JP2000207146A - Data processing device, print control device, data processing method for data processing device, device driving method for print control device, and storage medium storing computer readable program - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To significantly reduce the time required for receiving print data transferred from a data processing apparatus and obtaining a print processing result of the first page, and to reduce the time required for each device used for print processing. This is to optimize the drive timing. SOLUTION: Based on performance information acquired and stored from a printer 121, a host computer 101 predicts and calculates in advance an image development processing time at which print data of a first page can be output from an engine unit 122, and adds it to the print data. And controlling the start timing of each scanner motor and heater roller by comparing the drawing processing time added to the transferred print data with the start time of each scanner motor and heater roller.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, a print control apparatus, a data processing method of a data processing apparatus, and a data processing method for performing printing processing by communicating between a printing apparatus and a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium. The present invention relates to a device driving method of a control device and a storage medium storing a computer-readable program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view for explaining the configuration of a printing apparatus of this type, and corresponds to, for example, the configuration of a laser beam printer (LBP).

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1500 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores print information (character codes and the like), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from an externally connected host computer; A corresponding character pattern, form pattern or the like is created according to the information, and an image is formed on a recording medium such as a recording sheet.
Reference numeral 1501 denotes an operation panel.
D and an LCD display are arranged.

Reference numeral 1000 denotes a printer controller, and L
It controls the entire BP body 1500 and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer. The controller unit 1000 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1502. The laser driver 1502 is a semiconductor laser 150
3 for turning on / off a laser beam 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 according to an input video signal. Laser light 1504
Is swung in the left-right direction by the rotating polyhedron 1505a and scans and exposes the electrostatic drum 1506.
a rotates by the scanner motor 1505b.

As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1506. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1507 provided around the electrostatic drum 1506, and then transferred to a recording sheet.

A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1508 mounted on the LBP main body 1500, and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 1509 and transport rollers 1510 and 1511. And supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

The recording paper onto which the toner has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing unit 1513 having a built-in heater via a conveyance unit 1512, is fixed by pressure and heat, and is output to a paper discharge tray 1514.

[0008]

The conventional printing apparatus is constructed as described above.
In recent years, the speed of the scanner 500 has been remarkably improved, and accordingly, a higher rotation speed of the scanner motor 1505b is required.

In general, the scanner motor 1505b is a mechanical component and rotates at a high speed, so it has a life. In order to prevent deterioration, the scanner motor 1505b is normally stopped in a standby state.

Then, in response to a print start command from the controller unit 1000, the rotation operation of the scanner motor 1505b is started. After the rotation of the scanner motor 1505b starts, it takes a certain amount of time to reach a predetermined number of rotations at which printing can be performed. With the increase in the number of rotations, the time is several seconds to several tens of seconds and cannot be ignored. It's time.

However, in the above conventional example, the controller unit 1000 analyzes the print information from the host computer, completes the preparation for printing, and starts the rotation of the scanner motor 1505b when the printing operation is started for the engine unit. However, there is a problem that the first print is delayed.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the heater in the fixing unit 1513 also needs to have a large heat capacity with the increase in speed, the time from start-up until printing becomes possible is also increased, and the scanner motor There is a problem that the first print is delayed as in the case of the 1505b.

