JP2956767B2 - Print data control device in printer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printer that prints out based on print data supplied from a host device such as a computer.
The present invention relates to a print data control device configured to suppress and control supply of print data corresponding to an area outside the effective print range of a print sheet to a print head.

[Prior Art] An example of a conventional printer will be described with reference to FIG. 9. A read / write RAM which stores print data (a dot pattern to be printed on a printing paper) supplied from a host device (not shown) such as a computer is used. Is provided. For example, the supplied print data is written to the memory 1 in units of 2 bytes (16 bits), and the stored print data is read in units of 4 bytes (32 bits). The read print data in 4-byte units is supplied to the control circuit 2.

The control circuit 2 performs operation and management of the printer, various processes for print data, and the like. Various processing of print data in the control circuit 2 is performed by the control software C / W
Performed by 4 bytes (32 bits) for memory 1
The print data read out in units are subjected to various data processing in the control circuit 2, and then given to the print head 4 in units of print data for one line (for example, in units of 12 bytes). The print head 4 prints out a dot pattern on the print paper I based on print data supplied from the control circuit 2. At this time, the print head 4
FIG. 10 shows an example of a print output range and a print output direction in which print output is performed.
Is printed out in the X-axis direction. Such print output in the X-axis direction is called a raster. The image printed out on the printing paper I is composed of a set of raster dot patterns.

By the way, print data in units of a predetermined bit width is supplied as data for printing one raster from the control circuit 2 to the print head 4. May be different from the data amount supplied from the control circuit 2. For example, the effective printing range ED on the printing paper I is actually
Assuming that the data amount for one raster is 65 bits, the control circuit 2 combines 4 bytes of data read from the memory 1 into 3 blocks corresponding to one raster, and 4 × 3 = 12 bytes ( (96 dots), which would result in 31-bit data overflowing as shown in FIG. The print data corresponding to the effective print range ED is up to the first bit of the print data blocks B1 and B2 and the print data block B3, and the 31-bit data from the 2nd to 32nd bits of the print data block B3 is the effective print range.
Since the data does not correspond to the ED, it is data for which supply to the print head 4 should be suppressed. As described above, since the amount of data corresponding to one raster supplied to the print head 4 in the control circuit 2 is different from the amount of data actually printed out by the print head 4 on the print paper I, the protruding data is It is necessary to perform output suppression or clear processing in order not to supply the print head.

In a conventional printer, the clearing process is repeatedly executed in advance on the protruding data in units of print data for one raster by software in the control circuit 2. For example, in the clearing process of the suppression data by the software, 12 bytes are read from the memory 1 as print data for one raster to be supplied to the print head, and the printing paper to be actually printed out by the print head 4 out of the data is read out. Data corresponding to the effective print range ED of I and the data suppression range
The data corresponding to the CD is determined. Based on the determination result, the data block B3 2 that does not correspond to the effective print area ED
31-bit protruding data of up to 32 bits is replaced with empty data. That is, the clearing process by the software in the control circuit 2 is performed by the first block of the data block B1 to B3 of the print data corresponding to the effective print range ED.
The bit and the 31-bit empty data of 2 to 32 bits of the cleared data block B3 are output to the print head 4 as 12 bytes (96 bits) of one last print data. The prior clearing process for the suppression data by the software is repeatedly executed in units of one raster print data which supplies the print data to the print head 4.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in the conventional printer, the process of converting data that does not correspond to the effective print range that is not actually output by the print head into empty data is performed by prior clear processing by software. Therefore, there is a problem that the data processing takes a relatively long time, cannot cope with a printer of high-speed printing output, and cannot improve the efficiency of the printing operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and suppresses the supply of print data of a predetermined bit width that does not correspond to an effective print range on print paper among print data for one raster supplied to a print head. The present invention is to provide a print data control device in a printer which can execute the print data in real time.

