JP2011084027A - Recording device, control method of recording device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

When an image to be recorded on a recording medium is stored in advance in a recording device, a process for removing the margin of the image and recording it can be easily performed.
A printer includes a reception buffer that temporarily stores data received from a host computer, a logo image storage unit that stores image data in a nonvolatile manner, and image data that is received from the reception buffer. A control unit 20 that reads out in units of amounts, detects margin data included in the read out image data in units of predetermined data amount, and stores the image data for the read out predetermined data amount in the logo image storage unit 210; The control unit 20 detects margin data in the image data input from the host computer 4 based on the result of detecting margin data from the read image data in a predetermined data amount unit.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording an image such as a logo, a control method for the recording apparatus, and a program.

  Conventionally, in a POS system (sales point information management system) used in a retail business such as a supermarket or a convenience store, a host computer that acquires input information related to product sales and a recording device that records on a receipt A POS terminal is configured. As this type of POS terminal, a recording device receives payment processing record data generated by a host computer, records the received payment processing record data together with an image such as a store logo, and issues a receipt. It is general (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this type of POS terminal, an image such as a logo recorded on a receipt is stored in advance in a recording device, and the stored image may be read and recorded. According to this configuration, by reducing the amount of data transmitted and received between the host computer and the recording apparatus, it is possible to shorten the time required for communication and achieve high speed.

JP 2009-157474 A

By the way, the image stored in the recording apparatus is recorded on a receipt or the like as it is. Therefore, if you want to change an image that you have already stored, you need to create a new image with the change, send it from the host computer to the recording device, and store it in the recording device. was there. For example, when a margin is to be removed in order to save paper used for a receipt, an image excluding the margin needs to be created in the host computer and newly stored in the recording apparatus. Further, if an image is to be processed by the recording apparatus itself, it becomes necessary for the recording apparatus to be equipped with high-performance hardware that can withstand image processing, which is not realistic. For this reason, it has been difficult for the recording apparatus itself to execute even a relatively simple process such as removing margins.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. When an image to be recorded on a recording medium is stored in a recording apparatus, processing for removing the margin of the image and recording can be easily performed. For the purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording device for reading stored image data and recording it on a recording medium, the buffer memory temporarily holding data received from an externally connected device, A non-volatile storage unit that stores image data in a non-volatile manner, and the image data received from the externally connected device is read from the buffer memory in units of a predetermined data amount, and is included in the read image data in units of the predetermined data amount A control unit that detects data of a blank portion to be read and stores the read-out predetermined amount of image data in the nonvolatile storage unit, and the control unit includes an image of the read-out predetermined data amount unit. Based on the result of detecting the margin data from the data, the entire image data received from the externally connected device is included. And detecting the blank data that.
According to this configuration, when the image data received from the externally connected device is read from the buffer memory and stored in the nonvolatile storage unit, the margin data of the image data is detected in a predetermined data amount unit. The data size can be reduced compared to the entire image data, and the processing load can be reduced and processing can be performed at a higher speed than when the blank data of the entire image data is detected at once. Further, since it is not necessary to read out image data from the non-volatile storage only for the process of detecting the margin data, the process of detecting the margin data can be completed in a short time. As a result, even in a recording apparatus with limited hardware resources, it is possible to quickly detect the margin data of the image data, and to perform processing such as recording the image data without the margin data. .

In the above configuration, the control unit generates margin removal data obtained by removing the margin data of the image data received from the externally connected device based on the detected margin part data, and generates the margin removal data. May be stored in the nonvolatile storage unit.
In this case, since the image data received from the externally connected device is recorded on the recording medium with the margin data removed, the image data transmitted from the externally connected device is recorded with the margin data removed. In this case, the throughput can be improved. When the recording device is a printing device, the margin removal data can be read and printed, and a portion corresponding to the margin can be formed by paper feeding.

In this case, the control unit may store, together with the margin removal data, margin information for restoring the removed margin data in the nonvolatile storage unit.
In this case, based on the margin information, the margin data can be added to the image data from which the margin data has been removed to restore the original data. Therefore, it is possible to record both image data received from an externally connected device and image data obtained by removing the margin data from this image data.

