JP2003200617A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can transfer data at a high speed to a printer mechanism part by reducing a data amount of image data generated by developing data received from a host. <P>SOLUTION: The printer is provided with a printer control part, a printer mechanism control part and the printer mechanism part. The printer control part has a rectangular image data-generating means for generating rectangular image data by dividing printing data in image data to rectangular regions, a position information-acquiring means for acquiring position information of generated rectangular image data and a data send means for sending rectangular image data having acquired position information added thereto to the printer mechanism control part. The printer mechanism control part has a printing output means for outputting received rectangular image data as video data on the basis of position information to the printer mechanism part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device that generates print image data based on data received from a host and prints it out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general printing apparatus, print data received from a host is expanded by a printer control unit to generate a bitmap image for each page, and the bitmap image is transferred to the printer mechanism control unit to perform print processing. Is going. At that time, a method is widely used in which a bitmap image developed for high-speed processing is temporarily stored in a memory, and then the next page is expanded. By doing so, since the print data can be expanded without waiting for the print process in the printer mechanism control unit, the printer control unit can also perform the expansion process efficiently and the printer mechanism control unit can also continuously perform the print processing. It can be carried out. However, if the bitmap image is simply held in the memory as it is, there arises a problem that the amount of memory used increases according to the number of held pages. Therefore, at present, a method is used in which the bitmap image is compressed and then stored in the memory, and the compressed data is restored at the time of printing before being passed to the printer mechanism control unit.

[0003]

However, the above compression / decompression method has a problem that the total processing time becomes long because it takes time to compress and restore the bitmap image. There is also a method of using a dedicated circuit such as a compression / decompression LSI for performing high-speed processing, but in that case, there is a problem that the hardware configuration becomes expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device capable of transferring data to a printer mechanism unit at high speed by reducing the data amount of image data generated by expanding data received from a host. .

[0005]

A printer device according to the present invention develops data received from a host into image data, transmits the expanded image data to a printer mechanism control unit, and the received image data. A printer device that includes a printer mechanism control unit that outputs video data to the printer mechanism unit and a printer mechanism unit that performs printing at a predetermined resolution based on the video data. Of the print data of (1) is divided into rectangular areas, rectangular image data generation means for generating rectangular image data, position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the generated rectangular image data,
Data transmission means for transmitting the rectangular image data to which the acquired position information is added to the printer mechanism control unit,
The printer mechanism control unit is configured to have a print output unit that outputs the received rectangular image data as video data to the printer mechanism unit based on the position information.

Further, the rectangular image data generating means is an image data scanning means for scanning the image data positioned at XY coordinates with a predetermined position as a reference in the X coordinate direction, and there is no print data in the immediately preceding scanning line, so that the present image data is generated. When there is print data in the scan line, start position acquisition means for acquiring the Y coordinate of the current scan line as a start position, and image data is scanned from the acquired start position, and the start point of the print data is scanned for each scan line. And a print data position obtaining means for obtaining the X coordinate of the end point, and a print data for the immediately previous scan line, and for obtaining the Y coordinate of the current scan line as the end position when there is no print data for the current scan line. 1 end position acquisition means, and when the end position is detected, each X coordinate of the minimum value of the start points and the maximum value of the end points acquired for each scanning line Start position, based on each Y-coordinate of the end position, it is configured to have a rectangular data extracting means for extracting print data in a rectangular from the image data.

With these configurations, print data (for example, a portion having a black dot in a monochrome printer) is extracted into a rectangle from the image data, so that the blank data portion outside the rectangle can be deleted. As a result, the memory capacity can be reduced, and the transfer speed from the printer control unit to the printer mechanism control unit can be increased during printing. Further, the rectangular image data generating means is configured to detect the difference between the start point acquired by the current scan line and the minimum value of the start points up to the previous scan line, the end point acquired by the current scan line, and the end point up to the previous scan line. If the sum of the difference from the maximum value of is larger than a predetermined value, a second end position acquisition means for acquiring the Y coordinate of the immediately previous scan line as the end position and the current scan line for extracting new rectangular data. And a start position updating means for setting the start position of the scan line.

With this configuration, the sum of the differences in the X coordinates of the print data of the scanning line is compared with a predetermined value, and when the sum of the differences in the X coordinates is larger than the predetermined value, a large amount of extra blank data is included. A scanning line that changes is detected and the scanning line is determined as the end position. Then, by obtaining the rectangular image data based on the end position and the start position, it is possible to reduce the extra blank data included in the rectangular data.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a printer device according to an embodiment. The printer device 1 includes a printer control unit 2, a printer mechanism control unit 3, and a printer mechanism unit 4. The printer control unit 2 includes a line control unit 5, a print data expansion unit 6, a memory unit 7, a rectangular control unit 8 and a transfer control unit 9. The line control unit 5 controls to receive print data from the host. The print data expansion unit 6 expands the print code data or image data received from the host into image data page by page and stores the image data in the memory unit 7.