Means for Solving the Problems A print data control device in a printer according to the present invention stores print data supplied from a host device such as a computer, and converts the stored print data into a data unit having a predetermined number of bits. In a print data control device for a printer having storage means for reading out each time and supplying the read out print data to a print head, the print data control device comprises data indicating the size of the print paper set in the printer and data indicating the length and width of the set print paper. A format data supply unit for supplying format data, and determining an effective print range and a data suppression range corresponding to the format data indicating the size and length and width of the print paper supplied from the format data supply unit,
A data suppression unit that outputs a suppression signal for each bit corresponding to a data suppression range in the print data output from the storage unit; and a data suppression unit that outputs the suppression signal to the print head according to the suppression signal output from the data suppression unit. Gate means for controlling the supply of print data for each bit.

[Operation] The storage unit stores print data supplied from a host device such as a computer, reads out the stored print data for each data unit having a predetermined number of bits, and supplies the read data to the print head. The format data supply means supplies format data indicating the size and length and width directions of the printing paper set in the printer. The data suppression unit determines an effective print range and a data suppression range based on the format data supplied from the format data supply unit, and suppresses each bit corresponding to the data suppression range in the print data output from the storage unit. Output a signal. The gate means controls supply of print data to the print head for each bit in accordance with a suppression signal output from the data suppression means.

By providing dedicated hardware for controlling print data in this way, processing for suppressing supply of data that does not correspond to the effective print range to the print head based on the print output direction of the print head and the size of the print paper is suppressed. Can be executed in real time, so that it is possible to cope with a printer of high-speed print output, and an improvement in printing work efficiency can be expected.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a print data control device in a printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a printer to which a print data control device according to the present invention is applied. The printer is roughly divided into a memory 10, a control unit 20, and a data suppression unit 30 composed of dedicated hardware for data processing. It comprises a print head 60 and the like. The memory 10 has the same function as the memory 1 described in FIG. 9, and is a RAM for storing print data supplied from a host device such as a computer (not shown). The read / write operation of the print data is controlled by the control unit 20. Do.

The control unit 20 performs operations and management of the entire apparatus, and executes various processes such as determining whether print data read from the memory 10 in units of a predetermined bit width is data to be suppressed. And outputs the data to the data suppression unit 30, and includes a page mode register 21, a suppression determination circuit 22, and the like. Page mode register 21
Is format storage means for storing, as format data, the size of the printing paper I and the vertical and horizontal directions in which the paper I is set in the printer. The stored format data is given to the inhibition determination circuit 22. The inhibition determination circuit 22 determines whether or not each bit of data of a predetermined byte unit corresponding to one raster supplied to the print head 60 is data to be inhibited based on the given format data. For example, when print data is supplied to the print head 60 in units of 24 bytes (192 bits) as print data for one raster, the print data for one raster corresponding to the effective print range ED of the printing paper I in FIG. Assuming that the print data is 129 bits, the data corresponding to the data suppression range KD is 63 bits. Thus, the amount of data for one raster supplied to the print head 60 and the print head 60
Is different from the amount of data actually printed out on the printing paper I, so that protruding data for which supply to the print head 60 should be suppressed is generated. In order to suppress the overflow data, the inhibition determination circuit 22 determines whether each bit of the print data is data corresponding to the effective print range ED of the print paper I. When the result of this determination is data to be suppressed, that is, when the print output of the print head 60 reaches the end point of the raster, an active “1” of the raster end signal RE "Is output.

When the print data for one raster input through the control unit 20 is print data corresponding to the effective print range ED of the print paper I, the data suppression unit 30
If the input print data does not correspond to the effective print range ED of the print paper I, the hardware is a dedicated hardware for suppressing the supply of the data to the print head 60. The data suppression unit 30 includes a suppression data detection circuit 40 for detecting whether each bit of the print data for one raster is data to be suppressed, and a data output direction of the print head 60 based on the size of the print paper I. It comprises a suppression circuit 50 and a suppression circuit 70 for generating a suppression signal, a gate 35 for controlling print data supplied to the print head 60 according to the suppression signal, and the like.

