JPH0863302A - Printing apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a printing device that can quickly determine emulation and can easily respond to changes in emulation. When print data is input to a printing device, an operable emulation command analysis table is acquired, and the input data is compared with the data (S10).
If the command is in the priority command table, it is determined that the emulation corresponds to the table (S12).
If not, the command analysis tables of other emulations are also checked in the same manner. If not, next, the command table and the command of the print data are collated, and the emulation is determined according to the number of coincident commands.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs and performing output using an emulation program suitable for input data, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs, there are the following methods for switching the emulation programs.

1. The emulation identification command is input prior to the print data, and the emulation program is switched accordingly.

2. A predetermined amount of data in the received print data is compared with the command code of each emulation program to calculate the usage frequency and the like, and the emulation program is switched according to the value.

[0005]

[SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, in the first method of the above prior art, do not have to know in advance whether to use the advance which emulation program, takes much time to determine the emulation program in the second method Will end up.

In the second method, the command interpreted by each emulation program included in the received data is analyzed, but the command analysis table in which the command used for the analysis is registered is stored in the control program for controlling the printing apparatus. If this happens, the automatic emulation switching function of only the emulation programs that have been decided in advance will be used, and there is the drawback that it will not be possible to support newly supported emulation programs.

Further, depending on the emulation, there may be a plurality of commands having the same meaning, and registering them individually in the command table or searching them individually takes a lot of time to determine the emulation program. There was a drawback that it would take.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and an emulation program can be discriminated from input print data in a short time, and a new emulation program can be added or an existing emulation program can be added. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus and a control method thereof that can cope with the addition of such commands.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the printing apparatus of the present invention has the following construction. That is, in a printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs, registration means for registering the characteristic information of each emulation program in correspondence with the emulation program, input print data, and the characteristics registered by the registration means. According to the judgment by the judgment means for comparing the information with the judgment means for judging the emulation program suitable for the input print data,
And a print control unit for executing printout by executing an emulation program suitable for print data.

The print control method of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a method of controlling a printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs, wherein characteristic information corresponding to each of the emulation programs,
A judgment step of checking the input print data and judging an emulation program suitable for the input print data, and an emulation program suitable for the print data is executed and printed out in accordance with the judgment by the judgment step. A print control step.

[0011]

With the above structure, the print data is collated with the characteristic information corresponding to the emulation program to determine the emulation program.

[0012]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the arrangement of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. In the figure, the printing apparatus main body 1 receives print data from a host computer 2 which is a data supply source. The CPU 3 controls everything inside the printer body 1. The input interface 4 inputs print data sent from the host computer 2. The program ROM 5 stores a control program shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 5 described later. Font ROM
Reference numeral 6 denotes a ROM that stores a scalable font (a character in which a character is represented by stroke information rather than a dot signal and stored) corresponding to a character code in input print data. The built-in RAM 7 serves as a memory medium of the CPU 3, and stores a receive buffer for temporarily storing print data (for example, a page description language including a character code and a control code) input via the input interface 4 and bit image data generated by the CPU 3. It is assigned to the bitmap memory and work area to store. A plurality of emulation programs and tables are stored in this work area. The output unit 8 is a printer engine that performs printing.

<Structure of Command Analysis Table> FIG. 2 shows the structure of the command analysis table prepared for each emulation program, and the table is stored in the work area of the RAM 7.

(A) is a diagram for explaining the configuration,
The “table identification flag” is the command analysis table 9
Flag that identifies whether or not is valid, "Table size" is the command analysis table size from the beginning of the command analysis table, and "Table information" is the command in the command table that follows it is a control code type or character string code type A flag having command information such as "priority command table 1" is "relative pointer to priority command table".
Relative pointers from the table identification flags up to 3, "Relative pointers to the command table" are relative pointers from the table identification flags up to the command table 10,
The "priority command table" is a command table in which a priority command is registered such that if any one of the commands exists in the print data, the emulation program including the command is determined, "command table" 1
0 indicates a table in which commands unique to the emulation program are registered.