In the above configuration, the control unit reads out the image data received from the externally connected device from the buffer memory and finishes the process of detecting the data of the margin part, and then the position of the margin data in the image data. May be generated and stored in the nonvolatile storage unit.
In this case, image data received from an externally connected device is stored in a nonvolatile manner, the image data can be recorded on a recording medium, and information indicating the position of the margin data in the image data is included. Therefore, based on this information, the margin data can be removed from the image data and recorded on the recording medium, or the image data can be recorded as it is. In addition, since image data in a state in which no margin data is removed is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit, recording without margin data is also performed without causing a decrease in throughput when image data is recorded in a state in which no margin data is removed. Yes. When the recording apparatus is a printing apparatus, information indicating the position of the margin data can be read and a portion corresponding to the margin can be formed by paper feeding.

Further, in the above configuration, the control unit detects a command for instructing storage of image data from data held in the buffer memory, and from the buffer memory according to the command detected by the command determination unit. It is good also as a structure provided with the command processing part which reads the said image data and memorize | stores it in the said non-volatile memory | storage part.
In this case, since the command is detected and executed from the data held in the buffer memory, the image data in the buffer memory can be read and the margin data can be detected in accordance with the command in the buffer memory. For this reason, only by inputting image data together with a command for instructing storage of image data from an external device, the image data is quickly stored according to this command, and the margin data of the image data can be detected.

The present invention also relates to a method for controlling a recording apparatus that reads stored image data and records it on a recording medium. The image data received from an externally connected apparatus is temporarily stored in a buffer memory, and is controlled by a control unit. The image data is read from the buffer memory in units of a predetermined amount of data, the blank portion data included in the read image data for the predetermined amount of data is detected, and the read image data for the predetermined amount of data is nonvolatile Storing in a storage unit, and detecting margin data in image data received from the externally connected device based on a result of detecting margin data from the read image data in a predetermined data amount unit. Features.
According to this method, when the image data received from the externally connected device is read from the buffer memory and stored in the nonvolatile storage unit, the margin data of the image data is detected in units of a predetermined amount of data. The data size can be reduced compared to the entire image data, and the processing load can be reduced and processing can be performed at a higher speed than when the blank data of the entire image data is detected at once. Further, since it is not necessary to read out image data from the non-volatile storage only for the process of detecting the margin data, the process of detecting the margin data can be completed in a short time. As a result, even in a recording apparatus with limited hardware resources, it is possible to quickly detect the margin data of the image data, and to perform processing such as recording the image data without the margin data. .

The present invention also relates to a program executed by a control unit for controlling a recording device that reads stored image data and records it on a recording medium, the control unit receiving a buffer from an externally connected device, The image data temporarily stored in the memory is read in units of a predetermined amount of data, the blank portion data included in the read-out predetermined amount of image data is detected, and the read-out image of the predetermined amount of data Storing data in a nonvolatile storage unit, and further detecting margin data in image data received from the externally connected device based on a result of detecting margin data from image data in a predetermined data amount unit; It is characterized by.
When the image data received from the externally connected device is read from the buffer memory and stored in the nonvolatile storage unit by the control unit that executes this program, the margin data of the image data is detected in units of a predetermined amount of data. The data size to be processed can be reduced compared to the entire image data, and the processing load can be reduced and processing can be performed at a higher speed than when the blank data of the entire image data is detected at once. Further, since it is not necessary to read out image data from the non-volatile storage only for the process of detecting the margin data, the process of detecting the margin data can be completed in a short time. As a result, even in a recording apparatus with limited hardware resources, it is possible to quickly detect the margin of the image data, and to perform processing such as recording the image data without the margin data.

