JPS6111844A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a recorder from misrecording by receiving the total volume specifying information of recording information to be synthesized at the end of the reception of the recording information to a device for recording the synthesized recording information of plural recording information, and when the specified volume coincides with the total volume of inputted information, recording the synthesized information. CONSTITUTION:When the data of plural pages, e.g. 3 pages, are to be printed in the same page, the address and data of the 1st page are inputted from an external controller 20 to a control part 3 and a page end code is finally inputted to a page end detecting circuit 13. Similarly, the data of the 2nd and 3rd pages are sent from the controller 20, and finally number ''3'' of pages to be synthesized is sent to a page number latch circuit 16. On the other hand, the control part 3 stores the address and the data code in a work memory 5 and a buffer memory 4 respectively, simultaneously developes a dot pattern on a dot image memory 9, counts up the page end code by a counting circuit 14, compare the counted value with the data of the circuit 16 by a comparator 15, and when both the data coincide with each other, starts printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that combines and records a plurality of recording information on the same recording surface.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when printing data by composing multiple pages of data in this type of apparatus, the end of page compositing was only instructed after the final data of the page data to be composited. I didn't know whether the data had been combined, and therefore, even if I forgot to instruct the end of page combination and the data was printed overlapping with the next data, I would not be able to tell if it was a printing error caused by this.

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art described above, and its purpose is to instruct the amount of recorded information to be synthesized, thereby making it possible to combine the input recorded information amount and the instructed amount. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device capable of performing comparison and discovering and preventing recording errors.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an interface signal line, 2 is an interface circuit, 3 is a control unit, 4 is a page code buffer, 5 is a work memory, 6 is an address conversion circuit, 7 is a latch circuit,
8 is a character generator, 9 is a dot image memo, 10 is a parallel Φ serial conversion circuit, 11 is a laser driver, 12 is a laser, 13 is a page end detection circuit, 14 is a counting circuit, 15 is a comparator, 16 is a page 17 is a photosensitive drum, and 20 is an external controller.

External controller 20 via interface signal line l
Data sent from the interface circuit 2 is input to the interface circuit 2, and its output is input to the control unit 3. Therefore, among the input data, control commands such as the size of characters, the start address on the paper surface of the page, the number of print sheets, etc. are stored in the work memory 5, and the code data representing characters, symbols, and numbers are stored in the page code buffer 4. Stored in

An example of printing the data shown in FIG. 2 will now be described. In FIG. 2, 21 is an example of printing using data on the first page, 22 is an example of printing using data on the second page, and 23 is an example of printing using data on the second page.
is an example of printing data of the third page, and is an example in which three pages of data having different print areas and font sizes are printed on the same page. The external controller 20 first instructs the start address of the first page, then inputs the data of the first page. Next, the start address and data of the second page and the start address and data of the third page are sent. The number of pages to be synthesized to the 0th order, 3, is specified.

On the other hand, the control unit 3 loads the start address into the work memory 5 and the code data into the page code buffer 4. At the same time, code data is sequentially sent from the code buffer memory 4 to the address conversion circuit 6. There, the code data is converted into an address for accessing the character generator 8.

The output is input to the address latch circuit 7, which holds the address. The output data of the character generator 8 instructed by the address latch circuit 7 is input to the dot image memory 9, and the control section 3 inputs the address of the dot image memory 9 according to the start address input to the work memory 5. Specify and write the data.

In this manner, the control section 3 accesses the character generator 8 at the same time as reading data from the interface circuit 2, and develops a dot pattern on the dot image memory 9.

The external controller 20 adds a page end code to the end of sending one page of data and sends it to the interface circuit 2.
The control unit 3 detects this page end code using the page end detection circuit 13, and determines the end of the page.
A counting circuit 14 counts the number of times the page end code is detected. This counts the number of input pages. Or, since the start address is specified at the beginning of the page data,
The number of input pages can also be counted based on the number of instructions.

When desired page data is input, the number of pages to be synthesized is specified, which is output to the page number latch circuit 16 and input to the comparator 15. Then, it is compared with the output of the counting circuit 14, and if they match, the signal is sent to the control section 3. The control section 3 thereby sends the data from the dot image memory 9 to the parallel/serial conversion circuit 10 and converts it into serial data. The serially converted data is sent to a laser driver 11, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photosensitive drum 17 by turning on and off a laser 12, and printing is then performed by a known electrophotographic process.

