JPH0848055A - Image recording method using serial printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record an image within a short time by reciprocal recording without performing changeover operation by successively inputting image data of printing head width by adding image data wherein all of pixels are white to image data of prescribed width less than printing head width. CONSTITUTION:At first, various commands are sent to a serial printer to initialize the serial printer and, thereafter, image data for one line is read from an image memory to be converted to raster scanning image data fitted to a raster image command mode. Next, the obtained raster scanning image data is sent to the serial printer and the number of data sending-out lines is judged and, when the number of the sending-out lines is 60 lines or less, the above mentioned operation is repeated. After image data for 60 lines is sent out, the raster scanning image data corresponding to one line wherein all of pixels are white is sent to the serial printer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method using a serial printer suitable for high-speed recording of continuous images in which images to be recorded each time are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A heat-sensitive recording system for recording an image on a heat-sensitive paper is often used as an image recording portion of a facsimile machine. However, thermal paper has the property of discoloring due to heat, friction, chemicals, etc., and is not suitable for storing recorded images.

On the other hand, there is a facsimile apparatus having an electrophotographic image recording unit. In this system, the image is recorded on the plain paper, which is suitable for storing the recorded image. However, the image recording unit of this system has a drawback that the device configuration is complicated and the cost is high.

In recent years, personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computers) have become widespread. On the personal computer,
Usually, an input / output device such as a printer is connected. In the case of a personal computer printer, a printer that can record information on plain paper is very inexpensive and is often used. Therefore,
It would be advantageous if such a printer could be used with a facsimile machine.

In a personal computer, a serial printer that records an image while reciprocating the print head left and right is often used. The print head has the function of simultaneously recording a fixed number of dot patterns corresponding to the print head width in a vertical line, and recording an image of the print head width with one movement of the print head. You can

Image recording methods in this case include one-way recording in which an image is recorded only when the print head is moved in one direction to the left and right, and reciprocal recording in which an image is recorded when the print head is moved to either the left or right.

Since the reciprocal recording continuously executes the recording operation, it is possible to record the image of one page in a shorter time than the one-way recording. However, there is a drawback that the recorded image is slightly disturbed because the position of the dot printed while moving the print head to the right and the position of the dot printed while moving to the left are slightly disturbed. The positional deviation of the recording dots is caused by a mechanical problem such as a gear that transmits the power of the motor to the print head.

For this reason, a normal printer has a recording mode automatic switching function for automatically switching between one-way recording and reciprocal recording according to a recorded image. In such a printer, when the image recorded by moving the print head in one direction is connected to the image to be recorded next as shown in FIG. 6A, that is, when the black dots are continuous. The next image is recorded as one-way recording. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the black dots are separated, the recording is performed by the reciprocal recording.

When an image of a facsimile machine is printed by such a printer, continuous black dots are likely to occur, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the printer records an image in almost one page by one-way recording, and it takes a long time to record the image.

By the way, for example, JP-A-64-2475
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8 proposes that a user arbitrarily switches between one-way recording and two-way recording when an image is recorded by a printer.

According to this proposal, the image can be recorded in a short time by switching the reciprocal recording and recording the image.

[0012]

However, in this case, the switching operation by the user is necessary, and the operation is troublesome. Further, since the normal printer automatic recording mode switching function is fixedly provided, in order to switch between one-way recording and reciprocal recording by manual operation, hardware or software inside the printer is required. Will require major changes. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the device cost of the printer becomes very high.

Also, in the case of changing the ordinary printer so that the image is always recorded by the reciprocal recording, the apparatus cost similarly increases.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to record an image in a short time by reciprocal recording at a low cost without the user performing a switching operation.

[0015]

To this end, according to claim 1 of the present application, image information of all pixels white is added to image information of a specified width narrower than the print head width, and image information composed of the print head width is obtained. While serially inputting to the serial printer to record an effective image with a specified width, after recording an effective image with a specified width, the recording paper is fed by the specified width and the next image is continuously recorded.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a stepping motor is used for feeding the recording paper, and a paper feeding means is provided for periodically changing the excitation phase of the stepping motor a fixed number of times to feed the paper by the print head width. If
By temporarily stopping the periodic change of the excitation phase, the recording paper is fed by the specified width.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the periodic change of the excitation phase is temporarily stopped only during the period of recording the image on the recording paper, and is not stopped during the other period.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the invention, since the lower end of the recorded image which is recorded by the width of the print head is always a white image, it is separated from the next image. Therefore, when a normal printer having a conventional recording mode automatic switching function is used, a reciprocal recording operation is always executed and an image of one page can be recorded in a short time even if the user does not perform a switching operation. it can.
Further, in this case, since only the paper feed control portion of the printer of the conventional apparatus needs to be changed, it can be realized at low cost.