  According to the present invention, the margin data of the image data can be reduced even in a recording apparatus with limited hardware resources by suppressing the size of the processing target for detecting the margin data of the image data to be smaller than the entire image data. Can be detected promptly.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the POS terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an internal configuration of a printer. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a printer. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printer. It is explanatory drawing of the process which concerns on the image data by a command processing part. It is a figure which shows an example of input image data. It is explanatory drawing of the process which concerns on the margin of image data. It is a figure which shows the example of margin information typically. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the operation of the printer.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a POS terminal 1 according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the internal configuration of the printer 2 included in the POS terminal 1.
A POS terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a register that is installed at a store such as a retail store and performs sales settlement, and constitutes a point-of-sale management system (POS system). The POS terminal 1 is configured by connecting a printer 2 that issues a receipt 101 to a host computer 4 that performs sales registration processing and settlement processing. Here, the host computer 4 corresponds to a device externally connected to the printer 2. The host computer 4 is connected via a communication line to a POS server 5 that collects information registered for sales.
The host computer 4 has a display 41 for displaying the contents of the sales registration process and the payment process, a bar code scanner 42 for reading a bar code attached to the product during the sales registration process, and a key input including various keys such as a sales registration key. A unit 43, a cash drawer 44 for storing cash for settlement, and the like are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer 2 as a recording apparatus accommodates a thermal roll paper 100 as a recording medium in a main body 11, a roller-shaped platen 32 that conveys the roll paper 100, and a platen 32. And a cutter unit 33 that cuts the roll paper 100. The printer 2 applies heat to the recording surface of the roll paper 100 by applying heat to the recording surface of the roll paper 100 by the print head 31 in which heating elements (not shown) are arranged while the roll paper 100 is conveyed by the roller-shaped platen 32. This is a thermal line printer that prints (records) characters and images.
The roll paper 100 on which characters and images are printed is conveyed by the platen 32 outward from the paper discharge port 14 formed on the upper surface of the main body 11, and is cut by the cutter unit 33 below the print end position. A receipt 101 is obtained. On the receipt 101, in addition to characters such as a store name, sold product name, product quantity, price, and total price, a logo image such as a top logo 102 is printed as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cutter unit 33 provided in the printer 2 includes a fixed blade 34 disposed on one side of the transport path of the roll paper 100 and the other transport path of the roll paper 100 facing the fixed blade 34. A movable blade 35 disposed on the side, and a cutter drive motor 36 that slides the movable blade 35 toward the fixed blade 34. The movable blade 35 is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) by the driving force of the cutter drive motor 36. 35 is moved toward the cutter drive motor 36, and the printed roll paper 100 is sandwiched between the fixed blade 34 and the movable blade 35 and cut.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a main body 11 of the printer 2 is provided with a cover 12 that can be opened and closed. The main body 11 is provided with a lever 13 for opening the cover 12. When the cover 12 is opened, a space for storing the roll paper 100 is exposed, and the roll paper 100 can be replenished or replaced. Further, the main body 11 includes a power switch 16 for turning on / off the printer 2, a paper feed switch 17 for performing operation such as switching of an operation mode, and an LED for displaying the operation state of the printer 2. A display unit 18 is provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the printer 2.
The printer 2 includes a control unit 20 that controls the entire printer 2 and each unit that operates according to the control of the control unit 20. The control unit 20 executes a predetermined program and processes various data to control the CPU 21, a ROM 22 that stores a basic control program executed by the CPU 21, a program executed by the CPU 21, data to be processed, and the like. A RAM 23 that forms a work area to be temporarily stored and a motor driver 24 that drives a motor and the like according to the control of the CPU 21 are provided. The CPU 21 is connected to a nonvolatile memory 25 that nonvolatilely stores a control program executed by the CPU 21 and data to be processed. Specifically, the nonvolatile memory 25 is configured by a semiconductor storage element such as an EEPROM or a flash memory.

Further, the CPU 21 is arranged at a predetermined position on the conveyance path of the roll paper 100, an input unit 26 for detecting an operation on the paper feed switch 17, a display unit 27 for controlling the LED display unit 18 to perform various displays, A paper edge sensor 37 that detects the presence or absence of the roll paper 100 at the position, a paper remaining amount sensor 38 that detects that the remaining amount of the roll paper 100 has become a predetermined amount or less, and the host computer 4 are connected to the host computer 4. And an interface 28 for controlling transmission / reception of commands and data to / from the.
The CPU 21 executes a print job input from the host computer 4 via the interface 28 while monitoring the position of the roll paper 100 detected by the paper edge sensor 37 and the paper remaining amount sensor 38 and the remaining amount of the roll paper 100. Then, the print head 31, the cutter drive motor 36 and the transport motor 39 are operated via the motor driver 24 to execute printing on the roll paper 100. When the CPU 21 detects the operation of the paper feed switch 17 by the input unit 26, the CPU 21 operates the transport motor 39 to transport the roll paper 100 by a predetermined amount. Further, the CPU 21 changes the lighting state of each LED of the LED display unit 18 via the display unit 27 according to the operation state of the printer 2 or the like.