Conversely, when the heater is turned on at the same time as the start of data reception from the host, if the controller unit 1000 takes a long time to develop an image, wasteful power is consumed. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data processing apparatus which prints a first page in advance based on performance information obtained and stored from a printing apparatus. The image development processing time that can output data from the engine unit is estimated and calculated, added to the print data and transferred, and the drawing processing time added to the transferred print data and the activation time of each device are compared to each other. By controlling the activation timing of the device, the time required to receive the print data transferred from the data processing device and obtain the print processing result of the first page is significantly reduced,
In addition, a data processing apparatus, a print control apparatus, a data processing method of the data processing apparatus, and a data processing method capable of optimizing the drive timing of each device to be used for a printing process and preventing power consumption while preventing deterioration of each device. An object of the present invention is to provide a device driving method of a control device and a storage medium storing a computer-readable program.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium. Generating means for generating print data that can be printed,
Storage means for storing data processing capacity information of the printing apparatus, and print data generated by the generating means based on the data processing capacity information stored in the storage means, in page units required by the printing apparatus for image expansion processing And a transfer unit that transfers the predicted drawing time calculated by the predicting unit and the print data to the printing apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the storage unit stores data processing capability information of the printing apparatus obtained through communication with the printing apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an image developing process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium and a driving process of an engine unit including a plurality of devices are controlled. A print control device for receiving print data including a predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing device; and a device for the drawing predicted time received by the receiving unit and any one of the engine units. And control means for controlling the activation timing of any of the devices by comparing the activation time required for activation of the device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit determines that the predicted drawing time received by the receiving unit is longer than a start time required for starting any device of the engine unit. In this case, before starting the image development processing of the print data, the start timing of any of the devices is controlled so as to start any of the devices of the engine unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above devices, the rotating polyhedral mirror deflects a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image expansion processing in a predetermined direction. Is a scanner motor for rotationally driving.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above devices, the device is a heater roller that is driven to apply heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developer is transferred and conveyed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data processing method for a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium. A generation step for generating possible print data;
A prediction step of calculating, based on the stored data processing capability information, the print data generated in the generation step, a drawing prediction time per page required by the printing apparatus for image development processing; and a drawing calculated in the prediction step. A transfer step of transferring the estimated time and the print data to the printing apparatus.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the data processing capability information of the printing apparatus is obtained and stored by communication with the printing apparatus.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, an image developing process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium and a driving process of an engine unit including a plurality of devices are controlled. A device driving method for a print control device, wherein the predicted drawing time calculated by the received data processing device is compared with a start time required to start any device of the engine unit. And a driving step of activating the device at a timing independent of the image development processing.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the driving step, when it is determined that the received predicted drawing time is longer than a starting time required for starting any device of the engine unit, Before starting the image development processing of the print data, one of the devices of the engine unit is started.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above devices, the rotary polyhedron mirror deflects a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image expansion processing in a predetermined direction. Is a scanner motor for rotationally driving.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above devices, the device is a heater roller that is driven by applying heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developer is transferred and conveyed.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a computer readable program for controlling a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium. A generating step of analyzing the instruction to generate print data printable by the printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus generating the print data generated by the generating step based on the stored data processing capability information, for the image processing to be performed by the printing apparatus. A computer-readable program having a prediction step of calculating a predicted drawing time in page units and a transfer step of transferring the predicted drawing time calculated in the prediction step and the print data to the printing apparatus is stored in a storage medium. It was done.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the data processing capability information of the printing apparatus, a computer readable program which is obtained and stored by communication with the printing apparatus is stored in a storage medium. .

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, an image developing process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium and a driving process of an engine unit including a plurality of devices are controlled. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program to be executed, and comparing the received predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing apparatus with a start time required to start any device of the engine unit. In addition, a computer-readable program having a drive step of starting any one of the devices at a timing independent of the image development processing is stored in a storage medium.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the driving step, when it is determined that the received predicted drawing time is longer than a starting time required for starting any device of the engine unit, A computer-readable program for starting any device of the engine unit is stored in a storage medium before the image development processing of the print data is started.

[0031]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing system to which a printing control apparatus and a data processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied. Computer (hereinafter referred to as host) 101
And the printing device 121 constitute a communication medium by the transmission line 14
0 corresponds to the case where communication is possible.

In the host 101, reference numeral 104 denotes a CPU.
Then, a drawing command issued by an operating system (hereinafter referred to as an OS) or an application program to be executed is stored in the storage device 105 including, for example, a RAM. The drawing command is converted into a page description language (hereinafter, referred to as PDL) that can be interpreted by the printer 121 by a printer driver (printer control program) executed by the CPU 104, and transmitted through the communication control devices 106 and 126 and the transmission line 140. , PDL
Transferred as data and stored in the storage device 12 of the printer 121.
5 is stored.

