JPH09197913A - Device and method for printing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid an inadequate printing result, even if a residual quantity of color material becomes in a lacking state. SOLUTION: On receiving printing data (S1), this device checks the residual toner remaining inside a printer (S2), and judges whether the residual toner is sufficient enough or not (S3). Then, if the answer is affirmative (Yes), a printing mode for executing a normal printing process is stored in a printer RAM (S4) and the process is advanced to the step S6. On the other hand, if the answer is negative (No), the printing mode for executing the printing process with a smaller amount of the toner consumption than the normal printing mode is stored in the printer RAM, and the process is advanced to the step S6. Next, on judging whether preparations for executing next printing are complete in the step S6 (S6), if the answer is negative (No), the device is held standing by until the preparations become in a state of permitting the printing, while in the case that the answer becomes affirmative (Yes), the printing is executed in the above mentioned printing mode (S7), the process is completed.

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 a printing method, and more particularly to a printing apparatus and a printing method for printing using a color material such as toner, ink, and ink ribbon.

[0002]

In a printing apparatus that performs printing using color materials such as toner, ink, and ink ribbon, there is a limit to the capacity of the color materials built in the printing apparatus. However, conventionally, the printing process is performed regardless of the remaining amount of the color material. For this reason, when the printing operation is continued with a small amount of the color material remaining, it becomes impossible to supply the desired amount of the color material necessary for the printing process, resulting in incomplete print results such as blurred printing. There was a problem that there is a risk of

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a printing apparatus and a printing method capable of avoiding an incomplete printing result as much as possible even when the remaining amount of color material is insufficient. The purpose is to provide.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus having a printing means for printing image data on a recording sheet via a predetermined coloring material, Remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of at least two, at least two or more print modes in which the usage amounts of the color materials for operating the printing means are different, and the two according to the detection result of the remaining amount detecting means. It is characterized in that it is provided with a print mode selection means for selecting a specific print mode from one or more print modes.

Further, the printing method of the present invention is a printing method of printing image data on a recording sheet via a predetermined color material, and has at least two or more print modes in which the amount of the color material used is different, It is characterized in that the usage amount of the color material is detected, the print mode is selected according to the detected remaining amount of the color material, and the print processing is executed in the selected print mode.

Further, according to the printing apparatus and the printing method of the present invention, (1) every time image data is input from an external device such as a host computer, (2) before printing is started for each page unit of the recording paper, (3) At regular intervals, or (4)
The printing mode can be selected according to the remaining amount of the color material described above each time the color material is replenished or replaced.

[0007]

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

FIG. 1 is an internal structural diagram of a laser beam printer as an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

The laser beam printer 1 includes an apparatus body 2
Operation panel 3 having a switch section, an LED display section, and the like provided on the upper surface of the printer, and a printing body section 4 for performing a predetermined printing operation
And a print control device 5 that analyzes the input character data, control data, and the like to control the printing operation of the print main body 4.

The printing main body 4 accommodates a predetermined recording sheet (cut sheet) which is a recording medium, a sheet feeding cassette 7 having a sheet feeding roller 6, and an appropriate number of conveying rollers 8 ... An electrostatic drum 9 to which recording paper is supplied, an optical system 10 for irradiating the electrostatic drum 9 with a laser beam, and toner of a predetermined color as a color material are housed and arranged around the electrostatic drum 9. Developing device 11, a fixing device 12 for fixing the toner image developed by the developing device 11, and a paper discharge unit for discharging the document data printed on the recording paper to the outside of the apparatus through a paper discharge roller 13. 14 and.

The optical system 10 includes a semiconductor laser 15 for emitting a laser beam having a predetermined wavelength, and the semiconductor laser 1.
Laser driver 17 for driving 5 and rotary polygon mirror 18
And a reflecting mirror 1 for reflecting the laser light entering through the rotary polygon mirror 18 and supplying the laser light onto the electrostatic drum 9.
9 and 9.

