JPH0422267A - 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] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that inputs and prints document information containing a mixture of binary data and multivalued data from an external device such as a host computer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in document information in which characters and images are mixed, the character data is usually composed of binary data, and the image data is composed of multi-valued data. When printing such document information with a printer, multivalued data such as images is developed into a binary pattern using a dither method, etc.
Either synthesizes it with binary data such as characters on a bitmap memory and outputs it, or performs a logical OR between binary data such as characters and multi-value dot data obtained by processing image data using PWM (pulse width modulation). In the past, printing was performed by outputting the video signal as a video signal.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, as in the conventional example, simply calculating the logical sum of multi-value data and binary data will result in the difference between, for example, the character data shown in FIG. 4(A) and the image data shown in FIG. 4(B). When they are mixed, the characters “1989.1” in Figure 4 (A)
014'' data will be buried in the image data shown in Figure 4 (B) and will not be visible at all. To prevent this, for example, text data may be printed with white outlines. However, there are the following problems in realizing this using conventional methods: ■CPU is required to convert multivalued data to binary data.
The load on the printer is quite large (and takes time), reducing the throughput of the printer.Also, converting multivalued data to binary data using hardware increases the circuit scale, which increases the cost of the printer. ■Generally, when outputting images in high quality, 150dp is used.
It is said that if there are 64 gradations with i, it is possible to print at the same level as gravure, but in order to achieve 150 dpi and 64 gradations (area gradation) with a binary printer, 150 x 8 = 1200
A printer with a resolution of dpi (when printing one pixel of 64 gradations using 8x8 dots) is required. Furthermore, when converting 64-gradation data at 150 dpi to binary data, 16 Mbytes of memory is required for A4 size data at 1200 dpi. On the other hand, if 64 gradations at 150 dpi are used as multi-value data, the memory capacity for A4 size paper is 250K x 6 sizes and 1.6M bytes. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and by specifying a portion where multi-value data and binary data overlap and converting the corresponding portion of binary data and multi-value data, It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that can easily distinguish binary data even when value data and multi-value data overlap.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the printing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a printing device that inputs and prints print information composed of binary data and multi-value data from an external device, and designation information that specifies the density of the binary data that is outputted overlapping with the multi-value data. a converting means for converting the binary data according to the specified information; a multi-value data converting means for converting multi-value data overlapping with the binary data according to the specified information; and binary data converted by the converting means. and printing means for printing a portion designated by the designation information using the multi-value data converted by the multi-value data conversion means.

[Effect]

In the above configuration, the binary data is converted according to the specification information that specifies the density of the binary data that is output while overlapping with the multi-value data, and the multi-value data that overlaps with the binary data is converted according to the specification information. Convert. Using the binary data and multi-value data thus converted, the portion designated by the designation information is printed. Thereby, even if multivalued data and image data overlap, binary data can be easily distinguished.

【Example】

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Description of Printing Apparatus (FIGS. 1 and 2)] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the print data processing section of the printing apparatus of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, 101 is a human control unit which inputs character codes and image data sent from a host device such as a postcomputer, and outputs binary data such as character codes to a binary page memory 102. Multi-value data such as image data is output to a multi-value memory 103. 1
A binary page memory 02 stores binary data composed of character codes and control codes from the input control unit 101 in page units. 103 is a multi-value memory that stores multi-value data such as image data from the input control unit 101; Reference numeral 104 denotes a main control unit that controls the entire apparatus, which develops patterns of character codes etc. stored in the binary page memory 102 and develops them in the bitmap memory 10G, and outputs a print start command to the image forming unit 109. and the image forming section 1
Horizontal and vertical synchronization signals input from 09 (153, 15
4) etc., it determines the output timing of the print data, instructs the readout control unit 108 to read out the bitmap memory 106, and also controls the readout of multivalued data from the multivalued memory 103. Reference numeral 105 denotes a character pattern generation unit which stores pattern information corresponding to character codes, and can generate a corresponding character pattern by inputting a character code. 106 is a bitmap memory for storing binary data obtained by pattern-expanding the character code stored in the binary page memory 102. Reference numeral 110 denotes an image synthesis section whose details are shown in FIG. 108 is a readout control unit which inputs timing signals from the main control unit 104 and the image forming unit 109, and which inputs timing signals from the multilevel memory 103.
, controls the read timing of the bitmap memory 106, and outputs various timing signals to cause the image synthesis section 110 to operate. Reference numeral 109 denotes an image forming unit, such as a laser beam printer, which inputs dot data and prints it on recording paper or the like. The image forming unit 109 of this embodiment stores binary data at 600 pixels.
It is assumed that printing is performed at a resolution of dpi, that is, 600 dots per inch, and multi-value data is printed at 150 dp and 1.64 gradations. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image composition section 110. In FIG. 2, 201 is a latch circuit that stores binary dot data using a latch signal 226, and 202 is a latch circuit that stores multi-value data using a latch signal 227. 203 and 206 are parallel to serial converters that convert parallel signals to serial signals, and the parallel to serial converter 203 is the latch circuit 20.
