JPS63313171A - Cd-rom printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain hard copies of various pieces of information instantaneously by uniting the retrieving and reproducing function and printing function of a CD.ROM. CONSTITUTION:A system controller 20 sends out commands to respective modules according to a set mode of a console panel 21, and sends a start signal and a magnification specifying signal to the scanner printer 26 of a CD.ROM reproducing device 24 and a command for image processing mode specification to an image processor IPC 25. The device 24 sends image data consisting of eight bits each for R, G and B to the IPC 25 in synchronism with a horizontal period signal and an image clock from the IPC 25. The IPC 25 processes the image data and converts them into 3-bit images data of Y, M, C, and Bk, which are sent to the printer 26. The printer 26 imposes modulation upon a laser diode according to the input data and take a hard copy on transfer paper by an electrophotographic process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a stud-alone CD-ROM blink equipped with a CD-ROM playback device and capable of obtaining desired hard copies from various information files.

(Prior art) In recent years, electronic publishing using CD-ROM has gained momentum.
CD-ROM playback devices and the like have been developed or sold, and a variety of information can be stored on a CD, which is useful for fast swang and space saving. By compacting the information, information can be moved at low cost, and even compared to the cost of moving it by means of communication, the cost of transporting the hard media is significantly lower.

On the other hand, the transferred information is stored as an optical disk, but when information is needed, humans must perform visual work such as collecting, examining, comparing, and making judgments using hard copies. may be considered in the future. This type of human behavior is related to human perceptual functions, so it is unlikely to change over time.

Conventionally, to retrieve information from a CD-ROM, a CD-ROM on which desired information is recorded in advance is set in a CD-ROM playback device, the information that is successively displayed is displayed on a monitor such as a CRT, and a hard copy is made if necessary. is being created.

However, I have many CD-ROMs as files,
A stand-alone device that provides the desired information immediately in hard copy has not yet emerged.

(Objective) An object of the present invention is to provide a CD-ROM printer that integrates a CD-ROM search/reproduction function and a print function, and can instantly obtain various types of information as hard copies.

(Structure) The above object is a stand-alone type device that is equipped with a CD-ROM reading means, an image processing means for the read signal, a display means, and a full-color image forming means, and these are housed in the same housing. This is achieved by making it possible to search for a wide variety of information and to make hard copies of the retrieved information by exchanging various CD-ROMs.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a CD-ROM printer according to the present invention, in which 1 is a main body, 2 is a CRT display, and 3 is a A CD-ROM device, 4 a paper feed tray, and 5 an operation keyboard.

As shown in the figure, the CD-ROM printer according to the present invention integrally houses a CD-ROM device and a color printer in a main body 1, and searches for desired information using an operation keyboard and a CRT display. can be retrieved as a hard copy.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the printer section in FIG. 1,
1O is an optical unit containing a laser optical system such as a polygon mirror PM and a mirror M, and 11-1 to 11-4 are image signals of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and Bk (black). Drums that create latent images, 12-1 to 1
2-4 is Y, M.

A developing unit 13 for developing with C and Bk toners;
14 is a transfer belt, 14 is a paper feed roller, and 15 is a fixing roller, the details of which are similar to those of current color printers.

In the figure, a laser beam modulated by an image signal is scanned by a polygon mirror PM, a mirror M, etc. of an optical unit, and a latent image corresponding to each color signal is formed on each of four drums 11-1 to 11-4. to make. Each latent image on the drum has Y (yellow), 9M (magenta), C (cyan),
Bk (black) toners are combined at different adhesion area ratios to create a full-color image on the transfer paper.

FIG. 3 is an overall block diagram of an embodiment of a CD-ROM printer according to the present invention, in which 20 is a system controller, 21 is an operation panel (corresponding to the keyboard 5 in FIG. 11), 22 is a display module, 23 is a CRT (corresponding to the CRT display 2 in FIG. 1), 24 is a CD-ROM playback device (corresponds to the CD-ROM display 2 in FIG.
- compatible with ROM device 3), 25 is an image processor;
26 is a printer.

The functions of each block of the above system will be explained below.

System Controller The system controller 20 controls the entire module that makes up the system, and controls the display of the operation panel and performs manual key processing.

- Send commands to each module according to the mode set on the operation panel.

For example, it sends a start signal to the scanner printer 26 of the CD-ROM playback device 24, a command to designate a variable magnification, or a command to designate an image processing mode (color conversion, masking, trimming, mirroring, etc.) to the image processor 25.

