KR20060067771A - Apparatus and method for controlling printing time in image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus using an ink may vary a dry time required to dry the printed ink according to the characteristics of an image and a printing paper, thereby obtaining a good image or shortening a printing time. The present invention relates to a printing time control apparatus and a method of controlling the image forming apparatus. It includes a printer driver that variably determines the dry time at every output.

Image Forming Device, Dry Time, Printer Driver, Video Controller

Description

Printing time control apparatus and method thereof of an image forming apparatus {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PRINTING TIME IN IMAGE FORMING DEVICE}             

1 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship with a user PC for controlling an image forming apparatus according to the related art.

2 is a view showing a connection relationship with a user PC for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a view showing a detailed configuration of the dry time calculation module of FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a printing time control method of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the dry time calculation process of FIG. 4 in detail. FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: user PC 110: the application

120: graphics engine 130: printer driver

131: dry time calculation module 132: DB by paper type

133: DB by object 134: DB by data amount                 

135: DB 140 by print mode: Spooler

150: input and output port 200: image forming apparatus

210: video controller 220: engine controller

230: developing part

The present invention relates to a printing time control apparatus and a method of the image forming apparatus, and more particularly, it takes until the printed ink is dried in accordance with the characteristics of the image and the printing paper when printing in the image forming apparatus using the ink (ink) The present invention relates to a printing time control apparatus and an method of an image forming apparatus for varying a dry time to obtain a high quality image or to reduce a printing time.

In general, printers are the most common means of identifying and storing the results of computer processing and outputting them in document form for delivery to others.

In recent years, as printers are rapidly increasing in demand with office automation devices such as scanners and facsimiles, each office automation device is being developed with high performance to expand its own functions.

In addition, by developing each of the office automation equipment that was used independently as a whole, to reduce the economic burden and installation space for the user, a product that performs a complex document output function is being produced and sold.

1 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship with a user PC for controlling an image forming apparatus according to the related art.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operation of the user PC 10 for controlling a conventional image forming apparatus will be described. First, a user may access a document or graphic through a corresponding application program 11 using a user interface. When a print command is issued after the job is completed, the image forming apparatus 20 interprets the print content from the application program in the printer driver 13 under the control of the graphics engine GDI 12, which is an operating system program. It will generate a command that you can do. These instructions are passed through the spooler 14 and through the input / output device 15 such as a serial port, a parallel port or a network driver, to the video controller of the image forming apparatus 20. 21).

Accordingly, the video controller 21 interprets the transmitted command to generate bitmap data. The bitmap data generated as described above is formed as an image in the engine controller 22 and is actually printed through the developing unit 23.

That is, in the related art, the dry time required for drying the ink printed on the printing paper is fixed without considering the characteristics of the printing paper, the amount of data, the object, or the like when outputting the printing contents. It is supposed to apply.

For this reason, when the amount of data to be printed is large, a dry time is short, and thus the complete print result cannot be obtained, such as the printed content is spread as the next print is output before the printed content is dried.

In addition, when the amount of data is small, there is a problem in that the dry time becomes relatively long and the printing time cannot be printed at a high printing speed, so that the printing time is slow overall.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to vary the dry time required to dry the printed ink according to the characteristics of the image and the printing paper when printing in the image forming apparatus using the ink (ink) The present invention provides a printing time control apparatus and a method of an image forming apparatus which can obtain a high quality image or shorten a printing time.

According to an aspect of the printing time control apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the ink of the image data output through the image forming apparatus is dried in accordance with the print information stored in the database at the time of printing command It includes a printer driver that variably determines the dry time required for each output.

The printer driver includes a database for each paper type in which time information for each type of paper is stored, a database for each object in which time information for each object to be printed is stored, a database for each data amount for storing time information for each data amount, and time information for each print mode. The final dry time is calculated by sequentially extracting the database for each print mode, the print paper type, the object to be printed, the amount of data, and the time information according to the print mode from the databases. It includes a dry time calculation module.

The dry time calculation module may include a dry time calculation unit for each paper type that calculates dry time for each paper type by adding a time for each paper type to a preset default dry time, and a paper type calculated from the dry time calculation unit for each paper type. The dry time calculation unit that calculates the dry time for each object by adding the time for each object to the dry time for each object, and the dry time for each data amount by adding the data amount time to the dry time for each object calculated by the dry time calculation unit for each object. A dry time calculation unit for calculating a dry mode for each print mode by adding a time for each print mode to a dry time for each data amount calculated from the dry time calculator for each data amount; .

On the other hand, according to one aspect of the printing time control method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the process of calculating a dry time according to the print information stored in the database at the time of the print command, and the image forming apparatus The ink of the image data output through is delayed by the dry time and includes a process of drying.

The process of calculating the dry time includes calculating a dry time for each paper type by adding a time for each paper type to a preset default dry time, and a dry time for each object by adding a time for each object to the dry time for each paper type. Calculating a dry time for each data amount by adding a time for each data amount to the dry time for each object; and calculating a dry time for each print mode by adding a print mode time to the dry time for each data amount. Include.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, detailed descriptions of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that reference numerals and like elements among the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and symbols as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship with a user PC for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the dry time calculation module of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention is largely composed of a user PC 100 and an image forming apparatus 200.