Since the location is indicated by the relative pointer, the priority command table and the command table do not have to be continuous with the command analysis table body.

FIG. 2B is a diagram for explaining the structures of the command table 10 and the priority command table 13.
The “command format” is a flag that indicates information such as how many bytes the head code of the registered command is composed of, the control code, and whether the command is a character string only. The entry up to the front of the "command format" field is one command entry. The "head code" registers the head part of the command unique to the emulation program. “Size” is the size occupied by the command in the table, and is the size from the “command format” field to the next “command format” field. The "number of terminators" indicates the number of terminators following the start code of the command, and the "terminator" indicates the code string following the start code of the command.

<Emulation Program Switching Process> FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the emulation information section 11 required to read the emulation program. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the emulation information section when the command analysis table is provided. "Emulation identification flag" is a flag for identifying whether it is a valid emulation program when emulation is read, "Emulation size" is the size from the base address to the end address of the emulation program, and "Relative pointer to command analysis table" is the command from the base address. The relative address to the analysis table is shown. According to the information of the emulation information section 11, the command analysis table 9 is referred to, the emulation program is determined, and the program body 12 is CP-processed accordingly.
U3 executes.

As described above, the command analysis table is provided for each emulation program, and the emulation information and the command analysis information together with the emulation program for realizing the emulation are supplied to the work area of the RAM 7 in the printer 1.
It is possible to automatically switch emulation even for newly supported emulation programs.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the processing procedure for automatic emulation switching. Hereinafter, description will be made according to this flowchart. The control program shown in this flowchart is stored in the program ROM 5 and executed by the CPU 3.

First, in step S1, it is checked whether or not there is print data in the reception buffer in the RAM 7. The printer waits for print data while there is no received data. If print data is accumulated in the receive buffer, RAM is stored in step S2.
A certain amount of print data is acquired from the reception buffer in 7.

Next, in step S3, a command analysis process is performed to determine an emulation program suitable for the received print data. The command analysis process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. For example, the emulation program A suitable for the received page description language A is determined.

Next, the discrimination result is referred to in step S4. If the discrimination result can be obtained, the operation mode of the emulation program is acquired in step S5, and the emulation program is executed in step S6 to perform the printing process.

If the determination cannot be made, step S7
The printing process is performed by executing an emulation program that is determined in advance.

After the printing process is completed, a transition is made to the command analysis process preparation state in step S8, and then a waiting state for print data to the receiving buffer in the RAM 7 is entered, and the process is repeated from step S1.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for concretely explaining the command analysis processing procedure of step S3 of FIG. Hereinafter, description will be made according to this flowchart. In addition,
The control program shown in this flowchart is stored in the program ROM 5 and executed by the CPU 3.

First, in step S9, one command analysis table of the emulation program that is currently operable in the printer 1 is acquired from the work area in the RAM 7. Next, in step S10, the received data (obtained in step S2) acquired from the fixed amount reception buffer is compared with the command in the priority command table 13 of the command analysis table. In step S11, it is determined whether or not a command matching the priority command table 13 is present in the received data. If even one command is present, the comparison process is terminated at that point, and in step S12 the matching table The ID of the emulation program is acquired from the emulation identification flag, and it is returned as if it was determined.

If there is no matching command in the priority command table 13, it is determined in step S13 whether or not there is a command analysis table of another emulation program, and if there is, a command analysis table in step S14. Is obtained, and the received data obtained again is compared with the command in the priority command table 13 as described above. If there is no other command analysis table, in step S15 this time the command table 1
Compare with the command in 0.

