Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Akio Sugaya

Kunio Okada

Kiyohiro Tsunekawa

Yutaka Murakami

Takeshi Utsunomiya

Shuji Ozawa

Shigeki Hirooka

Hideyuki Kitani

Yukimasa Sato

Yuki Miyazaki

An output apparatus includes a cartridge which contains a recording material. A detector is provided in the apparatus for detecting the remaining amount of the recording material in the cartridge. A controller is provided in the apparatus for storing the cumulative consumed amount of the recording material in a non-volatile memory unit. Thus, the remaining amount of the recording material is determined.

Printing apparatus using recording material cartridge with non-volatile memory

According to the present invention, printing-job information relating to printing jobs present within a print server and printing-job information relating to printing jobs present within a printer can be displayed at a time, and the user can precisely know all printing jobs to be processed by the printer. Even if the user does not know whether a printing job is present within the print server or within the printer, a change in a schedule of a printing job assigned by the user can be appropriately performed in the print server or the printer.

Information processing apparatus and information display method for displaying job information relating to an output job

Method and apparatus for determining consumed amount of recording material

A virtual ejection port is selected by assigning virtual ejection ports to the virtual N ejection ports, then an ejection port of the apparatus is selected for output, and, in response to the entry of a print job designated for output to the virtual ejection port, the ejection port of the apparatus is determined by correlating the virtual ejection port with the ejection port of the apparatus.

Image output method and apparatus therefor

Print data of each page sequentially sent from a host computer and second print data converted from registered first print data and stored in a memory are developed on the memory to generate a print image under the control of CPU. An overlap print by a printing unit is controlled in accordance with the generated print image. Even if the print style of input print data of each page changes, optimum second print data can be generated in a short time without giving a load on memory resources. Therefore, a print process time of formatted print data such as forms can be shortened and a desired overlay print can be performed efficiently.

Print control apparatus, print control method, storage medium, and computer readable program performing a form overlay process

A control technique for communicating communication data including a print data packet and a control data packet in independent communication protocols controls the job for page data being printed obtained from the print packet according to information from the control packet. The type of protocol used in communication with a host computer is identified. The communication data that is received according to the type of protocol is sorted by the type of data, namely, into the control data packet and print data packet. A formatter analyzer analyze the print data and converts it into bit map data printable on a printer engine. A control command analyzer executes a predetermined command.

System for controlling communication between a printer and an external host computer

It is an object of the invention to read out and analyzes form data (macro data) upon printing, generate a drawing object, and reduce a processing time of a forming process for composing the drawing object to data to be overlaid. Particularly, it is an object to realize a developing process of form data in a color image processing apparatus. The invention provides an image processing apparatus for previously forming a form image from the form data and overlay-outputting the form image together with the data to be overlaid upon printing. Particularly, the object of the invention is accomplished by switching means for independently drawing into each plane buffer and means for drawing with respect to each plane for the image data of one page.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and storage medium

System according to the present invention is adapted so that form data is registered according to form caching instruction data. Thus, the form data, which is a user resource, can be reused without being changed. Consequently, user's convenience can be enhanced, and form overlay processing can be achieved at a high speed. To realize such a system, in accordance with the present invention, when receiving form cache generation instruction data outputted from a host computer, the received form cache generation instruction data is stored in a nonvolatile memory. Further, for example, when a power supply is turned on, if form cache generation instruction data is present, form data is read from a corresponding flash memory in accordance with the instruction data. Then, form image data is formed, and the formed form image data is registered in a cache memory.

Output control device and image processing apparatus and method and storage medium

A printing apparatus includes a storing unit for executing a storing operation to store one page of intermediate data in a first memory. A determination unit determines, during the storing operation by the storing unit, whether the one page of intermediate data can be stored in the first memory. A control unit controls a data compression and storing operation such that if the determination unit determines that the one page of intermediate data cannot be stored in the first memory, (i) a portion of the one page of intermediate data that has already been stored in the first memory is compressed and stored in a second memory so as to expand a free space of the first memory, and (ii) a subsequent portion of the one page of intermediate data is compressed and stored in the second memory. A generation unit reads either one of the one page of intermediate data stored in the first memory and the one page of compressed intermediate data stored in the second memory and generates bit map data from the read intermediate data.

Printing apparatus

An output apparatus comprises: an input device to input an output format of a pattern; a data producing circuit to produce data regarding an outline font from a dot font pattern; and an outline font pattern producing circuit to produce an outline font pattern from the dot font pattern produced by the data producing circuit in accordance with an input character code. When a character code is input, an outline font is produced from a dot pattern and, thereafter, a dot font pattern of a designated shape is generated from the outline font.

Character outputting

A printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises generation means for, when intermediate data for one page are stored in first storage means, generating bit map data, for each band, from the intermediate data for one page, which are stored in the first storage means, for encoding and compressing the bit map data that are generated, and for generating encoded data for each band, and control means for, when the encoded data that are generated for each band by the generation means are stored in second storage means for one page, decoding and decompressing, for each band, the encoded data for one page, which are stored in the second storage means, and for reproducing bit map data for one page.

An image recording apparatus compares the memory size for storing image data corresponding to an image to be recorded with a recording sheet size designated by a recording sheet size designation command included in printing data output from an external apparatus. If the recording sheet size exceeds the memory size, the apparatus forms image data in a resolution lower than a normal resolution and stores the data in the memory. On printing the image in accordance with the stored image data, the apparatus multiplies the data in the memory and records the image in the initial resolution.

Image recording apparatus

An output apparatus includes a memory for storing attribute information and an output resolution of a character pattern, an outline font forming unit for forming an outline font on the basis of font information in a dot pattern format, a dot pattern forming unit for forming a dot pattern font on the basis of the outline font in accordance with the attribute information and the resolution, and an output unit for displaying and outputting the dot pattern formed by the dot pattern forming unit.

Output method and apparatus

A group of selected character codes is converted into character patterns in advance and stored in a font cache memory, and, when one of the character codes is received as the printing instruction, such pre-converted character pattern is utilized for printing. Thus the conversion into the character pattern can be dispensed with at each code reception, and the time required for such conversion can be shortened.

Image outputting adaptable to various fonts

An output apparatus such as a printer is controlled by a control program. A first control program is stored in a fixed storage medium, and a second control program having a different operation than the first control program is stored in a detachable storage medium. The two control programs are selectively used, based on data received from a host computer.

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Yokohama, Japan

Akio Sugaya