  Connected to the motor driver 24 are a print head 31, a cutter drive motor 36, and a transport motor 39 that drives the platen 32. The motor driver 24 supplies a driving current to each heating element (not shown) of the print head 31 and controls the voltage to perform printing on the roll paper 100. In addition, the motor driver 24 supplies drive power to the cutter drive motor 36 and the transport motor 39 configured by, for example, stepping motors, and outputs a necessary number of drive pulses.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printer 2. Each block shown in FIG. 4 represents a function realized by hardware of each part of the printer 2 shown in FIG. 3 or by cooperation of hardware and software.
The control unit 20 detects the command and data received from the host computer 4 via the interface 28, temporarily receives the reception buffer 201 (buffer memory), the command held in the reception buffer 201, and the type and content thereof. A command determination unit 202 for determining the image, a command processing unit 203 for executing processing according to the command detected by the command determination unit 202, an image buffer 204 for temporarily storing an image such as a logo printed on the roll paper 100, and A print control unit 205 that controls printing on the roll paper 100 is provided.
Further, the printer 2 includes a logo image storage unit 210 (nonvolatile storage unit) that stores logo image data according to the control of the control unit 20. The logo image storage unit 210 is a storage area formed in the nonvolatile memory 25 (FIG. 3), and stores logo image data in a nonvolatile manner.

The reception buffer 201 is a volatile storage unit configured by the RAM 23 (FIG. 3), and stores data received via the interface 28 in the order received without distinguishing commands and data.
The command determination unit 202 refers to the data stored in the reception buffer 201 in order from the top, and determines whether each data is a command. That is, the command determination unit 202 detects a command from the data stored in the reception buffer 201.
The command processing unit 203 reads data determined to be a command by the command determination unit 202 from the reception buffer 201, and executes the command. The command transmitted from the host computer 4 may be accompanied by the data to be processed. For example, the print data is transmitted from the host computer 4 following the print execution command and stored in the reception buffer 201, and the logo is displayed. Commands such as registration are transmitted from the host computer 4 together with image data to be registered, and these commands and data are stored in the reception buffer 201.

Further, when the command processing unit 203 reads a logo registration command from the reception buffer 201, the command processing unit 203 reads image data following the command, attaches identification information specified by the command, and stores the image data in the logo image storage unit 210. Remember. The image data stored in the logo image storage unit 210 is read from the logo image storage unit 210 as necessary and printed on the roll paper 100. When the command processing unit 203 receives a print job from the host computer 4 and the image data identification information stored as a logo in the logo image storage unit 210 is designated, the command processing unit 203 stores the image data in the logo image storage unit. The data is read from 210 and developed in the image buffer 204. The image buffer 204 is a volatile storage unit configured by the RAM 23 (FIG. 3), and is an area where image data to be printed on the roll paper 100 is developed by the print control unit 205.
The print control unit 205 controls the print head 31, the conveyance motor 39, and the cutter drive motor 36 based on the detection values of the paper edge sensor 37 and the paper remaining amount sensor 38 according to the control of the command processing unit 203, and roll paper 100 Print characters, images, etc.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of processing related to logo image data by the command processing unit 203.
As shown in FIG. 5, the command processing unit 203 receives an image transmitted from the host computer 4 when a command instructing to register logo image data is transmitted together with the image data from the host computer 4. The data is read from the buffer 201 and stored in the logo image storage unit 210.
When storing the logo image data in the logo image storage unit 210, the command processing unit 203 of the present embodiment detects the margin 112 (margin data) existing on the top (upper and lower) of this image data, and this margin 112 Image processing is performed, and the processed margin removal image data 120 (margin removal data) is stored in the logo image storage unit 210. When a command instructing to print the logo image data in the logo image storage unit 210 is transmitted from the host computer 4, the margin removal image data 120 is read from the logo image storage unit 210 according to this command, The image buffer 204 is expanded. The margin-removed image data 120 developed in the image buffer 204 is printed on the roll paper 100, for example, as the top logo 102 (FIG. 1) of the receipt 101 (FIG. 1).