The laser beam printer 1 thus constructed stores print data such as character codes supplied from a host computer as external equipment, form data, macro commands, etc., and responds based on various data. Create a character pattern, form pattern, etc., to form an image on recording paper. That is, a video signal from the print control device 5 is input to the laser driver 17, and the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser 15 is switched on / off according to the video signal. The laser light is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 18 to scan the electrostatic drum 9, an electrostatic latent image such as a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 9, and the electrostatic latent image is formed. It is developed via the developing device 11. Then, the toner image adhered on the electrostatic drum 9 is transferred to recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 7, and then the toner image is fixed on the recording paper by the fixing device 12, and the recording paper is discharged. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge unit 14 via the rollers 13.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a state in which the laser beam printer 1 as the printing apparatus according to the present invention is connected to the host computer 22. That is, the laser beam printer 1 is connectable to the printer external storage device 20 and is also connected to the host computer 22 via the interface cable 21 that controls the bidirectional interface operation. The external storage device 20 stores font data, an emulation program for interpreting a printer control language of a different language, form data, and the like. Although the laser beam printer 1 and the host computer 22 are connected to each other via the interface cable 21 in the above embodiment, they are connected to each other via a predetermined communication network such as a LAN (local area network). The same can be applied to the printing system provided.

The host computer 22 is, specifically,
A keyboard 2 on which arbitrary predetermined information is input by the operator
3 and a display unit (CRT) 2 for displaying the predetermined information
4, an external storage device 25 such as a flexible disk or a hard disk in which a boot program, various application programs, font data, user files, edit files, and the like are stored, and an information control device 26.

Further, the information control device 26 includes the keyboard 2
A keyboard controller (KBC) 27 that controls the key input information from 3 and the input information that is instructed by a pointing device (not shown), and a CR that controls the CRT 24.
T controller (CRTC) 28 and external storage device 25
Disk controller (DK) that controls access to
C) 29, a printer controller (PRTC) 30 for executing communication control processing with the laser beam printer 1,
A RAM 31 that stores input information and has a function as a work area, a ROM 32 that stores a predetermined document processing program, etc., and is connected to each of the above components via a system bus 33 to control the entire information control device 26. And a CPU 34 that controls

The ROM 32 is a font ROM in which font data and the like used during document processing are stored.
35, a program ROM 36 in which a predetermined document processing program is stored, and a data ROM 37 in which various data used when performing the document processing are stored. The CPU 34 includes graphics, images, characters, and tables ( The document processing in which the spreadsheet calculation and the like are mixed) is executed by using the RAM 31 as a work area. That is, the CPU 34 executes the processing (rasterization) of the outline font in the display information area provided in the RAM 31, and the widwig (WYSI) on the CRT 24 is executed.
WIG: What You See Is What You Get)
The information displayed on the CRT 24 is printed out as it is.
Further, the CPU 34 opens various windows registered based on command information designated by a mouse cursor (not shown) or the like, and executes various data processing.

On the other hand, the print controller 5 is connected to the interface cable 21, and the input section 38 for exchanging data with the host computer 22 and the print main section 4 are provided.
And a disk controller (DKC) 40 that controls access to the printer main unit interface 39 that controls the interface operation with the printer external storage device 20.
And output information expansion area, environment information storage area and NVRA
It comprises a printer RAM 41 having M and the like, a printer ROM 42 in which predetermined information is stored in advance, and a printer CPU 44 which is connected to the above-mentioned respective components via a system bus 43 and controls these respective components.

The printer ROM 42 stores a font ROM 45 in which font data and the like used when generating output information to the printing main body 4 is stored, and a predetermined document processing program and print processing program. A program ROM 46, and a data ROM 47 in which various information used by the host computer 22 is stored as necessary. The printer CPU 44 is connected to the print main body unit 4 via the print main body unit interface 39. An image signal as output information is output. The printer CPU 44 can communicate with the host computer 22 via the input unit 38, and can notify the host computer 22 of print information of the laser beam printer 1 and the like. The printer RAM 41 can be expanded through an expansion port (not shown) to expand the memory capacity, and the printer external storage device 20 can be expanded.
Are allowed to be connected. That is, a plurality of printer external storage devices 20 storing an optional font card and a plurality of emulation programs in addition to the built-in fonts can be connected. Further, the printer external storage device 20 has an NVRAM, and the operation panel 3
The printer setting information may be stored.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the first embodiment of the print processing procedure of the present invention, in which the laser beam printer 1 receives print data from the host computer 22 and performs print processing according to the print data. Is shown. This program is stored in the printer ROM 42.
Is stored in advance in the program ROM 46.