According to the second aspect, it is possible to easily carry out the paper feeding operation of the recording paper having the specified width. That is,
Generally, changing the paper feed amount during image recording requires major changes in software and hardware, but the control to temporarily stop the periodic change in the excitation phase of the stepping motor is realized by a simple hardware circuit. it can.

According to the third aspect, the periodical change of the excitation phase is not stopped except when the image is recorded, so that the recording sheet feeding operation and the sheet discharging operation can be quickly executed.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawing, a telephone line 2 and a serial printer 3 are connected to a facsimile device 1.

In the facsimile apparatus 1, the scanner 101 reads an original image.

The printer interface section 102 sends image information to the serial printer 3. The printer interface unit 102 includes line counting means 1
02a, raster image data conversion means 102b, all-white raster image data output means 102c, and circuit switching means 102d.

The line counting means 102a counts the number of lines of the image information sent to the serial printer 3. The raster image data conversion unit 102b converts image information of a facsimile image into a prescribed format of raster scan image data. The all-white raster image data output means 102c outputs raster scan image data for one line of all-pixel white. The circuit switching means 102d switches the output data to the serial printer 3.

The encoding / decoding unit 103 compresses image information by a known encoding method or reproduces original image information from the compressed data. Image memory 104
Is for storing image information.

The G3 FAX modem 105 is a group 3
Facsimile communication is executed according to the communication procedure of the (G3) standard. The network control unit 106 executes predetermined line control when making and receiving a call.

The operation display unit 107 is used by the user to perform various operations and display the operating state of the apparatus. The system control unit 108 is a microcomputer that monitors and controls the above units. System bus 109
Is a signal line connecting the above-mentioned respective parts.

The serial printer 3 is an ordinary printer that records an image while reciprocating the print head. The serial printer 3 has a function of recording an image in the raster image command mode. The raster image command mode is used in a personal computer that uses an OS (Operating System) such as MS-Windows. The serial printer 3 and the printer interface unit 102 are, for example,
Connected with Centronics interface.

In the serial printer 3, the dot pattern recording means 301 records a dot pattern image for each print head width while reciprocally moving a print head (not shown). The image continuity determination means 302 determines whether or not the image recorded by moving the print head once and the image to be recorded next are continuous. The one-way / reciprocal mode switching means 303 switches between performing one-way recording and reciprocating recording of the next image based on the determination result.

The head driving means 304 is for reciprocating the print head left and right. In this embodiment, as an example, the print head width is 64 dots, that is, 64 lines when expressed by the number of lines of a facsimile image. The paper feeding unit 305 is configured to feed a recording sheet during image recording and also perform a paper feed / discharge operation.

The serial printer 3 has the same structure as the conventional device, but the operation of the serial printer 3 is slightly different from that of the conventional device only in the paper feeding means 305. That is, in the case of the conventional apparatus, when the print head width is 64 dots, the recording paper is fed by 64 dot width each time the print head records an image, but in the present embodiment, it is fed by 60 dots. I am trying.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the facsimile apparatus 1 of this embodiment copies or transmits / receives an original image as in the conventional apparatus. When copying an original image, the original image is read by the scanner 101, and the obtained image information is temporarily stored in the image memory 104. Further, the image information received from another facsimile device is also temporarily stored in the image memory 104. When recording an image, the image information stored in the image memory 104 is read out and the printer interface unit 10 is read.
2 to the serial printer 3.

FIG. 2 shows the image recording process of the facsimile apparatus 1 at this time. That is, the facsimile apparatus 1 first sends various commands to the serial printer 3 to initialize the serial printer 3. At this time,
The serial printer 3 is set to the raster image command mode. Further, margins for the upper, lower, left and right sides of the recording paper are set as necessary (process 1001).

Next, the image information for one line is read from the image memory 104, and the image information is converted into raster scan image data conforming to the raster image command mode (process 1002). Then, the raster scan image data obtained by the conversion is sent to the serial printer 3 (process 1003). The raster scan image data is data in a known format configured by adding various header information to one line of raw image information.

Thereafter, the number of transmission lines of the above data is determined (process 1004), and when the number of transmission lines is 60 lines or less (N in process 1004), the above operation is repeated (to process 1002).

