JPH11129569A - Printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily manage printed recording papers by changing a magnification of printing data of a different paper size from a head page so that the printing data is accommodated within a paper of the head page and printing the whole printing data of a plurality of mixed paper size to be uniform in size with the head page. SOLUTION: When document data of a plurality of mixed paper sized are received from a host apparatus 5a, a printing mode flag of a printing mode flag-setting part 94 of a printer information part 9 is confirmed. When a normal mode is set, a paper size designated by the document data is selected for each page and the page is printed. When a special mode is set, a data analysis process part 10 stores a paper size of a head page as an output size in a set information part 92 of the printer information-storing part 9. A reduced magnification process is carried out when a designated paper size is larger than the output size. The data is processed as it is when the paper size is equal to or smaller than the output size. The data is printed uniformly in size with the paper size of the head page.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing print data sent from a host device such as a host device, and more particularly to facilitating management of printed recording sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Application software such as a word processor that operates on a higher-level device such as a personal computer can create document data in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed in one document. When the document data including a plurality of paper sizes created by the higher-level device is sent to the printer device for printing, the printer device selects and prints the paper size specified in the document.

[0003]

As described above, when document data having a plurality of paper sizes mixed is printed by the printer device, a plurality of paper sizes are naturally output in a mixed state. In a printer device equipped with a function of performing post-processing on printed paper such as a punch function, the post-processing function may not be able to be executed unless the output paper size is the same size. Further, even when a plurality of paper sizes are output in a mixed state, there is a case where there is a limitation on the paper size that can be mixed even in a printer device that can execute a post-processing function. That is, when data of one document or one job in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is sent,
Depending on the printer device, the post-processing function may not be able to be executed, and it is not easy to manage the printed recording paper.

[0004] The present invention improves on such disadvantages and makes it possible to easily manage printed recording paper even when print data of one document or one job in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is received from a host device. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a printer device capable of printing and outputting on a recording sheet.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printer apparatus for selecting a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level apparatus, or printing and scaling print data at a specified scaling factor. Printer device,
When receiving data of one document or one job in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed, and receiving an instruction to print on the same size paper by an instruction from a higher-level device or an operation panel of a printer device, a Of the print data of a plurality of paper sizes mixed in a document or one job, the print data of a paper size different from the paper size of the first page is scaled to fit in the paper size of the first page, and the plurality of paper sizes are changed. And prints all the print data in which is mixed with the paper size of the first page.

A second printer device according to the present invention selects a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level device, or prints print data by scaling the print data at a specified scaling factor. , When data of one document or one job in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is received, an instruction to print on all designated sheets of the same size is received by an instruction from an operation panel of a host device or a printer device. Print data of multiple paper sizes mixed in one document or one job,
It is characterized in that the print data is scaled so that it fits on the paper size specified on the operation panel of the host device or the printer device, and all the print data in which multiple paper sizes are mixed is unified to the specified paper size and printed. I do.

A third printer according to the present invention selects a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level device or prints print data by scaling the print data at a specified scaling factor. Has the function of assigning the paper size actually output by the printer to each paper size from the host device or the operation panel of the printer, and receiving data of one document or one job in which print data of multiple paper sizes are mixed. Then, when an instruction from the higher-level device or the operation panel of the printer is issued to print the print data of each paper size in the assigned paper size, one document or one
It is characterized in that print data of a plurality of paper sizes mixed in a job is printed at a variable magnification so as to fit in the allocated paper size.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The control unit of a printer according to the present invention includes a system control unit for managing the entire apparatus, a host interface for receiving data from a plurality of higher-level devices and storing the data in a data buffer, and a control unit for an operation panel. An operation panel control unit for performing display control and key control, a printer information storage unit, a data analysis processing unit for reading, analyzing, and processing received data stored in a data buffer; an image memory, a drawing control unit, and a printer engine A printer engine control unit that controls the operation of the printer engine. The printer information storage unit has various control information for controlling the printer device and various modes for printing print data.For example, in a print mode for selecting the paper size specified in the document data and printing the print data. A certain normal mode and a special mode, which is a print mode for printing all print data using the paper size of the first page, are registered in advance.

