JPH06217107A - Composing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten time required for format transformation and transfer by transmitting facsimile received data for plural pages to a host device after compressing them. CONSTITUTION:At the time of immediate printing in the case of facsimile reception, image information is received by an I/F 30 for FAX, extended and sent through a controller 22 and an engine control part 23 to a printer part 25. On the other hand, at the time of storage in a storage device 29, the received image information is sent to the device 29 while compressing it. Then, the contents can be confirmed by the display of a host device (personal computer) 21 through the controller 22 and printed as needed. Further, when the image information received by the I/F 30 spreads over plural pages, the controller 22 temporarily stores the information in the prescribed area of an image memory or the device 29, synthesizes it for each line and compresses it at compressibility corresponding to the number of pages so as to simultaneously display the plural pages in one picture of the display of the host 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multifunction machine incorporating an image reading section (scanner), an image forming section (printer), a facsimile machine and the like, and more particularly to a technique relating to simple display and reduced printing in a facsimile mode. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In some cases, a host device such as a personal computer is connected to a multi-function peripheral incorporating a scanner, a printer, a facsimile, etc., and the main operation of the multi-function peripheral is performed from the host device side.

[0003]

However, if the host apparatus tries to perform the main operation of the multi-function peripheral, the amount of data transfer between the host apparatus and the multi-function peripheral will be increased, which requires format conversion and transfer. Since the time becomes long, there is a problem that the waiting time becomes considerably long when the data received by the facsimile by the multifunction peripheral is transferred to the host device and displayed on the display.

Further, while the multifunction peripheral is printing out the data received by facsimile, the multifunction peripheral cannot be operated, and the waiting time therefor may be long. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to shorten the waiting time when using a multi-function peripheral as much as possible so that an operating environment with good operability can be obtained.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention temporarily stores data received by facsimile and transmits the data to the host device for display on the screen of the connected host device. In a multi-function peripheral having the function to perform, a unit for compressing data received from a plurality of pages received by facsimile is synthesized for each line and a plurality of pages are collectively displayed on one screen, and the compressed data is processed. The data is transmitted to the host device (claims 1 to 5).

When receiving a facsimile in the storage mode, it is advisable to provide a means for creating a display file, which is compressed and thinned in advance for display on the host device, in addition to the received data file. Further, when the available capacity of the means for designating the number of pages or compression ratio to be displayed on one screen of the host device, the means for printing out the above-mentioned display file, or the storage means such as the receiving memory or the disk becomes small, the facsimile. It is advisable to provide means for deleting the received data files from the oldest one.

On the other hand, in a multifunction machine having a facsimile transmission / reception means and a printer having a multi-resolution function, when printing out the data received by facsimile, the printer has a recording density of about 200 DPI in the main / sub scanning direction. It is provided with a means for controlling so as to collectively print out data for a plurality of pages on one sheet by making it an integral multiple of the above (claims 6 to 8).

It is preferable to provide means for using the bitmap memory area for printout as a buffer memory for data for facsimile transmission when transmitting by facsimile. Further, it is preferable to provide means for determining whether or not the operation of the printer is permitted based on the free state of the bitmap memory area during the facsimile transmission operation.

[0009]

According to the multi-function peripherals of claims 1 to 5, data for a plurality of pages received by facsimile is combined line by line, and compressed so that a plurality of pages can be collectively displayed on one screen. Since the processed data is transmitted to the host device, the time required for format conversion and transfer is shortened by the amount of data reduced by the compression processing. Therefore, when displaying multiple pages of data received by facsimile on one screen of the host device,
The waiting time is considerably shorter.

It should be noted that when a facsimile is received in the storage mode, it is possible to create a display file by compressing and thinning the received data in advance in addition to the received data file for display by the host device. Can be stored in. Further, by making it possible to specify the number of pages or the compression ratio to be displayed on one screen of the host device, it is possible to compress the data received by facsimile at the number of pages or the compression ratio adapted to the display resolution of the host device.