A display device 102 displays input information from the input device 103 and the like. The host 101 is configured to be connectable to an external memory (not shown), for example, a hard disk, and stores a system control program including a printer driver and an application program.

In the printer 121, a storage device 125 is controlled by a CPU 124 operated by a program stored in the storage device 125. Storage device 1
The PDL data stored in the storage device 25 is processed by the CPU 124, and the CPU 124 creates bitmap data and stores the bitmap data in the storage device 125.

The bitmap data stored in the storage device 125 is stored in the printing device 12 which is a so-called printer engine unit.
2 and the image information is recorded on the recording paper. An operation panel 128 is provided with a display and operation keys.
The CPU 124 includes a timer 124a. The timer 124a causes the CPU 124 to generate an interrupt at a predetermined timing when it is running.

Hereinafter, a characteristic configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

A data processing device (host computer 101) capable of communicating with a printing device (printer 121) via a predetermined communication medium (including a network and an interface) configured as described above, Generating means (a printer driver, which is stored in the storage device 105) for analyzing the data and generating print data printable by the printing device; and storage means for storing data processing capability information of the printing device. A predicting unit that calculates the predicted drawing time of the print data generated by the generating unit based on the data processing capability information stored in the storage unit in units of pages required by the printing apparatus for the image developing process (the CPU 104 105 or a control program stored in a memory resource (not shown)). Transfer means for transferring the predicted drawing time calculated by the step and the print data to the printing apparatus (the CPU 104 performs transfer processing via the communication apparatus 106 based on a control program stored in the storage apparatus 105 or a memory resource not shown) The host computer can predict and calculate the drawing processing time required for image development processing of the print data to be transferred, and reduce the prediction processing load on the printing apparatus that should process the print data. Data can be processed quickly.

The storage means (for example, the storage device 105 constituted by a hard disk or the like) stores print data data processing capability information obtained through communication with the printing device, and thus transfers print data. It is possible to accurately and speedily calculate the drawing processing time peculiar to the printing apparatus to be performed.

Further, a print control apparatus for controlling image development processing and driving of an engine unit including a plurality of devices based on data received by communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, A receiving unit (communication device 126) for receiving print data including a predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing device, and a start-up of one of the engine unit and the predicted drawing time received by the receiving unit Control means (CP) for comparing the required start-up time and controlling the start-up timing of any of the devices.
U124 is controlled by the engine unit 1 based on a control program stored in the storage device 125 or a memory resource (not shown).
22 (for example, controlling a scanner motor, a heater roller, etc.), there is no need to predict and calculate the drawing processing time for the print data of the first page at the time of receiving the print data. Can be activated, the first print time can be shortened, the deterioration of each device can be prevented, and the power consumption can be significantly reduced.

If the control means determines that the predicted drawing time received by the receiving means is longer than the activation time required to activate any of the devices in the engine section, the control means determines whether or not the print data of the print data has been received. Before starting the image development processing, the start timing of any of the devices is controlled so as to start any of the devices of the engine unit. Therefore, the start timing of any of the devices of the engine unit is delayed as much as possible. This makes it possible to effectively prevent the device from deteriorating due to unnecessary driving, and to reduce power loss.

Further, any one of the above-mentioned devices rotationally drives a rotary polygon mirror which deflects a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image development processing in a predetermined direction. Since it is a scanner motor, of the engine part,
The start timing of the scanner motor, which is most likely to deteriorate, can be delayed as much as possible, and the scanner motor can be effectively prevented from being deteriorated due to unnecessary driving.

Further, since any one of the above devices is a heater roller which is driven by heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developing material is transferred and conveyed, the start of energization to the heater roller having the largest power consumption in the engine portion. The timing can be delayed as much as possible, and the power consumption of the heater roller due to unnecessary driving can be effectively reduced.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a processing procedure executed by the printer driver executed by the CPU 104 of the host 101 shown in FIG. Corresponding. Note that (1) to (11) indicate each step.

