JPH0272980A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a laser beam printer, a wire tod printer, which creates image data on a RAM based on input data from a host computer, etc., and prints the data. The present invention relates to printing devices such as printers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional techniques will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional printing device.

In the figure, 1 is an interface unit that receives and receives data from the host computer (hereinafter simply referred to as the host), 2 is a text creation unit that analyzes the data received from host 1 and converts it into internal data that can be developed into an image, and 3 is An image development section 4 develops the text created by the text creation section 2 into actual print image data;
Image expansion area (video band buffer (hereinafter referred to as VBB)) that stores printed image data
, random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM)
It is composed of. Reference numeral 6 denotes a printing unit that extracts print image data on the VBB at a predetermined timing and prints it on paper as characters or images.

Note that the expandable capacity of the VBB4 print image data is only a fraction of the printing range of the paper.

The operation of the conventional printing apparatus constructed as described above will now be described.

First, the data (character code) received from the host via the interface unit 1 is converted into predetermined information (information indicating the writing position in the VBB, etc.) by the text creation unit 2.
is added and temporarily stored there. When the text corresponding to one page is created and stored in this way, the text is developed into print image data in order from the beginning and stored in the VBB4. When the print image data is stored in the capacity of the VBB 4 (the state is shown in FIG. 5), the print unit 5 takes out the print image data for each raster and prints the characters and images on the paper. Form and go. When print image data is extracted for each raster in this way, each time
An empty area will appear in BB4 (see Figure 6). When a vacant area becomes available, the text creation section 2 stores print image data corresponding to the next line of characters and images.

By repeating this series of operations, one page of crying characters can be created.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the size of the VBB is fixed, so when the amount of characters or images to be printed on one page increases, the speed at which they are taken out and printed by the printing unit 5 increases. On the other hand, a so-called overrun error occurs in which characters and images cannot be developed in time to VBB.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides an input data discriminator that discriminates the content of input data within one page input from a host computer, and a discrimination output from this input data discriminator. A VBB capacity setting section is provided for switching the VBH capacity based on the amount of data in one page, and when the amount of data in one page is large, the YBB size is increased, and conversely, when the amount of data is small, the VBBO size is decreased. .

Effect: By the above means, in the present invention, V suitable for the content of input data is
The size of the BB can be set, the frequency of occurrence of overrun errors can be greatly reduced, and the entire memory including the VBB can be used effectively.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an interface section, 2 is a text creation section, 3 is an image development section, 4 is a VBB section, and 6 is a printing section.The above structure is the same as that of the conventional example. Reference numeral 6 denotes a data amount determination unit that determines the amount of data for one page created by the text creation unit 2, and 7 a VEB amount that sets an optimal VBB amount for the data amount determined by the data amount determination unit 6. This is the settings section.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the actual circuit configuration of the printing device of the embodiment.

In the figure, 8 is a ROM (IJ-only memory) 9
It executes all instructions according to the program stored in the CPU (Central Processing Unit), 10 is an interface for communicating data with the host computer, 11 is a VB
12 is a random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM);
B B 4 is provided in the RAM 12. Further, the text data created by the text creation section 2 is also stored in an area different from the area occupied by the VBB 4 in the RAM 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a printing section which performs actual printing based on the VBB4 button.

The operation of the printing apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, input character data for one character into the host computer (step (→)), create text corresponding to that character data (step (b)), and at this time set the value of the counter that counts the number of data to 1. (step (c)), -tL to determine whether one page of text has been created or not (step))
, if it has not finished, return to step (a) to capture the next data.

If completed, the CPU 8 determines whether the count value by the data number counter exceeds 10,000 (step (e)); if it does, calculates the capacity of the VBB as 128 KB (step (e)); Also, if the count value does not exceed 10,000, check whether the count exceeds 5,000.
If PU8 is clearly a step (g)), then VB
Calculate the capacity of H as 64KB (step (a)), and if it is not exceeded, calculate the capacity of 78B as 48KB (
Step (su)), VBB calculated as above
Accordingly, the CPU 8 assists the VBB capacity setting section 11 and sets the VBB capacity.
Set the B capacity (Steps)), then start developing print image data for VBH. Step Q →
), it is determined whether the printing image data has been expanded to the capacity that is possible for the VBB, that is, whether the initial expansion has been completed (step (wo)), and if it has not been completed, it is waited until it is completed, and then If so, start printing (step (
Wa)). The printing operation in step (W) is as described in the conventional example. According to this embodiment, when the amount of data for one page is large, the capacity of the VBB is increased, and the data that can be printed on the VBB is developed before printing starts.The amount of initial development is increased, and an overrun error occurs. When the amount of data for one page is small, V
By reducing the capacity of the BB so that the RAM can be used for purposes other than VBB, a great effect can be obtained in that the RAM can be used more effectively.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a means for changing the capacity of the VBB according to the amount of input data, so that when the amount of data is large, the capacity of the VBB is increased to increase the initial amount of expansion to the VBB. This has the effect of reducing the frequency of overrun errors, and when the amount of data is small, the VBB capacity can be reduced and the reduced memory capacity can be used for other purposes. This is very effective as it also has the effect of making effective use of memory.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the actual circuit structure, Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of a conventional example. , 6th
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the development of character data on VBB, No. 6
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between development of character data on VBB and printing. 1...Interface part, 2...Text creation part, 3...Development part, 4...
VBB section, 5...Printing section, 6...Data amount determining section, 7...VBB amount setting section. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and 1 other person
1 Figure 1112

Claims (1)

[Claims] a storage means comprising a first area for storing at least one page of data such as a character code and a second area for storing print image data corresponding to the data such as the character code; a text creation unit that creates and stores text data in the first area; and an image development unit that creates print image data corresponding to the text data stored in the first area and stores it in the second area. a printing means for extracting print image data from the second area and printing it; and the first area occupied in the storage means according to the amount of data inputted and stored in the first area. A printing device characterized by comprising a capacity setting means for increasing or decreasing the capacity of the printer.