JP3160251B2 - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for receiving print data such as figures and characters and performing printing on print paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing apparatus such as a multi-stage page printer apparatus which is provided with a plurality of paper feeders accommodating print papers of different sizes and is capable of selecting and printing from a plurality of print papers, When the paper of the regular print paper corresponding to the print data such as characters and characters has run out, and a print paper larger than the print paper that has run out of paper is set in another paper feeder, Alternative printing is performed using print paper instead. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the regular print paper 303 runs out of paper when printing the page data (example of the alphabet “A”) 301, the print paper of a size larger than the print paper 303 becomes different. If the print paper 304 is stored in the paper feeding device, the alternative printing is performed on the print paper 304 stored in the paper feeding device.

[0003]

In the conventional printing apparatus, when performing the alternative printing, print data such as characters and figures to be printed is printed in the same manner as in the case of regular print paper. As shown by the diagonal lines, a lot of unnecessary margins are formed on the print paper 304.
Therefore, there is a problem in that the printing efficiency on the printing paper is poor and the operation of cutting out unnecessary margins after printing becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing so that unnecessary margins are reduced by combining and printing a plurality of page data when performing alternative printing.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A printing apparatus according to the present invention includes printing means having print paper supply means for supplying a plurality of types of print papers having different sizes, and when a regular print paper runs out of paper. Selecting a substitute print paper stored in the print paper supply means,
In a printing apparatus for printing the print data received by the receiving means by the printing means, a storage means for storing a plurality of page data output from the receiving means,
From among the plurality of page data stored in the storage unit, other page data that can be printed in a margin generated when the page data on which the paper has run out is printed on the substitute paper is selected, and the page data on which the paper runs out is selected. And combining means for combining the selected page data with the selected page data and outputting the combined data to the printing means. The storage unit stores a plurality of page data output from the receiving unit. The combination processing unit selects other page data that can be printed in a margin when the page data on which the paper has run out is printed on a substitute paper, from among the plurality of page data stored in the storage unit, and The generated page data and the selected page data are combined and output to the printing unit. The printing unit performs printing by combining the page data.

[0006] Combination print instruction means for combining the plurality of page data to output a combined print instruction signal for instructing printing on a substitute print sheet is provided. In response, the apparatus may be configured to combine the page data and output it to the printing means. Further, the combination processing means may include a rotation means for rotating the page data, and at least one of the plurality of page data to be combined may be rotated and combined by the rotation means. Furthermore, the combination processing unit may be configured to select page data that minimizes unnecessary margins, combine the page data with the print page data in which the paper-out has occurred, and output the combined data to the printing unit. . Further, the combined print instruction unit detects that a substitute print sheet larger than at least a regular print sheet is stored in the print sheet supply unit,
It may be configured to output the combined print instruction signal.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus has a plurality of paper feeders for storing print papers of different sizes. 1 shows an example of a multi-stage printer device which performs switching by selecting and printing.

In FIG. 1, a receiving circuit 101 as a receiving means for receiving print data such as figures and characters transmitted from a host computer, a central processing unit (CPU circuit) 102 for performing processing and control described later, and performing alternative printing. Operating means 103 for performing input operation of whether or not, CPU circuit 102
And a page memory circuit 104 as storage means for storing and outputting bit map page data in which the print data is rasterized by the
Memory control circuit 105 for controlling writing / reading and specifying an address, reading buffer 106 for temporarily storing and outputting page data stored in page memory circuit 104, and housed in a sheet feeding device (not shown) The CPU circuit 102 detects the presence or absence and size of the printed
And a printing mechanism 108 as a printing means for printing the output signal of the read buffer 106. Although not shown, the printing mechanism 108 has a plurality of paper feeders for storing print papers, and has a built-in print paper supply unit for selectively supplying a plurality of types of print papers having different sizes. I have. Further, the page memory circuit 104 has a storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of page data. Here, the CPU circuit 102, the page memory circuit 104, and the page memory control circuit 105 constitute a combination processing unit. The operation unit 103 and the print sheet detection unit 107 constitute a combined print instruction unit.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of the CPU circuit 102 when performing combined printing when performing alternative printing.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, in a normal state in which regular print paper corresponding to print data to be printed is stored in the paper feeder, page data from the host computer received by the receiving circuit 101 is rasterized by the CPU circuit 102 and each page is rasterized. Data is sequentially stored in the page memory circuit 104. At this time, the page memory circuit 104 is controlled to be in a write state by the page memory control circuit 105, and a write address is sequentially designated, and page data in a bitmap format is sequentially stored at the designated address.

