Method for generating combined print data, printing method and digital printer

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of digital printers, in particular to a combined printing data generation method, a printing method and a digital printer. In the method, a digital printer determines printing data of a nozzle, the printing data has a corresponding relationship with a printing time, and the printing data comprises first printing data of a first page and second printing data of a second page. The digital printer can combine the first printing data and the second printing data corresponding to the same printing time to obtain a set of combined printing data. Therefore, even when the page interval between the first page and the second page is smaller than the printing width of the nozzle, the nozzle of the digital printer can print the first page and the second page simultaneously according to the combined printing data when the nozzle is between the first page and the second page.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of digital printers, and particularly relates to a method for generating combined printing data, a printing method and a digital printer. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the printing process of a digital printer, a control system of the digital printer first processes original printing data into dot matrix data, then processes the dot matrix data into imaging data suitable for imaging, and then controls a nozzle to spray ink according to the imaging data to form an entire image.

[0003] In the prior art, when printing multiple pages, the digital printer can usually only process the printing data of a single page in advance, for example, the data of a first page and the data of a second page are two independent data, and the nozzle can only output one of the two data when printing, so that the nozzle cannot output the two data at the same time when the page spacing is less than the printing width, and thus the printing work cannot be completed. SUMMARY

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a method for generating combined printing data, a printing method and a digital printer, which can combine two printing data of different pages to obtain a group of printing data, so that the printing work of a first page and a second page can be completed according to the combined printing data even when the page spacing of the first page and the second page is less than the printing width of the nozzle.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problem, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect of the present application, a method for generating combined printing data is provided, which is applied to a digital printer. The digital printer comprises at least one printhead, and the printhead comprises a plurality of nozzle columns. Each nozzle in each nozzle column is arranged in sequence along a conveying direction of a printing medium. A page printed by the nozzles comprises a first page and a second page adjacent to the first page. In the method, the digital printer determines printing data of the nozzles, which comprises first printing data of the first page and second printing data of the second page. The printing data has a corresponding relationship with a printing time. The digital printer determines the first printing data and the second printing data corresponding to the same printing time based on the printing data, the printing time and the corresponding relationship. The digital printer combines the first printing data and the second printing data corresponding to the same printing time to obtain combined printing data, so that the nozzles print the first page and the second page on the printing medium in sequence according to the combined printing data. In the present application, the digital printer can combine the first printing data of the first page and the second printing data of the second page into one piece of printing data, so that the digital printer can print the first page and the second page on the printing medium according to one piece of combined printing data. Whether the effective printing width of the printhead is smaller than the distance between the first page and the second page, the digital printer can complete the printing of the first page and the second page according to the combined printing data.

[0007] In some embodiments, the printing data comprises printing data units, the printing data units of the printing data comprise first printing data units of the first printing data and second printing data units of the second printing data; and the combining the first printing data and the second printing data corresponding to the same printing time to obtain combined printing data comprises combining the first printing data units and the second printing data units corresponding to the same printing time to obtain combined printing data units. In some embodiments, the printing data comprises data identifiers, the data identifiers of the printing data comprise first data identifiers of the first printing data and second data identifiers of the second printing data, and the data identifiers are valid identifiers or invalid identifiers; and the combining the first printing data and the second printing data corresponding to the same printing time comprises: determining data identifiers of the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time based on the first data identifiers and the second data identifiers corresponding to the same printing time; and combining the first printing data units and the second printing data units corresponding to the same printing time if the data identifiers of the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time are the valid identifiers.

[0008] In some embodiments, determining the data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time based on the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time comprises: if the first data identifier or the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time is a valid identifier, determining the data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time as a valid identifier; if the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are both invalid identifiers, determining the data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time as an invalid identifier, the invalid identifier indicating that the nozzle does not eject ink.

[0009] In some embodiments, the combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time comprises: if the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are a valid identifier and an invalid identifier respectively, determining that the combined print data corresponding to the same print time comprises the first print data unit corresponding to the same print time; if the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are an invalid identifier and a valid identifier respectively, determining that the combined print data corresponding to the same print time comprises the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time; if the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are both valid identifiers, combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit according to the data type of the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time, wherein the data type comprises imaging data and placeholder data, the placeholder data indicating that the nozzle does not eject ink.

[0010] In some embodiments, the combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit according to the data types of the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time comprises: if the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are both placeholder data, determining that the combined print data corresponding to the same print time comprises the placeholder data; if the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are the imaging data and the placeholder data respectively, determining that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time comprises the imaging data of the first page corresponding to the same print time; if the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are the placeholder data and the imaging data respectively, determining that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time comprises the imaging data of the second page corresponding to the same print time; if the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are both imaging data, determining that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time comprises the imaging data of the first page or the second page corresponding to the same print time.