The rectangle control unit 8 controls the image data stored in the memory unit 7 to extract a portion required for printing page by page into a rectangular type. The transfer control unit 9 controls the transfer of data such as rectangular image data stored in the memory unit 7 to the printer mechanism control unit 3. The printer mechanism control unit 3 performs overall control of the printer mechanism unit 4 including control of video data. Further, it has a function of controlling the start point and the data length of the video data in the main scanning direction based on the position information sent from the printer control unit 2. Although the printer control unit 2 and the printer mechanism control unit 3 have different configurations in this embodiment, these functions may be configured as a single control unit.

The printer mechanism section 4 carries out a process for executing printing. FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of processing of the printer apparatus of the embodiment. The printer device 1 connected to the host receives the print data from the host by the line control unit 5, develops the received print data as image data in page units, and stores it in the memory unit 7 (step S1).

From the stored image data, the rectangle controller 8 extracts the rectangle image data required for printing as a page image object (S2 step). FIG. 3 shows an explanatory diagram of the rectangular image data extraction processing. Figure 3
The page image data shown in (a) is positioned at XY coordinates with a predetermined position as a reference (0, 0), rectangular image data is extracted, and four page image objects shown in FIG. 3B are acquired. .

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of the rectangular image data extraction processing of the embodiment. First, the initialization processing of the related variables (S21
Step). That is, variables X1 (the X coordinate start point of the object), X2 (the X coordinate end point of the object),
Initialize Y1 (starting point of Y coordinate of object), Ysize (size of object in Y direction), and Y (Y coordinate of processing raster).

Next, raster data processing is performed to extract the range in the X direction in which print data exists in raster units in order from the first raster of image data in page units acquired from the memory unit 7 (step S22). FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of raster data processing. First, the variable X (X of the processing raster
Coordinate), Xstart (black data start point in raster), Xend
Initialize (black data end point in raster) (step S22a).

Next, it is determined in order from the coordinate 0 in the scanning direction (step S22i) whether or not the coordinate data is black (step S22b), and the X coordinate of the first black data found is set to the variable Xsta.
Set to rt (step S22c). If no black data is found, the process ends (step S22h). Next, set the final X coordinate of the raster data to X (step S22d),
From that value, it is determined in reverse order (S22g step) whether or not the coordinate data is black (S22e step), and the X coordinate of the first black data found is set in the variable Xend (S22f step), so that in raster units. The range in the X direction where the black data exists can be extracted.

Next, X extracted by the raster data processing
The object formation process (step S23 in FIG. 4) of expanding the range in which the black data in the direction exists in the Y direction and extracting the page image object of the rectangular image data is performed.
Repeat it until the final line (S24 step in Fig. 4)
. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart A of the object forming process.

First, the presence / absence of black data in the previous raster is checked, and if there is black data, the process proceeds to the object forming process B shown in FIG. 7 (step S23a). Next, if black data does not exist in the raster and the previous raster, an object is not generated as a blank continuation.
(S23b step). Next, if there is no black in the previous raster but black data in the current raster, set the values of Xstart and Xend to variables X1 and X2 respectively as the first raster of the page image object of the rectangular image data. Then, set the Y coordinate of the current raster to the variable Y1 and set Ysize.
Is set to 1 and the next raster process starts (S23ca to S23cd steps).

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart B of the object forming process. If there is black data in the previous raster, the presence or absence of black data in the current raster is checked (S23d step). When there is a large difference in the start position and end position of the black data between the current raster and the previous raster when there is black data, two rectangular image data are handled rather than being treated as a page image object of one rectangular image data. It is possible to reduce the total size of the object data by dividing the page image objects. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the X, Y coordinate information of the object start point and the X, Y size information of the object are stored at the beginning of the data portion of the page image object of each rectangular image data as a header portion. . It has a resolution of 300 dpi and the maximum paper size is A3.
Printer, the maximum size of page image object of rectangular image data is A3 size (when the entire paper is black)
The X and Y sizes are 3300 dots each (0xCE
4) Since it is 5100 dots (0x13EC), the header portion is an area of 2 bytes x 4 bytes of 8 bytes (64 bits). Therefore, the difference between the start point and the end point of the black data between both rasters is compared (S23e step), and if the difference is greater than 64, the object closing process for the previous raster is performed.
(S23ga step) and create new object for the current raster, that is, Xstart for variable X1 and X2 for variable
Set Xend, Y1 to Y and Ysize to 1 (S23gb ~ S23ge
Step).