The user PC 100 is composed of an application program 110, a graphics engine 120, a printer driver 130, a spooler 140, and an input / output port 150.

The application program 110 refers to a program for a user to work with various objects such as text, graphics, or bitmap images through a user interface.

The graphics engine 120 is an operating system program such as Windows, and performs overall control in the kernel mode of the user PC 100. That is, the print request signal requested from the application program 110 is transmitted to the printer driver 130, and the command generated from the printer driver 130 is controlled to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200.

The printer driver 130 generates a command for the image forming apparatus 200 to interpret and print the print contents created through the application program 110 under the control of the graphic engine 120.

In addition, the printer driver 130 includes a DB 132 for each paper type, a DB 133 for each object, a DB 134 for each data amount, and a DB 135 for each print mode for calculating a dry time that is variable at each printing time. Each DB stores table information of Tables 1 to 4 described below.

That is, the printer driver 130 sequentially checks the print paper type set by the user, the object to be printed, the amount of data, the print mode, and the like through the dry time calculation module 131 of FIG. 3 to be described below. By calculating the dry time until the ink printed on the printing paper is dried.

For example, the paper type table information shown in Table 1 below may be stored in the paper type DB 132, and the unit of time is [seconds].

Plain paper Thick paper Thin paper Cotton paper Envelope paper 0 -5 +5 -7 +7

As shown in Table 1, the printing paper is 0 seconds for plain paper, -5 seconds for thick paper, +5 seconds for thin paper, -7 seconds for cotton paper, + for envelope paper. It can be set to 7 seconds.

In addition, the object-specific table information shown in Table 2 may be stored in the object-specific DB 133.

text graphic Bitmap -5 5 7

That is, as shown in Table 2, the object to be printed may be set to -5 seconds for text, 5 seconds for graphics, and 7 seconds for bitmap images.

In addition, the data amount table information as shown in Table 3 below may be stored in the data amount DB 134.

2000 dot 5000 dot 10000 dot One 2 3

As shown in Table 3, the data amount on one sheet of printing paper may be set to 1 second for 2000 dots, 2 seconds for 5000 dots, and 3 seconds for 10000 dots.

The print mode-specific DB 135 may store table information for each print mode as shown in Table 4 below.

Tenderness usually Dark -One 0 One

That is, as shown in Table 4, the print mode may be set to -1 second in the "soft" mode, 0 second in the "normal" mode, and "1 second" in the "dark" mode.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3, the dry time calculation module 131, the dry time calculation unit 131a for each paper type, the dry time calculation unit 131b for each object, the dry time calculation unit 131c for each data amount, And a dry time calculation unit 131d for each print mode.

The dry time calculation unit 131a for each paper type adds the time for each printing paper type to a dry time set as a default time as shown in Equation 1 below.

Dry time by paper type = Default dry time + Time by printing paper type

Then, the dry time calculation unit 131b for each object adds the time for each object to the dry time for each paper type, as shown in Equation 2 below.

Dry time by object = Dry time by paper type + Time by object

The dry time calculator 131c for each data amount adds the dry time for each data amount to the second dry time as shown in Equation 3 below.

Dry time by data amount = Dry time by object + Time by data amount

Then, the dry time calculation unit 131d for each print mode adds the dry time for each print mode to the third dry time as shown in Equation 4 below.

Dry time by print mode = Dry time by data volume + Time by print mode

As a result, the dry time for each print mode is determined as the final dry time. The dry time is determined by the printing paper type, the object to be printed, the amount of data, the print mode, and the like at every output. It is determined according to the variable.

As such, the print command and the final dry time information generated through the printer driver 130 are transferred to the spooler 140 under the control of the graphic engine 120.

The spooler 140 temporarily stores the print command and dry time information transmitted from the printer driver 130 and then transfers the information to the input / output port 150.

The input / output port 150 transmits a print command and dry time information transmitted from the spooler 140 to the image forming apparatus 200.

Meanwhile, the image forming apparatus 200 includes a video controller 210, an engine controller 220, and a print content developing unit 230.

The video controller 210 interprets a print command and dry time information transmitted from the input / output port 150 of the user PC 100 to generate the print content as bitmap data.

The engine controller 220 receives the bitmap data generated from the video controller 210 to form an image.

The print content developing unit 230 actually prints and outputs the image data formed from the engine controller 220.

After the print content is output, the dry time taken until the ink of the printed content is dried is delayed under the control of the video controller 210.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a printing time control method of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a user performs a print command (S10) after working with any one object among text, graphics, and bitmap images through the application program 110, the control of the graphics engine 120 is controlled. Accordingly, the printer driver 131 sequentially checks the printing paper type set by the user, the object to be printed, the amount of data, the printing mode, and the like to dry the ink printed on the printing paper. ) Is calculated (S20).

Subsequently, when the dry time is calculated, the printer driver 131 may generate a command for the image forming apparatus 200 to interpret and print the print content generated by the application program 110 under the control of the graphic engine 120. Generate (S30).

