JP2982007B2 - Display device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device in a printer system that transmits image data from a data processing device to a printer and performs a print output based on the image data in the printer.

[Prior Art] A laser printer creates an image for one page on a bitmap memory in accordance with information output from a data processing device or a host computer, and modulates the image with a digital signal obtained by sequentially reading the image. The laser beam forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum, develops the latent image with toner, transfers the latent image to plain paper, fixes it, and discharges it to the outside of the printer.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Although the data transfer time from the data processing device to the printer system is fast, the process of writing the image data in the bit map memory on the printer side is slower and takes longer, and it takes longer to print out. During the waiting time, the operator does not know whether the image writing is normally performed, and is anxious.

Further, Japanese Patent Application No. 61-255097 discloses a printer which prints out by key input on an operation panel in order to see how far image writing has been performed. However, in the prior invention, the printing cost is extra.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to arbitrarily display the progress of an image drawing process in a bitmap memory, which takes a long time, to estimate the print output time, and to accurately determine the progress of an image drawing process in a VIP map memory. When it is not possible to grasp the progress of the printer system, it is generally meaningless to display the progress, so that it is possible to select not to display the progress, which is convenient for the operator and gives a sense of security. It is to provide a display device.

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] The object described above is to transmit source data to be printed from a data processing device to a printer, draw an image on a bitmap memory based on the source data, and print out the image. A display device for displaying the progress of image drawing processing on the bitmap memory, a display mode for performing display by the display device, and a non-display mode for not performing display. This is achieved by providing switching means for switching.

[Operation] The cursor position moves in the address space of the bitmap memory in accordance with the writing of data, and the number of dots up to the movement position is known. Therefore, the number of dots from the total number of dots in the memory area to the movement position is obtained. Is subtracted, the unprocessed rate is calculated from the ratio of the total number of dots, and the progress of the image drawing process in the bitmap memory can be understood.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the display is performed by digitally or by analog values, for example, by arranging a plurality of LEDs and sequentially lighting them according to the data processing rate.

Further, it is possible to arbitrarily select whether or not to display the image as the progress of the image drawing processing in the bitmap memory. The data from the data processing device may include, for example, graphic data (vector data). Accordingly, in such a case, the display is not automatically performed or displayed by key input. When no display is performed, the display section becomes free and can be used for other displays.

Embodiment A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The essential parts of the embodiment are shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 8, FIG. 16 and FIG.

FIG. 1 is an operation system block diagram showing a relationship between a data processing device and a printer system.

Data from the host device or the data processing device 1
After being stored in the file buffer 2 to improve the throughput of the data processing device 1, the printer system 10
Is output to

The printer system 10 includes a bitmap type data processing unit (BMU) 3, a printer engine 4 using an electrophotographic process and a laser, and auxiliary devices such as an external paper supply unit 5 and a sorter 6.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the printer system. The print engine 4 has a built-in BMU 3, and external sorter units 51 to 53 and the sorter 6 can be connected as accessories.
The print engine 4 is provided with a display panel 44 on which a display indicating the state of the system and keys for performing simple operations are arranged.

FIG. 3A shows details of the display panel 44. 901 to 906 are input keys, and 910 to 911 are display elements. A key 901 is a pause key for temporarily suspending a print operation, a reference numeral 902 is a test key for starting a test print, and a cancel key for suspending a print by pressing the shift key 903 at the same time.

Reference numeral 910 denotes an LCD (liquid crystal display) for displaying the data unprocessed rate according to the present invention during the printing operation and displaying message output or various functions except during the printing operation. FIG. 3B shows the LED 910b. ing.

A numerical value is displayed on the LCD 910 as shown in FIG. 3A, or an analog display is performed instead of the numerical value like the LED 910b of FIG. 3B. Keys 904 to 906 are used to select a function displayed on the LCD 910.

An LED 911 indicates that the engine is in the READY state. The display / non-display of the data unprocessed rate according to the present invention is displayed on the display panel by inputting the function key.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a control unit of the printer system 10.

The bitmap type data processing device 3 includes a bitmap memory BM-RAM32, a bitmap writing unit 31 (see FIG. 6) for drawing on the BM-RAM32, and a font unit.
Consists of 33. The connection with the print engine 4 is performed by a bus B3 for control data (number of sheets, accessory control, etc.) and a bus B4 for image data. The control of the display panel for displaying the data unprocessed rate according to the present invention is performed by the bitmap control unit.

The print engine 4 is composed mainly of three controllers. First, the interface controller (IFC) 40 processes the control data from the bitmap controller 30 and controls the timing of the entire printer 4 through the internal bus B5. The electrophotographic control unit 41 controls the electrophotographic process unit 45 in accordance with data transmitted from the interface control unit 40 through data transmitted from the interface control unit 40 via the internal bus B5.

