Color printer with power saving recording head
AssigneesCasio Electronics Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
InventorJun Hashimoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a color printer and particularly to a color printer reducing power consumption and complying with international criteria ensuring sustained earth environment. In a color printer having multiple optical writing heads for individual recording colors, the activated periods of individual color recording heads are set to different periods and one writing period of individual recording heads is divided into multiple periods, video data for recording one dot line are divided into multiple blocks in the main scan direction, and the divided video data are used for emission at different times in the sub-scan direction, whereby a smaller number of optical writing elements are simultaneously driven for emission and the peak power consumption of the entire apparatus is reduced.
Claims8
A color printer creating video data corresponding to n colors based on print information entered from a host machine, supplying individual color video data to corresponding recording color optical writing recording heads comprising an array of many light emitting elements arranged in a main scan direction, forming individual color images by exposing the individual color image lights consequently emitted on corresponding photoconductive bodies for recording color, the photoconductive bodies being provided to face the optical writing recording heads and moving in a sub-scan direction perpendicular to the main scan direction to form individual color images, and finally merging all color images on a printing medium to form a color image, wherein the color printer comprises:
- a recording head selection/activation unit activating individual color recording heads in sequence to enable optical writing in each of periods equal to one n-th of one writing period of the optical writing recording heads;
- a video data supply unit applying video data corresponding to one dot line image to be recorded to the recording heads during an activated period of individual recording color recording heads;
- a staggered emission drive signal generation unit generating x staggered emission drive signals for each of individual recording color recording heads during the activated period of individual recording color recording heads;
- and
- a divided emission control unit selectively activating a block comprising a given number of light emitting elements of the individual color recording heads so as to allow the light emitting elements in the block to selectively emit light based on video data applied to the recording head during each of staggered emission drive periods, and
- the individual recording color recording heads are provided in the manner that the blocks are shifted in the sub-scan direction by the quantity to cancel the emission time-lag between the light emitting elements in different blocks activated with time-lag by the staggered emission drive signals.
A color printer creating video data corresponding to n colors based on print information entered from a host machine, supplying individual color video data to corresponding recording color optical writing recording heads comprising an array of many light emitting elements arranged in a main scan direction, forming individual color images by exposing the individual color image lights consequently emitted on corresponding photoconductive bodies for recording color, the photoconductive bodies being provided to face the optical writing recording heads and moving in a sub-scan direction perpendicular to the main scan direction to form individual color images, and finally merging all color images on a printing medium to form a color image, wherein the color printer comprises:
- a recording head selection/activation unit activating individual color recording heads in sequence to enable optical writing in each of periods equal to one n-th of one writing period of the optical writing recording heads;
- a video data dividing/supply unit dividing an activated period of individual recording color recording heads into a first half period and a second half period and applying only video data corresponding to the first half in the main scan direction of one dot line data to the print heads in the first half period and only video data corresponding to the second half in the main scan direction of the one dot line data to the recording heads in the second half period;
- a staggered emission drive signal generation unit generating x staggered emission drive signals for each of individual recording color recording heads in each of the first half period and second half period of individual recording color recording heads;
- and
- a divided emission control unit selectively activating a specific block of light emitting elements of the individual color recording heads so as to allow the light emitting elements in the block to selectively emit light based on video data applied to the recording head during each of staggered emission drive periods, and
- the individual color recording heads are provided in the manner that the blocks are shifted in the sub-scan direction by the quantity to cancel the emission time-lag between the light emitting elements in different blocks activated with time-lag by the staggered emission drive signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.