WO2000031683A1

WO2000031683A1 - Printing device and method and franking machine using same

Info

Publication number: WO2000031683A1
Application number: PCT/FR1999/002885
Authority: WO
Inventors: Caroline Vogue; Laurent Rakotondrainibe; Jean-Luc Joblin; Gilles Chollet
Original assignee: Secap; Ascom Autelca Ag
Priority date: 1998-11-24
Filing date: 1999-11-23
Publication date: 2000-06-02
Also published as: CA2349936A1; EP1133754A1; FR2786291A1; FR2786291B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a printing device comprising image-generating means (106) adapted to generate image data, a printing controller (120) for controlling the printing means to print an image on a printing base. It further comprises at least two frame stores (123, 124) each adapted to preserve image data. Switching means (122) are provided for enabling the image-generating means to access one of the frame stores and for enabling the printing controller to access another frame store. When the image-generating means has generated an image and the printing controller has controlled the printing of an image, the switching means exchanges the memory accessible by the image-generating means and the memory accessible by the printing controller.

Description

"Printing device and method and franking machine using them"

The present invention relates to a printing device and method and to a franking machine using them

It applies in particular to a franking machine comprising an ink jet print head

In currently known printing devices, it is necessary to wait the entire duration of preparation of a franking mark before starting to print it.

Indeed, in currently known devices, the printing memory of the franking mark is shared between the microprocessor of the machine and the printing controller of this mark. The preparation of a printing mark during printing. from the previous postage mark is not possible because the shared memory is not accessible by the microprocessor during printing

In a fast franking machine, the preparation time of the franking mark is thus too long compared to the time available between two frankings

The present invention intends to remedy these drawbacks In general, the present invention aims to have two print memories, each of these memories being alternately accessible to the microprocessor and to the print controller. Thus, while the printing accesses one of the memories to print a first franking mark, the microprocessor accesses the other of the memories to constitute the following franking mark, then when, on the one hand, the first franking mark has been printed and when, on the other hand, the following franking mark is formed, access to the memories is exchanged The rhythm can be almost double

Thus, according to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a printing device comprising an image generation means adapted to generate information representative of an image, a print controller adapted to control printing means for printing an image on a print medium, characterized in that it comprises

at least two image memories, each adapted to store information representative of an image, information generated by said image generation means,

- a switching means adapted, on the one hand, to allow the image generation means, access to one of the image memories and, on the other hand, to allow the print controller, the access to another of the image memories, and, when the image generation means has generated an image and the print controller has controlled the printing of an image, exchanging the memory accessible by the means of image generation and memory accessible by the print controller

According to particular characteristics, said memories consist of memory planes in which the addresses of the images are identical

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a printing method comprising, for each image to be printed

an image generation operation during which information representative of said image is generated,

a printing control operation during which printing means are checked to print an image on a printing medium, characterized in that it further comprises a memory management operation during which the information generated during the generation operation is stored in a first memory and the print control operation is carried out with information coming from a second memory, and when the first memory stores all the information representative of an image and the image information stored in the second memory has been processed during a print control operation, a switching operation during which, the memory accessible during the next image generation operation is exchanged and the memory accessible during the next print control operation

The invention also relates to a franking machine, characterized in that it includes a management device as succinctly set out above. The invention also aims.

a means of storing information readable by a computer or a microprocessor retaining instructions of a computer program characterized in that it allows the implementation of the method of the invention as succinctly set out above, and - a removable information storage means, partially or totally, and readable by a computer or a microprocessor keeping instructions of a computer program characterized in that it allows the implementation of the method of the invention as briefly described above This franking machine and these storage means having the same advantages as the process and the management device succinctly explained above, these are not recalled HERE

Other advantages, aims and characteristics will emerge from the description which follows, made with reference to the annexed drawings in which ^:

FIG. 1 represents, on a franking machine using the print management device and the print management method objects of the present invention, FIG. 2 schematically represents an electronic circuit incorporated in the franking machine illustrated in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 represents a diagram of operation of a microprocessor of the electronic circuit illustrated in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 represents a diagram of operation of a print controller of the electronic circuit illustrated in FIG. 2.