That is, in this case, the above conversion is executed by the raster image data conversion means 102b. The line counting means 102a counts the number of lines of the raster scan image data sent to the serial printer 3. When the count value is 60 lines or less, the circuit switching unit 102d sends the raster scan image data output from the raster image data conversion unit 102b to the serial printer 3.

When 60 lines of raster scan image data have been sent to the serial printer 3 (process 100
4Y), and raster scan image data for one line of all pixels white is sent to the serial printer 3 (process 10).
05). Thereafter, the number of transmission lines of the data is determined (process 1006), and when the number of transmission lines is 4 lines or less (N in process 1006), the data transmission is repeated (process 1005).

That is, in this case, the all-white raster image data output means 102c outputs all-pixel white raster scan image data. When the count value of the number of lines of the line counting means 102a reaches 60 lines, the circuit switching means 1
02d is an all-white raster image data output means 102c
The above-described data of all pixels white output from the above is sent to the serial printer 3.

When the above-described data of all pixels white are sent to the serial printer 3 for 4 lines (Y in processing 1006),
It is determined whether the image information of one page has been processed (process 1007). If there is still image information (N in process 1007), the next image information is processed in the same manner (process 1002).
What).

That is, in this case, when the above-mentioned data of all pixels white have been sent out for four lines, the circuit switching means 102.
d is switched again and raster image data conversion means 1
The output data of 02b is sent to the serial printer 3.

In this way, when the image information for one page has been processed (Y in process 1007), the above image recording process is completed.

The serial printer 3 records an image on a recording sheet in accordance with image information input as raster scan image data from the facsimile device 1. Since the print width of the print head of the serial printer 3 is 64 dots, the print head is moved in one direction and one print operation is performed every time image information of 64 lines is input. In this case, 6
Since only 0 line is effective image information, an image for 60 lines is recorded by one recording operation.

When the recording operation is completed once, the recording paper is fed by 60 lines by the paper feeding means 305. Then, the recording operation for the next 60 lines is performed once.

The image continuity determining means 302 sets the recording operation to 1
Each time it is executed, it is determined whether the image recorded now and the image recorded next are connected, that is, whether there is a continuous black dot. Then, if the image continuity determination means 302 determines that the images are connected, one-way /
The reciprocating mode switching means 303 controls such that the next one recording operation is executed by one-way recording. That is, the print head is once returned in the opposite direction, and control is performed such that the next one recording operation is performed by moving in the same direction. On the other hand, when the image continuity determining unit 302 determines that the images are separated, the one-way / reciprocating mode switching unit 303 controls the next one recording operation to be performed by the reciprocal recording. That is, the print head is returned in the opposite direction, and the recording operation is controlled once.

The serial printer 3 has the function of switching the recording mode in this way, but in this embodiment,
The print head has a recording width of 64 lines, and 4 lines are always blank. Therefore, the image continuity determination unit 302 determines that the recorded images for each time are always separated, and the one-way / reciprocal mode switching unit 303 always controls the reciprocal recording.

As a result, in the serial printer 3, as shown in FIG. 3, the image of one page is reciprocally recorded by 60 lines, that is, the image is recorded by 60 lines when the print head moves to the left or right. Become.

As described above, in this embodiment, an effective image having a specified width narrower than the print head width and an image of all pixels white are recorded by one recording operation, and the recording paper is fed by the specified width. I am trying. Therefore, the recorded images are separated every time, and the serial printer always operates in the reciprocal recording mode. As a result, an image of one page can be recorded at high speed by reciprocal recording even if the user does not perform a switching operation.

In this case, the dot pattern recording means 301, the image continuity determining means 302, the one-way / reciprocating mode switching means 303 and the head driving means 3 in the serial printer 3 are provided.
04 may be the conventional device. When the operation of the present embodiment is executed, it is sufficient to change the paper feeding amount of the paper feeding means 305 of the conventional apparatus by one time. Such paper feeding means 30
The modification of 5 is easier than the modification of the other means. As a result, the above operation can be executed at a low cost.

Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a paper feeding device suitable for the paper feeding means 305 of the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the paper feeding device. In the figure, four excitation signals A, B, A ′ and B ′ output from the excitation signal generation circuit 401 are input to a latch circuit 402 and a switching circuit 403. The four output signals of the latch circuit 402 are also input to the switching circuit 403.