First, the printer driver obtains a drawing command issued by the OS or an application program (1), and determines whether or not the obtained drawing command indicates the end of one page (2). If it is determined that the processing has not been completed, the drawing command is converted into PDL data (3), the converted PDL data is stored in the memory (4), and the process returns to step (1) to acquire the next drawing command.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (2) that the rendering command for one page has been converted to PDL data,
A drawing time estimation processing routine (details will be described later) for estimating the time required for the printer to perform the drawing processing of one page of PDL data is executed (5).

Then, it is determined whether or not the page currently being processed is the first page in a series of print processing (hereinafter referred to as a job) (6). Next, it is determined whether the prescan instruction is valid (details will be described later) (7). If the pre-scan command is determined to be valid, the pre-scan command is sent to the printer (8).
The data is transferred to the printer (9).

On the other hand, in step (6),
If it is determined that the page is not the page, and step (7)
If it is determined that the prescan instruction is not valid,
The estimated drawing time estimated in step (5) is sent to the printer (11), and the process proceeds to step (9).

Next, it is determined whether or not all pages have been output (10). If it is determined that there are still pages to be output, the process returns to step (1) to acquire the next drawing command, and If you determine that the page has been output,
The print control process ends.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the second data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the detailed procedure of the drawing time estimation processing routine shown in FIG. In addition, (1) to (5) indicate each step.

First, a variable for accumulating the total drawing time for one page is initialized (1), the first PDL command is acquired (2), and the time required for the command to be processed by the printer is stored in the storage device. Calculation is performed based on the printer information stored in 105 (3). The printer information stores performance information indicating the processing capability of the printer, that is, the time required for the printer to process each PDL command.

Next, the result of step (3) is added to the integration variable (4), it is determined whether or not integration for one page has been performed (5), and integration has not yet been performed for PDL for one page. If it is determined, return to step (2),
If the next PDL command is acquired and it is determined that the integration for one page has been performed, the drawing time estimation process ends.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a memory map of the storage device 105 in the host 101 shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, the storage device 105
Work area 401 and area 40 for storing printer driver
2 and an area 403 for storing device information of the printer 121.
And an area 404 for storing an OS and an area 405 for storing an application program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the first data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure executed by the CPU 124 of the printer 121 shown in FIG. In addition, (1)-
(7) shows each step.

First, the CPU 121 determines that the estimated drawing time (Ta) transferred from the host 101 is the time (Tb) required to activate the scanner motor in the printer engine unit 122.
It is determined whether it is greater than (1). If it is determined that the predicted drawing time is shorter (Ta ≦ Tb), the scanner of the printer engine 122 is started (2).

On the other hand, in step (1), the predicted drawing time (Ta) is equal to the activation time (Tb) of the scanner motor.
If it is longer (Tb <Ta), the time to activate the scanner, that is, Tc (Tc = Tb−Ta) is set as the count end value, and the scanner activation count at the time of a timer interrupt is started (7). Note that the count value and the end value of the scanner activation count are secured in a work area in the storage device 125. The details of the process at the time of the timer interrupt will be described later.

Next, the PDL transferred from the host 101
The bitmap data is developed from the data (3), it is determined whether or not the development processing of the PDL data for one page has been completed (4). If it is determined that the processing has not been completed, the process returns to step (3). If it is determined that the processing has been completed, the bitmap data expanded in the memory is transferred to the printer engine and printed (5). Next, it is determined whether or not all pages have been printed (6). If it is determined that there are still pages to be printed, the process returns to step (3). If it is determined that all pages have been output, printing is performed. The process ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the second data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure at the time of the timer interrupt of the CPU 124 shown in FIG. (1) to (4) show steps.

First, it is determined whether or not the scanner activation count value has ended (1). If it is determined that the count value has not ended, the count value is counted up (2), and the process returns.

On the other hand, in step (1), the count value has ended (that is, the time Tc when the scanner should be started after the counting operation of the scanner start count is started).
Has elapsed), the printer engine 122
(3), disables the operation of the scanner activation count (4), and returns.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a memory map of the storage device 125 in the printer 121 shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, the storage device 125
A work area 701, an area 702 for storing a control program of the CPU 124, a reception buffer area 703 for temporarily storing information sent from the host, and an area for storing bitmap data obtained by expanding PDL data sent from the host. 704.