In the device illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it has been chosen, by way of example, for the franking mark to be printed by an ink jet printing head. Other choices (needle printing, thermal printing, laser printing) have not been shown but of course remain within the scope of the invention by simply using general knowledge concerning these different types of printing.

The franking machine 1 illustrated in the drawings comprises a device for printing, on a flat object such as the letter 2, on the one hand, a franking mark and, optionally, an address for the destination of the envelope.

To print the franking mark on the standard location provided for this purpose, the letter 2 must be passed through a corridor 5 that comprises the machine 1, this corridor being delimited by elements integral with the frame, respectively a sliding support. 6 which forms the ceiling of the corridor 5, a table 7 which forms the floor and a ramp which forms a lateral limit, the corridor being open opposite this ramp.

To pass the letter 2 in the corridor 5, the letter is placed on the part of the table 7 which projects from the side provided for the introduction (side which I can see on the left in FIG. 1) then we enter the letter in lane 5, as shown in Figure 1, until it is driven by the means provided for this purpose in machine 1, the printing of the franking mark is carried out automatically while the letter 2 is driven in lane 5, the franked letter being expelled from the machine at the other end of lane 5 (end that we see on the right in figure 1)

To drive the letter 2, the machine 1 has two rollers 9 and 10 each passing through an opening of the table 7, and two counter-rollers 12 and 13, respectively for the roller 9 and for the roller 10, passing through an opening in the support 6

The rollers 9 and 10 are mounted for rotation relative to the frame of the machine 1, by means of suspension means 14 shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1

The counter-rollers 12 and 13 are mounted to rotate on the frame of the machine 1, without being suspended relative thereto. An electric motor, not shown, serves to drive the counter-rollers 12 and 13 in synchronous rotation, for example by by means of a belt (not shown) which rotates around three pinions carried respectively by the motor, by the counter-roller 12 and by the counter-roller 13

Since the suspension means 14 urge the rollers 9 and 10 towards the support 6, and therefore towards the counter-rollers 12 and 13, the rollers 9 and

10 are driven by friction on the counter-rollers 12 and 13, directly or by the intermediary of an object, such as the letter 2, during passage through the machine 1.

The letter 2, when it is introduced into the corridor 5 as shown in FIG. 1, ends up meeting the roller 9 then the counter-roller 12 which drives it in the direction indicated in FIG. 1 by the horizontal arrow oriented from left to right Simultaneously, the roller 9 is lowered while the letter 2 is introduced between the rollers 9 and 12 so that the letter 2 progresses in the machine 1 with its printing side 4 which is pressed and which slides against the surface 17 of the sliding support 6.

To print the franking mark at the standardized location which corresponds to it and / or the destination address at the standardized location which corresponds to it, the machine 1 comprises printing means 19 watches very diagrammatically in FIG. 1

In general, the printing means 19 deposit the franking mark while the letter 2 or the object to be franked circulates in the machine 1 with its printing face which is pressed against the surface 17 of the sliding support 6 , the means 19 being located between the counter-rollers

12 and 13 In the example illustrated, the printing means 19 are mounted directly on the frame of the machine, and are therefore fixed relative to the sliding support 6.

Here, the means 19 comprise a print cartridge and ink _j provided with a print head through an opening of a plate that includes the sliding support 6, said platen having a recess from from which the head can send ink onto the object, without coming into contact with it

So that the printing means 19 are controlled in synchronism with the advancement of the object in the machine, there is provided an object presence detector (not shown) which triggers a printing process taking place automatically.

More specifically, there is a first presence detector which controls the starting of the engine (not shown) when an object begins to be introduced into the machine 1, and a second presence detector (not shown) which triggers the process of impression when the object has reached a predetermined location.