Next, in step S16, it is acquired whether or not there is a match with some commands, and in step S17, it is determined whether or not there is a command analysis table of another emulation program. If another command analysis table exists, the next command analysis table is acquired in step S18 and the acquired data and the command table 10 are acquired again.
Compare with the command in the above. If no other command analysis table exists, the ID of the emulation program of the table that matches the largest number of commands in the compared command table 10 is acquired in step S19, and the process returns.

In this case, if the number of matching commands is the same or if none of them match, the ID of a predetermined emulation program is returned.

In this way, for example, when a new emulation program is added by associating the command analysis table for determining the emulation program with the emulation program for realizing the emulation for each emulation program. In addition, by adding the command analysis table together with the emulation program to the RAM 7 of the printing apparatus, the emulation program can be automatically determined from the print data without changing the control program.

Further, for each emulation program, a unique command code is registered in the priority command table 13 as a priority command, so that the emulation program can be quickly determined.

Further, since the priority command table 13 and the command table 10 are expandable, if a characteristic command code is added to a certain emulation program, the command should be additionally registered in the table. Therefore, the determination of emulation can be performed more quickly, and the rate of successful determination can be improved. The emulation programs and tables described above may be stored in the flash memory.

Various printing mechanisms can be used for the output unit 8 of the printing apparatus 1, and a laser beam type mechanism and an ink jet type mechanism will be described as examples.

<Structure of LBP> FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP). This LBP has a page description language consisting of character codes and control codes, for example. It can be analyzed and printed on recording paper.

In the figure, 740 is the LBP body,
An image is formed on a recording sheet, which is a recording medium, based on the supplied page description language and the like. Reference numeral 700 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LED display are arranged,
Reference numeral 1 is a printer control unit that analyzes the overall control of the LBP 740 and the page description language. The printer control unit 701 mainly converts the pattern information into a video signal and outputs it to the laser driver 702.

The laser driver 702 is a semiconductor laser 70.
Laser light 7 emitted from the semiconductor laser 703 according to the input video signal.
Switch 04 on / off. The laser beam 704 is swung in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 705 and scans the electrostatic drum 706. As a result, an electrostatic latent image having a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 706. After the latent image is developed by the developing unit 707 around the electrostatic drum 706,
Transferred to recording paper. A cut sheet is used for this recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 708 mounted on the LBP 740 and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 709 and conveyance rollers 710 and 711.
It is supplied to the electrostatic drum 706.

<Structure of Inkjet> FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the inkjet recording apparatus IJRA. In the figure, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Then, it is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An inkjet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. 5007,5008
Is a photo coupler, and is a home position detecting means for confirming the existence of the lever 5006 of the carriage in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.
Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head. Reference numeral 5015 is a suction unit that sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the in-cap opening 5023. Reference numeral 5017 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, and a cam 5020 that engages with the carriage.
And the driving force from the drive motor is controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. As long as the desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the above can be applied to this example.

(Second Embodiment) Although the priority command table 13 is used in the first embodiment, the emulation program can be determined without the priority command table table 13. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of the command analysis table of the second embodiment.

In the figure, "table identification flag" is a flag for identifying whether or not this command analysis table 9 is valid, "table size" is the command analysis table size from the beginning of the command analysis table, and "table information". Is a flag having command information such as whether the command in the subsequent command table is a control code type or a character string code type, "relative pointer to the command table" is a relative pointer from the table identification flag up to the command table 10, "command The "table" 10 indicates a table in which commands specific to the emulation are registered.

Since the location is indicated by the relative pointer, the command table does not have to be continuous with the command analysis table body.

The process for printing using the table of FIG. 8 is as shown in FIG. 4, but the command analysis process is slightly different. FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the command analysis processing procedure of step S3 in the second embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be made according to this flowchart. In addition,
The control program shown in this flowchart is stored in the program ROM 5 and is executed by the CPU 3.

First, in step S91, one command analysis table of the emulation program that is currently operable in the printer 1 is acquired from the work area of the RAM 7. Next, in step S92, the print data (obtained in step S2) acquired from the fixed amount reception buffer is compared with the command in the command table 10 of the command analysis table.

