KR100477694B1 - Method for controlling an amount of toner or ink of data to be printed in units of a page and paper printing output equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a control method for providing a function of selectively printing a page by informing the amount of toner or ink of data to be printed in units of pages and a paper printing output device employing the same. When the toner saving print function is selected and printed on the printer driver user interface screen, the printing is uniformly performed by the options selected for each print quality. However, in the present invention, the type of page data and the toner consumption amount are set for each page. Therefore, it is possible to selectively select toner saving printing. If the user is using graphics that consume a lot of toner, consider each option, considering resolution, contrast, and dither, taking into account the amount of toner consumption pre-calculated, which wastes toner consumption for pages with data that does not require unnecessarily good quality printing. To reduce the cost. In addition, by analyzing the type of page data on a page-by-page basis over the entire page, it indicates the data type and displays data such as graphic / image / picture. Reduces the hassle of choosing how to print in units. The data such as graphic / image / picture enables the user to select a printing state according to the use so as to directly control the toner usage.

Description

Method for controlling an amount of toner or ink of data to be printed in units of a page and paper printing output equipment}

The present invention relates to a data sheet print output control method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a control method for controlling the toner or ink usage of data to be printed on a page basis and a paper print output apparatus employing the same.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional printing apparatus controls the printing state on the user interface screen of the printer driver 20 by the control unit 10 to display the resolution [dpi], the resolution enhancement, the toner saving mode, and the print quality in the graphic options. The graphic conditions of document data to be printed are set by dividing into items such as (printer quality) and print darkness. The printing conditions set as described above are stored in the lookup table 30, and when the printing device unit 40 performs printing in accordance with a command of the control unit 10, the stored printing conditions are called out from the lookup table 30, Therefore, print out on paper.

Supplies for commonly used printers or copiers (hereinafter referred to as printers). That is, since toner or ink (hereinafter referred to as toner) is considerably expensive, the interest of the user (consumer) to its usage amount is increasing. As a result, in terms of toner saving, the printer informs the user in advance of toner usage for data to be printed or copied (hereinafter referred to as printing). If the data to be printed is text, it does not mean so much, but in the case of graphics, toner is used so much that it cannot be compared with text, and there is a big difference in the amount of toner used in text and graphic data.

As shown in Fig. 2, in the graphic options of the driver of the conventional printer, items such as the resolution [dpi] 22, the toner saving mode 24, the dithering level 26, the print darkness 28, etc. Set the graphic conditions of the document data to be printed separately. Then, if the print command is given, the toner mass before printing and the weight of the toner mass after printing are calculated to calculate the toner mass consumption before and after printing. Based on this, the printer shows the remaining amount of toner remaining (200). That is, after giving a print command, it compares the toner mass before printing / after printing and shows the final toner remaining amount. However, in the conventional case, when a print area is selected and printed, the selected print area is printed by uniformly applying the print options set for the print area, and all the texts or images included in the print area are printed in the same print state. .

A conventional printer operation will be described with reference to FIG. 3. When the user sets the resolution, darkness, dithering level, etc. in the printer driver, and then executes a print command (31), the pixel count for each page of the print command to be printed (pixel) count and transition count are monitored. The average pixel count / transition count is determined for that page. In accordance with the ratio determined here, the toner mass per pixel is assigned by a look-up table that is predetermined. The toner consumption used for each page is obtained by multiplying the pixel count per page by the toner mass per pixel. The toner mass weight before printing is then stored minus the toner mass consumption required for printing previously obtained. Then, when the toner remaining consumption is finished for all pages of one document, the final remaining amount is obtained. The printer then displays the toner remaining amount after printing is finished for the print area. Then, when the user selects the pages to be printed and the number of prints (32), the number of printables is displayed by comparing the number of printables with the current toner remaining amount in consideration of the amount of toner remaining (33). . Then, the user can appropriately set the toner amount (print quality condition) to be used for the number of prints in consideration of the toner remaining amount in the printer driver (34). The printout is made in accordance with the print quality condition thus set (35).

As described above, the conventional printer prints the entire page of the document according to the conditions set by the user in the printer UI (user UI) for designating consumables, i.e., toner or ink usage conditions. In this case, if all of them are printed under the same conditions, and if they want to print with different graphic printing states for each page, the process of opening and resetting the user interface (UI) for each page should be repeated. Accordingly, in the conventional printer, when the toner is sufficient, the image is printed with the quality according to the condition set by the user. However, when the remaining amount of the toner is less than the required amount of toner or the user wants to save the toner, the user can directly It was not easy to adjust the toner condition according to the above, and as described above, it caused a cumbersome process such as repeatedly printing and resetting the user interface (UI) for each page.

As such, current printers and copiers are expensive consumables such as toner and ink, and thus, although interest has gradually increased, users can more easily control consumables such as toner or ink before printing. There was no. Therefore, the optimum print quality in accordance with the toner remaining amount could not be obtained.