[0011] In some embodiments, the determining the print data of the nozzle comprises: obtaining page dot array data of each of the first page and the second page obtained by rasterization data processing, wherein each page dot array data comprises row dot array data of each nozzle; extracting the row dot array data of each nozzle from the page dot array data according to the position of each nozzle; determining imaging data of the nozzle based on the position of the nozzle and the row dot array data; determining placeholder data based on the position of the nozzle; generating a print data unit based on the imaging data and the placeholder data of the nozzle; generating a first data identifier and a second data identifier of each nozzle based on the print time corresponding to the print data unit.

[0012] In the second aspect of the present application, a printing method is further provided for a digital printer, wherein the digital printer comprises at least one nozzle head comprising a plurality of nozzle columns, each nozzle in each nozzle column is arranged in sequence along the conveying direction of a print medium. In the method, the digital printer obtains the combined print data according to the method of the first aspect. The digital printer controls the nozzles to print the first page and the second page on the print medium in sequence according to the combined print data.

[0013] In some embodiments, the first page is located at the front end of the conveying direction relative to the second page, and the controlling the nozzles to print the first page and the second page on the printing medium in sequence according to the combined printing data comprises: if the effective printing width of the printhead is greater than the interval between the first page and the second page, when the printhead reaches the printing start position of the second page, controlling the plurality of columns of nozzles to print the first page and the second page simultaneously according to the combined printing data.

[0014] In a third aspect of the present application, a digital printer is provided, which comprises a processor configured to execute instructions to cause the digital printer to perform the method of the first aspect and the second aspect.

[0015] It should be understood that the content described in the summary section is not intended to limit the key or important features of the present disclosure, nor to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can also be obtained according to these drawings without creative labor for those skilled in the art.

[0017] Figure 1 is a hardware structure of a digital printer provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 is a structure diagram of a printhead assembly of a digital printer provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 3 is an application scenario of a combined data generation method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a combined printing data generation method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 5 (a) is a position relationship diagram of a page and a printhead provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 (b) is a corresponding relationship diagram of a printing data unit of different nozzles and a printing time provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6is a corresponding relationship diagram of combining print data units and print time provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 7 is a corresponding relationship diagram of combining print data units and print time provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 8 is a corresponding relationship diagram of combining print data units and print time provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 9 is a corresponding relationship diagram of combining print data units and print time provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The principles and spirits of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to several exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description of these specific embodiments is only to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and implement the present disclosure, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art.

[0028] As used herein, the term "comprising" and its similar words are understood to be open-ended, i.e., "including, but not limited to". The term "based on" is understood to mean "based, at least in part, on". The term "one embodiment" or "the embodiment" is understood to mean "at least one embodiment". The terms "first", "second", and the like can refer to different or the same objects and are merely used to distinguish one object from another, without implying a particular spatial, chronological, importance, or the like order of the objects. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", and the like indicating the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation and positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only used for the purpose of description of the present application or for the convenience of description, and therefore cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0029] Figure 1 An exemplary hardware structure of a digital printer is shown in Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1, the digital printer 10 includes a data processor 11, a conveying device 12 and a nozzle assembly 13 connected in communication with the data processor 11. The data processor 11, the conveying device 12 and the nozzle assembly 13 can be connected by a bus or other means, Figure 1 In some embodiments, the nozzle assembly 13 is also provided with a memory.

[0030] The conveying device 12 is used to convey the printing medium to the lower side of the printhead assembly 13, so as to facilitate the printhead assembly 13 to print on the printing medium.

[0031] The printhead assembly 13 is used to print a target pattern on the printing medium. The printhead assembly 13 comprises at least one printhead. The printhead has a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets, and the plurality of nozzles are arranged in a certain pattern. In some embodiments, each printhead can comprise a first printhead unit, a second printhead unit, a third printhead unit and a fourth printhead unit; wherein the first printhead unit is used to print cyan ink (C), the second printhead unit is used to print magenta ink (M), the third printhead unit is used to print yellow ink (Y), and the fourth printhead unit is used to print black ink (K). C, M, Y and K are four basic colors, and the data processor 11 generates the required color by controlling each printhead unit in the printhead to print different doses of ink. In other embodiments, each printhead further comprises a printhead unit for printing other color ink, for example, the printhead can further comprise a printhead unit for printing gold ink, royal blue ink and / or silver ink.