According to the above processing, when printing the first page, the rotation of the scanner motor is performed with respect to the printer engine at the optimal timing prior to the completion of the image development processing necessary for the start of printing. You can get started.

Hereinafter, the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

A data processing method of a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium configured as described above, or a data processing method capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium A storage medium storing a program that can be read by a computer that controls the apparatus, and a generation step of analyzing a predetermined drawing command and generating print data that can be printed by the printing apparatus (step (3) in FIG. 2). And a prediction step (step (5) in FIG. 2) of calculating, based on the stored data processing capability information, the print data generated in the generation step and calculating the predicted drawing time in page units required by the printing apparatus for image expansion processing. ) And a transfer step (steps (9) and (11) in FIG. 2) for transferring the predicted drawing time calculated in the prediction step and the print data to the printing apparatus. Since the host computer can predict and calculate the drawing processing time required for the image development processing of the print data to be transferred in advance, the prediction processing load on the printing apparatus to process the print data can be reduced and the print data can be promptly calculated. Can be processed.

Since the data processing capability information of the printing apparatus is obtained and stored by communication with the printing apparatus, the drawing processing time unique to the printing apparatus to which the print data is to be transferred is accurately and speedily calculated. be able to.

Further, a data processing method of a print control apparatus for controlling an image expansion processing based on data received by communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium and a driving processing of an engine unit including a plurality of devices. Comparing the predicted drawing time calculated by the received data processing device with the activation time required to activate any device of the engine unit, and comparing any one of the devices with the image development process. Is a driving step (steps (1) to (3) in FIG. 5 or FIG.
(1) to (3)), it is not necessary to predict and calculate the drawing processing time for the print data of the first page at the time of receiving the print data, and each device can be started at an optimum timing. As a result, it is possible to shorten the first print time, prevent deterioration of each device, and significantly reduce power consumption.

In the driving step, when it is determined that the received predicted drawing time is longer than the activation time required to activate any device of the engine unit, the image development processing of the print data is started. Before starting any device of the engine unit, it is possible to delay the start timing of any device of the engine unit as much as possible, and to effectively prevent device deterioration due to unnecessary driving. And power loss can be reduced.

Further, any one of the devices is a scanner motor for rotating and driving a rotary polygon mirror for deflecting a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image development processing in a predetermined direction. Therefore, it is possible to delay the start timing of the scanner motor, which is most likely to deteriorate in the engine unit, as much as possible, and it is possible to effectively prevent the scanner motor from deteriorating due to unnecessary driving.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment,
A case has been described in which the start timing of the scanner motor is controlled based on the estimated drawing time and the scanner activation time estimated on the host side, but the fixing unit is controlled based on the estimated drawing time and the heater activation time estimated on the host side. May be configured to control the heater activation timing. Hereinafter, the embodiment will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the third data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure executed by the CPU 124 of the printer 121 shown in FIG. In addition, (1)-
(7) shows each step.

First, the CPU 124 determines whether or not the predicted drawing time (Ta) transferred from the host 101 is longer than the time (Td) required to activate the heater in the fixing unit in the printer engine unit 122 (1). . if,
When it is determined that the predicted drawing time is shorter (Ta ≦ T
d), the heater of the printer engine 122 is started (2).

On the other hand, in step (1), if the predicted drawing time (Ta) is longer than the heater activation time (Td) (Td <Ta),
That is, Te (Te = Td-Ta) is set as the count end value, and the heater activation count at the time of the timer interruption is started (7). The count value and end value of the heater activation count are secured in a work area in the storage device 125.
The details of the process at the time of the timer interrupt will be described later.

Next, bitmap data is developed from the PDL data transferred from the host (3), and it is determined whether or not the development of one page of PDL data is completed (4). If it is determined, the process returns to step (3). If it is determined that the process is completed, the bitmap data expanded on the memory is transferred to the printer engine and printed (5). Next, it is determined whether or not all pages have been printed (6). If it is determined that there are still pages to be printed, the process returns to step (3). If it is determined that all pages have been output, printing is performed. The process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the fourth data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure at the time of the timer interrupt of the CPU 124 shown in FIG. (1) to (4) show steps.