In step S1, the laser beam printer 1 receives the print data from the host computer 22 via the interface cable 21, and the subsequent step S1.
In step 2, the remaining amount of toner remaining inside the laser beam printer 1 is checked, and in step S3 it is determined whether the remaining amount of toner is sufficient. Specifically, it is determined that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient when the remaining amount of the toner cassette detachably attached to the developing device 11 is less than 5% of the full state, for example.

When it is determined in step S3 that the remaining amount of toner is sufficient, the process proceeds to step S4 to select the print mode (first print mode) in which the normal print processing is performed, and the RAM 41 for the printer is selected. It is stored and the process proceeds to step S6.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient, the process advances to step S5 to perform a print mode in which the toner consumption amount is smaller than that in the normal print mode (second print mode). Mode) is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, and the process proceeds to step S6.

Next, in step S6, it is judged whether or not preparation for printing is ready, and the answer is negative (N
When the answer is affirmative (Yes), the process waits until the printer is ready for printing.
In step 7, printing is executed in the print mode selected in step S4 or step S5, and the process ends.
That is, while the normal printing is executed in the first printing mode, in the second printing mode, for example, 2 dots are thinned out to 1 dot from the dots of the final image data to be printed. As a result, the toner consumption is reduced and the printing process is executed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment,
When the print data is received from the outside, the remaining amount of toner is checked, and the amount of toner used is controlled according to the remaining amount of toner for each series of printing processing to print, so there is not enough toner to print. Then, it is possible to automatically reduce the toner consumption and perform printing. That is, it is possible to control the toner consumption amount after the toner amount is insufficient, and it is possible to minimize the number of printed sheets that causes incomplete printing results such as blurring of printing. Further, the toner remaining amount is always checked before starting a series of printing processes, and the toner usage amount is controlled according to the remaining amount for each printing process to perform printing, thereby finely controlling the toner usage amount. Can be printed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the remaining toner amount is checked every time one page is printed.

In step S11, it is determined whether or not there is a page to be printed. If there is no page to be printed, it means that the printing process has been completed, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if there is a page to be printed, the process proceeds to step S12, the remaining toner amount inside the laser beam printer 1 is checked, and it is determined in step S13 whether or not the remaining toner amount is sufficient. Judgment is made by a method similar to that of

When it is determined in step S13 that the remaining amount of toner is sufficient, the process proceeds to step S14,
The normal print mode, that is, the first print mode is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, and the process proceeds to step S16.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S13 that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient, the process proceeds to step S15,
The second print mode, which consumes less toner than the normal print mode, is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, and the process proceeds to step S16.

Next, in step S16, step S14
Alternatively, after printing one page in the print mode selected in step S15, the process returns to step S11 and the above-described processing is repeated until there are no more pages to print.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the amount of remaining toner is checked for each sheet of recording paper before printing is started, and the amount of toner used is controlled according to the amount of remaining toner for each sheet of recording paper. As a result, the toner usage amount can be controlled more finely for printing, and incomplete printing can be prevented as much as possible while the user does not notice the toner shortage.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the toner remaining amount is checked at regular intervals so that the toner usage amount can be controlled.

First, in step S21, the remaining toner amount inside the laser beam printer 1 is checked, and in step S22, it is determined whether or not the remaining toner amount is sufficient as in the first and second embodiments. Judgment by the method of.

When it is determined in step S22 that the remaining amount of toner is sufficient, the process proceeds to step S23,
The normal print mode, that is, the first print mode is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, and the process proceeds to step S25.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S22 that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient, the process proceeds to step S24,
The second print mode, which consumes less toner than the normal print mode, is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, and the process proceeds to step S25.

Next, in step S25, it is determined whether or not a fixed time (for example, 10 seconds) has passed. When the fixed time has passed, the process returns to step S21 to check the remaining toner amount, and the above-described processing is performed. repeat. The print process is executed by another routine in the print mode stored in the printer RAM 41 in step S23 or step S24.