In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 14-211087 predicts the ink usage required for the number of copies, and predicts and displays the number of cartridges using the capacity of the ink cartridge and the remaining amount of ink. A printer to be changed is disclosed, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-299934 discloses a printer which can arbitrarily change the color and brightness of an output surface and arbitrarily selects and prints, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Hei 8-166713 An image forming apparatus is disclosed, which estimates developer consumption based on image data values by an estimation means and warns by warning means when it is predicted that the developer is depleted based on the estimated developer consumption and developer consumption history. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-146314 discloses a video signal for each setting timing of an image currently being printed. An image forming apparatus including an apparatus for estimating the amount of toner consumption of an image during printing by recognizing the sum of the TV times is disclosed. However, the concept of controlling the toner consumption for each printed page in consideration of the remaining amount of toner is also disclosed. Was not.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to show the user in advance the amount of toner or ink to be used for printing in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, so that each printer driver or panel can know how to use toner or ink usage in advance. Provides a control method for controlling the toner or ink usage of data to be printed on a page-by-page basis so that print condition setting values (contrast, toner save mode, etc.) can be adjusted for pages to be printed, and a paper print output device employing the same. There is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method for setting a consumption amount of toner or ink according to the type of data for each page of a document to be printed or copied, and a paper printing output device employing the same before the user prints or copies.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a control method for controlling toner or ink usage of data to be printed on a page basis, wherein a user can construct a page data type and toner consumption table for a print target area. Selecting one; Displaying a display screen for configuring a page data type and a toner consumption table for a print target area on a screen; And selecting a print quality for each page number to cause printing to be executed.

Preferably, the toner consumption value for the selected page data type is read from the lookup table and displayed on the display screen so that the user can use it to select print quality for each page.

Preferably, if the page data type and toner consumption table for each printed page are not generated, the user is informed of the page data type and toner consumption for each printed page to selectively select a target page for toner saving printing. Characterized in that the print output.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a paper printing output apparatus using a control method of controlling the toner or ink usage of data to be printed on a page basis, wherein the toner consumption information according to the type of data and the type of data is recorded. A storage unit for storing; And a printer driver user interface that allows the user to select on the screen whether or not to perform toner mass consumption control on the pages before they are printed for each page. By presenting the display screen for configuring the page data type and toner consumption table for the target area, the toner consumption value for the page data type selected by the user is read from the storage unit and displayed on the display screen. It provides a paper print output device characterized in that it comprises a control unit for selecting the print quality to execute printing.

Preferably, the toner consumption amount of each page is calculated on the display screen, and the toner consumption calculation unit that calculates and displays the toner consumption amount includes a page parsing unit for determining a page data type, a toner consumption calculation unit, and a print area. And means for displaying information about the type and the toner consumption for the selected page.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a control method for controlling the toner or ink usage of the data to be printed by the page unit and an embodiment implementing the configuration and operation of the paper print output device employing the same .

In the present invention, consumables for printers or copiers. That is, before printing the usage amount of the toner or ink, page parsing is performed on the data to be printed and calculated in advance in units of pages. The types of toner consumption, graphics, text, and the like printed on the selected page are previously displayed for each page. After that, by selectively resetting the print status [information] for the pages you want to save, you can set the appropriate printing conditions for each page to reduce the unnecessary consumption of toner, and the page information for each page of the entire document. And the toner consumption amount so that the user can adjust the toner amount for each page to print.

4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a display screen for setting a printing operation for controlling the toner or ink usage amount of data to be printed, on a page basis, according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation to which the control method of FIG. 4 is applied.

As shown in Fig. 4, the paper printing output apparatus using the control method of controlling the toner or ink usage amount of data to be printed according to the present invention on a page-by-page basis has been previously described. and a printer driver user interface 40 for allowing a user to select on the screen whether to perform a toner mass consumption control function. That is, when the user selects to configure the page data type and toner consumption table for the print target area (42), the display screen for configuring the page data type (47) and toner consumption 48 table for the print target area ( 44 is presented on the screen. At this time, the toner consumption value 48 for the selected page data type 47 is read from the lookup table (Fig. 1) and displayed on the display screen 44. Then, the user selects the print quality 45 for each page number 46 to cause printing. The selection of the print quality 45 may, for example, select whether to use the economy printing. When the print quality 45 for the toner consumption amount is selected for each page to be printed on the display screen 40, the print output device selects and prints a page to which the economized printing is applied in the print target area (49).

The method of calculating the amount of toner consumption per page is shown in the figure, but the existing algorithm is used. Such an algorithm comprises, for example, a means for determining the type of page data, that is, a page parsing unit, a means for calculating toner consumption, a means for indicating information about the type and toner consumption for the selected page in the print area. do.

Referring to Fig. 5, the operation of the paper print output device using the control method of controlling the toner or ink usage amount of the data to be printed in units of pages will be described.