An example of the inhibition data detection circuit 40 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, data corresponding to the data inhibition range KD of the printing paper I is detected. The horizontal size setting circuit 41 constituting the suppression data detection circuit 40 is for setting and storing a value indicating the horizontal size of the effective print range ED on the printing paper I to be set by a switch (not shown) or the like. A signal to one input of a comparison circuit 46 via a delay 42
Given as BSD.

The dot counting circuit 43 is a counter that counts the current print output position in the X-axis direction in the print output operation of the print head 60. The count value of the dot counting circuit 43 is not a value indicating the absolute print output position of the print head 60 with respect to the print paper I, but the maximum value of a predetermined number of bits of data being printed. For example, up-counting is performed with 64 bits corresponding to 8 bytes of print data as the maximum value. A signal HC indicating the count value output from the dot counting circuit 43 is given to one input of a selector 45.

The raster counting circuit 44 is a counter that counts the current print output position in the Y-axis direction in the print output operation of the print head 60. The count value of the raster counting circuit 44 is not a value indicating the absolute print output position of the print head 60 with respect to the print paper I, but is a value for each dot corresponding to the data in units of a predetermined bit width during print output. This is a value indicating the raster position of the print head 60. For example, a print head for each dot corresponding to 64 bits in units of 8 bytes of print data
This is a value indicating 60 raster positions. A signal VC indicating the count value output from the raster counting circuit 44 is supplied to the other input of the selector 45.

The selector 45 selects either the signal HC given from the dot counting circuit 43 or the signal VC given from the raster counting circuit 44 in accordance with the print output direction of the print head 60 with respect to the printing paper I, and as a signal SEL, Give the other input of 46. When the signal HC is selected by the selector 45, the count value HC in units of 64 dots by the dot counting circuit 43 is given to the comparison circuit 46 as the signal SEL. Also,
When the signal VC is selected, the signal VC indicating the count value of the raster counting circuit 44 is given to the comparison circuit 46 as the signal SEL. Note that the print output direction of the print head 60 on the print paper I is X direction as in the non-rotational mode in FIG.
There is a mode in which printing is performed in the Y direction, and a mode in which printing is performed in the Y direction, such as the rotation mode in FIG. 3B. The selector 45 selects the signal HC as the input signal in the non-rotation mode and selects the signal VC in the rotation mode.

The comparison circuit 46 compares the signal BSD given to one input with the signal SEL given to the other input, and
The suppression data is detected in units of the data amount for one raster supplied to 0. In the non-rotation mode, the comparison circuit 46 calculates the value obtained by adding the current count value HC to the count-up circuit HCTL of the count value of the dot count circuit 43 given as the signal SEL, and the horizontal size of the effective printing range ED of the printing paper I. The signal BSD is compared with the accumulated signal HCTL of the counting circuit 43.
When + HC reaches the value of the signal BSD, an active “1” of the inhibition data detection signal DIH is output to the inhibition circuit 70. That is,
When the print output position of the print head 60 reaches the data inhibition range KD of the print paper I, that is, when the print output of the print head 60 reaches the raster end,
It suppresses the supply of print data to 60. As described above, the print head 60 executes the print output from the raster start point to the end point based on the value indicating the horizontal size of the effective print range ED set by the horizontal size setting circuit 41, and executes the data suppression range KD
, The print output operation is repeated again from the next raster start point without performing the print output.

On the other hand, in the rotation mode, the comparison circuit 46 outputs the signal SEL.
Is compared with a signal BSD indicating the horizontal size of the effective printing range ED of the printing paper I by comparing the count-up count VCTL of the raster counting circuit 44 given as
Period until the accumulated value of 4 VCTL + VC reaches the value of the signal BSD,
The active “1” of the inhibition data detection signal DIH is output to the inhibition circuit 50. That is, when the print output position of the print head 60 is within the data inhibition range KD of the print paper I, the supply of data to the print head 60 is inhibited,
When the print output position of reaches the effective print range ED, supply of print data is started.