[0032] Generally, the printing mode of the digital printer comprises two modes of single PASS and multi-PASS. In the multi-PASS printing mode, when printing a line, the printing medium is stationary and the printhead reciprocates. In the single PASS printing mode, when printing a line, the printing medium moves and the printhead is stationary. In the present embodiment, the printing mode of the digital printer 100 is the single PASS printing mode; that is, the printhead assembly can only adjust the height up and down and cannot move back and forth along the conveying direction of the printing medium; when the printing medium passes once under the printhead assembly at a constant speed, the printhead assembly completes the printing of the image.

[0033] Those skilled in the art can understand that, Figure 1 The structure shown does not constitute a limitation on the digital printer, and the digital printer can comprise more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or split certain components, or different component arrangements.

[0034] In some embodiments, the inkjet printer has only one printhead. In other embodiments, in order to speed up the printing speed, the technician can also set multiple printheads for the printhead assembly according to the width of the printing medium. Figure 2 An exemplary structure of a printhead is shown as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the arrangement of the plurality of nozzles on the printhead 210 is arrayed. Figure 2The illustration uses a nozzle arrangement of 3 rows and 8 columns as an example. In other embodiments, the printhead may include more or fewer rows or columns of nozzles than illustrated. Within each row of nozzles, the arrangement direction of each nozzle is perpendicular to the direction of media transport (i.e., Figure 2 (The direction indicated by the middle arrow). Along the direction of print media transport, the nozzles are arranged in multiple rows, and the individual nozzles in each row may not be in a straight line. For example, the first row of nozzles in printhead assembly 210 includes nozzle a, nozzle b, and nozzle c.

[0035] In this embodiment, the distance between the two furthest rows of nozzles on the printhead is the printing width of the printhead, for example, Figure 2 The distance between the first and third rows of nozzles in the middle printhead 210 is the printing width.

[0036] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the first page and the second page generally refer to any two adjacent pages among the several pages that the code printer needs to print.

[0037] Figure 3 The application scenarios of the method for generating combined print data provided in the embodiments of this application are illustrated by example. Please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 3 Digital printers typically print multiple pages on a continuous printing medium 30 during the printing process of books and periodicals. For example, Figure 3 The first page 301, the second page 302, etc., are printed, and then each page is cut off from the printing medium 30 to obtain a single book page. Therefore, the printing medium between two adjacent pages is wasted printing medium. The larger the page spacing n between two adjacent pages, the more printing medium is wasted. However, in existing methods, the page spacing n is usually greater than the printhead width m. Specifically, the printhead width m can be, for example, 3-4 cm. Usually, the print width m is smaller than the page width d.

[0038] When a digital printer prints, the print data for the first page 301 and the print data for the second page 302 are two independent data streams. The digital printer typically prints the first page 301 based on its print data first, and then prints the second page 302 based on its print data. If the page spacing n between the first page 301 and the second page 302 is less than the print width m, then... Figure 3 When the print area of ​​the nozzle shown simultaneously covers the first page 301 and the second page 302, the digital printer cannot print the first page 301 and the second page 302 at the same time.

[0039] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for generating combined printing data, which can combine the first printing data of the first page and the second printing data of the second page into one way of combined printing data, so that when the printing width is greater than the page interval, the nozzle can also print the first page and the second page at the same time according to the combined printing data, and therefore the embodiment of the present application can reduce the page interval between the adjacent two pages to reduce the waste of printing medium. In order to facilitate the reader to understand the present application, the following will be described in combination with specific embodiments.

[0040] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 The flow of the method for generating combined printing data is exemplarily shown, which is applied to a digital printer, for example, is applied to the digital printer 10 in Figure 1 , as shown in Figure 4 , the method comprises the following steps:

[0041] Step 41: determining the printing data of the nozzle, the printing data comprising the first printing data of the first page and the second printing data of the second page, the printing data having a corresponding relationship with the printing time;

[0042] The printing data of the nozzle comprises the first printing data and the second printing data, wherein the printing data of the first page is the first printing data, and the printing data of the second page is the second printing data. The printing data specifically comprises a printing data unit and a data identifier. Specifically, the first printing data comprises a first printing data unit and a first data identifier, and the second printing data comprises a second printing data unit and a second data identifier.