The print head control unit 42, in accordance with the information sent from the bitmap writing unit 31 via the internal bus B4,
It controls the rotation of the light emitting element of the semiconductor laser of the print head unit 43 and the polygon motor. External supply unit 5
The sorter 6 is also controlled by the interface control unit 40 through the internal bus B5.

FIG. 5 is a configuration block diagram of a bitmap control unit. In the first information processing section 320, data from the data processing device interface 308 is temporarily stored in the Rx buffer 304, and then the processing is sequentially performed. The main processing contents include protocol analysis, provisional editing of print data, conversion of the provisional editing result to an intermediate code, and storage of the intermediate code in the FIFO 305. The provisional editing of print data refers to the determination of a print position for each sent print data according to the analysis result of the protocol. Therefore, the intermediate code representing the print data includes the pattern code of the print data and the drawing address to the bit map.

In the second information processing unit 330, the intermediate code written in the FIFO 305 is sequentially read. The processing content is to output a print engine control command corresponding to the intermediate code to the print engine interface 307, and to output other than the print engine control intermediate code to the bitmap writing unit interface 306. Also, the data in one page to be developed in the bitmap memory from the total number of dots in the image area calculated from the margin setting value and the cursor position on the bitmap memory for displaying the data unprocessed rate of the present invention. The unprocessed rate is calculated (x and y in FIG. 8). Further, the display panel is controlled in accordance with a signal for switching ON / OFF of the data unprocessed rate display from the display panel. An example of displaying the data unprocessed rate is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed block diagram of the bitmap writing section 31. The functions of the bitmap writing section are roughly divided into BM-RAM32
And a function of outputting data of the BM-RAM 32 to the print engine 4 at the time of printing.

The function of drawing into the BM-RAM is further divided into two functions: drawing lines and circles performed by the graphic image writing unit 316 and font drawing performed by the font image writing unit 311. Both are logic units that operate on the intermediate code sent from the bitmap control unit 30 through the bitmap control unit interface 317,
Most of the processing of the graphic image writing unit analyzes the parameters in the intermediate code and draws them on the BM-RAM, whereas most of the processing of the font image unit uses the font unit according to the data in the intermediate code. The font image read from the font unit 33 through the interface 314 is drawn on the BM-RAM.

On the other hand, the data output function at the time of printing is performed by the print head control unit interface 315. That is, the interface 317
When the print start code transmitted through the printer engine 4 is received, the print start code is transmitted from the print head control unit 42 of the printer engine 4 via the bus B4 to the BM-RA.
The M data is output to the print head control unit.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the first and second processing units. 321 (33
1) is a CPU for processing, 322 (332) is a system ROM in which a program of the CPU is written, and 323 (333) is a work storage area of the CPU. Timer 329 (339) is CP
U is for enabling timing management.

Next, the concept of the image area will be described. FIG. 8 shows an example. The portion indicated by the entire area (A1) corresponds to the size of the paper.

The margin area (A2) is a margin portion when printing is actually performed on paper, and the drawing of print data is performed in the remaining image area (A3). Printing is started from the upper left of the image area, and characters are sequentially printed in the printing direction A10. If a line feed code is input in the middle, the next print position is moved in the line feed direction A11 by the line feed width A12. When a return code is input, the next print position moves to the return position A13 on the left end of the image area. Note that the margin area can be changed in page units by designation from the host.

Thus, a control example according to the present invention will be described with reference to a flowchart.

The flowchart is divided into two main routines, a first information processing unit and a second information processing unit, which operate asynchronously. FIGS. 9 to 14 are flowcharts showing processing examples of the first information processing device 320.

In FIG. 9, when the power is turned on (step #)
1. Hereinafter, "step" is abbreviated), internal initialization is performed (# 2), and data received from the data processing device is stored.
Initialize the Rx buffer 304 and the control flag (#
3, # 4). When the power is turned on, the FIFO 305 is cleared by hardware. And, in preparation for creating the intermediate code,
The font attribute is read from the font section 33 (# 5).

After these preparation operations are completed, the process enters the main loop (# 6 to #
9). Processing in the main loop is analysis of received data and conversion to intermediate code. The data flow is as follows.

First, data from the external data processing device is stored in the Rx buffer asynchronously with the main loop by a reception interrupt routine (FIG. 14) activated by a request from the data processing interface 308. If the received data has a free space in the intermediate code memory FIFO 305 (YES in # 6),
The data is converted into an intermediate code and stored in the FIFO by the reception data processing routine (# 9, FIG. 10). That is, the format and data of the intermediate code are transferred to the second information processing unit via the FIFO. This intermediate code includes font pattern selection and a pattern corresponding to the font size.
It includes the calculated value of the drawing address to the BM-RAM, and can be said to be virtually provisionally edited. In addition, the font attribute is read at the time of initialization (# 5).
This is because temporary editing is performed asynchronously with the drawing of characters in the information processing unit.

An example of processing of the received data is shown in each flowchart of FIGS. 10 and 11. Received data is classified into the following four types.

a. IFC-related codes (print engine-related codes), b. JOB control codes (JOB START, PAGE EJECT), c. format control codes, d. print data (character codes, graphic codes).

First, in the case of print data, FIG. 11 is referred to, and in the case of a character code to be converted into an intermediate code of a corresponding format and output to the FIFO, a font / image writing unit 31 is used.
Same as the format to 1, the address of the font pattern (# 45), the drawing address to the BM-RAM (# 46),
The write mode (# 47) is written.

In the case of a graphic code, it is output in the same format as the command to the graphic image writing unit 316 (# 51). At this time, in case of character code,
The next character printing position is updated (# 48).

The IFC-related codes are output to the interface control unit 40 using optional mode information such as a sorter, etc., but in order to synchronize with the print data, the FIFO code is used as an intermediate code of a function type that has a different format from the print data.
(# 34, # 33). JOB control codes include
There are two types, the PAGE EJECT code used to separate pages and the JOB START used to separate JOBs (page groups). Both output to FIFO like IFC related code. The format control code controls the print format (# 40, # 41).

FIG. 13 shows a processing example sequence of the format control code. In the case of a line feed code, the next print position is moved to the left end (# 162), and in the case of a line feed code, the next print position is moved down one line (# 165). When random designation is performed (# 166), the next print position is updated after adding the offset value (# 167). FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a PAGE EJECT processing example. This PAGE EJECT processing
This is a virtual process for temporarily editing an intermediate code on O. PAGE EJECT processing is first performed to FIFO PAGE EJECT
Is output (# 102). Here, the actual paper discharging operation is performed when the second processing unit receives this intermediate code. Then, the next print position is returned to the beginning in preparation for editing the next page (# 103). These series of operations are determined by the LPWRITE flag indicating the provisional image editing (# 101, # 106) to prevent output of empty pages.

FIG. 15 to FIG. 19 are flowcharts showing processing examples of the second information processing section 330. Here, the preparation operation performs the same processing as that of the first information processing unit.

First, when the power is turned on (# 330), internal initialization is performed (# 301), the image area of the BM-RAM is cleared (# 302), and the control flag is initialized. Specifically, BM
-Clear BM-WRITE, which indicates the drawing status to RAM, clear TRBLIN, which indicates that a trouble has occurred, clear TRBLOUT, which indicates that trouble processing has been completed, and EXPEND, which indicates that an EXPEND command has been received from the print engine unit. Clear Further, in order to display the unprocessed rate of the data of the present invention, a flag PGSTRT indicating whether or not printing has begun.
Clear Further, 1cdflag indicating that the unprocessed data rate is to be displayed on the display panel is cleared. After this,
The process enters the main loop. The processes performed by the main loop include analysis of the intermediate code, drawing on the BM-RAM (# 307 to # 309), and print sequence control. Trouble handling is also performed.
Before performing these processes, the BM-RAM writing (# 305)
The presence or absence of data in the FIFO (# 306) is checked. Trouble processing is performed when the TRBLIN flag is set by interrupt processing from the print engine unit.

FIG. 16 shows a processing example flow of the intermediate code stored in the FIFO. Here, sequence control such as drawing on the BM-RAM according to the intermediate code and outputting a command to the print engine unit is mainly performed. For print data (# 351
If YES, the intermediate code is output to the font image writing unit, and if it is graphic data (YES in # 353), the intermediate code is output to the graphic image writing unit (# 354). When displaying the data unprocessed rate by input from the display panel (YE in # 355)
S) sets PGSRT, which indicates that printing is being performed, to 1, and performs display processing. If writing the first data (BM-
(WRITE flag = 0), (YES in # 358), the BM-WRITE flag is set to 1 (# 359), and a paper advance command PF for preparatory to the print engine 4 for paper feeding or the like.
CMD is output to the interface control unit 40 (# 360).
As a result, when the bitmap data processing device 3 completes the preparation for printing, the photoconductor can be immediately exposed to the laser, and the throughput is improved corresponding to the paper feeding time.

The IFC-related code and JOBSTART code are output to IFC (# 364). If the data is a margin value,
The total number of dots in the area is calculated (# 362, # 363). Calculation method image area (number of dots in printing direction) x
(The number of dots in the line feed direction).