Next, in step S93, it is determined whether or not there is a matching command in the command table 10. If even one command exists, the comparison process is terminated at that point, and in step S94 the matching table is found. The ID of the emulation program is acquired from the emulation identification flag, and the process returns as if it was determined.

If there is no matching command in the command table 10, it is determined in step S95 whether or not there is a command analysis table of another emulation program. If there is, the command analysis table is searched in step S96. The data acquired from the work area of the RAM 7 and acquired again are compared with the command in the command table 10. If there is no other command analysis table, it is determined that the command cannot be determined and the process returns.

By performing the processing as described above, the determination result can be obtained quickly.

Further, since the command table and the control program can be made smaller than those in the first embodiment, it can be applied to a printing apparatus having a small memory capacity.

Further, when a plurality of supporting emulation programs include mutually characteristic command codes, registering them in the command table 10 not only speeds up the processing but also improves the determination rate.

(Third Embodiment) Although the command analysis table in the first embodiment is shown in FIG. 2 and the command analysis table in the second embodiment is shown in FIG. 8, the command analysis table in the third embodiment is shown in FIG. Shown in.

<Structure of Command Analysis Table> FIG. 10 shows the structure of the command analysis table prepared for each emulation program in the third embodiment, and the table is stored in the work area of the RAM 7.

(A) is a diagram for explaining the configuration,
The “table identification flag” is the command analysis table 9
"Table size", a flag that identifies whether is valid
Is the command analysis table size from the beginning of the command analysis table, "table information" is a flag that contains command information such as whether the command in the command table that follows is a control code type or a character string code type, "relative to the priority command table""Pointer" is the priority command table 13
Up to the table identification flag, "relative pointer to the command table" is the command table 1
A relative pointer from the table identification flag up to 0, a “relative pointer to the command replacement table” is a relative pointer from the table identification flag up to the command replacement table 14, and a “priority command table” has one command in the print data. However, if it exists, a command table that registers priority commands that will determine the emulation program that contains the command, the "command table" is a table that registers commands unique to that emulation program, and the "command replacement table" is the same. When a plurality of commands having the meaning are included, a table for replacing with a command having the same meaning is shown.

Since the location is indicated by the relative pointer, the priority command table, the command table and the command replacement table do not have to be continuous with the command analysis table body.

FIG. 10B is a diagram for explaining the structures of the command table 10 and the priority command table 13.
The "command format" is a flag that indicates how many bytes the head code of the registered command is composed of, whether it is composed of a control code, or whether it is a command of only a character string. The area up to the front of the field is an entry for one command. The "head code" registers the head part of the command unique to the emulation. “Size” is the size occupied by the command in the table, and is the size from the “command format” field to the next “command format” field. The "number of terminators" indicates the number of terminators following the start code of the command, and the "terminator" indicates the code string following the start code of the command.

FIG. 10C is a diagram for explaining the structure of the command replacement table 14. “Size” is the size of one replacement set. "Number of commands before replacement"
Is the number of commands to be replaced, and "command string before replacement" is the command string to be replaced. The "number of commands after replacement" is the number of commands after replacement, and the "command string after replacement" describes the command string after replacement.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the command analysis processing procedure in the third embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be made according to this flowchart. The control program shown in this flowchart is a program ROM.
5 and is executed by the CPU 3.

First, in step S30, one command analysis table of the emulation program that is currently operable in the printer 1 is acquired from the work area of the RAM 7.

At this time, in step S31, it is determined whether or not the command replacement table 14 exists in the command analysis table. When command replacement is not necessary, NU is set as the relative point to the command replacement table 14.
LL is described.

If the command replacement table 14 exists, the replacement table 1 is found in step S32.
According to 4, the data is replaced. If it does not exist, the replacement process is not performed.