Using the printer driver user interface 40, the user selects whether to perform a function of controlling the amount of toner consumption for the page in advance before being printed for each page (500).

If the existing method is selected in step 500, the value set as the print option is applied to the selected entire page area and is printed out (510).

When the control method of controlling the toner or ink usage amount of the data to be printed in the unit of the present invention in step 500 is selected in step 500, in step 520, it is selected whether to print the toner saving printing selectively for each page, and in step 530 Proceed to to perform parsing to check page data type for each page. Then, in step 540, the toner consumption amount is calculated and notified in step 550 by applying an emulation algorithm for calculating the existing toner consumption amount. As shown in step 560, a page data type and toner consumption table is displayed on each print page for the entire printable area. Shows whether it was created or not. As described above, the algorithm for calculating the toner consumption amount for each page of the present invention applies the existing algorithm.

If the page data type and toner consumption table for each print page are generated in step 560, the image and text table and the toner consumption amount are displayed in the table as the page data type for the entire printable area in step 570, and each step is displayed in step 580. A page to be used for toner saving printing is selectively selected from the page data type table for the print target area to be printed out.

If the page data type and toner consumption table for each print page have not been generated in step 560, the page data type and toner consumption amount are notified for each printed page (590) to selectively select the toner saving print target page. To be printed out (600).

As described above, in the present invention, when the selected page is graphic data so that a large amount of toner consumption is required, the user can determine the toner consumption amount by selecting the resolution, the contrast, and the like. The means for determining the page data type is represented through parsing the type of data for the page in units of pages. In this case, it is displayed as a graphic, an image, or a text. Then, the toner prediction consumption amount is calculated for each page unit for the selected print area. As described above, these toner prediction consumptions use existing algorithms. The calculated toner consumption amount and page type are displayed on the driver user interface screen (DRIVER UI) for each page. Accordingly, when the user selects the saving print based on the calculated toner consumption amount and the page data type displayed on the driver user interface screen, the toner saving printing is selectively performed for each page.

As described above, when the toner save printing function is selected and printed on the printer driver user interface screen, printing is uniformly performed by the options selected for each print quality. There is an effect that the toner saving printing can be selectively selected according to the type and the toner consumption amount. Determine the amount of toner to be printed in advance page by page for the document or data that the user wants to print, and if the graphic consumes a lot of toner, consider each option, resolution, contrast, and dithering, in consideration of the calculated amount of toner consumption. By selecting, it is possible to reduce waste of toner consumption for pages having data that does not need unnecessarily good quality printing. In addition, by analyzing the type of page data on a page-by-page basis over the entire page, it indicates the data type and displays data such as graphic / image / picture. Reduces the hassle of choosing how to print in units. The data such as graphic / image / picture enables the user to select a printing state according to the use so as to directly control the toner usage.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various embodiments which can be modified and changed within the true spirit and scope of the principles described and claimed are also included in the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be understood that it belongs.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer for performing a printing operation.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a display screen of a printer driver in order to explain a conventional method of setting a printer driver.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for describing a printing operation of FIG. 2.

4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a display screen for setting a printing operation for controlling the toner or ink usage amount of data to be printed, on a page basis, according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation to which the control method of FIG. 4 is applied.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

42.Steps to choose whether to configure toner consumption table

44.Toner consumption table configuration display screen example

49.Save Print Application Page Selective Printing

Claims (5)

In the control method for controlling the toner or ink usage of the data to be printed in units of pages, Selecting by the user to construct a page data type and toner consumption table for the print target area; Displaying a display screen for configuring a page data type and a toner consumption table for a print target area on a screen; And A printing area page unit control method comprising the step of performing printing by selecting the print quality for each page number. The print area page according to claim 1, wherein the toner consumption value for the selected page data type is read from the lookup table and displayed on the display screen to allow the user to select a print quality for each page. Unit control method. The page according to claim 1 or 2, if the page data type and toner consumption table for each print page are not generated, the user is informed of the page data type and toner consumption amount for each printed page, and the toner-saving print-target page The method of controlling the print area page unit, characterized in that to selectively print the output to print. In the paper printing output device using a control method for controlling the toner or ink usage of the data to be printed in units of pages, A storage unit which stores the amount of toner consumption according to the type of data and the type of data; And Creates a printer driver user interface that allows the user to select on the screen whether or not to perform toner mass consumption control on the pages before they are printed for each page. Displaying the display screen for organizing the page data type and toner consumption table for the area, reading the toner consumption value for the page data type selected by the user from the storage unit and displaying it on the display screen. And a control unit which selects the quality and executes printing. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the toner consumption amount of each page is calculated on the display screen, and the toner consumption amount calculation unit for calculating and displaying the toner consumption amount includes: a page parsing unit for determining a page data type, a toner consumption calculation unit, And means for displaying information on the type and toner consumption of the selected page in the printing area.