conversion unit 107 converts image data of a facsimile image into image data of a format suitable for the serial printer 106.

A memory (storage means) 108 stores image data in the printer format converted by the printer data conversion unit 107. A printer interface (data transmission control means) 109 receives image data in a printer format stored in the memory 108 by DMA transfer, and transmits the image data to the printer 106 while monitoring the state of the serial printer 106. It is a part. Transmission control of image data to the serial printer 106 is executed by the printer interface 109.

The system controller 110 controls each component other than the serial printer 106. The scanner unit 101, the encoding / compositing unit 102, and the operation display unit 10 described above.
3, the network control unit 104, the communication control unit 105, the printer data conversion unit 107, and the system control unit 110 exchange necessary data via the bus line 111. Note that the handset 112 is attached for making oral communication with a communication partner.

FIG. 2 shows a memory map of the memory 108 described above. In the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment, the data transmitted to the serial printer 106 includes image data and control data such as carriage return, page break, and line feed. Therefore, the memory 108 uses some of the plurality of banks (storage areas) for storing control data, and uses the other banks for storing image data. Each bank for storing image data stores the image data sent from the printer data conversion unit 107 for each line. For example, in the memory map shown in FIG. 2, among banks 0 to 5, banks 0 to 3 are used as image data storage banks, and banks 4 and 5 are used as control data storage banks. Dn (n = 1,2,3 ...) Indicates image data or control data to be transmitted to the serial printer 106. In this embodiment, different types of control data are stored in advance in the control data storage banks 4 and 5. This control data is input to the system controller 1
Running by 10.

Further, Xn (n = 1, 2, 3, ...) Is a control designation flag Xn for designating control data for controlling the image data stored in each bank, and stored in banks 0-3. It is set for each image data to be displayed. The setting of the control designation flag Xn is also executed by the system control unit 110. The printer interface 109, after transmitting the image data in the bank to the serial printer 106,
Based on the control designation flag Xn set in the image data,
The designated control data 1 or 2 is transmitted to the serial printer 106. The control designation flag Xn set in the control data in the banks 4 and 5 is a dummy and does not participate in the actual control operation. Yn (n = 1,2,3 ...) Is index data indicating how many bytes of image data or control data is stored below.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data transmission operation by the printer interface 109 described above. When the printer interface 109 receives a transmission start command from the system control unit 110 (S301), the image data converted into the printer format is stored in the memory 10.
It is determined whether or not the data is stored in 8 (S302). If the image data is stored in the memory 108, the control designation flag is changed from the corresponding bank (one of banks 0 to 3 in FIG. 2) of the memory 108 storing the image data to be transmitted to the serial printer 106. Xn and index data Yn are fetched by DMA transfer (S303).

Next, the image data D1, D2, ... Stored in the above-mentioned corresponding bank are taken out from the memory 108 by one byte by DMA transfer, and the serial printer 1
06, and confirms whether the image data has been transmitted by the number indicated by the index data Yn (S30).
4).

If the image data of the number indicated by the index data Yn has not been transmitted to the serial printer 106, it is confirmed that the printer 106 can receive the image data (S305), and the printer cannot receive the image data. When it's time to wait. Then, when the serial printer 106 becomes ready to receive data, the image data not yet sent from the corresponding bank of the memory 108 is DMed by 1 byte.
It is taken out by A transfer (S306) and transmitted to the serial printer 106 (S307).

In this way, the operation of taking out the image data for each byte from the corresponding bank of the memory 106, transmitting it to the serial printer 106, and checking whether the number of image data indicated by the index data Yn has been transmitted ( S304 to S307) are repeated. Then, the number of image data indicated by the index data Yn (that is,
After confirming the transmission of one line of image data), the control data transmitting operation is started based on the control designation flag Xn.

Based on the control designation flag Xn, the control data for the image data for one line transmitted previously is judged (S30).
8), the corresponding bank storing the control data (see FIG. 2).
Then, the index data Yn is taken out from the bank 4 or 5) by DMA transfer (S309).

Subsequently, the control data D1, D2, ... Stored in the above-mentioned corresponding bank is taken out from the memory 108 by one byte by DMA transfer and transmitted to the serial printer 106, and at the same time, the index data Yn.
Check if the control data has been transmitted by the number indicated by (S
310).

If the control data of the number indicated by the index data Yn has not been transmitted to the serial printer 106, it is confirmed that the printer 106 can receive the data (S311), and the printer cannot receive the data. When it's time to wait. Then, when the serial printer 106 becomes ready to receive, only one byte of control data not yet sent is taken out from the corresponding bank of the memory 108 by DMA transfer (S312) and sent to the serial printer 106 (S313). .

In this manner, the control data is taken out byte by byte from the corresponding bank of the memory 106 and transmitted to the serial printer 106, and at the same time it is confirmed whether or not the control data has been transmitted by the number indicated by the index data Yn ( S310 to S313) are repeated. Then, after confirming the transmission of the number of control data indicated by the index data Yn (that is, the control data for one line), the image data converted into the printer format again is stored in the memory 1.
It is determined whether the data is stored in 08 (S302). If the image data is stored in the memory 108, the above-described operations (S303 to S313) are executed again, and transmission to the serial printer 106 is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, when the data to be transmitted to the serial printer is common to one type of control data, it is not necessary to set the control designation flag as described in the above embodiment in the image data, and the control designation flag is also set. The control data selection operation based on is also unnecessary.

[0026]

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when transmitting data to the serial printer, the data transmission control means voluntarily monitors the serial printer and transmits the data. The load on the system control unit can be reduced, and the efficiency of control of the serial printer can be improved. As a result, the operation of the entire system can be speeded up.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a memory map of a memory in the same device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a data transmission operation by a printer interface in the apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 101: Scanner unit 102: Encoding / compositing unit 103: Operation display unit 104: Network control unit 105: Communication control unit 106: Serial printer 107: Printer data conversion unit 108: Memory (storage unit) 109: Printer interface (data transmission) Control means) 110: System control unit 111: Bus line 112: Handset

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage device, comprising a serial printer, for converting image data of a facsimile image into a format of the serial printer and transmitting the image data to the serial printer, and storing data converted into the format of the serial printer. And a data transmission control means for monitoring the status of the serial printer and sequentially reading and transmitting data from the storage means when the serial printer is waiting for reception. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data to be transmitted to the serial printer includes image data and control data for controlling the image data. A storage area is changed for each line, and the storage means is provided with a means for storing the control data in advance. The data transmission control means stores the control data in advance in the storage means. A facsimile apparatus, which reads out and transmits the read data to the serial printer. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data to be transmitted to the serial printer includes image data and a plurality of types of control data for controlling the image data. Data is stored by changing the storage area for each row, and means for pre-storing the plurality of types of control data in different storage areas of the storage means, and one row for storing in the storage means And a means for setting a control designation flag indicating control data for controlling the image data, and the data transmission control means designates based on the control designation flag of the image data read from the storage means. A facsimile machine, characterized in that the control data thus read out is read from the storage means and transmitted to the serial printer.