In FIG. 2, an electronic control circuit for the device is shown as shown in FIG. 1. This circuit is illustrated in the form of a block diagram and represented under general reference 100 II comprises, interconnected by an address and data bus 102:

a central processing unit 106,

- a random access memory RAM 104;

- a PROM 105 flash ROM; - an input port output 103 used to receive

• the weight of the postal item to be franked,

• the address to be printed, and

• detection of the postal item by each of the detectors (not shown in Figures 1 to 13) and to be transmitted.

• motor control signals,

a dialogue circuit 121 with a print controller 120, and, independently of bus 102:

- 109 stepper motors;

- presence detectors 1 10;

- a display screen 108 connected to the input / output port 103; - A scale 1 12 connected to the input / output port 103 and providing bytes representative of the weight of a postal item;

- a keyboard 101 connected to the input / output port 103 and providing bytes representative of the keyboard keys successively used;

- A feeder 1 15 (known to those skilled in the art under the English name "feeder") connected to the dialogue circuit 121 and which supplies each postal object to the franking machine; and

- A stacker 116 (known to those skilled in the art under the name of "Stacker") connected to the dialogue circuit 121 and which receives each postal object coming from the franking machine. Each of the elements illustrated in FIG. 2 is well known to those skilled in the art of microprocessor circuits and, more generally, information processing systems. These elements are therefore not described here.

The main memory 104 stores data, variables and intermediate processing results in memory registers bearing, in the following description, the same names as the data whose values they store. The random access memory 104 includes in particular registers keeping information representative of the weight of the postal object to be franked, the format of the postal object being processed, the number of postal objects in the batch being processed, each address to print, ascending and descending counter values which correspond to postage amounts already deposited and remaining to be deposited before reloading the machine. These latter registers operate according to techniques known in the field of franking machines (during each franking, when the amount of the down counter is greater than the amount of the franking mark to be deposited, it is decremented by the amount of this mark and the ascending counter is incremented by the same amount). The read-only memory 105 is adapted to keep the operating program of the central processing unit 106, in a register "programl", and the data necessary for the operation of this program.

In fact, the so-called "dead" memory 105 is a rewritable memory which does not erase when the device is switched off. It is only rewritable according to secure procedures and only by certain authorized persons, so that, for the user daily, it appears as a dead memory.

The central processing unit 106 is adapted to implement the flow chart described with reference to FIG. 3

The dialogue circuit 121 which connects the central unit 106 with the print controller 120 comprises.

- an EPLD (acronym for "Embedded Programmable Logic Device" 122), which provides signals from the central unit 106, whose binary level indicates which of two memories 123 and 124 of the circuit 121 is accessed by the central unit 106 and which emits, on the one hand a signal identical to that which it receives as input, and on the other hand, a signal which, before a front of the signal coming from the central unit takes the inverse value of this signal coming from the central processing unit and which, after an edge of this signal changes logic level, the two signals remaining simultaneously at logic level "1" for a predetermined duration around the edge, which implies that none of the memories are accessed during this predetermined period.

The first output signal from the EPLD 122 is connected, on the one hand, on the side of the central processing unit 106, to the memory 123 and, on the other hand, on the side of the print controller 120, to the memory 124, such that when the central unit 106 accesses memory 123, the print controller 120 accesses memory 124

The second output signal of the EPLD 122 is connected, on the one hand, on the side of the central processing unit 106, to the memory 124 and, on the other hand, on the side of the print controller 120, to the memory 123, so that when the central unit 106 accesses the memory 124, the print controller 120 accesses the memory 123.

Bidirectional buffer registers called "transceivers" 126 to 129 and buffer memories ("buffer" in English) 130 to 133 complete the circuit 121, between the EPLD 122 and the memories 123 and 124.

For example, the central unit is composed of the microprocessor

386EX, registered trademark INTEL, memories 123 and 124 are static memories of 128 kilobytes, EPLD 122 is registered trademark

ALTERA, the transceivers 126 to 129 are of reference 74AC16245, and the buffer memories 130 to 133 of reference 74HCT244.