Thereafter, the page memory circuit 104 is controlled to a read state by the page memory control circuit 105, a read address is sequentially designated, and the stored page data is sequentially read. The read page data is output to the printing mechanism 108 via the read buffer 106. At this time, the CPU circuit 102 selects, from among the plurality of paper feeders provided in the print paper supply unit and containing print papers of different sizes, the paper feeder that accommodates regular print paper corresponding to page data to be printed. Therefore, the page data is printed on regular print paper, and printing without unnecessary margins is performed.

Next, the operation when the regular print paper runs out of paper will be described. Print paper detection means 1
In step 07, the CPU detects that the regular print paper has run out of paper and outputs an out-of-paper detection signal to the CPU circuit 102. Detects that paper is stored in the paper feeder, and outputs an alternative paper detection signal to the CPU.
Output to the circuit 102.

At this time, if the alternative printing instruction signal for performing the alternative printing is not input by the operating means 103, the fact that the print paper is out is displayed by the operating means 103, and the processing is stopped. Waits for an instruction from. If the print paper larger than the regular print paper is not stored in another paper feeder, the alternative paper detection signal is not input to the CPU circuit 102, and the operation means 103 informs the user that the print paper has run out. To stop the process and wait for an instruction from the operator. The alternative printing instruction signal is input to the CPU circuit 102 by the operating means 103, and the out-of-paper detection signal and the alternative paper detection signal are sent from the printing paper detecting means 107 to the CPU circuit 10.
In the case of inputting to 2, the following alternative printing is performed.
The alternative print instruction signal, the out-of-paper detection signal, and the alternative paper detection signal constitute a combined print instruction signal.

First, upon receiving the combined print instruction signal after the regular print paper has run out of paper (step S201), the CPU circuit 102 prints a print larger than the regular print paper based on the substitute paper detection signal. The paper feeder in which the paper is stored is selected, and thereby the substitute print paper is selected (step S202). next,
The size of a margin generated when the page data 301 in which the paper has run out is replaced with the substitute print paper is calculated (step S203). In this case, the margin is calculated on the assumption that the page data 301 in which the paper-out has occurred is rotated by 90 degrees and the alternative printing is performed.

Next, from among the plurality of page data stored in the page memory circuit 104, page data other than the page data in which the paper has run out is searched, and the page data having a size that fits in the margin is searched. 302 is selected (step S204). In making the selection, the page data to be selected is selected such that unnecessary margins are minimized in consideration of both a case where the page data is rotated by 90 degrees and a case where the page data is printed without being rotated. In FIG. 3, the page data 30
An example is shown in which unnecessary margins are minimized when both 1 and 302 are rotated by 90 degrees for printing. The CPU 102
Step S204 in the above constitutes a selection means.
Next, the page data 301 in which the paper has run out and the selected page data 302 are each rotated by 90 degrees (step S205), and both the page data 301 and 302 are rotated.
Are combined and stored in the page memory circuit 104 (step S206). The rotation of each of the page data 301 and 302 is performed by exchanging the rows and columns of the bitmap format page data stored in the page memory circuit 104. Step S20 in the CPU circuit 102
5 constitutes a rotating means, and step S206 constitutes a connecting means.