As described above, in the third embodiment, since the remaining amount of toner is checked at regular intervals, it is possible to always check the remaining amount of toner, and it is possible to check the remaining amount of toner before the user notices the toner shortage. Complete printing can be avoided as much as possible.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, toner replenishment and
When the replacement operation is performed, the toner remaining amount is checked and the toner usage amount can be controlled.

First, in step S31, it is judged whether or not the replenishment / replacement operation of the toner to be stored in the laser beam printer 1 is performed. If not, the monitoring is continued until the replenishment / replacement operation is performed. . Then, when the replenishment / replacement operation is performed, the process proceeds to step S32 to check the remaining toner amount, and in step S33, it is determined whether the remaining toner amount is sufficient or not by the same method as in the first to third embodiments. Judge by.

When it is determined in step S33 that the remaining amount of toner is sufficient, the process proceeds to step S34,
The normal print mode, that is, the first print mode is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, the process returns to step S31, and the above-described processing is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S33 that the remaining amount of toner is insufficient, the process proceeds to step S35,
The second print mode, which consumes less toner than the normal print mode, is selected and stored in the printer RAM 41, the process returns to step S31, and the above processing is repeated. The printing process is executed by another routine in the printing mode stored in the printer RAM 41 in step S34 or step S35.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment, since the toner remaining amount is checked when the toner replenishment / replacement operation is performed, the toner consumption amount decreases when the toner replenishment is small. Thus, the printing mode can be set and printing can be performed, and when the remaining toner amount is sufficient, the printing can be automatically performed in the normal printing mode.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the amount of toner used is changed for two printing modes (first and second printing modes). It goes without saying that the same applies to two or more print modes.

[0043]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, when the remaining amount of the color material used for printing becomes small, the color material consumption amount can be automatically reduced and printing can be performed. It is possible to increase the number of printed sheets up to an incomplete printed result such as the occurrence of printing, and to reduce the number of incomplete printed sheets performed while the user does not notice the shortage of the color material as much as possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal structure diagram showing an embodiment of a laser beam printer as a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing a state in which a laser beam printer is connected to a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment of a print processing procedure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Print Main Unit (Printing Unit) 38 Input Unit (Data Input Unit) 41 Printer RAM (Print Mode) 44 Printer CPU (Remaining Amount Detecting Unit, Print Mode Selecting Unit, Starting Unit)

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising a printing unit for printing image data on a recording sheet via a predetermined color material, wherein the remaining amount detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of the color material and the printing unit are operated. Print mode selecting means for selecting a specific print mode from the two or more print modes according to the detection result of the remaining amount detecting means And a printing device. 2. A data input device connected to an external device and receiving the image data from the external device converted into a predetermined print format, and when the image data is input to the data input device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a starting unit that starts the printing mode selecting unit. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a starting unit that starts the printing mode selecting unit before printing is started for each page of the recording paper. 4. An activating means for activating the print mode selecting means at regular intervals.
The printing device according to the above. 5. A determination means for determining whether a replenishment or replacement operation of the color material has been performed, and the printing is performed when the determination means determines that the replenishment or replacement operation of the color material has been performed. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a starting unit that starts the mode selecting unit. 6. A printing method for printing image data on recording paper via a predetermined color material, comprising at least two or more print modes in which the usage amount of the color material is different, and the usage amount of the color material is changed. Select the print mode according to the remaining amount of the detected color material,
A printing method characterized in that the printing process is executed in the selected printing mode. 7. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the printing mode is selected according to the remaining amount of the color material when image data in a predetermined printing format is input from an external device. 8. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the printing mode is selected according to the remaining amount of the color material each time printing is performed on a new recording sheet. 9. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the printing mode is selected according to the remaining amount of the color material at regular intervals. 10. A determination is made as to whether or not the replenishment or replacement operation of the color material has been executed, and when the replenishment or replacement operation of the color material is executed, the printing mode according to the remaining amount of the color material is set. The printing method according to claim 6, wherein the printing method is selected.