Here, the command processing unit 203 reads the image data from the reception buffer 201 in a predetermined byte unit (in a predetermined data amount unit, for example, in one byte unit), and stores it in the logo image storage unit 210.
In the present embodiment, the command is defined as 1-byte data according to the specification of the communication protocol executed between the host computer 4 and the printer 2, so the command determination unit 202 determines whether the 1-byte data is a command. It is a specification to determine whether.
For this reason, the command and data transmitted from the host computer 4 are sequentially stored in the reception buffer 201, and the command determination unit 202 reads the data byte by byte from the top of the reception buffer 201 to determine whether or not it is a command. If it is a command, the command processing unit 203 interprets and executes the 1-byte command. When this command is accompanied by target data, such as a command for instructing registration of logo image data, the subsequent image data is also read from the reception buffer 201 byte by byte, and the command determination unit The data is determined by the data 202 and processed by the command processing unit 203.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of input image data 110 input from the host computer 4.
In this input image data 110, a rectangular object 111 is located at the center, a margin 112 having a height LT exists above the input image data 110, and a margin 112 having a height LB is present below the input image data 110. Exists. The command processing unit 203 detects the upper and lower margins 112 and generates margin-removed image data 120 excluding the margins 112.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of processing relating to the margin 112. 7A shows the input image data 110 before processing, FIG. 7B shows the state of processing, and FIG. 7C shows the margin-removed image data 120 after processing.
As shown in FIG. 7A, in the input image data 110 having margins above and below the object 111, the command processing unit 203 specifies the position and size of the margin 112 as shown in FIG. 7B. Normally, the upper margin 112 is an area from the upper end of the input image data 110 to the upper end of the object 111, and the lower margin 112 is an area from the lower end of the input image data 110 to the lower end of the object 111. It is. The command processing unit 203 removes the upper and lower margins 112 of the input image data 110 and generates margin-removed image data 120. At this time, the command processing unit 203 may remove the margin 112 based on a predetermined threshold. For example, the margin 112 of 10 lines or more or 1.5 mm or more may be removed. The threshold value in this case can be stored in the logo image storage unit 210, for example. In this way, when printing the margin removal image data 120, it can be arranged in a well-balanced position at a position that is not too close to the adjacent print data.

Compared with the case where the input image data 110 is directly printed on the roll paper 100 as the top logo 102 (FIG. 1), the top logo 102 has a smaller size in the vertical direction, so that the consumption of the roll paper 100 can be saved. The time required for printing can also be shortened. The impression of the logo may change due to the absence of the upper and lower margins 112 of the object 111. In general, in the receipt 101 (FIG. 1), between the logo such as the top logo 102 and the upper and lower characters, etc. In many cases, margins are provided, and margins can be set on the assumption that the margins of the logo are removed. Therefore, there is no concern about a decrease in visibility due to the absence of the upper and lower margins of the object 111. In addition, in order to save the roll paper 100, a user using the printer 2 may manually remove the margin 112 from the existing input image data 110. Such image processing is performed by operating the computer. And knowledge and techniques regarding image processing are required. The printer 2 of this embodiment is very useful because it can remove the upper and lower margins 112 of the input image data 110 without bothering the user.
Of course, it is possible to detect margins positioned on the left and right of the object 111 in the input image data 110 and generate an image from which the margins are removed. However, in this embodiment, the consumption amount and throughput of the roll paper 100 are reduced. The case where only the upper and lower margins 112 are removed is illustrated by paying attention to the point of directly bringing the advantage of improvement.

