JPH04220366A - Page printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stop printing output when printing data to be printed is blank data. CONSTITUTION:A page printer is equipped with a blank detection control part 4 detecting whether printing data is blank data to control the output of a page buffer 3 and the blank detection control part 4 cancels the printing data of one page developed on the page buffer 3 when all of the printing data are blank data and develops the printing data of the next page on the page buffer 3 to prohibit the printing output of a blank page.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page printer, and more particularly to a page printer used for outputting data in an information processing system.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Although page printers are generally expensive, they are advantageous in terms of printing speed, printing function, and printing quality.

As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional page printer includes a central control unit 2 that analyzes data and commands from a host host 1, a page buffer 3 that holds print data for one page, and a It has a print section 5 that receives data and performs actual printing operations.

Data and commands from the upper host 1 are analyzed by the central control unit 2 and sent to the page buffer 3 as print data. When one page's worth of print data is developed into the page buffer 3, the print data is sent to the printer section 5 and printed out.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In conventional page printers, when the print data in the page buffer is actually output, the print data area is adjusted to the paper size to be printed by setting the print area, for example, setting the top margin. If the data extends beyond the page buffer, there will be excess print data in the page buffer even after one print operation is completed. At this time, if the remaining data is an image of a blank page, there is a problem that a blank page will be output in the next printing operation, and a blank page will be output every time in continuous printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a page printer capable of eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks and canceling blank page printing.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a page printer according to the present invention includes a central control unit that analyzes data and commands from a host host and converts them into print data, and a central control unit that analyzes data and commands from a host and converts them into print data. A page buffer for developing one page of data, a printer section that receives one page of print data from the page buffer and performs the printing operation, and a and a blank paper detection control section that discards the print data of.

Further, the blank page detection control section uses firmware to check whether all bits of print data are blank page bits.

Further, the blank paper detection control section uses hardware to confirm whether the print data is a blank paper image.

0010

[Operation] When the print data in the page buffer 3 is blank data, the blank page detection control unit 4 detects whether the page buffer 3
The print data within is discarded, the output of the print data is stopped, and the print data is page-fed to the next page.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the page printer according to the present invention includes a central control unit 2 that analyzes data and commands from an upper host 1;
a page buffer 3 that holds print data for pages;
When the printer unit 5 receives data from the page buffer 3 and actually performs the printing operation, and the print data to be printed in the page buffer 3 is blank data,
The blank page detection control section 4 discards print data in the page buffer 3.

The blank page detection control section 4 has a function of checking whether all bits of print data are blank bits using firmware, or checking whether all bits of print data are blank pages using hardware.

In the embodiment, data or commands from the host host 1 are analyzed by the central control unit 2, and sent to the page buffer 3, where one page's worth of print data is created. Therefore, the blank paper detection control unit 4 uses the firmware to check whether all bits of the print data are blank bits, or whether all bits are ORIed by hardware.
If the page is not blank, it is sent to the printer unit 5, and if it is blank, the page is discarded and the page buffer is cleared.

[0014]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, when the image of print data developed in the page buffer is a blank image, by moving that page to the next page without outputting it, unnecessary data can be removed. This has the effect of saving paper output and wasting time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Upper host 2 Central control section 3 Page buffer 4 Blank page detection control section 5 Printer section

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: A central control unit that analyzes data and commands from a host host and converts them into print data, a page buffer for developing one page of the converted print data, and one page of data from the page buffer. A page characterized by having a printer unit that receives print data and performs a printing operation, and a blank page detection control unit that discards the print data in the page buffer when the print data in the page buffer is an image of a blank page. printer. 2. The page printer according to claim 1, wherein the blank page detection control unit uses firmware to check whether all bits of print data are blank page bits. 3. The page printer according to claim 1, wherein the blank page detection control section uses hardware to confirm whether or not the print data is a blank page image.