-Receives status signals from each module and controls the entire system. That is, the system is controlled by receiving abnormal signals from each module and operating status status (wait, ready, busy, stop, etc.) of each module.

CD-ROM l The start signal from the main device system controller 20 causes
Reads the signal of the specified area and outputs 5-LSYNC (horizontal periodic signal) and S-3TROBE from the image processor 25 as image data of 8 bits each of RlG and B.
The image data is sent to the image processor 25 in synchronization with (image clock).

R sent from the scanner of the image processor CD-ROM playback device 24;
Image processing such as γ correction, UCR single color correction, etc. is performed on the 8-bit image data for each of G and B, and Y.

The image data is converted into 3-bit image data for each of M, C, and Bk, and sent to the printer 26 at a predetermined timing.

It also performs editing processes such as scaling, masking, trimming, color conversion, and mirroring based on commands from the system controller.

P-LSYNC (horizontal open 3
%Jl signal), P-3TPOBE (image clock)
A laser diode is modulated according to 3-bit Y, M, C, and Bk image data sent in synchronization with the image data, and the image is copied (hard copy) onto transfer paper using an electrophotographic process.
get.

The general functions of each block in the overall configuration have been described above.

Next, the configuration of each of the above blocks will be explained in more detail.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the structure of a CD-ROM file in a CD-ROM playback device, and this file is composed of a plurality of subfiles (Subfi 1e) 30-1, 30-2.
．． 30-3.30-4. . . . each subfile consists of a number of CD-ROM files.
-1, fi l e-2, --, and a table storing the contents and physical addresses of each fiie,
It has a disc label 30 that stores the contents of each subfile.

The CD-ROM playback device first reads the disc label (contents of each subfile) based on a signal from the system controller.
access. This label stores the content and physical address of each CD-ROM file corresponding to each subfile in the CD-ROM, and after accessing, this is stored in the built-in RAM. The contents of this table are then displayed on the CRT.

Next, the address of the file in the selected subfile is referenced according to instructions from the system controller, and the address of the file is referred to until the directory is at the beginning of the address.
A read head controller is controlled.

After reaching the beginning of the target file, direct reading begins, and data is sequentially sent to the decoder at the timing of the control processor. After necessary expansion processing and demodulation processing, the decoder performs noise processing and error processing using a digital filter, and sends the processed data to the image processor.

Since the data processing described above is basically the same as that of conventional CD devices, detailed explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the CD-ROM data retrieval process, which summarizes the explanation in FIG. 3 above.

In the figure, first, search conditions for desired information (for example,
(Step 1) Based on this search condition, a search process for the CD-ROM database (files shown in FIG. 3) is started (step 2). Display the content list of the file area corresponding to the search on the CRT (step 3), and the displayed list will be displayed on the CRT.
If it is K, the corresponding CD-ROM disk is read (steps 4 and 5). Since the read data is compressed, it is decompressed (step 6), noise removed, error processed, and various corrections are performed (step 7), and then displayed on the CRT (step 8). When it is desired to print the information displayed on the CRT (step 9), a print command is issued to the printer to create a print (step 10).

In this way, when a user enters manual input from the keyboard according to the management information regarding the document or image to be searched, a list of the contents of the corresponding area is displayed. Target documents or images are narrowed down from these contents, and the selected images are printed.

These controls are performed by the system controller according to control software.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processor, in which 40 is a CD-ROM playback section, 41 is a system controller, 42 is a synchronization control circuit, 43 is a printer section,
44 is a laser, 45 is a laser unit, 46 is an image data expansion circuit, 47 is a γ correction circuit, 48 is a masking processing circuit, 49 is a UCR processing circuit, 50 is a temperature pattern circuit, and 51 is a multi-value processing circuit.

In the above configuration, the CD-ROM reproducing section 40 corrects the gradation of the image signal read by the light receiving pickup unit using the T correction circuit 47. The masking correction circuit 48 calculates the optimum amount of yellow Y, agenta M, and cyan C at the time of printing, and the UCR processing circuit 49 calculates the appropriate amount of yellow Y, agenta M, and cyan C to create black color.
Then, the density pattern processing circuit 50 outputs a pattern distribution corresponding to each of the 64 gradations, and the multi-value processing circuit 51 outputs pulses corresponding to the 1 to 4 values in the pattern. Medium modulation is performed.

A synchronous control circuit 42 synchronously controls each of the processing circuits described above.