The control unit 3 clears the counting circuit 14 when all the inputs for the combined page are completed and the printing operation is started.

In general, electrophotographic printing devices are page printers that use rask scanning, and once printing starts,
It is not possible to stop in the middle of a page. This is different from bitmap displays and the like. Here, the speed of input data and the speed of accessing the character generator and developing it on the dot image memory 9 based on the input code data will be explained.

If the two are equal or the input data is slower, the end of the combined data and the end of the expansion into the dot image memory 9 almost coincide. However, if the expansion speed is slow, even if all the page data is input, the dot image memory 9
It is possible that the expansion to has not yet been completed. Therefore, even if the input number of pages matches the specified number of pages, the data cannot be immediately expanded onto the dot image memory 9. Therefore, for example, if the printing speed of the printing device is
The expansion speed to memory 9 is set to v2. If the undeveloped rate is X%, then x = V 2 / V I X 100 (V
l>V2), that is, when the undeveloped rate on the dot image memory 9 reaches X%, which satisfies the above formula, printing to the printing device can be started. Since the upward development is determined by the processing speed of the control unit 3, the relationship between this and the printing speed of the electrophotographic method makes it possible to start printing from the middle even if the development to the dot image memory 9 has not finished. I can do it.

On the other hand, if the number of pages of the input data is different from the designated page, an error status is output to the external controller 20 via the interface circuit 2 and the interface signal line l. Therefore, either send the missing page data from the external controller 20 and print it, or, since there may be errors in the input data,
Send the data again from the beginning.

Next, the details of the operation when the control unit 3 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is configured with a microprocessor are shown in FIGS.
This will be explained with reference to the flowchart of C).

The microprocessor of the control unit 3 controls the entire sequence of the printing apparatus, and normally executes a main routine, and executes subroutines as necessary. The subroutine includes data input/output control shown in FIGS. 3(a) to 3(C).

FIG. 3(a) shows control to read data from the external controller 20 and write it to each memory, FIG. 3(b) shows control to access character generator 8 and write to image memory 9 according to the data written to each memory. FIG. 3(C) shows control for converting data written in the image memory 9 into serial data.

In FIG. 3(a), it is checked in step SL whether one character's worth of data has been input from the external controller 20. If it has been input, the process advances to step S2 and it is checked whether it is print data or a control command. In the case of print data, the process advances to step S3, where the input data is passed to the page code address 4, and then, at step S4, the process returns to the main routine. In step S2, if the input data is not print data, that is, if it is a control command such as a command to specify the start address of a page to be combined, the number of prints, or the size of characters to be printed, step S2 to step S5 Go to Work Memory 5. Next, the process advances to step S6, and it is checked whether the control command is a command indicating the number of pages to be synthesized. If the command is a command indicating the number of pages, the process proceeds to step S7, and the number of pages to be synthesized is output to the page number latch circuit 16. Thereafter, the process advances to step S4 and returns to the main routine.

At this time, the comparator 15 compares the count value of the page number latch circuit 16 and the counting circuit 14, and notifies the control unit 3 of the result.

In step S6, if the control command is not a composite page number command, the process advances to step S4 and returns to the main routine.

Further, in step S1, if data for - characters is not input, the process advances to step S4, returns to the main routine, and waits for data for - characters to be input.

FIG. 3(b) shows a routine for accessing the character generator 8 and storing its output in the image memory 9 according to input print data and control commands.

First, in step Sll, it is checked whether print data remains in the page code memory 4. If there is print data, the process advances to step S12, and the print data is output to the address conversion circuit 6. The print data read from the page code memory 4 is converted into an address value for accessing the character generator 8 in the atres conversion mDo path 6, and the character generator 8 is accessed using the converted address value, and the print data (character code) is converted into an address value for accessing the character generator 8. Dot pattern information corresponding to the dot pattern is output to the dot image memory 9.

Next, the process proceeds to step S13, where the microprocessor reads the start address of the page from the work memory 5. Next, in step S14, the number of characters to be printed is added based on the start address to calculate the start address of the character. Next, in step 515, the address obtained in step SL4 is output to the image memory 9, and the dot pattern output in step S12 is written in the image memory 9 at the address obtained in step S14.