The operation of the central unit 106 is as follows, with respect to printing. After an initialization operation 301 (FIG. 3), the central unit 206 triggers the takeover of the print memory 123, operation 302 (the signal at the output of the central unit 126 has a front). Then, during an operation 303, the central unit 106 loses control of the memory 124 and the print controller 120 loses control of the memory 123 (the output signals from the EPLD are simultaneously equal to " 1 ").

Then, during an operation 304, the central unit 106 takes control of the memory 123 and the print controller 120 takes control of the memory 124 (one of the output signals from the EPLD returns to non no).

Then, during a write operation 305, the central unit 106 writes to the print memory 123 and sends a print order to the print sequencer. This print sequencer is a software application which takes account of the presence of an object to be printed in order to transmit to the print controller a print order which it has received from the central unit 106.

Then, during a test 306, the central unit 106 determines whether the print controller 120 is finishing a print or not. To this end, the central processing unit 106 determines whether it has received an end of printing signal from the print controller 120 or not.

When the result of test 306 is positive, it is repeated, the central processing unit 106 performing other tasks while waiting for the result of test 306 to become negative When the result of the test 306 is negative, the central unit 106 triggers the takeover of the print memory 124 operation 307 (the signal at the output of the central unit 126 has an edge in the opposite direction to the front present at during operation 302) Then, during operation 308, the central processing unit 106 loses control of memory 123 and the print controller 120 loses control of memory 124 (the output signals from the 'EPLD are simultaneously equal to "1") Then, during an operation 309, the central unit 106 takes control of the memory 124 and the print controller 120 takes control of the memory 123 (one of the EPLD output signals becomes non-zero again, but it is not the signal which was non-zero at the end of operation 304)

Then, during a write operation 310 the central unit 106 writes to the print memory 124 and sends a print order to the print sequencer Then, during a test 31 1, the CPU 106 determines whether the print controller 120 is completing a print or not.

When the result of test 31 1 is positive, it is repeated, the central processing unit 106 performing other tasks while waiting for the result of test 31 1 to become negative When the result of test 31 1 is negative, operation 302 is reiterated The operation of the print controller 120 is as follows, with respect to printing After an initialization operation 401 (FIG. 4), the print controller determines, during a test 402, whether , on the one hand it has received a print order, or not, from the print sequencer and if, on the other hand, there is data to print in the memory to which it has access When the result of test 402 is negative, it is repeated When the result of test 402 is positive, during an operation 403, the print controller reads from the memory to which it has access and prints the data read in memory Then the print controller signals the end of printing to the central unit 106, operation 404 It is understood that the test 402 avoids that, the first time that data is loaded into one of the memories 123 or 124, a print is performed, even when no data has been placed in the memory accessed by the print controller 120.

Claims

1. Printing device (1) comprising an image generation means (106) adapted to generate information representative of an image, a print controller (120) adapted to control printing means for printing an image on a printing medium (2, 4), device characterized in that it comprises:

at least two image memories (123, 124), each adapted to store information representative of an image, information generated by said image generation means,

- a switching means (122) adapted, on the one hand, to allow the image generation means, access to one of the image memories and, on the other hand, to allow the controller to printing, access to another of the image memories, and, when the image generation means has generated an image and the print controller has controlled the printing of an image, exchanging the accessible memory by the image generation means and the memory accessible by the print controller.

2. Printing device according to claim 1, characterized in that said memories (123, 124) are constituted by memory maps in which the addresses of the images are identical.

3. Printing process comprising, for each image to be printed:

an image generation operation (305) during which information representative of said image is generated,

a printing control operation (305, 306, 401 to 404) during which printing means are checked to print an image on a printing medium, characterized in that it further comprises: - a memory management operation (307 to 309) during which the information generated during the generation operation is stored in a first memory and the printing control operation is carried out with information coming from a second memory, and

- when the first memory stores all the information representative of an image and the image information stored in ι the second memory has been processed during a print control operation, a switching operation (303, 304 ) during which the memory accessible during the next image generation operation and the memory accessible during the next print control operation are exchanged.

4. Franking machine (1), characterized in that it comprises a printing device according to any one of claims 1 or 2.

5. Franking machine (1), characterized in that it implements a printing process according to claim 3.