Next, the printer will be explained.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer.
0 is a main control section, and 61 is a video control section which inputs an image signal and a synchronization signal from an image processor. 62 is a laser diode (LD) driver corresponding to each color component Y, M, C, Bk, 63 is a polygon motor driver that drives a polygon mirror for laser scanning, and 64 is a motor for driving a drum, belt, etc. 65 is a paper feed motor, a pulse motor driver that drives the registration motor, 66 is a paper ejection sensor, 67 is a paper end sensor, 68 is a registration sensor, 69 is a cassette size sensor, 70-1 to 70-4 are One photosensor (P sensor) is provided on each drum to detect the detection pattern on the drum and control the toner density, 71 is a charging high voltage sensor, 73 is a paper static elimination high voltage power supply, 74 is a belt static elimination high voltage A power source 75 is a phenomenon bias high voltage power source, 76 is a replenishment bias high voltage power source, 77 is a heater control unit, and 78 is a toner replenishment clutch.

FIG. 8 is a layout diagram of the photosensor, in which 11 is a photosensitive drum, lla is a detection pattern, 70a is a P sensor unit board, 70b is a P sensor element for Y, 70c, 7
0d is a light emitting opening and a reflected light detection opening of the P sensor 70b.

In the figure, one P sensor is provided for each photosensitive drum. A detection pattern lla written on the photoreceptor drum lla is imaged at the position of each sensor. Each pattern is sequentially imaged at the trailing edge of the color separations of the original image. The P sensor 70b is an LED that emits infrared light.
A light emitting opening 70c provided on the top surface of the sensor.
More luminous flux is emitted, and the reflected luminous flux from the pattern on the photoreceptor is
The reflected light is incident on the built-in phototransistor through the aperture 70d for detecting reflected light.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating toner density control using a photosensor, in which the P sensor 70b detects a detection pattern on the photoreceptor drum 11 and obtains a signal corresponding to the density of an image formed with toner. This signal controls toner replenishment. FIG. 10 is a waveform diagram showing the output of the photosensor, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the CPU shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the main control section in FIG. 7, in which 80 is a CPU, 81 is a video control interface, 82 is an analog input circuit, 83 is a motor driver I10 interface, 84 is a ROM, and 85 is an RA
M, 86 is a system controller interface, 8
7 is a load driver, and 88 is an input circuit.

As shown in the figure, the main control unit 60 has a CPU 80 as its center and a ROM 84. Consists of RAM 85 and various 110 parts, the 110 parts are drivers for outputting control signals to the printer main body's motor driver high-voltage power supply, heater control, clutch, etc., and signals from sensors installed in various parts of the printer main body. An input circuit for inputting P
There are a sensor (toner concentration sensor), an analog input circuit for inputting the output voltage of the thermistor, an interface circuit for communicating with the system controller and commands and status, and an interface circuit for video control.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the DC motor driver in FIG. 7, showing its digital servo portion.

In the same figure, the CPU 90 has a PWM control counter and an RO
M is built-in, and the operation command signal 91 (0N10FF signal of the motor) and speed command signal 9 from the main control unit 60
2 is read through the interface circuit 93, the rotation speed of the motor 95 is measured by the encoder 94, and the calculation is performed with the speed command signal 92 to set the motor voltage (current) to PW.
M control.

The output of the encoder 94 is obtained as a two-phase pulse train,
This encoder output is measured by a resolution increase circuit 96 and a counter 97 to obtain the speed of the motor. At the same time, the rotation direction is detected by the detection circuit 98.

The motor driver 99 calculates the motor speed data obtained here and the speed command signal 92 from the main control section.
A constant rotation that always matches the speed command signal can be obtained by adjusting the duty ratio of the pulse signal applied to the speed command signal.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the DC motor driver in FIG. 7, showing its PLL control portion.

In the same figure, the rotation speed of the motor is detected by an encoder 94, and the output signal of this encoder and the reference oscillation circuit 1
A phase comparison circuit 102 detects the phase difference with the output signal of 01, including phase lead and lag, and converts it into a voltage.

Integrating circuit 103 integrates and smoothes the output voltage of phase comparator circuit 102, and extracts a continuous voltage proportional to the phase difference.

Comparison amplifier 104 compares and amplifies the output voltage of integration circuit 103 and reference voltage Vs, and applies this output voltage to the motor, thereby making it possible to obtain a rotational speed synchronized with the output frequency of reference oscillation circuit 101.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of the pulse motor driver in FIG. 7, and FIG. 16 is its operating waveform diagram.