Furthermore, if the display file is printed out, the number of sheets used for printing is reduced, which leads to saving paper. Furthermore, when the free space of the storage means such as the receiving memory or the disk becomes small, the files of the data received by facsimile can be deleted from the oldest order, thereby increasing the number of compressed thinned display files. You can

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the data received by facsimile is printed out, the printing density of the printer in the main / sub-scanning direction is set to an integral multiple of about 200 DPI and a plurality of sheets are printed on one sheet. Since the data for pages is controlled to be printed out collectively, the number of sheets used for printing is reduced, which leads to paper saving.

If the bitmap memory area for printout is used as a buffer memory for data for facsimile transmission during facsimile transmission, the reading operation of the original during facsimile transmission will not be interrupted, resulting in The waiting time for operating the multi-function peripheral can be shortened, and the efficiency of work can be improved.

If it is determined during the facsimile transmission operation whether or not the printer operation is permitted based on the free space of the bitmap memory area, both the facsimile transmission job and the print job can be performed in parallel. It is also possible to significantly reduce the waiting time for operating the multi-function peripheral.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multifunction machine showing an embodiment of the present invention. This multi-function machine includes a cassette sheet feeding device 1, a pair of registration rollers 2, a manual sheet feeding device 3, a pair of reading timing rollers 4, and a branch guide 5 as a sheet feeding / conveying portion for conveying a recording sheet (transfer sheet) or a document. , A drum-shaped photoconductor 6, an electrification charger 7, a laser optical system 8 as an image forming portion for forming an image and transferring it to a recording sheet,
A developing device 9 and a transfer charger 10 are provided respectively.

Further, a fixing device 11 for fixing the transferred toner image on the recording paper, a paper discharge section (paper discharge tray) 12 for discharging the fixed recording paper, and a residual on the photoconductor 6. Cleaning device 13 for removing toner
And an image reading sensor 1 for reading the image information of the document.
4 and a paper discharge unit (document discharge tray) for discharging a document
And 15. Further, although not shown, a structure and a control unit for holding and controlling them are provided.

First, the image forming operation of the mechanical section of the multifunction machine will be described. When the image forming operation is started, the recording sheet (transfer sheet) is fed from the cassette sheet feeding device 1 toward the registration roller pair 2, and the leading end of the recording sheet (transfer sheet) is abutted against the stopped registration roller pair 2 and stopped. Skew correction.

Further, the raster data (video data) is 1
In a state in which more than one page has been created, the photoconductor 6 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, and the surface charged by the charging charger 7 is
A laser beam modulated in accordance with raster data by the laser optical system 8 is irradiated while performing main scanning in the drum axis direction to be exposed to form a latent image. The latent image is visualized by the toner from the developing device 9, and the toner image is transferred by the transfer charger 10 to the recording paper fed by the registration roller pair 2 at a predetermined timing.

After that, the recording paper on which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive member 6 and conveyed to the fixing device 11, where the toner image is fixed and heated on the recording paper to be fixed, and then the paper is ejected to the paper ejection unit 12. To do. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 6 after the toner image transfer is removed by the cleaning device 13, and the collected toner is collected and stored in a collecting tank to prepare for the next image formation.

The above-mentioned image forming operation is not limited to the recording paper fed from the cassette paper feeding device 1,
The same can be applied to the recording paper fed from the manual paper feeding device 3.

Next, the image reading operation of the mechanical section of this multifunction machine will be described. When the image reading operation is started, the document is fed from the manual paper feeding device 3 toward the image reading sensor 14 such as a CCD line sensor, and its leading end is abutted against the reading timing roller pair 4 which is stopped. Perform skew correction.

After that, the reading timing roller pair 4 takes the timing to carry it to the reading surface of the image reading sensor 14 to read the image information. The original from which the image information is read continues to be conveyed as it is, and is guided to the paper ejection unit 15 and ejected by switching the rotatable branch guide 5 provided on the conveyance path. If there is a large amount of originals, the originals can be stored in the cassette sheet feeding device 1 and sequentially fed from there.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control system of this multi-function machine, which includes the controller 22 and the engine control unit 2.
3, a scanner unit (image reading unit) 24, a printer unit (image forming unit) 25, an operation panel 27, an IC card 28, a storage device 29, and a FAX I / F 30. Although the option unit 26 is an optional sheet feeding device, a double-sided device, or the like, it is not installed in the multifunction peripheral of FIG. The host device 21 is an information processing device such as a personal computer having a CRT display (hereinafter simply referred to as “display”) and a keyboard.