8-bit binary data starting from 1 is loaded using a load signal 220 and output as a serial signal in synchronization with a shift clock 221. 204 is a 2-bit counter, and the signal counted by the count clock 222 is stored in the ROM2.
It is output as part of the address of 05. 205 is R that stores the data shown in FIG. 6, for example.
It's OM. Reference numeral 206 denotes a parallel-to-serial converter, which loads 16-bit data output from the ROM 205 using a load signal 223, converts it into a serial signal using a shift clock 224, and outputs the serial signal. 207 is a selector with two inputs and one output, and when the selection signal 225 is at high level, the B input is
At low level, six inputs are selected and output. 208 is a D-type flip-flop (hereinafter abbreviated as F/F), which is connected to the selector 20 in synchronization with the shift clock 224.
The output of 7 is latched. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the block diagrams of FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the printing result is as shown in FIG. 4(C), for example.
A case will be explained in which print data as shown in is output. The print data shown in FIG. 4(C) is a combination of the binary data shown in FIG. 4(A) and the multivalued data image shown in FIG. 4(B). However, here, “1989
．． The character string ``10.14'' is printed as white characters in Figure 4 (C). This is because if the periphery of the character is black, the character string printed in black will not be distinguishable. Here, when obtaining the print result shown in FIG. 4(C), the host device (not shown) outputs the binary data shown in FIG. 4(A) and the binary data shown in FIG. 4(B). Multi-value data is sent.These data pass through the input control unit 101 and are then sent to the
) is sent to the binary page memory 102,
The multi-value data shown in FIG. 4(B) is stored in the multi-value memory 103.
is sent to and stored. Thereafter, under the control of the main control section 104, the binary data is converted into character pattern data with reference to the character pattern generation section 105 and expanded on the bitmap memory 106. Note that, on this bitmap memory 106, whether the character pattern is printed in black or white (the bit in the part where the character pattern exists is set to "1", and the character pattern is The bits in the non-existent part are set to "O" and expanded. On the other hand, the multi-value memory 103 stores multi-value data in the format shown in FIG. Of these 8-bit data, DO indicated by 51 to 6 indicated by D5 are assigned.
A bit is information indicating 26=64 gradations. Furthermore, the most significant bit D7 indicated by 52 determines whether, when this multi-value data is combined with a binary character pattern, the binary character is printed in black or as a white character. This is black and white information. Therefore, for example, in the case of the image data shown in FIG. 4(B) mentioned above, in the image data of the part indicated by 401, "1" (output as a black character) is set in D7 of the multi-valued data. In the image data of the portion indicated by 402, "0" (output as a white character) is set in D7 of the multi-valued data. This black and white information 52
(D7) may be determined by the higher-level device and included in advance in the multivalued image data to be sent (or may be specified by a command from the higher-level device.Furthermore, this printing device may It is also possible to automatically determine the density of the image portion to be combined with the characters.
When the data for one page is completed in 03, the main control unit 104 sends a print start signal 52 to the image forming unit 109, and also synthesizes the first print data from the bitmap memory 106 and multi-value memory 103 into an image. Part 110
The binary data 251 from the bitmap memory 106 is latched by the latch circuit 201, and the multi-value data 252 from the multi-value memory 103 is latched by the latch circuit 202. Here, since the data bus is 8 bits, binary data 251 corresponds to 8 dots of the first scanning line, and multi-value data 252 corresponds to 8 dots of the first scanning line.
This is data for the first scanning line of one pixel. Further, the image forming section 109 receives a print start signal 152 from the main control section 104 and outputs a vertical synchronization signal 153 and a horizontal synchronization signal 154 for notifying the print position timing. The main control unit 104 outputs these vertical synchronization signals 15
3 and the horizontal synchronization signal 154, and when the print start position is reached, a readout start signal 155 is output to the readout control unit 108. Before explaining the subsequent operation of this embodiment, a method of forming an image using a PWM method (pulse width modulation method) adopted in this embodiment will be explained. In the PWM method, when outputting one dot represented by binary data, the video signal width corresponding to that dot is further broken down, and the level of the pulse signal that has been broken down is changed. It expresses gradation by changing the gradation, and can print data that requires gradation, such as image data, with high quality. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method for realizing gradation printing using the PWM method. In Figure 6, each large square represents one pixel.
Since this multivalued data is printed at 150 dpi, its size is 1/1. . Inches. And inside it 4
The four corners of the solid line separated by X4 each represent the size of 1 bit of binary data, and the size is 18. . Inches. Furthermore, the rectangles divided as shown by dotted lines are further divided by 1/1 in the main scanning direction of the rask scan.