The four output signals of the switching circuit 403 are input to the drive circuit 404. Then, the driving circuit 404
The four outputs of the above are energized to the four kinds of windings 402a, 402b, 402a ', 402b' in the stepping motor 405.

One excitation signal A of the excitation signal generation circuit 401 is input to the delay circuit 406 and the exclusive OR circuit 407.
One of the inputs has been entered. The output of the delay circuit 406 is input to the other input of the exclusive OR circuit 410, and the output of the exclusive OR circuit 407 is the OR circuit 408.
Has been input to one of the inputs.

Another excitation signal B of the excitation signal generation circuit 401
Are input to the input of the delay circuit 409 and one input of the exclusive OR circuit 410. The output of the delay circuit 409 is input to the other input of the exclusive OR circuit 410,
The output of the exclusive OR circuit 407 is input to the other input of the OR circuit 408.

The output of the OR circuit 408 is the 64 counter 4
11 and the output thereof is input to the decoding circuit 412. One output signal of the decoding circuit 412 is input to the latch circuit 402 as a control signal.

The other output signal of the decoding circuit 412 is input to one input of the AND circuit 413.
A status signal S indicating whether or not an image is being recorded is input to the other input of the AND circuit 413. AND circuit 41
The output signal of No. 3 is input to the switching circuit 403 as a control signal.

With the above construction, the paper feeding apparatus of this embodiment is
It operates by being installed in a printer device such as the serial printer 3 of the above-described embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the recording width of the print bed of the printer is 64 lines.

Now, it is assumed that the printer device starts the image recording operation. When the printer device starts the recording operation, the status signal S input to the AND circuit 413 becomes "H" (high level). On the other hand, the excitation signal generation circuit 401, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D, has four excitation signals A and
B, A ', B'are output.

The delay circuit 406 delays the excitation signal A by a minute time. The exclusive OR circuit 407 executes an exclusive OR operation of the delayed signal and the original excitation signal A to generate a pulse synchronized with the change point of the excitation signal A as shown in FIG. The signal Ta is output. Similarly, the delay circuit 4
Reference numeral 09 delays the excitation signal B for a minute time, and the exclusive OR circuit 410 outputs the pulse signal Tb based on the delay signal and the excitation signal B as shown in FIG. The OR circuit 408 inputs the two pulse signals Ta and Tb and outputs a pulse signal T0 synchronized with the changing points of the excitation signals A and B, as shown in FIG.

Each time the 64 counter 411 inputs a pulse of the pulse signal T0, as shown in FIG.
The counting operation from "0 to 63" is repeated. When the count value of the 64 counter 411 reaches “63”, the decoding circuit 412, as shown in FIG.
Is output. Further, during the period when the count value is "0 to 3", the selection signal SL is output as shown in FIG.

The latch signal LT is supplied to the latch circuit 402.
Is input to The latch circuit 402 has four excitation signals A, B, A ′, when the latch signal LT becomes “H”.
Hold B '.

Since the state signal S is "H", the selection signal SL is input to the switching circuit 403 via the AND circuit 413. The AND circuit 413 outputs the output signal of the latch circuit 402 to the drive circuit 404 only while the selection signal SL is “H”, and generates the excitation signal while the selection signal SL is “L” (low level). The output signal of the circuit 401 is output to the driver circuit 404.

The drive circuit 404 drives and controls the stepping motor 405 by a known two-phase excitation method according to the input signal. The stepping motor 405 uses the pulse signal T
In synchronization with 0, the recording paper is fed by one line pitch. Since the recording width of the print head is 64 lines, if the stepping motor 405 is continuously driven during the period when the 64 counter 411 counts from "0 to 63", the recording width is fed by that recording width. Become.

However, in the present operation, the selection signal SL is input to the switching circuit 403 and the output of the latch circuit 402 is input to the drive circuit 404 during the period of the count value of "0 to 3". Since the output signal of the latch circuit 402 does not change, the stepping motor 405 stops during this period. Therefore, the stepping motor 405 will feed the paper by 60 lines instead of the paper by 64 lines.

As a result, the paper feeding device of this embodiment can be used as the paper feeding means 305 of the serial printer 3 of the above embodiment.

On the other hand, the status signal S is input at "L" during the period when the printer device is not performing the recording operation, for example, during the operation of feeding or ejecting the recording paper. When the status signal S becomes "L", the selection signal SL is switched to the switching circuit 4
No signal is input to 03, and the drive circuit 404 continuously drives the stepping motor 405 normally.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the stepping motor 40 for feeding the recording paper during the image recording operation.
By temporarily stopping the periodic change of the excitation phase of No. 5, the recording paper is fed by the specified width.