First, it is determined whether the heater activation count value has ended (1). If it is determined that the count value has not ended, the count value is counted up (2), and the process returns.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (1) that the count value has ended (that is, the time Te for activating the heater has elapsed since the start operation of the heater activation count has started), the printer The heater of the engine 122 is started (3), the count operation of the heater start count is disabled (4), and the routine returns.

In each of the above embodiments, the performance information of the printer is described as being stored in the memory on the host side in advance. However, the host may acquire the performance information from the printer as needed. For example, it may be obtained in the system configuration executed when the power of the host is turned on.

In each of the above-described embodiments, printing is performed after a bitmap memory for one page is expanded. However, a method of processing by dividing one page into a plurality of bands may be used. Needless to say.

Hereinafter, the characteristic configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the device driving method of the printing control apparatus configured as described above, any one of the devices driven by the driving step (steps (1) to (3) in FIG. 8) is transferred with the developing material. Since the heater roller is driven by heat and pressure to the recording medium conveyed, the start timing of energization to the heater roller having the largest power consumption in the engine section can be delayed as much as possible, and the heater roller can be driven by unnecessary driving. Power consumption can be effectively reduced.

The configuration of a data processing program readable by a printing system to which the print control device and the data processing device according to the present invention can be applied will be described below with reference to a memory map shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium storing various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the print control device and the data processing device according to the present invention can be applied.

Although not shown, information for managing a group of programs stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, a creator, etc. are also stored, and information dependent on the OS or the like on the program reading side, for example, a program is stored in the storage medium. An icon or the like for identification display may also be stored.

Further, data dependent on various programs is also managed in the directory. Also, a program for installing various programs on a computer, and a program for decompressing a program to be installed when the program to be installed is compressed, may be stored in some cases.

The functions shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 in this embodiment may be executed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when a group of information including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Things.

As described above, the storage medium storing the program codes of the software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or the apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MP) of the system or the apparatus is provided.
It goes without saying that the object of the present invention is also achieved when U) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

Examples of a storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, and C
D-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, etc. can be used.

The computer executes the readout program code, not only to realize the functions of the above-described embodiment, but also to execute an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) And the like perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included.

According to each of the above embodiments, when printing a document or the like, the scanner motor can be preceded without waiting for the end of the actual image development processing based on the estimated time of the image development processing from the host computer. Can be activated, and the first print time based on the received print information can be greatly reduced while preventing the scanning system from deteriorating.

Further, when printing a document or the like, based on the estimated image development processing time from the host computer,
It is possible to control the heater ahead of time without waiting for the end of the actual image development processing, and to reduce wasteful power consumption and greatly reduce the first print time based on the received print information. it can.

[0094]

As described above, the first embodiment according to the present invention is described.
According to the invention, a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium, a generating unit configured to analyze a predetermined drawing command and generate print data printable by the printing device, Storage means for storing data processing capacity information of the printing apparatus, and print data generated by the generating means based on the data processing capacity information stored in the storage means, in page units required by the printing apparatus for image expansion processing And a transfer unit for transferring the predicted drawing time calculated by the predicting unit and the print data to the printing apparatus, so that the drawing required for the image development process of the transferred print data is provided. The processing time can be predicted and calculated in advance by the host, and the processing load on the printing device that should process the print data can be reduced and the print data can be processed quickly. Kill.

According to the second aspect, the storage means stores the data processing capability information of the printing apparatus obtained by communicating with the printing apparatus, so that the printing apparatus has a unique rendering The processing time can be calculated accurately and quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an image developing process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium and a printing process for controlling an engine unit including a plurality of devices are driven. A control unit, receiving means for receiving print data including a predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing apparatus; and starting the drawing predicted time received by the receiving means and any device of the engine unit And control means for controlling the start timing of any one of the devices by comparing the start time required for the device, so that when print data is received, there is no need to predict and calculate the drawing processing time for the print data of the first page, Each device can be started at the optimal timing, shortening the first print time and preventing deterioration of each device. It is possible to, it is possible to suppress the power consumption dramatically.