It represents one pixel by PWM with the pulse width divided into 4. In this way, within this 1/150 inch pixel,
By sequentially blackening the PWM pixels divided from 1 to 64, pixels having 64 levels of gradation can be obtained. The information shown in FIG. 6 is stored in the ROM 205 (FIG. 2) of the image synthesis unit 110 described above, including multivalued data indicating 64 levels of gradation from the latch circuit 202 and the 2-bit counter 204. The scanning line information 228 indicating which scanning line segment in FIG. 6 is being scanned is input as an address, and the 16-bit PWM data (PO
~P15) is output. On the other hand, the readout control unit 108 inputs the readout start signal 155 from the main control unit 104, after inputting the horizontal synchronization signal 154, adjusts the timing so that the print start position is at the left edge of the recording paper, 110. [Operation Description (FIGS. 1 to 3)] FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing print data processing in the printing apparatus of this embodiment. The read control unit 108 reads the data 251a latched by the latch circuit 201 according to the latch signal 201 at timing T.
1 to be loaded into the parallel-to-serial converter 203. Further, of the data 252a latched by the latch signal 227 in the latch circuit 202, the lower 6 bits are outputted to the address of the ROM 205 together with the horizontal line information 228 as gradation information. As a result, data based on the address is output from the ROM 205, and is loaded into the parallel-to-serial converter 206 by the load signal 223 at timing T2. Further, the most significant 1 bit of the data from the latch circuit 202 is sent to the selector 207 as a selection board 224. Here, if the selection signal 224 is at a low level, the data 265 input to the A boat out of the human power of the selector 207
is selected, so serial 2 from parallel to serial converter 203
The value data is inverted and output through the NOR circuit 221. Moreover, if the selection signal 224 is at a high level, the O of the B input
Since the output of the R circuit 230 is selected, the serial binary data is output as is. Here, if the most significant bit 52 (FIG. 5) of the multi-level data in the part 401 in FIG. 4 is set to "0" and the most significant bit 52 in the part 402 to 1'', the Figure 4 (C
), the characters printed in the part 401 are black characters, and the characters printed in the part 402 are the NOR circuit 2.
21 is printed in inverted white characters. Next, the operation of the parallel to serial converters 203 and 206 will be explained.
Parallel-to-serial converters 203, 206! :O-coded data is sequentially converted into serial data by shift clocks 221 and 224 and output. The binary data is converted into serial data Do to D7 by the parallel-serial converter 203, and the multi-value data is converted by the parallel-serial converter 20.
6 provides 16-bit serial data (PO to P15)
229 and output. As can be seen in Figure 3, multi-level PWM data 229 (
Since the serial data 229 corresponds to 4 bits of binary data (PO to P15), the serial data 229 is binary data (DO to D7).
It is output in synchronization with a shift clock 224 having a frequency four times that of the shift clock 221. In this way, as shown in the timing chart of FIG. 3, the serial binary data Do~D
While outputting D3, the 16-bit data (PO to P15) from the ROM 205 is completed, and while outputting D4 to D7, the next 16-bit data from the ROM 205 (P
O to P15) are controlled to be output. By repeating the above operation for one page, 1
Printing is performed with a mixture of binary data and multi-value data within a page. In this embodiment, the most significant bit of the 8 bits of the data bus is used as information for determining whether to make binary data white or black when binary data and multi-value data overlap (black and white information). However, for example, if you want to obtain information on 256 gradations (that is, the data is 8 bits), the judgment information indicating whether to invert the binary data when binary data and multi-value data overlap is It does not matter if the configuration is held in a separate memory. Further, the operation panel 107 of the printing apparatus of this embodiment shown in FIG.
Accordingly, when binary data overlaps multivalued data, 2
It may also be possible to instruct whether or not to invert the value data. As described above, according to this embodiment, document data containing a mixture of binary data and multivalued data can be printed at high speed and at low cost. In addition, at that time, for example, binary data such as characters can be displayed by multi-value data such as image data (
It also eliminates the disadvantage of [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by specifying a portion where multivalued data and binary data overlap and converting the corresponding portion of binary data and multivalued data, , even when binary data and multi-value data overlap, there is an effect that the binary data can be easily distinguished.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printing device of this embodiment, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the image composition section of Fig. 1 in more detail, and Fig. 3 is a timing diagram for explaining the operation of this embodiment. Chart, Figures 4(A) to (C) are diagrams showing an example of printing in which character data and image data are mixed, Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the content of multivalued data in this embodiment, and Figure 6 1 is a diagram showing an example of data for PWM converting one pixel of multivalued data. In the figure, 101... input control section, 102... binary page memory, 103... multi-value memory, 104... main control wandering section, 105... character pattern generation section, 106...
Bitmap memory, 107...Operation panel, 108
...Reading control section, 109... Image forming section, 110.
. . . Image synthesis unit, 201, 202 . . . Latch circuit, 203. 206 . . . Parallel to serial converter, 204 . It's a flip flop.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A printing device that inputs and prints print information consisting of binary data and multi-value data from an external device, and specifies the density of the binary data that is output overlapping with the multi-value data. a converting means for converting the binary data according to the specified information; a multi-value data converting means for converting the multi-valued data that overlaps the binary data according to the specified information; A printing device comprising: printing means for printing a portion specified by the specification information using value data and multi-value data converted by the multi-value data conversion means. (2) The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising input means for inputting the designation information. (3) The conversion means is 2 specified by the specification information.
2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the value data portion is inverted.