When document data of one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is received from the host device, the data analysis processing unit checks the print mode flag in the printer information storage unit, and the normal mode is set as the print mode. In this case, each sheet size specified in the document data is selected for each page and printed. When the special mode is set as the print mode, the data analysis processing unit selects the paper size of the first page as the output size and stores it in the printer information storage unit. The system control unit secures an area for the selected output size in the image memory. In this state, the data analysis processing unit enlarges the print data of the first page by
The image is processed at a magnification of 0% and sent to the drawing control unit. The drawing control unit processes the sent print data and writes the processed image data to the image memory. When the image data of the first page is written in the image memory, the system control unit reads out control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit, sends the control information to the engine control unit, and issues an output instruction. The engine control unit reads the image data from the image memory, sends the image data to the printer engine, and prints the image data on a recording sheet having the set output size. During subsequent printing, if the paper size data of the page to be printed next is specified, the data analysis processing unit compares the specified paper size with the output size, and if the specified paper size is If the size is larger than the output size, a scaling factor from the designated paper size to the output size is calculated, and the print data transmitted for the designated paper size is multiplied by the calculated scaling factor and sent to the drawing control unit.
The drawing control unit processes the sent print data and writes the processed image data to the image memory. The system control unit reads the control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit, sends the control information to the engine control unit, issues an output instruction, and sets the print data transmitted for the designated paper size by the printer engine. Print on output size recording paper. When the specified paper size is smaller than the output size, the data analysis processing unit processes the print data transmitted for the specified paper size at the same magnification and prints the data. This process is repeated until the received document data of one document is completed.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the printer device 1 has a control unit 2, an operation panel 3, and a printer engine 4,
The print data sent from the plurality of higher-level devices 5a to 5n is printed on a recording sheet and output. The control unit 2 includes a system control unit 6, a host interface 7, an operation panel control unit 8, a printer information storage unit 9, a data analysis processing unit 10, a data buffer 11, an image memory 12, a drawing control unit 13, a character pattern generation unit 14, Vector graph data processing unit 15, image data processing unit 16, and printer engine control unit 1
And 7.

The system control unit 6 controls the entire printer 1 such as instructions to the control units, operation management, arbitration between the control units, and memory management. The host interface 7 communicates with the plurality of higher-level devices 5a to 5n, and
5n, and temporarily stores the received data in the data buffer 11. The operation panel control unit 8 performs display control and key control of the operation panel 3, and stores printer setting information from the operation panel 3 in the printer information storage unit 9 as necessary.

The printer information storage unit 9 is a control information storage unit 9
1, a setting information storage unit 92, a print mode registration unit 93, and a print mode flag setting unit 94. Control information storage 9
1 stores various control information for controlling the printer device 1. The setting information storage unit 92 stores printer setting information and the like from the operation panel 3. Various modes for printing print data, such as a normal mode and a special mode, are registered in the print mode registration unit 93 in advance. The normal mode is a print mode in which print data is printed by selecting the paper size as specified in the document data, and the special mode is a print mode in which all print data is printed using the paper size of the first page, for example. Is registered. The print mode flag setting unit 94 sets a print mode flag for determining whether the normal mode or the special mode has been selected. The print mode flag is set by the data analysis processing unit 10 when the print mode is instructed from the higher-level devices 5a to 5n, and when the print mode is instructed from the operation panel 3 by the operation panel 3. The control unit 8 sets a print mode flag. For example, “0” is set when the print mode is the normal mode, and “1” is set when the print mode is the special mode.

The data analysis processing unit 10 includes a data buffer 1
1 is read and analyzed, and when the data is control data, the analyzed control information is stored in the control information storage unit 91 of the printer information storage unit 9. When the data analysis processing unit 10 reads the data stored in the data buffer 11 and analyzes the data for specifying the paper size, the data analysis processing unit 10 stores the paper size to be used in the setting information storage unit 92.
To be stored. The system control unit 6 stores the memory area for the sheet size stored in the setting information storage unit 92 in the image memory 12.
To secure. If the data analyzed by the data analysis processing unit 10 is print data, the print data is sent to the drawing control unit 13. If the transmitted print data is character print data, the drawing control unit 13 causes the character pattern generation unit 14 to process the image data, and writes the image data processed by the character pattern generation unit 14 to the image memory 12. The drawing control unit 13 causes the vector graph data processing unit 15 to process the vector graph data sent as print data, and causes the image data processing unit 16 to process the image data when image data is sent. Is written to the image memory 12. When the writing of the image data into the image memory 12 is completed, the drawing control unit 13 sends a write completion notification to the system control unit 6.
The system control unit 6 reads out the control information stored in the printer information storage unit 9 and sends it to the engine control unit 17 to issue an output instruction. The engine control unit 17 reads out image data from the image memory 12 and sends it to the printer engine 4.
The printer engine 4 prints the sent image data on recording paper and discharges the printed recording paper.