The inhibition circuit 70 inhibits supply of print data to the print head 60 when the inhibition data detection signal DIH given from the inhibition data detection circuit 40 is active “1” in the non-rotation mode of the print output direction of the print head 60. The signal Y2 is output to the OR gate 34. An example of the suppression circuit 70 is fourth.
As shown in the figure, the three-input AND gate 71 sets the flip-flop 74 when the signal NROT indicating the non-rotational mode applied to each input, the inhibition data detection signal DIH, and the raster end signal RE are all active "1". Active “1” for
Is output. The flip-flop 74 outputs a dot clock pulse applied to the clock input CK via the inverter 78.
In synchronization with DOTCLK, a signal provided from the AND gate 71 is latched, and the latched signal is flip-flop 75
The signal is output as a signal F1 to the flip-flop 76 (see FIG. 5). The dot clock pulse DOTCLK is a clock pulse synchronized with the transmission time of one bit of print data. For example, the dot clock pulse is composed of a pulse with a duty of 50%, and a half cycle thereof corresponds to a time of one bit of print data transmission. I do.

The AND gate 72 outputs the dot clock pulse DOTCLK applied to the other input to the clock CK input of the flip-flop 75 when the signal BIT inverted via the inverter 79 applied to one input is “1”. I do. This signal BIT is a signal indicating the even or odd number of the least significant bit LSB of the print data corresponding to the count value HC of the dot counting circuit 43, and is "0" when it is odd and "1" when it is even. .

The flip-flop 75 latches the output signal F1 of the flip-flop 74 in synchronization with the rising of the output signal of the AND gate 72 supplied to the clock input CK, and outputs the latched signal to the signal F2 with respect to one input of the OR gate 77. Output as

The AND gate 73 outputs the signal BIT applied to one input.
Is "1", an inverted signal of the dot clock pulse DOTCLK supplied to the other input via the inverter 80 is supplied to the clock input CK of the flip-flop 76. The flip-flop 76 latches the output signal F1 of the flip-flop 74 in synchronization with the rising of the output signal of the AND gate 73, and outputs the latched signal as a signal F3 to one input of the OR gate 77.

The output of the OR gate 77 is given to one input of the OR gate 34 in FIG. 1 as a suppression signal Y2. When either the inhibition signal F2 or the inhibition signal F3 is active "1", the inhibition signal Y2 output from the OR gate 77 becomes active "1", so that the print data for the print head 60 is inhibited.

As described above, the suppression control of the print data in the non-rotation mode is performed when the suppression data detection signal DIH is active “1” and the signal B is suppressed.
Assuming that IT is "0", the output signal F2 of the flip-flop 75 becomes active "1" in synchronization with the rise of the dot clock pulse DOTCLK as shown in FIG. Is output as "1". Therefore, the least significant bit LSB of the print data is an odd number (signal BIT =
(0)), the suppression of print data is executed from the next even-numbered bit.

When the inhibition data detection signal DIH is active “1”, the signal B
Under the condition that IT is "1", the output signal F3 of the flip-flop 76 becomes active "1" in synchronization with the fall of the dot clock pulse DOTCLK as shown in FIG. Accordingly, since the least significant bit LSB of the print data is an even number (signal BIT = “1”), the suppression of the print data is executed from the next odd bit.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the suppression circuit 50. In the case where the print output direction of the print head 60 is the rotation mode, the supply of print data to the print head 60 is suppressed when the suppression data detection signal DIH is active "1". OR gate signal Y1
Output to 34. The three-input AND gate 51 includes a signal ROT indicating a rotation mode applied to each input and a start pulse SP
And when the raster end signal RE is active “1”, respectively, it outputs active “1” to the flip-flop 53. The flip-flop 53 performs a period from when the reset signal RES supplied after the active “1” of the set signal SET is given to “1” to when the next reset signal RES becomes “1” again. Then, the active "1" of the signal Y1 for suppressing the supply of the print data to the print head 60 is outputted to the other input of the OR gate 34 (see FIG. 7).

