JPH01200969A - image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an image to be recorded even on paper of a different size, by a method wherein enlargement and reduction of a received data, or alteration of recording density, or alteration of a received clock rate is performed by a variable magnification means according to a detected paper width data. CONSTITUTION:A certain amount of an image data is received by a receiving means according to a recording paper size selected and designated by a recording paper selection means (a). Enlargement and reduction of an image data, or alteration of printing recording density, or alteration of a receiving clock rate is performed by a variable magnification means (e) via an operation means (d) according to an actual recording paper width detected by a recording paper width detection means (c) and a designated size. Then, an image corresponding to the paper width is recorded by a recording means 5. Thus, though recording paper of a size not established by the recording paper selection means is used, image recording corresponding to said recording paper width can be performed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to image recording devices such as copying machines, facsimile machines, correspondence editing devices (word processors), computer terminal devices, etc., and particularly relates to image recording devices such as copying machines, facsimile machines, correspondence editing devices (word processors), and computer terminal devices. The present invention relates to an image recording device having the present invention.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in this type of device, if the type of recording paper selected by the device and the paper width detected by the recording paper width detection device are different, an error state occurs or the transmitted image Previously, only the print data was reduced by cutting the data (print data) to the width of the recording paper.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In such a conventional example, only a prescribed size of recording paper that can be selected by the recording paper selection means attached to the image recording device can be used, and the paper size that cannot be selected by the recording paper selection means can be used. When it is desired to record an image using recording paper, there are disadvantages in that an error occurs as described above, and only the width of the recording paper is recorded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides an image recording apparatus that is capable of recording an image according to the width of the recording paper even if a recording paper of a size not set by the recording paper selection means is used. The purpose is to provide

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides recording paper selection means for selecting and specifying a prescribed recording paper size, and a fixed amount corresponding to the size selected and designated by the recording paper selection means. a receiving means for receiving image data; a recording paper width detecting means for detecting the width size of the actually set recording paper to be fed; and a recording paper selection means that uses the width size data detected by the recording paper width detecting means and A calculation means that calculates the ratio of the width size data represented by the selected and specified size, and based on the ratio calculated by the calculation means, enlargement/reduction of a certain amount of image data by data complementation/reduction; Alternatively, there is a scaling means that generates output data corresponding to the size of the recording paper actually set by changing either the recording density or the receiving clock rate, and the output data output from the scaling means. It is characterized by comprising a recording means for recording an image based on the image.

[Function] With this configuration, the present invention allows the receiving means to receive a certain amount of image data corresponding to the recording paper size selected and designated by the recording paper selection means, and the actual recording paper width detected by the recording paper width detection means. Enlarging or reducing the above-mentioned fixed amount of image data transmitted by the scaling means according to the specified size and
Alternatively, it is possible to record an image according to the width of the recording paper by changing the printing or recording density or the reception clock rate, so that it is possible to record the image without wasting the width of the paper. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform image recording that eliminates all of the conventional drawbacks such as printing on a location other than the recording paper, giving an error warning, and being able to print data only as wide as the recording paper. Also, as a result,
Image data created on a host computer can be automatically enlarged or reduced simply by using paper of a different size.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral a denotes a recording paper selection means for selecting and specifying a prescribed recording paper size. Reference numeral b denotes a receiving means for receiving a certain amount of image data corresponding to the size selected and designated by the recording paper selection means a. C is a recording paper width detecting means for detecting the width size of the actually set recording paper to be fed. Reference numeral d denotes a recording paper width detection means, and a calculation means for calculating the ratio between the width size data detected by the recording paper width detection means C and the width size data represented by the size selected and designated by the recording paper selection means a. e is based on the ratio calculated by the calculating means d, and the receiving means enlarges or reduces the fixed amount of image data already received by supplementing or reducing the data, or changes the recording density or receives the image data. This is a scaling means that generates output data corresponding to the size of the recording paper actually set by changing one of the clock rates. f is a recording means that records an image based on the output data output from the variable magnification means e.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic circuit configuration of a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer or data transfer device (hereinafter referred to as host) that generates recording information, and transmits print image data, which is recording information, line by line in the horizontal direction (printing direction). Image data for each line output from the host 1 is transferred to the receiving circuit 4 at a clock rate of a predetermined frequency by a trigger signal 15 generated from the control section 2. The control unit 2 controls the entire printer, and includes, for example, an MPtl (microprocessor), an RO as shown in FIG. 4 of the MPtl, which stores control programs and data in advance.
M (read-only memory), RAM (random access memory), which is used as a work area and includes an area for storing the paper width and the number of data according to the paper width, etc.
A timer that measures time in response to instructions from the tl and outputs an interrupt signal to the MPtl when the instructed time is counted, and a device 10 that performs human output of various data and control signals.
It is equipped with input/output) ports, etc.