The operation when the printer device 1 configured as described above receives document data of one document having a plurality of paper sizes mixed from the host device 5a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When receiving the document data of one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed from the host device 5a, the data analysis processing unit 10 checks the print mode flag of the print mode flag setting unit 94 of the printer information storage unit 9 (step S1). S
1). As a result of this check, if the normal mode is set as the print mode, each sheet size specified in the document data is selected and printed for each page (steps S2 and S3). When the special mode is set as the print mode, the data analysis processing unit 10 stores the paper size of the first page as the output size in the setting information storage unit 92 of the printer information storage unit 9 (Steps S2 to S6). The system control unit 6 secures an area for the output size stored in the setting information storage unit 92 in the image memory 12 (Step S7). Thereafter, the data analysis processing unit 10 sets the magnification to 100.
% (Step S8), the print data of the first page is multiplied by a scaling factor, and sent to the drawing control unit 13. The drawing control unit 13 causes the transmitted print data to be processed by the character pattern generation unit 14, the vector graph data processing unit 15, and the image data processing unit 16, and stores the processed image data in the image memory 1.
When the writing to the image memory 12 is completed, a notification of the completion of the writing is sent to the system control unit 6. The system control unit 6 reads out control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit 9 and
To send an output instruction. The engine control unit 17 reads out image data from the image memory 12 and sends it to the printer engine 4. The printer engine 4 prints the sent image data on recording paper of a set output size, and discharges the printed recording paper (step S9). If there is no paper size data for the next page, that is, if the paper size is the same as the first page (steps S10 and S4), the data analysis processing unit 10 sets the magnification to 100%, processes the print data, and prints. (Steps S8, S9). This printing process is repeated for a predetermined page, and when the paper size data of the next page is designated (steps S10, S4, S4).
S5) The data analysis processing unit 10 compares the designated paper size with the output size (step S11). If the designated paper size is larger than the output size, the data analysis processing unit 10 has been transmitted for the designated paper size. In order to print the print data at the output size, a scaling factor from the designated paper size to the output size is calculated (step S12). This scaling factor is obtained by calculation, or, if stored in advance in the printer information storage unit 9 as information, the information on the scaling factor is read out. After that, the data analysis processing unit 10 multiplies the print data transmitted for the designated paper size by the calculated scaling factor and sends the data to the drawing control unit 13. The drawing control unit 13 causes the transmitted print data to be processed, and writes the processed image data to the image memory 12. The system control unit 6 reads out control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit 9 and sends it to the engine control unit 17 to issue an output instruction, and the print data transmitted by the printer engine 4 for the designated paper size. Is printed on recording paper of the set output size (step S9). Data analysis processing unit 1
If the designated paper size is smaller than the output size, 0 is set to 100% for the scaling factor for printing the print data transmitted for the designated paper size at the output size (steps S11 and S13). Is processed and printed (step S9). This process is repeated until the received document data of one document is completed (step S10).

As described above, a plurality of paper sizes 1 are mixed.
When a document is received, if the specified paper size is larger than the output size, reduction / enlargement processing is performed. If the specified paper size is equal to or smaller than the output size, the processing is performed as is, and printing is performed unified to the paper size of the first page Thus, post-processing and management of printed recording paper can be facilitated.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a single document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is printed on the same paper size using the paper size of the first page of the document data as the output size in the special mode. ~
5n or the operation panel 3 beforehand, and when receiving document data in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed,
The print data of different paper sizes may be scaled on the basis of the set output size, and may be uniformly printed on recording paper of the set output size.