In the figure, the pulse motor driver 65 is connected to the distribution circuit 1.
05 and a driver 106, the distribution circuit 105 creates a four-phase drive signal synchronized with the drive clock according to the rotation direction command from the control unit, and applies this to the pulse motor via the driver 106. The pulse motor can be rotated at a predetermined speed and in a predetermined direction.

As shown in Figure 16, in the case of forward rotation, the A, B, A, B outputs output from the driver 106 are as shown in (a), and in the case of reverse rotation, as shown in (b). Become.

FIG. 17 is a heater control circuit diagram in FIG. 7, showing a hardware control portion.

The operation in the figure is as follows.

・Heater on signal from main control unit is IT LIT
+24V to solid string relay (SSR) when
is applied.

Normal time: Heater on signal IT L If (heater lighting control) Abnormal time: Heater on signal II HIf (heater forced off) - The comparator (CMPI) is a comparator for normal temperature control, and when the temperature is higher than the set value: Output II HD (heater O
N) When the temperature is lower than the set value: Output II L 11 (Heater 0FF) ・Comparator (CMP2) is a comparator for high temperature detection, and when abnormally high temperature: Output +1HI+ (High temperature detection signal: tt L
tt, heater forced 0FF) Normal: Output II L H (High temperature detection signal: "H"
) ・Comparator (CMP3) is for low temperature detection (or
At abnormally low temperature (when the thermistor is disconnected): Output It H90 (low temperature detection signal,
IT L 11, heater forced 0FF) Normal time: Output fl L It (low temperature detection signal, F#Htl) - The heater on/off monitor signal informs the main control unit of the heater on/off status and is used for reload check. .

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of the heater control circuit in FIG. 7, and is an explanatory diagram of software control. In the same figure, (a
) is a configuration diagram, and (b) and (C) are heater temperature control characteristic diagrams.

Further, FIG. 19 is a flowchart of software control of the heater.

In FIGS. 18 and 19, when the power is turned on and the abnormality is cleared, the temperature is raised to 180° C., then the 180e control is applied for 1 minute, and after 1 minute, the 160” control is applied to complete warm-up.

However, when the power is turned on and the error is cleared, the heater temperature is 110.
If the temperature is above 160°C, warm-up is completed when the temperature reaches 160°C.

(Effects) The present invention has the above-described configuration, for example, C
If you use D-ROM, you can get a copy of the map of the necessary place, if you use the encyclopedia ROM, you can get the copy of the necessary contents, and ROM such as address book, resident card, stamp certificate, etc.
By using a CD-ROM, you can obtain a copy of the necessary contents, and by using a bromide ROM, you can obtain a bromide copy. Therefore, with a variety of CD-ROM data punctures and one printer of the present invention, information can be obtained even in rural areas. It has the advantage of being able to provide services.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the CD-ROM color printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the printer section in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the CD-ROM color printer according to the present invention. The overall block diagram of the example, Figure 4 is CD-
A conceptual diagram of the structure of a CD-ROM file in a ROM playback device, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of data search processing of the CD-ROM, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image processor, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer. Figure 8 is a layout diagram of the photosensor, Figure 9 is a configuration diagram explaining toner density control by the photosensor, Figure 10 is a waveform diagram showing the output of the photosensor, and Figure 11 is shown in Figure 9. CP
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the main control unit in FIG. 7, FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the DC motor driver in FIG. 7, and FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the DC motor driver in FIG. 7. A block diagram showing PLL control, FIG. 15 is a block diagram of the pulse motor driver in FIG. 7, FIG. 16 is an operation waveform diagram of FIG. 15, and FIG.
The diagram is the heater control circuit diagram in Figure 7, and Figure 18 is the heater control circuit diagram in Figure 7.
FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of the heater control circuit in the figure, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart of software control of the heater. 1... Body, 2... CRT display, 3... CD-ROM device, 4...
Paper feed tray, 5... Operation keyboard. Figure 3 Figure 4 Peng Figure 8 Figure 9 Relaxation 11 Figure d et al. Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 17

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a CD-ROM printer configured to be able to search for desired information from a large number of CD-ROMs containing various types of information and output it as a hard copy, it is possible to retrieve desired information from a large number of CD-ROM files containing various types of information. , this CD-R
A search means for searching desired information data from an OM file, a data reading means for the CD-ROM, an image processor for obtaining image information from the read data, a display means for displaying the image information, and a display means for displaying the image information. A CD-ROM printer characterized in that it is integrally equipped with a printer that outputs a hard copy.