As such, the print command and the dry time information generated by the print driver 131 are temporarily stored in the spooler 140 and then transmitted to the video controller 210 of the image forming apparatus 200 through the input / output port 150 (S40). Will be

Accordingly, the video controller 210 interprets the print command and the dry time information transmitted from the input / output port 150 of the user PC 100 (S50) to generate the print content as bitmap data to generate an engine. The controller 220 transmits the result.                     

Accordingly, the engine controller 220 forms the bitmap data transmitted from the video controller 210 as an image (S60) and transmits the bitmap data to the print content developing unit 230.

Accordingly, the print content developing unit 230 actually prints (S70) and outputs the image data transmitted from the engine controller 220.

Subsequently, after the image data is output, the dry time required to dry the ink of the output image data is delayed (S80) by the corresponding time by the control of the video controller 210, and such dry time is printed at every output. It is determined depending on the paper type, the object to be printed, the amount of data, the printing mode, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the dry time calculation process of FIG. 4 in detail.

As shown in FIG. 5, the process of calculating the dry time includes setting a default value (eg, “5 seconds”) of the dry time determined by the printer driver 130 at a predetermined time (S21). The driver 130 checks whether the type of printing paper set by the user is general paper (S22).

If it is confirmed that the paper to be printed is plain paper, the printer driver 130, when the plain paper, the time information is "0 seconds" as shown in Table 1, so that the dry time for each object immediately without calculating the dry time for each paper type The process of calculating (S24) is performed.

However, if it is assumed that the paper to be printed is thin paper rather than plain paper, in this case, as in Table 1, time information corresponds to "+5", so the dry time for each paper type is Equation 1 calculates the default dry time 5 + paper type time (+5) = " 10 seconds " (S23).

Subsequently, if the dry time for each paper type is calculated in step S23, the printer driver 130 calculates the dry time for each object by using Equation 2 described above (S24). In this case, if it is assumed that the object to be printed is text, the time information of the text corresponds to "-5" as shown in Table 2, so that the dry time for each object is the calculated dry time for each paper type (10) + object. Star time (-5) = "5 seconds".

Subsequently, after the dry time for each object is calculated to be "5 seconds", the printer driver 130 calculates the dry time for each data amount (S25) using Equation 3 described above. At this time, if the data amount is assumed to be 2000 dots, the time information corresponding to 2000 dots corresponds to "1 second" as shown in Table 3, so that the dry time by data amount is calculated by dry time (5) + data amount by object. Time (1) is calculated as "6 seconds".

Subsequently, after the dry time for each data amount is calculated to be "6 seconds", the printer driver 130 calculates the dry time for each print mode by using Equation 4 described above (S26). At this time, if the print mode is set to "normal", the time information corresponds to "0 second" as shown in Table 4, so the dry time for each print mode is the calculated dry time for each data amount (6) + print mode. Star time (0) is calculated as "6 seconds".

In the above, specific preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made by any person having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention attached to the claims. will be.

According to the present invention, a good quality image is obtained or printed by varying the dry time required to dry the printed ink according to the characteristics of the image and the printing paper when printing in the image forming apparatus using ink. This can shorten the time.

Claims (5)

In the printing time control apparatus of the image forming apparatus, And a printer driver configured to variably determine a dry time for each ink of the image data output through the image forming apparatus to dry according to the print information stored in the database upon a print command. Printing time control device. The method of claim 1, The printer driver, A paper type database in which time information for each paper type is stored; An object-specific database that stores time information for each object to be printed; A database for each amount of data in which time information by amount of data is stored; A database for each print mode in which time information for each print mode is stored; Includes a dry time calculation module for calculating the final dry time by sequentially extracting the print paper type, the object to be printed, the amount of data, and the time information according to the print mode from the databases in the print command through the user program And a printing time control device of the image forming apparatus. The method of claim 2, The dry time calculation module, A dry time calculation unit for each paper type that calculates dry time for each paper type by adding a time for each paper type to a preset default dry time; A dry time calculation unit for each object that calculates dry time for each object by adding time for each object to dry time for each paper type calculated from the dry time calculation unit for each paper type; A dry time calculation unit for each data amount that calculates dry time for each data amount by adding the time for each data amount to the dry time for each object calculated from the dry time calculation unit for each object; Print time control of the image forming apparatus, characterized in that it includes a dry time calculation unit for each print mode to calculate the dry time for each print mode by adding the time for each print mode to the dry time for each data amount calculated from the dry time calculation unit for each data amount Device. In the printing time control method of the image forming apparatus, Calculating the dry time according to the print information stored in the database during a print command; And drying the ink of the image data output through the image forming apparatus by being delayed by the dry time. The method of claim 4, wherein The process of calculating the dry time, Calculating the dry time for each paper type by adding the time for each paper type to the preset default dry time; Calculating dry time for each object by adding time for each object to dry time for each paper type; Calculating dry time for each data amount by adding time for each data amount to the dry time for each object; And calculating the dry time for each print mode by adding the time for each print mode to the dry time for each data amount.

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