When the special mode for printing with the output size set in the print mode registration section 93 is registered as described above, the print data received with the output size set on the host device 5a to 5n or the operation panel 3 is transmitted. The operation of the embodiment for printing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When receiving the document data of one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed from the host device 5a, the data analysis processing unit 10 checks the print mode flag of the print mode flag setting unit 94 of the printer information storage unit 9 (step). S2
1). As a result of this confirmation, when the normal mode is set as the print mode, each sheet size specified in the document data is selected and printed for each page (steps S22 and S23). When the special mode is set as the print mode, the system control unit 6 sets the setting information storage unit 9
The output size set to 2 is read, and an area corresponding to the output size is secured in the image memory 12 (step S24).
On the other hand, when detecting the paper size data, the data analysis processing unit 4 compares the specified paper size with the set output size (steps S25 and S26), and the specified paper size is larger than the set output size. In this case, in order to print the print data transmitted for the designated paper size at the output size, a scaling ratio from the designated paper size to the output size is determined and registered in the setting information storage unit 92 (steps S27 and S29). ). After that, the data analysis processing unit 10 multiplies the print data transmitted for the designated paper size by the registered scaling factor and sends the data to the drawing control unit 13.
The drawing control unit 13 processes the transmitted print data, and writes the processed image data to the image memory 12. The system control unit 6 reads out control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit 9 and sends it to the engine control unit 17 to issue an output instruction, and the print data transmitted by the printer engine 4 for the specified paper size. Is printed on recording paper of the set output size (step S30). If the specified paper size is smaller than the output size, the data analysis processing unit 10 sets a scaling factor for printing the print data transmitted for the specified paper size at the output size.
The print data is set to 100% (steps S28 and S29), and the print data is processed and printed (step S30). If there is no paper size data for the next page (step S3
(1, S25), the data analysis processing section 10 determines that the size is the same as the previous paper size, processes the print data at the previously set scaling factor, and prints it (step S30). This process is repeated until the received document data of one document is completed (step S31).

In this way, when one document having a plurality of paper sizes mixed is received, printing can be performed in a uniform manner with the paper size specified by the host devices 5a to 5n and the operation panel 3.

Although the above embodiment has been described in connection with the case where one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is printed on one type of recording paper of the same size and output, print data in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is output by the printer engine 4. An output size may be assigned to each paper size that can be printed by the printer. In this case, the print mode registration unit 9
As shown in FIG. 4, an output size table 20 in which each paper size specified by the document data is assigned to each paper size printable by the printer engine 4 as an output size is secured in the special mode registration area 3. . The output size for each paper size in the output size table 20 is set by the host devices 5a to 5n and the operation panel 3.

The operation of the embodiment in which the output size is assigned to each paper size printable by the printer engine 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the document data of one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is received from the host device 5a, the data analysis processing unit 10 checks the print mode flag of the print mode flag setting unit 94 of the printer information storage unit 9 (step). S4
1). As a result of this confirmation, when the normal mode is set as the print mode, each sheet size specified in the document data is selected and printed for each page (steps S42 and S43). When the special mode is set as the print mode, when the data analysis processing unit 4 detects the paper size data (steps S42 and S44), the data analysis processing unit 4 allocates the paper size specified by the output size table 20 of the print mode registration unit 93. The output size is selected and registered in the setting information storage unit 92 (step S45). For example, if the designated paper size is B4 size, A4 size is selected. The system control unit 6 secures an area for the registered output size in the image memory 12 (step S4).
6). Next, the data analysis processing unit 4 compares the paper size with the registered output size (step S47), and if the specified paper size is larger than the set output size, transmits the data for the specified paper size. In order to print the output print data at the output size, the scaling ratio from the designated paper size to the output size is calculated and the setting information storage unit 92 is set.
(Steps S48 and S50). Thereafter, the data analysis processing unit 10 multiplies the print data transmitted for the designated paper size by the registered scaling factor, and
Send to 3. The drawing control unit 13 processes the sent print data, the system control unit 6 reads out control information such as the output size stored in the printer information storage unit 9 and sends it to the engine control unit 17 to be registered in the printer engine 4. Then, printing is performed on recording paper of the output size (step S51). If the specified paper size is smaller than the output size, the data analysis processing unit 10 sets a scaling factor for printing the print data transmitted for the specified paper size at the output size.
Set to 100% and register (steps S47, S49, S
50), print data is processed and printed (step S)
51). If there is no paper size data for the next page, the data analysis processing section 10 determines that the paper size is the same as the previous paper size, processes the print data at the previously set scaling factor, and prints it (steps S52, S44, S51). . This process is repeated until the received document data of one document is completed (step S52).