The controller 22 performs various data processing described later. The engine control unit 23 includes the scanner unit 2
4 is a drive signal for causing the image reading operation to be performed.
The printer unit 25 outputs the image information (write data) from the controller 22 and a drive signal for causing the image forming operation, and outputs a drive signal for causing the option unit 26 to perform the operation.

The scanner section 24 performs an image reading operation according to the drive signal from the engine control section 23. That is, a sequence device such as a drive motor rotates each roller such as the reading timing roller 14 according to a drive signal to convey an original, and the image reading sensor 14 reads image information of the original conveyed on the reading surface. Output.

The printer section 25 performs an image forming operation according to the write data and the drive signal from the engine control section 23. That is, the laser optical system 8 performs a laser scanning operation according to the write data, and each sequence device such as a drive motor, a clutch, and a solenoid performs an operation according to the drive signal to form an image on the recording paper.

The operation panel 27 comprises a display section for displaying various information and an operation section for inputting various information. The IC card 28 is a removable memory card used when externally supplying font data and programs. The storage device 29 is an external storage device that stores various data such as font data, programs, and print data, and is a floppy disk device (FDD) or a hard disk device (HDD).

The FAX I / F 30 controls transmission / reception of image information to / from another facsimile apparatus, and as shown in FIG. 4, a known encoding method (MH, MR, MMR, etc.).
A data compression / reproduction device (DCR) 30a for compressing image information to be transmitted by the device or for expanding received image information to reproduce the original image information, and a buffer memory (SAF) 3
0b, a modem 30c, and a network control unit (NCU) 30d.

First, the image forming operation of the control system of this multifunction machine will be described. The image information (print data) processed by the host device 21 for printing is sent to the controller 22 in the form of text or bitmap. Upon receiving the print data, the controller 22 uses the font information in the font ROM and internal functions to generate raster data on the image memory, and then sends the raster data including the drive signal to the engine control unit 23, and the printer unit 25
To perform an image forming operation.

Further, the image reading sensor 1 of the scanner section 24
The image information read by 4, the image information in the storage device 29, or the image information received by facsimile is once stored in the image memory, respectively, and sent to the engine control unit 23 including the drive signal, and the printer unit It also causes 25 to perform an image forming operation.

Next, the image reading operation of the control system of this multifunction machine will be described. An image reading request from the host device 21 passes through the controller 22 and the engine control unit 23.
Then, the engine control unit 23 causes the scanner unit 24 to perform an image reading operation, outputs the image information read by the image reading sensor 14 to the controller 22, and the controller 22 which receives the image information sends it to the image memory. Buffering the data to the host device 21, the storage device 29, or the FAX I / F 30.

Next, the facsimile communication operation of the control system of this multifunction machine will be described. At the time of facsimile transmission, the telephone number information is sent from the host device 21 to the FAX I / F 30 via the controller 22. At the same time, the controller 22 issues an image capture request to the engine control unit 23 to capture image information from the scanner unit 24.
It is sent to the AX I / F 30.

The FAX I / F 30 calls up the facsimile machine of the other party using the communication line and compresses (encodes) the received image information by MH, MR, MMR, etc.
And send it out. When the transmitted image information is internal information from the host device 21 or the storage device 29, the image information is not fetched.

At the time of facsimile reception, it is divided into printing immediately or storing in the storage device 29. When printing immediately, the FAX I / F 30 receives the image information (data) sent by facsimile and decompresses (decodes) the image information, which is then sent to the printer via the controller 22 and the engine control unit 23. It is sent to the unit 25.

When the image information is stored in the storage device 29, the received image information is sent to the storage device 29 while being compressed. The contents of the accumulated image information can be confirmed on the display of the host device 21 via the controller 22, and the printing may be performed as necessary.

Next, the processing of image information received by facsimile according to the present invention by the controller 22 of FIG. 3 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 1 and the explanatory views of FIGS.

