JPH01215545A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance not only the efficiency of printing work but also the utilization efficiency of paper, by selecting the first printing data or the second printing data for contraction printing to input the same to an input buffer and printing the selected second printing data when a contraction printing processing part is mounted. CONSTITUTION:An input control part 11 selectively outputs either one of the first printing data inputted through a channel interface part 1 or the second printing data of a fixed system on the basis of the indication of a selection/ indication switch 12. When contraction printing is indicated by a contraction printing selection switch 13, the second printing data is inputted to a page buffer 4 and the second printing data from this page buffer 4 is processed by a contraction printing processing part 14 to perform the printing of the second printing data thinned in lateral and longitudinal directions to paper. Therefore, the data of the fixed system can be printed on the paper at a predetermined contraction ratio. As a result, the efficiency of printing work and the utilization efficiency of paper can be achieved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing device that processes print data, stores it in a page buffer, reads out the print data from the page buffer, and prints.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-162139. In the figure, 1 is a channel interface section, 2 is an input buffer, 3 is a conversion table, and 4 is aゝ-shihatsufa, 5a+5
b is a line buffer that takes out print data from the page buffer 4 and stores one line; 6 is a font memory; 7 is a parallel/serial converter; and 8 is a printer.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, print data sent from a host combinator etc. is received via the channel interface section 1, and
One row of data is stored in the input buffer 2. This one
The row data is converted into an internal code (address information of the font memory 6) by the conversion table 3, and then stored in the page buffer 4. By repeating such operations, when data for one page or more is stored in the page buffer 4, printing is started. When printing, each line of data converted to internal code is stored in the line buffer 5.
a, 5b. Two line buffers 5a and 5b are usually arranged in parallel, and one line buffer 5
While data a or 5b is being printed, data for the next line is prepared in the other line buffer 5b or 5a. A read access to the font memory 6 is performed based on the data in the line buffers 5a and 5b (address information in the font memory 6), and the read character pattern information passes through the parallel/serial converter 7, becomes a dot string, and is sent to the printer 8. and printing is performed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional printing devices are configured as described above, so when trying to print a large amount of so-called fixed format data in a short time due to maintenance and operational requirements, it takes a lot of time. This required additional paper, which caused problems such as deteriorating the efficiency of printing work and making it uneconomical.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it prints the second print data separately from the first print data from the outside.
When the print data from this memory is selected, it is possible to print by reduced printing, and print on a small amount of paper or a small area in a short time. The purpose of the present invention is to obtain a printing device capable of performing the following steps.

[Means to solve the problem]

The printing device according to the present invention includes a memory that stores second print data in a fixed format, outputs the second print data read from the memory from a print data supply unit,
When either the second print data or the first print data from the outside is selected by the input control unit and input into the input buffer, and whether or not to perform reduced printing is selected by the reduced printing selection switch. is processed by the reduced printing processing section.
The configuration is such that the print data of the image is reduced to a reduced size.

[For production]

The input control unit in the present invention selectively outputs either the first print data input through the channel interface unit or the second print data in a fixed format based on the instruction of the selection instruction switch, and When reduced printing is instructed by the selection switch, the second print data is input to the page buffer, and the second print data from the page buffer is processed by the reduced printing processing unit to print on the paper horizontally and horizontally. The second print data thinned out in the vertical direction is printed.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
In the figure, 9 is a memory that stores the second print data to be reduced, 10 is a print data supply unit that performs a process of selectively inputting the second print data in the memory 9 to the input buffer 2, and 11 is a print data supply unit that performs a process of selectively inputting the second print data in the memory 9 to the input buffer 2. an input control unit for selecting whether to input the first print data from the channel interface unit 1 or to input the second print data from the print data supply unit 10;
2 is a selection switch that controls the above selection in the input control unit 11; 13 is a reduced printing selection switch that selects whether to print in reduced printing; and 14 is for thinning out dots in the horizontal direction and thinning out lines in the vertical direction. This is the reduced printing processing section that actually performs reduced printing.

The parts with the same symbols as in Fig. 2 are the same as in Fig. 2.
or a corresponding portion thereof, and therefore, redundant explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be explained.

First, by operating the selection switch 12, the input control section 1
1 receives the first print data or the second print data from either the channel interface section 1 or the print data supply section 10.
This command instructs input of the print data into the input buffer 2.

When the input control unit 11 instructs the channel interface unit 1 to input the first print data to the input buffer 2, the same processing as in conventional printing devices is performed, and the first print data is input to the input buffer 2. Data is printed.

On the other hand, when the input control unit 11 instructs the print data supply unit 10 to input the second print data to the input buffer 2, the print data supply unit 10 inputs the second print data to the memory 9.
One line of second print data is extracted from the input buffer 2 and inputted into the input buffer 2.

This second print data is converted into an internal code by the conversion table 3 and then stored in the page buffer 4. The procedure from this point on until printing is the same as that of conventional printing apparatuses.

That is, in printing, the second print data for each line is transferred to the line buffers 5a and 5b, read access to the 7-ont memory 6 is performed using the data in the line buffers 5at5b, and the read character pattern information is subjected to parallel-to-serial conversion. This is done by forming a dot array through a device 7 and sending it to a printer (printing section) 8. In this case, by confirming that the reduced printing processing unit 14 is installed,
The reduced printing processing unit 14 performs reduced printing of the second print data. In this case, the reduced printing processing unit 14
If it is not implemented, normal printing of the first print data is performed.

In the above embodiment, the reduction printing processing unit 14 is provided to perform reduction printing at a fixed reduction ratio, but a switch is provided to specify the reduction ratio of each item. It may also be possible to perform printing at a reduced reduction ratio.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the first print data from the outside or the second print data for reduced printing stored in the memory K is selected by the input control section, [inputted into the input buffer, and the reduced printing processing section is implemented, the selected second print data is printed, so data in a fixed format can be printed on paper at a predetermined reduction ratio, which improves the efficiency of printing work. This has the effect of increasing the efficiency of paper usage and providing excellent economic efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing device. 1 is the channel interface section, 2 is the input buffer, 3
is the conversion table, 4 is the page buffer, and 8 is the printer (
9 is a memory; 10 is a print data supply unit; 11 is a printing unit);
1 is an input control section, 13 is a reduced printing selection switch, and 14 is a reduced printing processing section. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts. Patent applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation No. 1r! lJ

Claims (1)

[Claims] A channel interface section that outputs first print data input from the outside, an input buffer that temporarily stores the first print data input through this channel interface section, and a print output from this input buffer. In a printing device having a page buffer that stores data and a printing section that prints the first print data from the page buffer, second print data in a fixed format different from the first print data is printed. a print data supply unit that outputs the second print data read from the memory; and a print data supply unit that outputs the second print data read from the memory; and a print data supply unit that controls the print data supply unit or the channel interface unit to output the first print data or the second print data. an input control section that inputs any of the print data of No. 2 into the input buffer;
What is claimed is: 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a reduction printing selection switch for selecting whether or not to perform reduction printing of print data; and a reduction printing processing section that performs the reduction printing.