According to the fourth aspect, the control means determines that the drawing prediction time received by the receiving means is longer than the start time required for starting any device of the engine unit. Controls the start timing of any one of the engine units so as to start any one of the engine units before starting the image development processing of the print data. The delay can be made as long as possible, and the device can be effectively prevented from deteriorating due to unnecessary driving, and the power loss can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the above devices, the rotating polyhedral mirror for deflecting the laser beam of the semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image development processing in a predetermined direction. Since the scanner motor is driven, the start timing of the most easily degraded scanner motor in the engine unit can be delayed as much as possible, and the scanner motor can be effectively prevented from being deteriorated due to unnecessary driving. .

According to the sixth aspect, any one of the devices is a heater roller that is driven to apply heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developer is transferred and conveyed. The timing to start energizing the large heater roller can be delayed as much as possible, and power consumption of the heater roller due to unnecessary driving can be effectively reduced.

According to the seventh and thirteenth aspects, there is provided a data processing method of a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium, or a method of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program for a possible data processing apparatus, a generating step of analyzing a predetermined drawing command to generate print data printable by the printing apparatus, and a stored data processing A prediction step of calculating, based on capability information, the print data generated in the generation step, a drawing prediction time per page required for the printing apparatus to perform image development processing; a drawing prediction time calculated in the prediction step; And a transfer step of transferring data to the printing apparatus. Prediction can be calculated, it can be promptly processed print data to reduce the prediction processing load in the printing apparatus to process the print data.

According to the eighth and fourteenth aspects, the data processing capability information of the printing apparatus is acquired and stored through communication with the printing apparatus, so that the drawing processing unique to the printing apparatus to which the print data is to be transferred is performed. Time can be calculated accurately and quickly.

According to the ninth and fifteenth aspects, the image developing process based on the data received by communicating with the data processing device via the predetermined communication medium and the driving process of the engine unit including a plurality of devices are performed. What is claimed is: 1. A device driving method for a printing control apparatus, comprising: a storage medium storing a computer-readable program for controlling a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium; The predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing device is compared with a start time required to start any device of the engine unit, and any of the devices is started at a timing independent of the image development processing. Since there is a driving process, there is no need to predict and calculate the drawing processing time for the print data of the first page when print data is received. Will be able to activate the respective device at a timing, the shortening of the first print time, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the device, power consumption can be suppressed remarkably.

According to the tenth and sixteenth aspects, the driving step includes the step of: determining that the received predicted drawing time is longer than the activation time required to activate any device of the engine unit. Since any device of the engine unit is started before the image development processing of the print data is started, the start timing of any device of the engine unit can be delayed as much as possible, and unnecessary driving can be performed. Device degradation can be effectively prevented, and power loss can be reduced.

According to the eleventh aspect, any one of the devices rotates a rotary polyhedral mirror that deflects a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image expansion processing in a predetermined direction. Since the scanner motor is driven, the start timing of the most easily degraded scanner motor in the engine unit can be delayed as much as possible, and the scanner motor can be effectively prevented from being deteriorated due to unnecessary driving. .

According to the twelfth aspect, since any one of the devices is a heater roller driven to apply heat and pressure to the recording medium on which the developer is transferred and conveyed, the device consumes the least power among the engine units. The timing to start energizing the large heater roller can be delayed as much as possible, and power consumption of the heater roller due to unnecessary driving can be effectively reduced.

Therefore, the time required for receiving the print data transferred from the data processing apparatus and obtaining the print processing result of the first page is greatly reduced, and the drive timing of each device used for the print processing is optimized. It is possible to reduce power consumption while preventing deterioration of each device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system to which a print control device and a data processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the data processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a second data processing procedure in the data processing device according to the present invention.