Then, the process advances to step S16 and returns to the main routine. On the other hand, if there is no data to be printed in the page code memory 4 in step Sll, the process advances to step S16 and returns to the main routine.

In FIG. 3(C), first in step 321, the comparator 15 compares the number of synthesized pages outputted from the latch circuit 16 in step S7 and the number of pages of data counted by the counting circuit 14, and the output is sensed. Then, step S22
Then, check whether the output is “1pa.+111
In the case of +, that is, if the numbers match, step S23
Proceed to. Here, all the print data to be combined has been input, so all the input data is stored in the image memory 9.
It is checked whether all files have been expanded, and if all have been expanded, the process advances to step 324. Here, the counting circuit 14 (the circuit that counts the number of input pages) is cleared. Through the processing up to this point, all page data to be combined has been input, and all dot patterns to be printed on the image memory 9 have been developed. Therefore, in step S25, the data in the image memory 9 is sent to the parallel/serial conversion circuit 10. The parallel data from the dot image memory 9 sent to the parallel/serial conversion circuit 10 is
The dot image signals are converted into serial dot image signals and sequentially sent to the laser driver 11, which turns on and off the laser 12 according to the dot image signals to form a latent image on the photosensitive drum 17. Next, in step S26, all data of one page is
From image memory 9 to parallel/serial conversion circuit 10
If it has not been completed, return to step 325 and convert all data.6
If the process has ended, the process advances to step 328 and returns to the main routine.

Further, in step S22, if the output of the comparator 15 is 0°, that is, if all the page data to be synthesized has not been input yet, the process advances to step S27, and the external controller 20 is notified of the mismatch in the number of pages. The error status is sent, and then step 528 returns to the main routine.

Furthermore, if all the page data to be synthesized has been input in step S23, but all the page data has not been developed on the dot image memory 9, step S23
The process advances to step 27, returns to the main routine, and waits for the expansion onto the dot image memory 9 to be completed.

In the above explanation, an example was given in which all print data from the external controller 20 is character code and is stored in the page code buffer 4. However, if the data to be synthesized includes image information, those image data can be directly printed as dots. Store it in the image memory 9, or increase the capacity of the work memory 5 and temporarily store it there. That is, by storing it in a memory separate from the page code buffer 4, control can be simplified and transfer efficiency can be improved.

This embodiment can be widely applied not only to printing of characters but also to printing of image data in the form of dot images.

Furthermore, if the external controller has an editing function, such as a word processor, the number of pages to be synthesized may vary, making the process complicated. Specifying the number of pages in such cases is also prone to errors. Therefore, in such a case, even if the input page number and specified page number are wrong,
By setting a mode that allows printing, you can perform printing tasks smoothly.

[Effect] As explained above, according to the present invention, by instructing the total amount of recorded information to be combined, input recorded information and
It is possible to provide a recording device that can perform a comparison with an instruction amount, discover recording errors before they occur, and can prevent recording errors.

Furthermore, by notifying the discrepancy between the instruction amount and the input recording information, it is possible to provide a recording apparatus that can quickly take action.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an output example when data of multiple pages is printed and recorded on the same page in this embodiment, and FIG. 3(a) -(C) are flowcharts showing data input/output control when the control unit of this embodiment is configured with a microprocessor. 'In the figure, 2...Interface circuit, 3...Control unit, 4...Page code buffer, 5...Work memory, 6...Address conversion circuit: 7...Latch circuit, 8... ... Character generator, 9... Dot image memory, 10... Parallel-serial conversion circuit, 11... Laser driver, 12... Laser, 13... Page end detection circuit,
14... Counting circuit, 15... Comparison circuit, 16...
Page number latch circuit, 17...photosensitive drum. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Cause

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A recording device that records on a recording surface after combining a plurality of recorded information, which receives instruction information indicating the total amount of recorded information to be combined at the end of the recorded information to be combined, and receives the instruction information at the end of the recorded information to be combined, and A recording apparatus characterized in that it is checked whether or not the designated amount of information matches the total amount of the plurality of recording information inputted, and when they match, the composite information is recorded on the recording surface. (2) The recording device according to claim 1, wherein an error status is sent when the amount of instruction information does not match the total amount of the plurality of input recording information.