Thus, under the condition that the signal ROT, the suppression data detection signal DIH, and the raster end signal RE are all active “1” in the rotation mode, the supply of the print data to the print head 60 is suppressed and the start pulse SP The operation of counting up the number of rasters is repeated while the print output position of the print head 60 moves from the data inhibition range KD of the print paper I to the effective print range ED by the active “1” (see FIG. 3). In other words, during the period until the count number VCTL of the raster counting circuit 44 + the current count value VC reaches a predetermined value indicated by the signal BSD, both the inhibition data detection signal DIH and the raster end signal RE are active “1”.
In this state, the signal ROT is also active “1”, so the signal Y1 for suppressing the supply of print data to the print head 60 is supplied to the OR gate 34 from the rising of the reset signal RES becoming active “1” until the next rising. Output to Eventually,
When the print output position of the print head 60 reaches the effective print range ED from the data suppression range KD of the print paper I, that is, when the value of the count number VCTL + the current count value VC reaches a predetermined value indicated by the signal BSD, Suppression data detection signal
Since DIH becomes "0", the inhibition signal Y1 output from the flip-flop 53 becomes "0" and supply of print data to the print head 60 is started.

The OR gate 34 adds the suppression signals Y1 and Y2 given from the suppression circuit 50 and the suppression circuit 70, and
To the control signal input. The gate 35 transmits the print data supplied from the control unit 20 to the inhibition signal Y1 or the inhibition signal Y2.
The supply to the print head 60 is controlled by the active “1”.

Next, the operation of each unit according to the above configuration will be described. For example, when the A4 size printing paper I is set vertically in the printer and printed out in the non-rotation mode of FIG. 3A, the effective printing range ED of the printing paper I is previously indicated in the horizontal size setting circuit 41. Set the horizontal size appropriately. Print head
When the printing output on the printing paper I by 60 is started,
The dot counting circuit 43 counts up the print output position of the print head 60 in dot units corresponding to a predetermined bit width, and outputs a signal HC indicating the count value to the selector 45. In the selector 45, for example, a value obtained by adding the count-up count HCTL for every 64 dots + the current count value HC is signal SEL.
Is output to the comparison circuit 46. The comparison circuit 46 compares the value of the signal BSD corresponding to the horizontal size of the effective print range ED with the value of the signal SEL. If the value of the signal SEL does not reach the value of the signal BSD, the suppression data detection signal output from the comparison circuit 46
Since DIH is in the state of “0”, supply of print data to the print head 60 is continued.

Eventually, when the print output position of the print head 60 approaches the end of the effective print range ED of the print paper I, that is, when it reaches the raster end in the print output operation, the comparison circuit 46 changes the value of the signal SEL to the value of the signal BSD. And outputs the active “1” of the inhibition data detection signal DIH to the inhibition circuit 70. For example, if the print data (least significant bit LSB) corresponding to the raster end dot is the first bit of 8 bytes as shown in FIG. 8, the supply of the remaining 63 bits to the print head 60 should be suppressed. This is overflow data. In this case, the signal BIT applied to the suppression circuit 70 is "0" indicating an odd number.
Since the signal NROT, the inhibition data detection signal DIH, and the raster end signal RE are each active "1", the inhibition circuit 70 outputs an active "1" of the inhibition signal Y2 to the OR gate 34 ( (See FIG. 5). Since the least significant bit LSB corresponding to the raster end dot is odd, supply of print data to the print head 60 from the next even bit is suppressed.