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage device in the host shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage device in the printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a third data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a fourth data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the print control device and the data processing device according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view illustrating the configuration of this type of printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 host computer 102 display device 103 input device 104 CPU 105 storage device 106 communication device 121 printer 122 printing device 124 CPU 125 storage device 126 communication device 128 operation panel unit

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium, wherein the generating device analyzes a predetermined drawing command to generate print data printable by the printing device. Storage means for storing data processing capability information of the printing apparatus; and print data generated by the generating means based on the data processing capacity information stored in the storage means in a page unit required by the printing apparatus for image expansion processing. A data processing apparatus comprising: a prediction unit that calculates a predicted drawing time; and a transfer unit that transfers the predicted drawing time calculated by the prediction unit and the print data to the printing device. 2. The data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores data processing capability information of the printing device obtained through communication with the printing device. 3. A print control device that controls an image expansion process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium, and a drive process of an engine unit including a plurality of devices. A receiving unit that receives print data including a predicted drawing time calculated by the data processing apparatus; and a drawing start time received by the receiving unit and a start time required to start a device of the engine unit. Control means for controlling the activation timing of any of the devices in comparison. 4. When the control unit determines that the predicted drawing time received by the receiving unit is longer than a start time required for starting one of the devices of the engine unit, the control unit determines whether or not the print data of the print data is received. Before starting the image development process,
4. The print control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a start timing of one of the devices is controlled so as to start one of the devices. 5. A scanner motor for rotating a rotary polygon mirror for deflecting a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image development processing in a predetermined direction. 5. The printing control device according to claim 3, wherein 6. The printing control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one of the devices is a heater roller that is driven to apply heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developer is transferred and conveyed. 7. A data processing method of a data processing device capable of communicating with a printing device via a predetermined communication medium, the method comprising analyzing a predetermined drawing command and generating print data printable by the printing device. A printing process that is performed by the printing device on the basis of the stored data processing capability information to calculate a drawing prediction time per page required for the image development process; A data processing method for a data processing apparatus, comprising: a transfer step of transferring the estimated drawing time and the print data to the printing apparatus. 8. The data processing capability information of the printing apparatus includes:
8. The data processing method according to claim 7, wherein the data is acquired and stored by communication with the printing apparatus. 9. A device driving method for a print control device that controls an image expansion process based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium and a driving process of an engine unit including a plurality of devices. Comparing the received predicted drawing time calculated by the received data processing device with the activation time required to activate any of the devices of the engine unit, and comparing any of the devices with the image development process. A driving method for a print control device, comprising a driving step of starting at an independent timing. 10. The image forming process of the print data is started when it is determined that the received predicted drawing time is longer than a start time required for starting any device of the engine unit. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein any one of the devices of the engine unit is started before starting. 11. A scanner motor for rotating a rotary polyhedral mirror for deflecting a laser beam of a semiconductor laser emitted based on the bitmap image data subjected to the image development processing in a predetermined direction. 11. The device driving method for a print control device according to claim 9, wherein: 12. The device driving device according to claim 9, wherein any one of the devices is a heater roller that is driven to apply heat and pressure to a recording medium on which a developer is transferred and conveyed. Method. 13. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program for controlling a data processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, wherein the printing apparatus analyzes a predetermined drawing command and stores the program. Generating print data that can be printed by the printer, and calculating, based on the stored data processing capability information, the estimated drawing time in page units required by the printing apparatus for image expansion processing of the print data generated in the generation process A storage medium storing a computer-readable program, comprising: a prediction step of performing the calculation; and a transfer step of transferring the drawing prediction time calculated in the prediction step and the print data to the printing apparatus. 14. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the data processing capability information of the printing device is acquired and stored through communication with the printing device. 15. A computer-readable program that controls image expansion processing and driving of an engine unit including a plurality of devices based on data received by communicating with a data processing device via a predetermined communication medium. A storage medium storing the drawing prediction time calculated by the received data processing device and a start time required to start any device of the engine unit, and comparing any one of the devices A storage medium storing a computer-readable program, comprising a driving step to start at a timing independent of image development processing. 16. The image forming process of the print data is started when it is determined that the received predicted drawing time is longer than a start time required for starting any device of the engine unit. 16. The storage medium storing a computer-readable program according to claim 15, wherein any one of the devices of the engine unit is started before.