Next, in step S33, the received data acquired by a certain amount is compared with the command in the priority command table 13 of the command analysis table. In step S34, it is determined whether or not there is a matching command in the priority command table 13, and if there is even one matching command,
At that point, the comparison process ends, and in step S35, the ID of the emulation program of the matched table is acquired and the process returns as a determination OK.

If there is no matching command in the priority command table 13, it is determined in step S36 whether or not there is a command analysis table of another emulation program. If there is, a command analysis table is created in step S37. The acquired data and the acquired data again are compared with the commands in the priority command table 13. If there is no other command analysis table, step S3
In step 8, the command in the command table 10 is compared with this command.

Next, in step S39, how many commands are matched is acquired, and in step S40, it is determined whether or not there is a command analysis table of another emulation program. If another command analysis table exists, the next command analysis table is acquired in step S41, it is determined in step S42 whether the command replacement table 14 exists, and if it exists, step S4.
Replace the data with 3. Command replacement table 1
If 4 does not exist, the data acquired again is compared with the command in the command table 10.

If no other command analysis table exists, the ID of the emulation program of the table that most matches the command in the comparison command table 10 is acquired in step S44, and the process returns.

At this time, if the number of matching commands is the same or if none of them match, the ID of a predetermined emulation program is returned.

As described above, when a plurality of commands having the same meaning exist for each emulation program, the command replacement table 14 is added, and the command replacement processing is performed before the command search, thereby performing the search. The processing speed is improved.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0067]

As described above, the printing apparatus and the control method therefor according to the present invention can discriminate the emulation program from the input print data in a short time, and further add a new emulation program. , It is possible to easily add commands to existing emulation programs.

By registering a unique command code for each emulation program as a priority command in the priority command table 13, the emulation program can be quickly determined.

Further, since the priority command table 13 and the command table 10 are expandable, if a characteristic command code is added to a certain emulation program, the command should be additionally registered in the table. Therefore, the determination of the emulation program can be made faster, and the rate of successful determination can be improved.

Further, since the command table and the control program can be made smaller than in the first embodiment, the present invention can be applied to a printing apparatus having a small memory capacity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a command analysis table.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an emulation information section when each emulation has a command analysis table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic emulation switching processing procedure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a command analysis processing procedure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a structure of a laser beam printer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of an inkjet printer.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a command analysis table according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a command analysis processing procedure of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a command analysis table according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a command analysis processing procedure according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer Main Unit 2 Host Computer 3 CPU 4 Input Interface 5 Program ROM 6 Font ROM 7 Built-in RAM 8 Output Section

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs, wherein: registration means for registering characteristic information of each emulation program corresponding to each emulation program; input print data; Judgment means for collating the registered characteristic information and judging an emulation program suitable for the inputted print data, and executing the emulation program suitable for the print data in accordance with the judgment by the judging means for printing out. A printing apparatus, comprising: a printing control unit. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registration unit registers a command table including a characteristic command code for each emulation program. 3. The command table includes a priority command table in which the determining unit determines that the emulation program corresponding to the command table is suitable if at least one command included in the print data matches. The printing apparatus according to claim 2. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the command table includes a command replacement table for replacing a command having the same meaning with a command having the same meaning. 5. A method of controlling a printing apparatus having a plurality of emulation programs, wherein feature information corresponding to each emulation program is collated with input print data, and the print data is matched with the input print data. A print control method comprising: a determination step of determining an emulation program; and a print control step of executing an emulation program suitable for print data to print out according to the determination in the determination step. 6. The print control method according to claim 5, wherein in the determination step, a command table including a characteristic command code for each emulation program included in the characteristic information is collated. 7. The command table includes a priority command table which is determined in the determination step to be compatible with an emulation program corresponding to the command table if at least one command included in the print data matches. The print control method according to claim 6. 8. The print control method according to claim 6, wherein the command table includes a command replacement table for replacing a command having the same meaning with a command having the same meaning. .