On the other hand, for example, when A4 size printing paper I is set horizontally on the printer and printed out in the rotation mode shown in FIG. 3B, the selector 45 receives the signal VC indicating the count value of the raster counting circuit 44. The count number VCTL + the current count value VC is output to the comparison circuit 46 as the signal SEL. In the comparison circuit 46, the value of the signal BSD corresponding to the effective print range ED input from the horizontal size setting circuit 41 and the signal SEL
When the value of the signal SEL does not reach the value of the signal BSD, an active “1” of the inhibition data detection signal DIH is output to the inhibition circuit 50. In the suppression circuit 50, the start pulse signal
Since the SP and the signal ROT are both active "1", when the active "1" of the inhibition data detection signal DIH is input, the activation "1" of the inhibition signal Y1 for inhibiting print data is output. Such an operation is repeated until the print output position of the print head 60 reaches the effective print range ED of the print paper I. During that time, the print head is controlled by the data suppression unit 30.
The supply of data to 60 is suppressed.

When the print output position of the print head 60 reaches the effective print range ED of the printing paper I, the value of the signal SEL reaches the value of the signal BSD and the suppression data detected by the comparison circuit 46 is output to the suppression circuit 50. The signal DIH becomes “0”. Accordingly, the inhibition signal Y1 output from the inhibition circuit 50 also changes from active “1” to “0”, so that print data is sequentially supplied to the print head 60 from the next raster start point, and print output is started.

As described above, according to the print data control device including the dedicated hardware, the supply of data that does not correspond to the effective print range ED of the print paper I among the data supplied to the print head 60 as print data for one raster. Can be executed in real time.

Each circuit of the print data control device in the printer according to the present invention is not limited to this embodiment as long as the circuit configuration can realize the object of the present invention, and may be configured by other appropriate logic circuits. Good. Further, the number of read / write bits of the print data for the data memory and the number of bits of the print data for the print head are not limited to this embodiment, but may be read / write / supplied with another appropriate bit width. .

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the process of suppressing data corresponding to the data suppression range of the print paper in bit units based on the print output direction of the print head and the size of the print paper is executed in real time. By providing dedicated hardware that can be used, it is now possible to support high-speed print output printers. Therefore, various excellent effects such as an improvement in the efficiency of the printing operation and a reduction in the software creation operation can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a print data control device in a printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a suppression data detecting circuit in the embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating a print output operation of the print head on the print paper in the non-rotation mode in the embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating a print output operation of the print head on the print paper in the rotation mode in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a suppression circuit corresponding to the non-rotation mode in the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of the timing of various signals in the suppression circuit of FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a suppression circuit corresponding to the rotation mode in the example, FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of the timing of various signals in the suppression circuit of FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration corresponding to an effective print range and a data suppression range, FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a print data control device in a conventional printer, and FIG. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a print output operation of the print head with respect to the data suppression range. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of print data supplied to the print head. 10: memory, 20: control unit, 21: page mode register, 22: inhibition determination circuit, 30: data inhibition unit, 34, 7
7 or gate, 35 gate, 40 inhibition data detection circuit, 41 horizontal size setting circuit, 42 delay, 43
... dot counting circuit, 44 ... raster counting circuit, 45 ... selector, 46 ... comparison circuit, 51, 52, 71 to 73 ... AND gate, 53, 74 to 76 ... flip-flop, 50, 70 ... ... Inhibition circuit, 60 ... Print head, 78 ... 80 ... Inverter.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-186067 (JP, A) JP-A-63-39350 (JP, A) JP-A-60-48664 (JP, A) JP-A-63-1986 276555 (JP, A) JP-A-60-107977 (JP, A) JP-A-62-93800 (JP, A) JP-A-62-128327 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer having storage means for storing print data supplied from a host device such as a computer, reading out the stored print data for each data unit having a predetermined number of bits, and supplying the read data to a print head. In the data control device, format data supply means for supplying format data including data indicating the size of print paper set in the printer and data indicating the length and width of the set print paper, and the format data supply means From the print data supplied from the storage unit and the format data indicating the vertical and horizontal directions of the print paper and the data suppression range. A data suppression unit for outputting a suppression signal for a bit, and a suppression signal output from the data suppression unit. Print data control device in a printer equipped with a gate means for inhibiting control for each bit of the supply of the print data for the print head according to.