When the image information received by the FAX I / F 30 by facsimile is spread over a plurality of pages as shown in FIG. 5, the controller 22 temporarily stores the image information in a predetermined area of the image memory or the storage device 29 and stores it. 1
1 of the display of the host device 21 that is synthesized for each line
A plurality of pages are collectively displayed on the screen, that is, compression processing is performed at a magnification (compression ratio) according to the number of pages to be displayed.

For example, in order to display in units of two pages, it is necessary to compress the image information of each page to ½ in both the vertical and horizontal directions to reduce the data amount to ½. The image information D1 of the first line of the first page shown in a) is fetched, thinned by one dot and compressed, and the image information D1 ′ shown in (b) of the figure is written in the output buffer of the image memory. After that, the image information D2 of the first line of the second page shown in FIG. 6A is fetched, and the image information D2 ′ shown in FIG. The compressed image information D1 'of the first line of the first page of the buffer is written after the image information D1' and then combined.

Next, the image information of the third line of the first page is taken in, and the image information obtained by compressing it in the same manner as above is written in the output buffer of the image memory,
After that, the image information of the 3rd line of the 2nd page is taken in, and the image information obtained by compressing the image information into 1/2 is written after the compressed image information of the 3rd line of the 1st page of the output buffer to synthesize it. Thereafter, the image information of each odd line of each page is processed in the same manner as described above and written in the output buffer to be combined.

When the writing of the image information of pages 1 and 2 to the output buffer is completed, the image information is transmitted to the host device 21 line by line. As a result, two pages of image information are displayed in one screen of the display of the host device 21, as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the image information on the third and subsequent pages is also 3,
Image information for each odd line in a pair of an odd page and an even page such as 4 pages, 5 pages, 6 pages is written in the output buffer in the same manner as described above, combined, and transmitted to the host device 21 in units of 2 pages. Allows the host device 2
It is possible to display two pages of image information on each screen of one display.

The image processing as described above may be performed by hardware such as an IC such as a bit built based on an instruction from the CPU in the controller 22. Further, when a facsimile reception in the storage mode is performed, a file for displaying compressed image data (raw data) other than the received image information file is compressed and thinned in advance as described above to create a display file for compressed data, as shown in FIG. Thus, both files can be stored in the storage device 29. An example of the flowchart is shown in FIG.

Further, the number of pages to be displayed on one screen of the display of the host device 21 or the compression rate can be designated by a command from the host device 21 or an operation signal from the operation panel 27, so that image information received by facsimile can be obtained. Can be compressed and thinned out at the number of pages or the compression ratio according to the display resolution of the display.

Here, as the display resolution standard of the display, 640 × 350 dots, 640 × 400 dots,
640 x 480 dots, 800 x 600 dots, and 1
Although there are 024 × 768 dots and the like, the display resolution of the display of the host device in use is readily known, so the user can easily find the number of pages or compression ratio that can be displayed on the screen.

For example, assuming that the display resolution of the display of the host device 21 is 640 × 400 dots, in order to display the image information of two pages on the screen, A4 is 280 with 1/6 compression. It becomes x381 dots.

Furthermore, the compressed and thinned display file can be read from the storage device 29, transferred to the engine control section 23, and printed out by the printer section 25. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG.
The compressed image information for four pages is laid out and combined on a sheet of paper.

Further, when the contents of the storage device 29 are periodically searched and the free space becomes small (the storage capacity is 80
˜90%), the files of the raw data received by facsimile may be deleted while the oldest one having a small capacity is left. An example of the flowchart is shown in FIG.

Further, when the printer section 25 of this multi-function peripheral has a multi-resolution function, when printing out image information received by facsimile,
It is also possible for the engine control unit 23 to control the recording density of the laser in the main / sub-scanning direction to be an integral multiple of approximately 200 DPI so as to collectively print out image information for a plurality of pages on one sheet.