As a result, the object can be divided into two. Further, when the difference between the start point and the end point of the black data between both rasters is smaller than 64 (step S23e), the variable X1 of the immediately preceding raster is Xstart of the current raster.
Are compared (S23f step), and if Xstart is smaller than X1, X1 is set to the value of Xstart (S23fb step), and X
Compare end to X2 (S23fc step), Xend to X2
If it is larger, Xend is set to the value of Xend (step S23fd), and the value of Ysize is further incremented by 1 (S23f).
e step), and the next raster processing starts.

Next, when black data exists only in the previous raster and it is checked whether the current raster is blank data (step S23d), if it is blank data, object termination processing of the current object (step S23ha) Then, the related variables X1, X2, Y1 and Ysize are initialized (S23hb to S23he steps). FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of the object termination processing.

In the object termination process, the values of the variables X1 and Y1 are first set as X and Y coordinates of the starting point of the current object as header information creation, and the X of the current object is calculated from the difference between the variables X1 and X2 and Yzise. The size and Y size are determined (step S26a). Next, the header information is stored in the memory (step S26b), and then the current object data is extracted from the page data and stored in the memory (S2).
6c step).

After the above processing is performed up to the final line (step S24 in FIG. 4), if there is a page image object of rectangular image data that is being created (S25
(Step) By performing object termination processing (Step S26), the extraction processing of the rectangular image data for each page is completed. Next, an object transfer process is performed (S3 step in FIG. 2). At the time of printing, the printer control unit 2 transfers the page image object together with the header information to the printer mechanism control unit 3.

Next, the printer mechanism control unit 3 controls the video signal of the printer mechanism unit 4 based on the received data to perform the printing process (step S4 in FIG. 2). FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of the printing process. First, the printer mechanism control unit 3 performs a necessary initialization process (S3a step), and then performs a reading process (S3b step) of the page image object sent from the printer control unit 2, and based on the header information, the page image is read. Set the start coordinates and size information of the object (S3c step). That is, the X coordinate start point is set to the variable A.
, The Y coordinate start point is the variable B, and the X direction size is the variable C.
Then, the size in the Y direction is set to the variable D. Next, during actual video signal control, Wait processing (S3d to S3f steps) is performed up to the start line (B line) of the page image object, and then video data transmission processing is performed.

In the video data transmission processing, after the Wait processing up to the start dot (A dot) of the page image object, the video data is transmitted based on the data (C dot) of the corresponding line of the page image object, and then the line end. Performs Wait processing up to dots. Next, this process is repeated for the size of the page image object in the Y direction (for the size D) of this video data transmission process (S3g-
S3k step).

As described above, the video data transmission process for one page image object is completed, and the process is repeated by the number of page image objects (S3l step). Then, after the video data transmission process of the final page image object is completed, the Wait process (S3m step) for the remaining lines in the page is performed to complete the video signal process of one page, and the printer mechanism unit 4 receives the video signal from the video signal. Then, a print image is formed on the paper and printing processing is performed.

As a result, according to the present invention, the start point and the end point of the print portion are obtained from the beginning and the end for each raster line of the developed page image, so that one or more print data portions are used as page image objects. Since the memory is stored in units of rectangles, the memory can be reduced at high speed only by software. Compared to the case where compression / decompression is implemented by software, this is a simple and high-speed process because no special arithmetic processing is required, and since decompression processing such as decompression is not involved Even if you look at it, it leads to a reduction in processing time and can be speeded up.

Further, by transmitting the print data to the printer mechanism control unit 3 in units of page image objects instead of the entire image data developed by the printer control unit 2, it is possible to reduce the data transfer amount to the printer mechanism control unit 3. It will be possible. Furthermore, by making sure that the page image objects do not overlap in the video main scanning direction at all, the page image objects are not subjected to further image processing or conversion processing at the time of printing, and are directly transmitted to the printer mechanism as video data only by video signal control. It becomes possible to transmit, and a configuration suitable for higher speed processing can be obtained.