An image buffer memory 3 stores image data sent from the host 1 through the receiving circuit 4 for at least lines corresponding to the number of recording elements of the print head 6 (64 lines in this embodiment). Image data from the host 1 is sequentially stored in the image buffer memory 3 under the control of the control section 2. The receiving circuit 4 includes a counter 41 that can set the number of image data for one line to be received, and outputs a detection signal 42 to the control section 2 when the number of data set by the control section 2 is received.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a data converter, which vertically converts data from the image buffer memory 3 into lines corresponding to the number of recording elements of the print head 6 (64 lines in this embodiment).
Each row (64 dots) is read out and output as print data corresponding to the printing position of the print head 6. The print head 6 has recording elements of 64 dots arranged in a row in the vertical direction.
It performs print recording by scanning in the horizontal direction, and is, for example, a recording head such as a thermal head or an inkjet head. A driver 7 drives each recording element of the print head 6 based on print data from the data converter 5.

8 is a carriage motor that horizontally scans the carriage (see reference numeral 17 in FIG. 3) on which the printing pad 6 is mounted;
A carriage driver 9 drives the carriage motor 8 based on control data from the control section 2. Reference numeral 10 denotes a paper feed motor capable of executing paper feed in units corresponding to the pitch of the recording elements of the print head 6, and 11 a driver that drives the paper feed motor 10 based on control data from the control section 2. Both the carriage motor 8 and the paper feed motor 9 are constituted by stepping motors in this embodiment.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a paper width detection device for detecting the paper width of paper set in the printer, and in this embodiment, it is mounted on a carriage 17 as shown in FIG. A detection signal 13 obtained from this paper width detection device 12 is output to the control section 2. Reference numeral 14 denotes an information input unit, such as a key panel (marked with a display lamp), which can specify the size of the paper to be set, and can specify a paper size such as A4 or B5. Reference numeral 16 denotes a command signal such as a paper size specified by the host 1, and the paper size can be specified not only from the information manpower section 14 but also directly from the host 1.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of a printer applicable to the present invention. As described above, the paper width detection device 12 and the print recording head 6 are mounted on the carriage 17. 18 is paper that is a print recording medium; 19 is a platen that conveys the paper 18;
The platen 19 is connected to the above-mentioned paper feed motor IO and can transport the paper 18 in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of control operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5(A) and 5(B) show a data interpolation method in data enlargement processing when the width is wider than the specified paper size, and FIG. 6(8).

(8) shows a data reduction method in data width reduction processing when the width is narrower than the specified paper size. In both FIGS. 5 and 6, (A) shows the original data, and (B) shows the recorded dots after the enlargement or reduction operation is performed.

Next, the operating procedure of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

First, in step SO in FIG. 4, host 1 in FIG.
A print start command is received by a command signal 16 from the printer. Flags F and F' on the RAM 21 used to determine whether or not to enlarge or reduce data (variable magnification) in the next step St.
Clear to zero. Next, in step S2,
The number of dots corresponding to the print recording width of the paper 18 according to the prescribed paper size input and specified by the host 1 or the information processing unit 14 f) is set in the counter 41 in the receiving circuit 4.

Next, in step S3, the print recording paper 18 is fed by driving the paper feed motor IO via the driver 11. Note that when continuous paper is set on the platen 19, the process of step S3 is not performed.

Next, in step S4, the paper width of the paper 18 fed into the printing and recording apparatus is detected using the detection signal 13 of the paper width detection device 12. In this embodiment, since the paper width detection device 12 is mounted on the carriage 17, the paper width is detected by horizontal movement of the carriage 17.

In the next step S5, it is determined whether the detected paper width and the paper width of the designated paper size are the same, and if they are the same, the process jumps to step SIO, which will be described later. If they are not the same, it is determined whether the paper width is wide in the next step 56, and if the detected paper width is wider than the width of the specified paper size, the data enlargement processing flag F is turned on in step S7. If the detected paper width is narrower than the specified paper size width, the data reduction processing flag F' is turned on and the process proceeds to the next step S9.

The number of dots (M
) and the number of paper width dots detected by the paper width detection operation (
Set the ratio VAN of N).

Next, proceeding to step 510, a counter included in the RAM 21 that counts the number of operating nozzles of the print head 6;
Clear to. In step Sll, a trigger signal 15 for transmitting print image data from 1 to 1 scan is output to the host 1, and in step 512, the print image data is received, and the image buffer stores it in the memory 3 and stores it in the counter in the RAM 21. Increase the value by 1. The processing operations of steps S11 to S13 described above are repeated until this counter reaches the number of nozzles of the print head. for example,
If the print head 6 has 64 nozzles, steps 511-513 are repeated until the counter reaches 64, that is, until print image data for 64 rasters is received.

Next, the process proceeds to step 515, where the data enlargement processing flag F
It is determined whether or not the switch is turned on and off, and if the negative determination is negative, the process advances to step S17, and if the positive determination is on, the process advances to step 516, as shown in FIG. 5(A), (
As shown in B), (NM) number of dots are interpolated between M number of dots and printing is performed. For example, when the above-mentioned ratio is M:N=1:2, the image data (dots) in FIG. By adding the image, the image is enlarged twice and printed and recorded. When the print recording is completed, the process advances to step S20, which will be described later.

On the other hand, in step 517, the data reduction IA filling flag F'
If the determination is negative, the normal printing operation #3 is performed in step 519, and the process proceeds to step S20. At step 517, the flag F
6(A) when ' is on.

