JPH01170263A - recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording device that records an image based on input image information as a dot pattern.

[Prior Art] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional recording device, for example, a recording device having a light beam printer, in which 1 is a host computer, and 2 is a device for receiving image information sent from the host computer. This is the interface.

When the image information sent from this interface 2 is the first color, it is stored in the first color character memory 3, and when it is the second color, it is stored in the second color character memory 6.
is memorized. 4 is a first color character generator which outputs a dot pattern by adding a character code read from the character memory 3; and 5 is a first color bitmap memory which stores dot data output from the character generator 4. Reference numeral 7 designates a second color character generator which outputs dot data by adding a character code read from the character memory 6, and 8 a second color bitmap memory which stores the dot data output from the character generator 7. The dot data read from the first color bitmap memory 5 and the second color bitmap memory 8 is applied via a video interface 9 to a multicolor printer 10 consisting of a light beam printer.

In the recording apparatus having such a configuration, image information input from the host computer 1 is transmitted through the interface 2.
The character code is separated into first color and second color data via the character memory 3 for the first color and second color, respectively.
．． Sent to 6.

The character code read from the character memory 3.6 is converted into dot data by a character generator 4.7, and then converted into dot data by a bitmap memory 5.8 for the first and second colors.
is memorized. The image data included in the image information is also separated into a first color and a second color by the interface, and the first color image data is stored in a first color bitmap and the second color image data is stored in a second color bitmap. Therefore,
In the bitmap memory 5.8, the image data and dot data are combined and developed as a dot image. The dot data on the bitmap memory 5.8 is sequentially read out as first color video data and second color video data via the video interface 9, and a two-color printer IO capable of recording in the first color and second color is used. added to.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] The conventional device is configured as described above, and when performing monochrome recording using only one bitmap memory, the other bitmap memory becomes idle. There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a recording device that can simultaneously record data with a plurality of printers by providing video interfaces corresponding to the number of bitmap memories.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, a video interface is provided corresponding to each bitmap memory, and a video interface selection means is provided between them, so that each bitmap memory It becomes possible to output the recorded data to another party's printer.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a recording apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. The difference from FIG. 2 is that first and second video interfaces 11.12 are provided instead of video interface 9, and corresponding to these video interfaces 11.12, the first and second video interfaces 11.12, which can each record in two colors, are provided.
, a second printer 12 is provided, and a video interface selection circuit 15 comprising a multiplexer or the like is added to select which character generator's output is to be added to which video interface. Note that circuits with the same numbers as in FIG. 2 have the same configuration as in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 11 and 12 denote first and second video interfaces which separately exchange synchronization signals with printers 13 and 14, output recorded data, and confirm status.

When performing multicolor recording, the video interface selection circuit 15 can switch between the first printer 13 and the second printer 14 to which the recorded data stored in the first and second bitmap memories is output. Also, if the same recording data is available, it can be output to both printers 13 and 14.

Next, a case will be described in which N pages are recorded in monochrome. Of the image information manually input from the host computer 1, the first color bitmap memory 5 stores odd pages starting from the first page.
The second color bitmap memory 8 is assigned to perform image processing for even-numbered pages starting from the second page. When image processing for one page is completed, video interface selection circuit 1
5 transfers the contents of the first color bitmap memory 5 to the first printer 13 through the first video interface 11;
The contents of the second color bitmap memory 8 are output to the second printer 14 through the second video interface 12. In this way, the first printer 13 can print odd-numbered pages, and the second printer 14 can print even-numbered pages.

In the above embodiment, the first printer prints odd pages, the second
The explanation has been given using an example in which an even number of pages are recorded by a printer, but when recording N pages, the first printer records pages 1 to (n/2), and the second printer records (n/2) pages. 2+
1) Half of the number of sheets to be recorded, such as from page 1 to page 1, may be simultaneously recorded by both printers.

In addition, although the above embodiment has been explained using an example in which one host computer is connected, by providing an input port for the bitmap memory, it is possible to input images from separate host computers (or image input devices, etc.). You can enter information and input it to different printers or output it from any printer. Furthermore, the number of bitmap memories is 2.
It is not limited to one, but any number may be used.Furthermore, even a monochromatic beam printer, not a polychromatic beam printer, can have a plurality of bitmap memories, and if each has a video interface, it is possible to realize what has been described so far.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides a video interface corresponding to each bitmap memory in a recording device having a plurality of bitmap memories, so that one controller can handle printers for the bitmap memories. It has the great advantage of greatly increasing overall throughput.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus embodying the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional recording apparatus. Here, 1... host computer, 2... interface, 3... first color character memory, 4...
- 1st color character generator, 5... 1st color bit map memory, 6... 2nd character memory, 7.
...Second color character generator, 8...Second color bitmap memory, 11...First video interface, 12...Second video interface, 13...
・First printer, 14...Second printer, l5...
This is a video interface selection circuit. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of bitmap memories for storing image information for recording as dot data, a plurality of video interfaces, means for selecting which bitmap memory's dot data is to be outputted to which video interface, and the video interface. 1. A recording device comprising: a printer that records an image based on dot data output from the printer.