[0043] Specifically, the printing data unit comprises placeholder data and imaging data. The data identifier is specifically a valid identifier or an invalid identifier. The digital printer can determine the printing time corresponding to the printing data unit as a target printing time, and determine the data identifier corresponding to the target printing time as a data valid identifier, and determine the data identifier corresponding to the printing time other than the target printing time as an invalid identifier. When the data identifier is an invalid identifier, the nozzle has no firing signal input, and the nozzle does not perform firing printing, at this time, the nozzle does not eject ink. When the data identifier is a valid identifier, the nozzle has a firing signal input regardless of whether the printing data unit is imaging data or placeholder data, wherein when the printing data is placeholder data, the nozzle does not eject ink, and when the printing data is imaging data, the digital printer can control the nozzle to eject ink based on the imaging data to print a target pattern. In some embodiments of the present application, the valid identifier can be specifically 1, and the invalid identifier can be specifically 0. In some embodiments, the printing time comprises a plurality of printing moments, and the printing data of a printing moment is used to control the nozzle to print a pixel point.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5(a) shows an example of the correspondence of the printing time and the position of the page P, Figure 5 (b) shows an example of the correspondence of the printing data unit of each nozzle and the printing time; wherein the printing data unit 501, the printing data unit 502 and the printing data unit 503 are the printing data units of the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c respectively. Figure 5 Taking the number of the nozzles in one row of the nozzle head as 3 for example, as shown in Figure 5 (a), the nozzles in one row of the nozzle head 51 include the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c. The page P is located on the printing medium, and the conveying direction of the printing medium is the direction shown by the arrow in (a). Figure 5 The leading end of the page P passes through the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c at the time T1, T2 and T3 respectively, that is, T1, T2 and T3 are the printing start time of the page P by the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c respectively. The trailing end of the page P passes through the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c at the time T1', T2' and T3' respectively, that is, T1', T2' and T3' are the printing end time of the page P by the nozzle a, the nozzle b and the nozzle c respectively.

[0045] The printing data unit 501 of the nozzle a includes the imaging data 501a and the placeholder data 501b. Since the page P passes through the nozzle a at the time T1 to T1', the digital printer can determine that the printing data unit of the nozzle a is the imaging data of the nozzle a in the printing time of T1 to T1'. In the printing time of T1' to T'3, the page P is not directly below the nozzle a, and the nozzle a does not eject ink, so the printing data unit of the nozzle a corresponding to T1' to T'3 is the placeholder data.

[0046] As for the printing data unit 502 of the nozzle b, since the page P passes through the nozzle b at the time T2 to T2', the printing data unit of the nozzle b is the imaging data in the printing time of T2 to T2'. In the printing time of T1 to T2 and T2' to T3', the page P is not directly below the nozzle b, the nozzle b does not eject ink, and the printing data unit of the nozzle b is the placeholder data.

[0047] As for the printing data unit 503 of the nozzle c, the page P passes through the nozzle c at the time T3 to T3', so the printing data unit of the nozzle c is the imaging data in the printing time of T3 to T3'. In the printing time of T1 to T3, the page P is not directly below the nozzle c, the printing data unit of the nozzle c is the placeholder data, and the nozzle c does not eject ink.

[0048] Further, in some embodiments, the digital printer can output the data identifier synchronously while generating the print data unit. If the print time corresponds to a print data unit, the digital printer generates a valid identifier for the print time, otherwise, the digital printer generates an invalid identifier for the print time. For example, in Figure 5 In (b), each print time within T1-T3’ corresponds to a valid identifier, and for the print time before T1 or after T3’, the corresponding invalid identifier is generated.

[0049] In some embodiments, the digital printer can determine the specific time of each page T1, T2, T3, T1’, T2’ and T3’ according to the position of the nozzle, the page width, the page spacing and the moving speed of the print medium.

[0050] In some embodiments, the method for determining the print data of the nozzle by the digital printer is as follows: first, the digital printer obtains the page dot data of each page in the first page and the second page obtained by the rasterization data processing, wherein a page dot data includes the row dot data of each nozzle; second, the digital printer extracts the row dot data of each nozzle from the page dot data according to the position of each nozzle; third, the digital printer determines the imaging data of the nozzle based on the position of the nozzle and the row dot data; determines the placeholder data based on the position of the nozzle; generates the print data unit based on the imaging data and the placeholder data of the nozzle; and generates the first data identifier and the second data identifier of each nozzle based on the print time corresponding to the print data unit.

[0051] Specifically, in some embodiments, the digital printer can obtain the to-be-printed file of each page, and perform raster image processing (RIP) on the to-be-printed file, thereby converting the to-be-printed file into page dot data, and then processing the page dot data into page imaging data suitable for imaging, and controlling the corresponding nozzles to eject ink according to the page imaging data, thereby forming an entire image. The page dot data may, for example, be a dot matrix. The dot matrix is also called a raster image or a pixel image, which is a matrix composed of the smallest unit of pixels. The smallest unit is a pixel, and the display effect is realized by the arrangement of the pixel array, and each pixel has its own color information, such as hue, saturation and lightness.