Further, the command processing unit 203 generates margin information 121 so that the original input image data 110 can be restored when the upper and lower margins 112 of the input image data 110 are removed.
FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the margin information 121.
The margin information 121 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes identification information (No. in this example) attached to the margin removal image data 120 (FIG. 5) stored in the margin removal image data 120 and input before the margin is removed. Information indicating the overall size of the image data 110 and the position and size of the margin 112 in the input image data 110 before removal are associated with each other.
In this example, no. The image 1 has a size of horizontal 220 dots × longitudinal 300 lines (dots) before the margin is removed, and the upper 1st to 40th lines and the lower 260th to 300th lines are blank. It was that. Therefore, no. If a margin of 220 horizontal dots x 40 vertical lines is added to the top of one margin-removed image data 120 and a margin of 220 horizontal dots x 40 vertical lines is added to the bottom, the input image data 110 before the margin is removed is reproduced. it can.
The command processing unit 203 reads the margin-removed image data 120 from the logo image storage unit 210 and develops it in the image buffer 204 when printing the input image data 110 instructed by the host computer 4 as it is. Then, the corresponding margin information 121 is read from the margin-removed image data 120, and processing for adding a margin to the margin-removed image data 120 in the image buffer 204 based on the margin information 121 is performed. Then, printing is performed by the print control unit 205. The print control unit 205 may read and print the margin removal image data 120 and form a portion corresponding to the margin 112 by paper feeding based on the margin information 121.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer 2, and particularly shows a series of processing when image data received from the host computer 4 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210.
When a command instructing registration of image data (logo) is transmitted from the host computer 4 and subsequently bitmap data of the image to be registered is transmitted, the control unit 20 of the printer 2 receives the command and the image data in a reception buffer. It memorize | stores in 201 (step S11).
Subsequently, the control unit 20 detects a command from the reception buffer 201, reads the input image data 110 following the command one byte at a time from the top, and detects the margin (data of the margin part), and logos byte by byte. The image is stored in the image storage unit 210 (step S12). The control unit 20 determines the position and size of the margin 112 in the entire input image data 110 after the reading from the reception buffer 201 and the detection of the margin 112 are completed for all of the input image data 110, and margin information 121. And margin-removed image data 120 from which the margin 112 has been removed is generated (step S13).

For example, when the input image data 110 is black and white binary bitmap data, the control unit 20 makes all the dots white (margin portion data) based on 1-byte data corresponding to 8 dots. Alternatively, it is determined whether there is any non-white dot, and the determination result is temporarily stored. When the determination result is obtained for one line of dots, the control unit 20 determines whether all the dots in the line are white or whether there is any one non-white dot. After obtaining the discrimination results for each line for all the lines, the control unit 20 detects lines in which all the dots are white from the upper end and the lower end of the input image data 110, and all the dots are white. A region in which the line is continuous from the upper end or the lower end is defined as a margin (margin data). The control unit 20 detects the entire size of the input image data 110 from the command transmitted from the host computer 4. Here, the entire size of the input image data 110 may be detected based on the result of processing the input image data 110 byte by byte.
Thereafter, the control unit 20 associates the generated margin-removed image data 120 with the margin information 121 and stores them in the logo image storage unit 210 (step S14), and ends this process.

  In the process shown in FIG. 9, in step S12, the input image data 110 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210 while detecting the blank space one byte at a time, and then the margin removal image data 120 is generated to store the logo image. For example, after the margin is detected, the input image data 110 is once expanded in the image buffer 204, and the margin 112 is removed in the image buffer 204 to generate the margin-removed image data 120. The generated margin removal image data 120 may be written in the logo image storage unit 210.

  As described above, according to the printer 2 according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied, in the printer 2 that reads image data from the logo image storage unit 210 and prints it on the roll paper 100, the data input from the host computer 4 is received. The reception buffer 201 temporarily held, the logo image storage unit 210 that stores image data for printing in a nonvolatile manner, and the image data input from the host computer 4 are read from the reception buffer 201 in units of predetermined bytes and read. A control unit 20 that detects a blank portion included in the predetermined byte unit image data and stores the read predetermined byte image data in the logo image storage unit 210. The control unit 20 includes a predetermined byte unit. Based on the result of detecting the blank area from the image data of Detecting a blank in the entire image data input from Yuta 4.

