JPH0738676B2 - Image output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image output device, such as an electrophotographic printing device, that outputs an image in units of, for example, one page,
In particular, the output start time is shortened.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in a page printer (page printing apparatus) that prints in units of one page, such as a laser beam printer, generally, data to be printed, which is input from an external or internal data source, is recorded on a recording paper. Once the data corresponding to one page is stored in the page buffer memory, which is stored in page units corresponding to pages, and when the data corresponding to this one page is stored in the page buffer memory, the driving of the photosensitive drum of the printer unit is instructed for the first time. The control signal is sent to the printer section. After the pre-rotation process of the photosensitive drum is executed based on this control signal, the stored contents in the page buffer memory are sequentially read out, and the printer section is driven according to the read-out contents to perform printing. The above-described pre-rotation process is performed in order to remove adverse effects on characters, images, etc. printed on the recording paper by rotating the photosensitive drum to some extent before starting printing.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, since the pre-rotation processing of the photosensitive drum is performed after the data corresponding to one page of the recording paper is completely stored in the page buffer memory, at least the pre-rotation processing time is required. However, there is a drawback that the initial print start time is delayed.

Therefore, it is conceivable to start the pre-rotation processing of the photosensitive drum in response to the start of storing the print data in the page buffer memory. However, even if the pre-rotation processing is started in this way and a predetermined time elapses, Is there a page break instruction?
If the contents stored in the buffer memory are not saturated, print data will not be supplied to the printer. Therefore, unless the rotation of the photosensitive drum is stopped to stop the print preparation operation, unnecessary wear and deterioration of the photosensitive drum will occur. There is a risk.

[Object] In view of the above-mentioned point, an object of the present invention is to speed up the start time of preprocessing in an apparatus that stores image data of one page and outputs the image data to a printer. An object of the present invention is to provide an image output device capable of reliably shortening the waiting time until the first image output and improving the durability of a member related to pretreatment, for example, a photoconductor.

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the image output apparatus of the present invention, in which 1 is a central processing unit, which performs various calculations and logical judgments for image output processing, and connects to the signal line via the signal line. The respective connected components described later are connected. Reference numeral 2 denotes a page buffer memory (page memory) that stores print data on a recording paper in units of one page, and print data (image data) IDs sent from a data generation source (not shown) such as a floppy disk It is temporarily stored through the input data signal line 3 and the central processing unit 1.

4 is an electrophotographic page like a laser beam printer
The printer is a printer, which sequentially reads the stored contents of the page buffer memory 2 based on a read instruction signal from the central processing unit 1, and the laser light or the like is applied to a charged photosensitive member such as a photosensitive drum (not shown) according to the stored contents PD. To form an electrostatic latent image, and the toner image obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image is transferred and fixed on a recording sheet to print one page at a time.

Further, between the page printer 4 and the central processing unit 1, a drum start signal line for transmitting a drum start signal SS for requesting the page printer 4 to execute the above-described pre-rotation process of the photosensitive drum. 5. Print command signal line 6 for transmitting a print command signal PS for instructing printing to the page printer 4 and print data signal for transmitting a print data signal PD for instructing printing to the page printer 4 Connect line 7.

Next, the operation of the image output apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the signal waveform chart of FIG. 2 and the flow chart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, a drum start signal is sent from the central processing unit 1 to the page printer 4 at time t1 immediately after the first input data signal ID sent from the data source is stored in the page buffer memory 2. The SS is sent to start the pre-rotation process of the photosensitive drum (steps S1 to S3).

On the other hand, the input data signal that follows the first input data signal ID
Sequentially store the ID in the page buffer memory 2,
Based on the instruction signal indicating that the page is to be changed or the instruction signal indicating that the input data signal ID is in a saturated state for one page (step S4), the central processing unit is operated at time t2 when the data for the first page is completely stored. The print command signal PS is sent from 1 to the page printer 4.

At the same time, a read instruction signal is sent from the central processing unit 1 to start reading the print data of the stored contents from the page buffer memory 2, and is sent to the page printer 4 as a print data signal PD through the print data signal line 7. The data are sequentially transmitted (step S5). Based on the print command signal PS and the print data signal PD, the page printer 4
The contents of the print data signal PD are sequentially printed on the recording paper.
However, the time T between the times t1 and t2 is set in advance so as to be longer than the pre-rotation processing time of the photosensitive drum.

On the other hand, when there is no page break instruction at the time when a predetermined time T has elapsed from the start of print preparation for the pre-rotation process of the photosensitive drum of the page printer 4, for example, at time t2, or when the data in the page buffer memory 2 is 1 If the page is not saturated, the print command signal PS and the print data signal PD are not sent to the page printer 4.
In this case, stop sending the drum start signal SS that has already been sent to the page printer 4,
The rotation of the photosensitive drum is stopped, and the print preparation operation of the page printer 4 is stopped. Therefore, counting of the timer is started at the same time when the drum start signal SS is generated, and it is judged whether or not the print command signal PS is generated after the elapse of the predetermined time T. If the judgment is negative, the drum drive signal SS is stopped (step S6). and
S7).

As described above, in the present example, if there is no instruction to page-change the page memory 2 even if a sufficient time has elapsed after the pre-rotation process is completed, or the page-buffer memory 2 stores the page-change memory. When the input data is not saturated, the rotation of the rotary drum is immediately stopped, so that the wear and deterioration of the photosensitive drum can be prevented in advance without the unwanted rotation of the photosensitive drum.

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, in a device that stores image data of one page and outputs the image data to a printer, the start time of preprocessing can be advanced regardless of the operation of the operator. In addition, it is possible to reliably reduce the waiting time until the first image output, and it is possible to prevent unnecessary wear or deterioration of a member, such as a photoconductor, required for pretreatment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image output device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a signal waveform diagram showing an example of signal waveforms of respective parts of the device of FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1 ... Central processing unit, 2 ... Page buffer memory, 3 ... Input data signal line, 4 ... Page printer, 5 ... Drum start signal line, 6 ... Print command signal line, 7 ... Print Data signal line, ID: input data signal, SS: drum start signal, PS: print command signal, PD: print data signal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit capable of storing at least one page of image data, a determination unit for determining whether or not one page of image data is stored in the storage unit, and the determination unit for one page. Image output means for outputting an image corresponding to the image data for the one page read from the storage means after it is determined that the image data has been stored, storage processing of the image data in the storage means, In order to execute the preprocessing for image output in the image output means in parallel, the preprocessing is started before the judgment means judges that one page of image data has been stored in the storage means. Instruction signal output means for outputting an instruction signal to instruct to the image output means, and the image data for one page is stored by the determination means even if a predetermined time has elapsed after the instruction signal is output. And a stop signal output means for outputting a stop signal to the image output means so as to stop the preprocessing started by the instruction signal when it is not determined that the image output apparatus stores the image output apparatus. .