Output from the FIFO 305 to the bitmap writing unit 31 is performed sequentially as long as there is intermediate code data.
When the T code is converted (YES in # 365), the signal conversion for one page is completed, so the print start processing (# 366) is started.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the print start processing. First, the print head control unit interface is set to a printable state (# 501), and a print command PRNCMD is output to the interface control unit 40 (# 502).
As a result, the print head controller interface 31
In 5, the BM-RAM data is transferred to the bus B4 in synchronization with the pulse sent from the control circuit 426 of the print head controller 42.
Output through

Next comes from the printhead controller interface
It waits until an EPEND that stands due to an EXPEND interrupt is detected (# 503), and proceeds when the EPEND flag is set. After this,
The BM-RAM is cleared (# 505) and the BM-WRITE flag is cleared (# 506) to prepare for the next drawing.

After that, since the processing for one page is completed, the PGSRT flag is set to 0 (# 36T), and the display processing (# 368) is performed. No.
In the display processing flowchart illustrated in FIG. 17, when the data processing for one page is completed (NO in # 402),
The unprocessed rate is set to 0, otherwise, the unprocessed rate is calculated (# 403 to # 405) and the display panel interface unit 311
(# 40T). Here, the unprocessed rate calculation method will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the cursor position is the top of the image area,
This shows, in terms of the number of dots, which position in the image area the drawing address in the bitmap memory corresponds to based on the line feed position. For example, the eighth
(X ', y') in the figure. From this and the total number of dots in the image area calculated in FIG. 16 (# 363) (in the example of FIG. 8, xy [dot]), the data unprocessed rate is calculated as follows.

[X · y (total number of dots in image area) −x ′ · y ′ (number of processed dots)] · 100 / x · y (total number of dots in image area) [%] Next, from the display panel in FIG. Are input by the function key for instructing ON / OFF of the display of the data unprocessed rate, are processed by the key input processing unit (FIG. 19), but other inputs are interrupted by the second information processing unit. It is taken in. First, the key input processing unit captures the state of the display panel (# 601), and then determines ON / OFF of the unprocessed rate display (# 602). If ON, unprocessed rate display flag 1
cdflag is set to 1, and if it is OFF, 1cdflag is set to 0 (# 60
3, # 604).

In the case of graphic data (vector data) rather than character data, the cursor position moves irregularly in the bitmap memory depending on the values of the start point and end point of the vector, so that the unprocessed rate of the data cannot be accurately represented. It is simply known that the writing process is being performed. In the case of such data, in order not to display the data unprocessed rate, the data unprocessed rate is displayed /
A key for selecting non-display may be used, or the display may be automatically switched to non-display by determining the vector data.

Also, displaying the processed rate, not the unprocessed rate of the write data, is the same from the object of the present invention, so that such calculation and display are easy according to the present invention, and Included in the range.

[Effect] Since the unprocessed rate of the data expanded into one page in the bitmap memory or the progress of the image drawing processing on the bitmap is displayed, it is not known only by the conventional LED lighting. The end time of the processing can be estimated, and the progress of the processing operation can be visually confirmed, thereby giving the operator a sense of reliability.

Further, it is possible to arbitrarily select whether or not to display the image as the progress of the image drawing process on the bitmap. The data from the data processing device may include, for example, graphic data (vector data). Accordingly, in such a case, the display is not automatically performed or displayed by key input. When no display is performed, the display section becomes free and can be used for other displays.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between a data processing device and a printer system, FIG. 2 is an external view of a printer, FIG. 3 is an illustration of an operation / display panel of the printer, and FIG. 4 is a control system block diagram of the printer system. , FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the internal system of the bitmap control unit, FIG. 6 is a detailed block diagram of the bitmap writing unit, FIG. 7 is a configuration example diagram of the first and second information processing units, and FIG. Exploded view of bitmap memory, ninth
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a main routine of the first information processing unit, FIGS. 10 and 11 are flowcharts of a received data processing example, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a format control code processing example, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a reception interrupt processing example, FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a main routine of the second information processing unit, and FIG. 16 is an intermediate code. FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a processing example, FIG.
FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an example of a print start process, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an example of a key input process. 1 is a data processing device, 10 is a printer system, 30 is a bitmap control unit, 31 is a bitmap writing unit, 44 is an operation / display panel, and 910 is a display unit.

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takashi Morikawa 2-30 Azuchicho, Higashi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-244131 (JP, A) JP-A-63 -244223 (JP, A) JP-A-1-169527 (JP, A) JP-A-1-285368 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 5/30 B41J 29/42 G06F 3/12

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A display device in a printer system for transmitting source data to be printed from a data processing device to a printer, drawing the image in a bitmap memory based on the source data by the printer, and performing print output. Display means for displaying the degree of progress of image drawing processing on the bitmap memory; and switching means for switching between a display mode in which display by the display means is performed and a non-display mode in which display is not performed. A display device, characterized in that: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said switching means automatically switches from a display mode to a non-display mode according to the source data transmitted from the data processing device.
The display device according to the above. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said switching means switches between a display mode and a non-display mode in response to an input by a manual operation. 4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said display means performs another display in addition to displaying the progress of the image drawing process.