Thereafter, the combined page data is output from the page memory circuit 104 to the printing mechanism 108 via the read buffer 106 to perform a printing process (step S).
207), and the process ends. In the printing mechanism 108, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Is rotated 90 degrees and the selected page data 302
Is rotated by 90 degrees and the alternative paper 305
Is printed instead.

In the present embodiment, the page data 301 in which the paper has run out and the selected page data 302 are rotated and rotated by 90 degrees, respectively, and combined and printed. However, various changes can be made according to the purpose, for example, by rotating at least one of them to minimize unnecessary margins. Also,
In step S203, it is selected to combine the page data having the smallest margin. However, of the plurality of page data stored in the page memory circuit 104, the printing is performed on the margin generated when the page data on which the paper is out is printed. The printing process may be performed by combining the page data that can be stored and the earliest stored page data.

Further, in the present embodiment, as the combined print instruction signal for instructing the combination of the page data, the out-of-paper detection signal from the print paper detection means 107, the alternative paper detection signal, and the The alternative print instruction signal was used, but various changes such as using the paper out detection signal and the alternative paper detection signal as a combined print instruction signal, or using the alternative print instruction signal and the alternative paper detection signal as a combined print instruction signal, etc. Is possible. That is, various changes are possible, such as performing combined printing in response to a combined print signal including at least the substitute sheet detection signal. Further, the present invention can be applied to a device capable of performing alternative printing, such as a printer device or a plotter device.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since alternative printing is performed by combining a plurality of page data, it is possible to perform printing with less unnecessary margins on alternative printing paper. Also, depending on the size of the combined page data, printing can be performed without generating unnecessary margins. Furthermore, since a plurality of figures and the like can be combined and printed, various printing can be performed.

[0020]

According to the present invention, when performing alternative printing, printing with little unnecessary margin or no margin can be performed. In addition, since a plurality of figures and the like can be combined and printed, various printings can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an aspect of printing on print paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Receiving Circuit as Receiving Means 102: CP Constituting Combining Processing Means and Rotating Means
U circuit 103: operation means constituting alternative printing instruction means 104: page memory circuit constituting combination processing means 105: page memory control circuit constituting combination processing means 107: alternative printing instruction means Print paper detecting means 108... Printing mechanism as printing means

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-11-27505 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-89927 (JP, A) JP-A-11-212749 (JP, A) JP-A-11-286155 (JP, A) JP-A-11-266353 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 21/00 B41J 3/407 B41J 11/42 B41J 11/48 H04N 1 / 387

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1, further comprising a printing means having a print sheet supply means for supplying size of the different types of print paper, the regular paper out of the normal print sheet is housed in the printing paper feed means upon the occurrence Print of
A printing apparatus for selecting a substitute print sheet having a size larger than the sheet and printing the print data received by the receiving unit by the printing unit, comprising a storage unit for storing a plurality of page data output from the receiving unit. and calculates the amount of space that occurs when printing the page data out of paper occurs in the substitute printing paper, it can be printed on the calculated the margin且
One the paper out is to search for and select another page data other than the page data generated from the plurality of page data stored in the storage means, said selected out of paper in the search and page data generated A printing apparatus comprising: a combining unit configured to combine the output data with the page data and output the combined data to the printing unit. 2. A combined print instruction unit for combining the plurality of page data and outputting a combined print instruction signal for instructing printing on a substitute print sheet, wherein the combination processing unit includes the combined print instruction. 2. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said page data is combined and output to said printing means in response to a signal. 3. The combination processing unit according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation unit configured to rotate the page data, wherein at least one of the plurality of page data to be combined is rotated by the rotation unit and combined. Item 3. The printing device according to Item 1 or 2. 4. The combination processing means retrieves and selects page data which minimizes unnecessary margins, combines the data with the print page data in which the paper has run out, and outputs the combined data to the printing means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3. 5. The combined print instruction unit detects that a substitute print sheet larger than at least a regular print sheet is stored in the print sheet supply unit, and outputs the combined print instruction signal. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein: