US 7,301,669 B1Granted

Color printing apparatus

AssigneeRicoh Printing Systems, Ltd.

InventorsToshiyuki Yamada, Hiroyuki Abiru, Shiro Kofuji, Naoyuki Urata, Hitoshi Tamura

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A color printing apparatus includes a printer driver for receiving a print instruction of print data issued from an application program, and for rasterizing the print data to produce con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data and bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data; a page memory for independently storing thereinto both the con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data and the bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data; a control unit for executing a control operation in such a manner that the con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data is converted into con-tone/multi-bits print data, the bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data is converted into bi-tone/single-bit print data, and at least one of the con-tone/multi-bits print data-and the bi-tone/single-bit print data is stored into the page memory in a bitmap format; and an output control unit for reading at least any one of the con-tone/multi-bits print data and the bi-tone/single-bit print data from the page memory, and for logically synthesizing the print data with each other to output the synthesized print data to a color printing unit, reducing the data amount of the bitmap data.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A color printing apparatus for printing by mixing a plurality of primary colors, comprising:

a printer data receiver for receiving a print instruction of print data issued from an application program, and for rasterizing said print data to separately receive con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data and bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data, respectively both made up of said print data, from a high-ordered apparatus;
a page memory for independently storing thereinto both said con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data and said bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data;
a control unit for executing a control operation in such a manner that said con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data is converted into con-tone/multi-bits print data, said bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data is converted into bi-tone/single-bit print data, and at least one of said con-tone/multi-bits print data and said bi-tone/single-bit print data is stored into said page memory in a bitmap format;
and
an output control unit for reading at least any one of said con-tone/multi-bits print data and said bi-tone/single-bit print data from said page memory, and for logically synthesizing said print data with each other to output the synthesized print data to a color printing unit,
wherein said control unit designates resolution of said bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data as first resolution equal to the output resolution of the color printing unit, and designates resolution of said con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data as second resolution equal to 1/n of said first resolution, and also stores both said bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data and said con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data into said page memory;
and
said output control unit includes an enlarging circuit for enlarging said con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data having said second resolution to said first resolution to logically synthesize said enlarged con-tone/multi-bits bitmap data and said bi-tone/single-bit bitmap data and output synthesized bitmap data to the color printing unit.

5 more elements

A printing system comprised of an upper-grade apparatus for rasterizing print data and a color printing apparatus for printing said rasterized print data by mixing a plurality of primary colors with each other, wherein,

said upper-grade apparatus includes first means for separately rasterizing said print data as bi-tone/single-bit print data and con-tone/multi-bits print data and second means for supplying at least one of said rasterized bi-tone/single-bit print data and said rasterized con-tone/multi-bits print data to said color printing apparatus, and output means for separately outputting said bi-tone/single-bit print data and con-tone/multi-bits print data;
and
said color printing apparatus includes a page memory for separately storing the entered bi-tone/single-bit print data and the entered con-tone/multi-bits print data in a bitmap data format, and third means for reading said bitmap data from said page memory in the unit of the primary color to print out the read bitmap data,
wherein said upper-grade apparatus rasterizes in a bitmap format both said bi-tone/single-bit print data having first resolution equal to output resolution of said color printing apparatus and said con-tone/multi-bits print data having second resolution equal to 1/n of said first resolution;
and
said color printing apparatus includes an enlarging circuit for enlarging said con-tone/multi-bits print data having said second resolution to said first resolution, and prints out in accordance with the enlarged con-tone/multi-bits print data and the bitmap data of said bi-tone/single-bit print data.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.