When this system is applied to a spot color printing apparatus, the basic configuration and processing are the same as those described above, but in the case of color, the header information is given the color information of the page image object. May be. That is, after developing the print data, the printer control unit 2 divides the portion of the page image data corresponding to each bit-mapped color where the print data exists into one or more minimum rectangle units, and divides each into a page image object. Is stored in the memory together with the color information, the starting point information, and the size information. In this case, page image objects may overlap in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction between different colors. At the time of printing, the printer control unit 2 transfers the start point / size information and the rectangular page image object to the printer mechanism control unit 3 for color printing corresponding to the color information, and the printer mechanism control unit 3 starts the start point and size information. Video signal control is performed based on the above, and a print image is formed by forming a print image on a paper by using a page image object as video data. As described above, in the case of spot color printing, since the print data to be colored is generally only a part of the page such as a company logo or some characters (emphasized characters, etc.), the effect of the present invention is exerted. .

When the portion of the bit-mapped page image where the print data is present is divided into one or more minimum rectangular units, the page image is divided into bits (dots).
Although the page image object extraction is performed in units, it is also possible to process the divided size as a multiple of the access unit (for example, 32-bit unit) in which the printer mechanism control unit 3 handles video data.

At this time, when the rectangular page image object is extracted from the image data,
The acquired X coordinate is corrected to be a multiple of 32 bits. For example, when the start point of the X coordinate is 120, 1
Of the values less than 20, the closest multiple of 32 to 120, 96, is chosen and that value is taken as the starting point for the modified X coordinate. When the end point of the X coordinate is 2000,
Among the values larger than 2000, 2016, which is the multiple of 32 closest to 2000, is selected, and the value is set as the end point of the corrected X coordinate. After that, the page image object is extracted based on the corrected start point and end point and the start position and end position of the Y coordinate.

As a result, since the printer mechanism control unit 3 can process the page image object transferred from the printer control unit in the access unit, the bit of the page image object is corrected in the access unit. There is an effect that it becomes unnecessary and can be processed at high speed.

[0032]

According to the present invention, the portion to be printed is extracted from the page image data in units of one or more rectangles and stored in the memory, so that the memory can be reduced and the image data transfer speed at the time of printing is also high. Becomes

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of processing of a printer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of rectangular image data extraction processing.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of rectangular image data extraction processing.

FIG. 5: Flow chart of raster data processing

FIG. 6 is a flowchart A of object formation processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart B of the object forming process.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of object closing processing.

[Fig. 9] Flowchart of print processing

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Printer device 2 Printer control unit 3 Printer mechanism controller 4 Printer mechanism 5 line control unit 6 Print data development section 7 Memory section 8 rectangle control unit 9 Transfer control unit

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C087 AB05 BA01 BA02 BA03 BA07                       BD40 BD46 CA05                 5B021 AA02 BB01 BB05 CC05 DD04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer control unit for expanding data received from a host into image data and transmitting the expanded image data to a printer mechanism control unit, and outputting video data to the printer mechanism unit based on the received image data. A printer device including a printer mechanism control unit for performing printing at a predetermined resolution with video data, wherein the printer control unit divides print data in image data into rectangular areas, Rectangular image data generation means for generating rectangular image data, position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of the generated rectangular image data, and rectangular image data to which the acquired position information is added is sent to the printer mechanism control section. The printer mechanism control unit has data transmission means, and the received rectangular image data is used as position information. Printer apparatus characterized by having a print outputting means for outputting the printing unit as a basis to the video data. 2. The rectangular image data generating means includes image data scanning means for scanning in the X coordinate direction image data positioned at XY coordinates with a predetermined position as a reference, and there is no print data on the immediately preceding scanning line. If there is print data in the scan line, the start position acquisition means for acquiring the Y coordinate of the current scan line as the start position, and the image data is scanned from the acquired start position, and the start point of the print data for each scan line And print data position acquisition means for acquiring the X coordinate of the end point, and when there is print data in the previous scan line and no print data in the current scan line, the Y coordinate of the current scan line is acquired as the end position. 1 end position acquisition means, and when the end position is detected, X-coordinates of the minimum value of the start points and the maximum value of the end points acquired for each scanning line, Start position, based on each Y-coordinate of the end position, the printer apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a rectangular data extracting means for extracting print data in a rectangular from the image data. 3. The rectangular image data generating means includes a difference between a start point acquired by the current scan line and a minimum value of start points up to the immediately preceding scan line, an end point acquired by the current scan line, and the immediately preceding scan line. If the sum of the difference from the maximum value of the end point of is larger than the predetermined value, the second end position acquisition means for acquiring the Y coordinate of the immediately previous scan line as the end position, and the current scan line as new rectangular data. 3. The printer apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising start position updating means for setting a start position of a scanning line for extraction.