As a result, when the image data is read from the reception buffer 201 and stored in the logo image storage unit 210, the margin of the image data is detected in units of predetermined bytes, so that the processing target data size is set to the entire input image data. Compared to the case where the entire margin of the image data is detected at once, the processing load can be reduced and processing can be performed at high speed.
Further, since it is not necessary to read out the image data from the logo image storage unit 210 only for the process of detecting the margin, the process of detecting the margin can be completed in a short time. As a result, even in the printer 2 with limited hardware resources, it is possible to quickly detect the margin of the image data, and to perform processing such as printing the image data without the margin. At this time, the print control unit 205 can read out the margin-removed image data 120 and execute printing, and can form a portion corresponding to the margin 112 by paper feeding based on the margin information 121. In this case, the entire image including the margin 112 is printed, but the processing time of the print data of the margin 112 can be omitted, and the processing time can be shortened.

Further, the control unit 20 generates the margin removal image data 120 from which the margin 112 of the input image data 110 input from the host computer 4 is removed, and stores the margin removal image data 120 in the logo image storage unit 210. The input image data 110 can be printed on the roll paper 100 with the margin 112 removed. Further, since the margin-removed image data 120 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210, it is not necessary to perform a process for removing the margin 112 at the time of printing, and the printing operation throughput is not reduced.
Further, since the control unit 20 stores the margin information 121 for restoring the removed margin in the logo image storage unit 210 together with the margin removal image data 120, the margin is added to the margin removal image data 120 based on the margin information 121. The original input image data 110 can be restored. Therefore, it is possible to print both the input image data 110 input from the host computer 4 and the margin-removed image data 120 from which the margin 112 has been removed.

  Furthermore, the control unit 20 detects a command for instructing image storage from data held in the reception buffer 201, and reads out image data from the reception buffer 201 according to the command detected by the command determination unit 202. And the command processing unit 203 to be stored in the logo image storage unit 210, the image data in the reception buffer 201 can be read in accordance with the command in the reception buffer 201 to perform processing for detecting a margin. For this reason, only by inputting image data together with a command for instructing storage of image data from a host computer 4 externally connected to the printer 2, the image data is quickly stored according to this command, and the margin of the image data is detected. It can be performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the margin 112 of the input image data 110 input from the host computer 4 is removed to generate the margin-removed image data 120, and the margin-removed image data 120 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the input image data 110 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210 as it is, and if necessary, the margin 112 is removed and printed on the roll paper 100. It is good also as composition to do. This example will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the operation of the printer 2, and particularly shows a series of processes when image data received from the host computer 4 is stored in the logo image storage unit 210.
In the operation shown in FIG. 10, when the control unit 20 of the printer 2 transmits a command instructing registration of image data from the host computer 4 and subsequently transmits bitmap data of an image to be registered, the command and image Data is stored in the reception buffer 201 (step S21).
Subsequently, the control unit 20 detects a command from the reception buffer 201, reads the input image data 110 following the command one byte at a time from the top, and detects the margin (data of the margin part), and logos byte by byte. The image is stored in the image storage unit 210 (step S22). Then, after the reading from the reception buffer 201 and the detection of the margin 112 are completed for all of the input image data 110, the control unit 20 determines the position and size of the margin 112 in the entire input image data 110, and the margin. Information 121 is generated (step S23). The control unit 20 stores the generated margin information 121 in the logo image storage unit 210 in association with the input image data 110 (step S24), and ends this process.

  In this case, the control unit 20 stores the input image data 110 input from the host computer 4 in the logo image storage unit 210 and generates margin information 121 indicating the position and size of the margin 112 in the input image data 110. Since it is stored in the logo image storage unit 210, the input image data 110 input from the host computer 4 can be printed as it is, or the margin 112 can be removed based on the margin information 121 and printed. For example, it is also possible to read the input image data 110 from the logo image storage unit 210 and develop it in the image buffer 204, and perform processing for removing the margin 112 from the image data developed in the image buffer 204. In this configuration, since the throughput when the input image data 110 is printed as it is is high, when the input image data 110 is frequently used as the top logo 102 (FIG. 1) or the like, the blank space is not caused without reducing the throughput. Printing with 112 removed can also be made possible.

  In the printer 2, the frequency at which the input image data 110 (FIG. 7B) transmitted from the host computer 4 to the printer 2 is printed on the roll paper 100 as it is, and the margin-removed image data 120 (from which the margin 112 (FIG. 7B) is removed). 7C) may be compared with the frequency of printing, and the logo image storage unit 210 may store the one printed at a higher frequency. In this case, the operation described with reference to FIG. 9 and the operation described with reference to FIG. 10 may be switched and executed.