As described above, when printing a document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed, the printing is performed not with the paper size specified by the document data but with the paper size specified by the host device 5a to 5n or the operation panel 3. can do.

In the above embodiment, the case where the information of the designated paper size and the output size is stored in the output size table 20 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. In advance, the information on the magnification may be arbitrarily set by the host devices 5a to 5n or the operation panel 3. By registering the scaling factor in this way, when the output size for the designated paper size is selected, the scaling factor can be selected at the same time, and the print data can be immediately processed at the selected scaling factor.
For example, the specified paper size = A in the output size table 20
5, if the output size is set to A4 and the scaling ratio is set to 100%, the print data of the A5 size is printed as it is on the A4 paper, but the specified paper size = A5 and the output size = A4 are output to the output size table 20. If the scaling ratio is set to 141%, A5 size print data may be enlarged to 141% and printed on A4 paper.

In each of the above embodiments, the print mode registration unit 9
The case where only one special mode is registered in the print mode registration unit 9 has been described.
3 and the host devices 5a to 5n and the operation panel 3
May be selected arbitrarily.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, when one document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed is received, if the specified paper size is larger than the output size, reduction / magnification processing is performed, and the output size is reduced. If the size is the same or smaller, the process is performed as it is, and printing is performed unified to the paper size of the first page, so that post-processing and management of the printed recording paper can be facilitated.

When one document containing a plurality of paper sizes is received, the document is printed on the paper size specified by the operation panel of the host device or the printer, so that all the documents containing the plurality of paper sizes can be used by the user. Can be unified to the specified paper size, so that the management of the printed document can be facilitated.

Further, when printing a document in which a plurality of paper sizes are mixed, not only the paper size specified in the document data but also the paper size specified in the document data sent from the host device is used. By printing with the paper size specified on the operation panel of the host device or the printer, it is possible to print on a fixed paper size specified by the user, and it is possible to easily manage the printed document.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an output size table according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of another output size table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 printer device 2 control unit 3 operation panel 4 printer engine 5 host device 6 system control unit 7 host interface 8 operation panel control unit 9 printer information storage unit 10 data analysis processing unit 11 and data buffer 12 image memory 13 drawing control unit 14 characters Pattern generator 15 Vector graph data processor 16 Image data processor 17 Printer engine controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer device that selects a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level device or prints print data by scaling the print data at a specified scaling ratio, wherein a plurality of paper sizes are mixed. When receiving data of one document or one job and receiving an instruction to print all on the same size paper by an instruction from the operation panel of the host device or the printer device, the data is mixed in one document or one job. Of the print data of multiple paper sizes, the print data of a paper size different from the paper size of the first page is scaled so that it fits in the paper size of the first page. A printer device that prints the same size as the paper size of the first page. 2. A printer device for selecting a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level device or printing by changing print data at a specified scaling factor, wherein a plurality of paper sizes are mixed. When receiving data of one document or one job and receiving an instruction from the operation panel of the higher-level device or the printer to print on all specified sheets of the same size, one document or one job The print data of multiple paper sizes mixed in the printer is scaled to fit within the paper size specified on the host device or the operation panel of the printer, and all of the print data with multiple paper sizes are specified. A printer device characterized in that printing is performed in a uniform paper size. 3. A printer device for selecting a paper size specified by a control code transmitted from a higher-level device or for scaling and printing print data at a specified scaling factor. A paper size actually output by the printer is assigned to each paper size from the panel, and print data of multiple paper sizes are mixed.
When receiving data of a document or one job, and receiving an instruction to print at the paper size assigned to the print data of each paper size by an instruction from the operation panel of the host device or the printer device, A printer apparatus, which prints print data of a plurality of paper sizes mixed in one document or one job by scaling the print data to fit in the allocated paper size.