As shown in CB), (MN) number of dots are reduced between M number of dots and printing is performed. For example, M:
When N=8:7, one dot data is deleted every eight dots.

In step S20, it is determined whether printing has been completed for a specified number of lines based on the specified paper size, and if not, the process returns to step 510 and the above-described operations are repeated. If printing is completed in step S20, the process advances to the next process. Note that step S18. The method of processing data reduction/enlargement by interpolation or deletion in step 518 is not limited to the above method. For example, the feed width of the platen 19 in the row direction is made variable by the paper feed motor lO in accordance with the scaling ratio (M:N) for data reduction/enlargement mentioned above, and the data is reduced/enlarged in the horizontal and vertical directions. For example, the magnification ratio should be made equal.

As another embodiment of the present invention, instead of performing print recording by data interpolation or deletion in steps S16 and S18 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, a method may be considered in which print recording is performed by changing the print recording density. FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B) are timing charts for explaining another embodiment based on this idea.

FIG. 7(A) shows the switching timing of the motor phase and the timing of the print head 6 in the case of normal print recording without changing the print recording density, and α is the timing of the carriage motor 8.
is the switching time of one motor phase, and β is the switching time of one motor phase of the print head 6.
This is the formation time of one dot. In FIG. 7(A), it is assumed that there is one dot for one motor phase. Figure 7 (A
), the timing chart in FIG. 7(B) shows a case where the paper width of the paper 18 set on the platen 19 is wider or narrower than the specified size, and in this case, one motor of the carriage motor 8 If printing is performed by multiplying the time for forming one dot by the print head 6 for each phase by N7M, printing can be performed without interpolating or deleting data.

Conversely, as shown in FIG. 8, printing can be performed by multiplying the switching time of the l motor phase of the carriage motor 8 by M/N without changing the one-dot forming time β of the print head 6. Conceivable.

In addition, if the paper width of the paper 18 set on the platen 19 is wider or narrower than the specified size when receiving image data, the sampling frequency of the normal receiving circuit is changed to increase the number of received data. It is also conceivable to change the value by N7M times in accordance with the paper width and print at the normal print recording timing. The timing in this case is
Although shown in Figures (A) and (B), Figure (A) shows the trigger signal 15, the timing of transmitting image data from the host l, and the reception when the specified paper size and the detected paper width match. The timing of the sampling clock of circuit 4 is shown. When the image data from the host 1 is transmitted at a period of γ, the sampling frequency of the receiving circuit 4 is also γ when the paper widths match. Then, the sampling frequency of this receiving circuit 4 is modulated by the paper width ratio. That is, by setting the clock frequency to Mγ/N, the receiving circuit 4 receives the image data for the paper width of the specified size, and
This figure (B) shows the timing when printing.

Furthermore, in this embodiment described above, the paper width detection device 12 is mounted on the carriage 17 (see FIG. 3), but it is not mounted on the carriage 17 but above the platen 19 in FIG. Of course, it may be arranged at specific positions corresponding to various paper sizes.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the scaling means enlarges or reduces the received image data, changes the recording density, or changes the reception clock rate according to the paper width data detected by the paper width detection means. As a result, the recording method can record images according to the width of the recording paper, so it is possible to print on a location other than the recording paper, issue an error warning, and print only data that fits the width of the recording paper. It is possible to perform image recording that eliminates all of the conventional drawbacks such as. As a result, there is also the effect that image data created by a host computer can be automatically enlarged or reduced simply by using paper of a different paper size.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a control system in an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is an external view of the main parts of Figure 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the control section in FIG. 2; FIGS. 5(A) and (B) show an example of the dot configuration when image data is enlarged in the embodiment of the present invention. 6(A) and (B) are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the dot configuration when image data is reduced in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7(A), (B), and FIG. 8. 9 is a timing chart showing the recording timing in another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B) are timing charts showing the timing at the time of image data reception in still another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Host (host computer or data transfer device), 2... Control unit, 3... Image buffer memory, 4... Receiving circuit, 5... Data converter, 6... Print head, 8... Carriage motor, lO... Paper feed motor, 12... Paper width detection device, 14... Information input unit, 18... Recording paper, 19... Platen. Figure 1 - tp customer do... throat... ○ ○... O - - 1 key 1.2 jig running reed direction ・ O ○○o@ooo ○ 0 @ 000 ○ - ~-th
5 Fig.
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Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Recording paper selection means for selecting and specifying a prescribed recording paper size; Receiving means for receiving a certain amount of image data corresponding to the size selected and specified by the recording paper selection means; , recording paper width detection means for detecting the width size of the recording paper actually set to be fed; and data on the width size detected by the recording paper width detection means and the size selected and specified by the recording paper selection means. a calculation means for calculating the ratio of the width size to the data represented by the data; and based on the ratio calculated by the calculation means, the certain amount of image data is enlarged or reduced by data complementation or reduction, or the recording density is or a reception clock rate to generate output data corresponding to the size of the recording paper actually set, and the output data output from the scaling means. 1. An image recording device comprising: a recording means for recording an image based on the image data;