For example, the switching area from 200 DPI to 400 DPI reduces the writing area to the memory to 1/4. However, when the image information for four pages received by facsimile is printed out on one sheet at a time, the laser beam Recording density in the main / sub scanning direction from 200 DPI to 400
Switching to DPI, the clock of the polygon motor in the laser optical system 8 (FIG. 2) is changed accordingly, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when performing facsimile transmission, the image memory, which is a bitmap memory area for printing out of the image memory, is used as a buffer memory (SAF) 30b for facsimile transmission data. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, first, it is checked whether or not the capacity of the buffer memory 30b exceeds, and if not, the image information to be transmitted by facsimile is transferred to the buffer memory 30b. In this case, the process shifts to the judgment as to whether or not the image memory capacity is exceeded, and if not, the image information to be transmitted by facsimile is written in that image memory, and if it is over, it is written in the storage device 29. .

It is also possible to determine whether or not the operation of the printer unit 25 is permitted depending on the empty state of the image memory during the facsimile transmission operation, whereby both the facsimile transmission job and the print job are determined. You will be able to do it in parallel. For example, in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the capacity of the image memory is searched, and if the capacity is less than half, the printer task is also activated and the empty area is used for bit expansion (print processing) of the image information.

[0052]

As described above, according to the multi-function peripheral of the present invention, the waiting time when the multi-function peripheral is used can be shortened and the operating environment with good operability can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a flowchart showing a part of image processing according to the present invention by a controller 22 of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the multi-function peripheral of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram showing a configuration example of a FAX I / F 30 of FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram related to image processing by a controller 22 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is another explanatory diagram relating to image processing.

FIG. 7 is still another explanatory diagram related to image processing.

8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a raw data file loaded in a storage device 29 of FIG. 3 and a compressed file thereof by the image processing of FIG. 9. FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing an example of image processing in a storage mode by the controller 22 of FIG.

10 is a diagram showing a print example of the compressed file of FIG.

11 is a flow chart showing a process for managing the memory capacity of the storage device 29, which is periodically performed by the controller 22 of FIG. 3 in a storage mode.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a process when the engine control unit 23 of FIG. 3 collectively prints data for a plurality of pages received by facsimile on one sheet.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of facsimile transmission by the controller 22 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing another process of the same at the time of facsimile transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cassette Paper Feeding Device 2 Registration Roller Pair 3 Manual Feeding Paper Feeding Device 4 Reading Timing Roller Pair 5 Branching Guide 6 Photoreceptor 7 Charging Charger 8 Laser Optical System 9 Developing Device 10 Transfer Charger 11 Fixing Device 12, 15 Paper Ejection Section 13 Cleaning Device 14 image reading sensor 21 host device 22 controller 23 engine control unit 24 scanner unit 25 printer unit 27 operation panel 28 IC card 29 storage device 30 FAX I / F 30a data compression / reproduction device 30b buffer memory 30c modem 30d network control device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A multi-function peripheral having a function of temporarily storing facsimile-received data and transmitting the data to the host device to display the data on the screen of the connected host device. A composite characterized in that means is provided for compressing data so that a plurality of pages can be collectively displayed in one screen by synthesizing data line by line, and the compressed data is transmitted to the host device. Machine. 2. The multi-function peripheral according to claim 1, further comprising means for creating a display file obtained by compressing and thinning the received data in advance for display on the host device when the facsimile is received in the storage mode. A multifunctional machine characterized by being installed. 3. The multi-function peripheral according to claim 2, further comprising means for designating the number of pages to be displayed on one screen of the host device or the compression rate. 4. The multi-function peripheral according to claim 2, further comprising means for printing out the display file. 5. The multi-function peripheral according to claim 2, further comprising means for deleting files of data received by facsimile from the oldest when the free space of the storage means such as the receiving memory and the disk becomes small. Characteristic multifunction machine. 6. A multifunction peripheral comprising a facsimile transmission / reception means and a printer having a multi-resolution function, wherein when the data received by facsimile is printed out, the printer is configured so that the recording density in the main / sub-scanning direction is substantially the same. A multi-function peripheral comprising means for controlling an integral multiple of 200 DPI so as to collectively print out data for a plurality of pages on one sheet. 7. The multi-function peripheral according to claim 6, further comprising means for using a bitmap memory area for printout as a buffer memory for data for facsimile transmission during facsimile transmission. 8. The multifunction peripheral according to claim 7, further comprising means for determining whether or not to permit the operation of the printer based on a vacant state of the bitmap memory area during a facsimile transmission operation. A multifunction machine that does.