In addition, the said embodiment shows one specific example to which this invention is applied, and this invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiment, the margin information 121 has been described as being stored in the logo image storage unit 210 in association with the input image data 110 or the margin removal image data 120, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, it may be stored in another storage area provided in the nonvolatile memory 25 or in another nonvolatile storage device. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which input image data is read from the reception buffer 201 for each byte and processed has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration is not limited to 2 bytes, 8 bytes, Alternatively, the image data may be processed in units larger than that. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the command and data are all stored in the reception buffer 201, and the margin is detected when the image data is read from the reception buffer 201. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a buffer memory that holds only data other than commands may be provided separately, or all image data is once transferred to a buffer memory other than the reception buffer 201 and 1 byte from the buffer memory after transfer. Image data may be read and processed one by one. In the above embodiment, the case where the image data stored in the logo image storage unit 210 is printed as the top logo 102 of the receipt 101 is described as an example. However, it is also possible to print the logo on the lower end of the receipt 101. Of course, it is possible to print a coupon or the like on which a plurality of logos are arranged, and the other detailed configurations of the printer 2 and the host computer 4 can be arbitrarily changed.
The recording apparatus to which the present invention is applicable is not particularly limited as long as it is a printer that can print image data stored in advance, and is not limited to a thermal line printer, but is also an ink jet printer, dot impact printer, laser printer, thermal sublimation. The printer may be any type printer, may be a printer that forms characters and images by other methods, and the present invention can also be applied to a printer incorporated in another apparatus.

  2 ... Printer (recording device), 4 ... Host computer (externally connected device), 20 ... Control unit, 100 ... Roll paper (recording medium), 101 ... Receipt, 102 ... Top logo, 120 ... Margin-removed image data ( (Margin removal data), 201 ... reception buffer (buffer memory), 202 ... command determination unit, 203 ... command processing unit, 210 ... logo image storage unit (nonvolatile storage unit).

Claims (7)

A recording device that reads out stored image data and records it on a recording medium,
A buffer memory that temporarily holds data received from externally connected devices;
A nonvolatile storage unit for storing the image data in a nonvolatile manner;
The image data received from the externally connected device is read from the buffer memory in a predetermined data amount unit, and data of a margin part included in the read image data in the predetermined data amount unit is detected, and the read A control unit that stores image data for a predetermined amount of data in the nonvolatile storage unit,
The control unit detects margin data in image data received from the externally connected device based on a result of detecting the data of the margin portion from the read image data in a predetermined data amount unit;
A recording apparatus.   The control unit generates margin removal data obtained by removing the margin data of the image data received from the externally connected device based on the detected margin part data, and the generated margin removal data is converted into the nonvolatile data. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is stored in a storage unit.   The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit causes the non-volatile storage unit to store, together with the margin removal data, margin information for restoring the removed margin data.   The control unit reads information indicating the position of the margin data in the image data after the processing for reading the margin data from the buffer memory and detecting the margin data is completed for the image data received from the externally connected device. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording apparatus is generated and stored in the nonvolatile storage unit.   The control unit detects a command for instructing storage of image data from data held in the buffer memory, and reads the image data from the buffer memory according to the command detected by the command determination unit. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a command processing unit that is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit. A method for controlling a recording apparatus for reading stored image data and recording it on a recording medium,
The image data received from an externally connected device is temporarily held in a buffer memory, and the control unit reads the image data from the buffer memory in units of a predetermined amount of data. Detecting the blank portion data included, storing the read predetermined amount of image data in the nonvolatile storage unit, and further detecting the blank portion data from the read predetermined amount of image data Detecting margin data in image data received from the externally connected device based on a result;
A control method for a recording apparatus. A program executed by a control unit for controlling a recording device that reads stored image data and records the image data on a recording medium,
The control unit reads the image data received from an externally connected device and temporarily stored in a buffer memory in units of a predetermined amount of data, and reads a margin portion included in the read image data for the predetermined amount of data. In addition to detecting the data, the image data for the read predetermined amount of data is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit, and further, the external connection is performed based on the result of detecting the margin data from the predetermined amount of image data. Detecting margin data in the image data received from the selected device;
A program characterized by

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