Generally, in order to change the paper feed amount, it is necessary to basically change the excitation signal generating circuit and its control operation, or change the gear mechanism for transmitting the power of the stepping motor to the print head. Therefore, both software and hardware will be greatly changed.

However, in this embodiment, since the periodic change of the excitation phase is only temporarily stopped, the paper feed of a predetermined amount can be executed by adding a simple circuit.

Further, in the present embodiment, the periodical change of the excitation phase is temporarily stopped only during the recording operation, and is not stopped during the other period. Can be done quickly.

Further, although the change of the excitation signal is stopped for a period of four steps, the stepping motor 405 is driven by the two-phase excitation system, and the excitation signal has one cycle of four steps. As a result, when the output of the excitation signal is restarted, the original periodic change of the signal can be maintained without executing special signal control.

In each of the above embodiments, the printer is provided with the function of executing the paper feed operation by the specified width. However, a normal printer has a specified distance according to a control command input from an external device. It has a function to feed paper only. Therefore, by using such a printer device, it is possible to control the printer device from an external device and feed the paper by a specified amount.

Further, although the case of recording and outputting a facsimile image has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to the facsimile image, and the same applies to the case of recording various images in which images to be recorded once by the print head are continuous. The effect of can be obtained.

[0075]

As described above, according to claim 1 of the present application, effective image information of all pixels is added to effective image information of a specified width narrower than the print head width to record an effective image of a specified width, After recording the image, the recording paper is fed by the specified width and the next image is recorded continuously, so the image to be recorded is separated every time, so the reciprocal recording operation is performed without the user switching operation. Then, the image of one page can be recorded in a short time. Further, in this case, since it is necessary to change only the paper feed amount of the printer, it can be realized at a low cost.

According to the second aspect, the periodic change of the excitation phase of the stepping motor, which is the power source for feeding the recording paper, is temporarily stopped, and the recording paper is fed by the specified width. Therefore, it is possible to easily execute a paper feed operation of a predetermined amount.

According to claim 3, only during the image recording period,
Since the periodic change of the excitation phase is temporarily stopped and is not stopped during the other period, it is possible to quickly execute the feeding / discharging operation of the recording paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of image recording processing of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an image recording operation of the serial printer.

FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration diagram of a paper feeding device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the operation of the paper feeding device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional image recording operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Facsimile device 2 Telephone line 3 Serial printer 101 Scanner 102 Printer interface section 102a Line counting means 102b Raster image data conversion means 102c All white raster image data output means 102d Circuit switching means 103 Encoding / decoding section 104 Image memory 105 G3 FAX modem 106 Network control unit 107 Operation display unit 108 System control unit 109 System bus 301 Dot pattern recording unit 302 Image continuity determination unit 303 One-way / reciprocating mode switching unit 304 Head driving unit 305 Paper feeding unit 401 Excitation signal generation circuit 402 Latch circuit 403 Switching circuit 404 drive circuit 405 stepping motor 406,409 delay circuit 407,410 exclusive OR circuit 408,408 OR circuit 411 64 cow Capacitor 412 decode circuit 413 and circuit-MS-Windows is a trademark of Micro Soft Corporation.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. While reciprocating the print head, an image is recorded on the recording paper by the width of the print head in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction, and the image recorded by the movement of the print head in one direction is connected to the image to be recorded next. In this case, while the image is recorded by moving in the same direction next time, when the recorded image is separated from the image to be recorded next, the image by the serial printer that continuously records the image by moving in the opposite direction In the recording method, in the serial printer, image information of all pixels white is added to image information of a specified width narrower than the print head width, and image information configured in the print head width is sequentially input to each of the specified widths. A serial printer characterized in that while recording an effective image, after recording the effective image of the specified width, the recording paper is fed by the specified width and the next image is continuously recorded. Image recording method by. 2. A stepping motor is used for feeding the recording paper, and a paper feeding means is provided for feeding the paper by the width of the print head by periodically changing the excitation phase of the stepping motor a fixed number of times. If there is a temporary change in the excitation phase,
An image recording method by a serial printer, characterized in that the recording paper is fed by a specified width. 3. An image recording method using a serial printer, wherein the periodic change of the excitation phase is temporarily stopped only during a period of recording an image on a recording sheet, and is not stopped during other periods.