[0052] The page dot data is the dot data for printing an entire page, which includes the dot data corresponding to each nozzle, i.e., the row dot data. The row dot data is used to control the nozzle to print a pixel point in the same row of the page. The digital printer can extract the row dot data of each nozzle from the page dot data according to the physical position of each nozzle, and obtain the imaging data of each nozzle based on the row dot data.

[0053] Step 42: determining the first print data and the second print data corresponding to the same print time based on the print data, the print time and the correspondence;

[0054] Step 43: combining the first print data and the second print data corresponding to the same print time to obtain combined print data, so that the nozzle prints the first page and the second page on the print medium in sequence according to the combined print data.

[0055] The digital printer combining the first print data and the second print data corresponding to the same print time specifically includes combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time. The digital printer can specifically determine whether the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time need to be combined according to the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time. If the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are both invalid identifiers, the digital printer determines that the combined print data corresponding to the same print time includes an invalid identifier. If the first data identifier or the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time is a valid identifier, the digital printer determines that the data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time is a valid identifier, and combines the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time.

[0056] The digital printer combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time specifically includes the following steps: if the first data identifier corresponding to the same print time is a valid identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time is an invalid identifier, the digital printer determines that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time is the first print data unit corresponding to the same print time; if the first data identifier corresponding to the same print time is an invalid identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time is a valid identifier, the digital printer determines that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time is the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time; if the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time are both valid identifiers, the digital printer determines the combined print data unit according to the first print data unit and the second print data type corresponding to the same print time, wherein the data type includes imaging data and placeholder data.

[0057] The method for determining the combined printing data unit by the digital printer according to the first printing data unit and the second imaging data type corresponding to the same printing time comprises the following steps: if the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time are both placeholder data, the digital printer determines that the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time comprises the placeholder data; if the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time are imaging data and placeholder data respectively, the digital printer determines that the combined printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time comprises the imaging data of the first page corresponding to the same printing time; if the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time are placeholder data and imaging data respectively, the digital printer determines that the combined printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time comprises the imaging data of the second page corresponding to the same printing time; if the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time are both imaging data, the digital printer determines that the combined printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time comprises the imaging data of the first page or the imaging data of the second page corresponding to the same printing time.

[0058] Figures 6-9 The corresponding relationship between the combined printing data unit of the first page and the second page with different page intervals and the printing time is schematically shown. Please refer to Figure 6 When the page interval of the first page and the second page is greater than the effective printing width of the nozzle, the printing start time (t1) of the second page lags behind the printing end time (T3') of the first page. When the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the time T1 to T3' are effective identifier and invalid identifier respectively, the digital printer determines that the data identifier of the combined printing data in the time T1 to T3' is effective identifier, and the printing data unit of the combined printing data is the first printing data unit. When the first data identifier and the second data identifier in the time T3' to t1 are both invalid identifier, the digital printer determines that the data identifier of the combined printing data corresponding to the time T3' to t1 is invalid identifier. When the first data identifier is invalid identifier and the second data identifier is effective identifier in the time t1 to t3', the digital printer determines that the data identifier of the combined printing data corresponding to the time t1 to t3' is effective identifier, and the printing data unit of the combined printing data is the second printing data unit.

[0059] Please refer to Figure 7 When the page interval is equal to the effective printing width of the nozzle, that is, the printing end time (T3') of the first page coincides with the printing start time (t1) of the second page. According to the time sequence, the printing data unit of the combined printing data comprises the first printing data unit corresponding to the time T1 to t3', and the second printing data unit corresponding to the time interval T3' to t3'.

[0060] Please refer to 8, Figure 8 Exemplary combination printing data is shown when the page interval of the first page and the second page is less than the effective printing width of the printhead, but greater than 0. As shown in Figure 8 the combination printing data corresponds to the effective identification. For the nozzle a, in the T1-t1 time, the first data identification is the effective identification, and the second data identification is the invalid identification, so the printing data unit corresponding to the combination printing data in the T1-t1 time is the first printing data unit in the T1-t1 time; in the T3'-t3' time, the first data identification is the invalid identification, and the second data identification is the effective identification, so the printing data unit corresponding to the combination printing data in the T3'-t3' time is the second printing data unit in the T3'-t3' time. In the t1-T3' time, the first data identification and the second data identification are both effective identifications, so the printing data unit of the combination printing data is determined according to the type of the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit in this time, and since the first printing data unit is the placeholder data and the second printing data unit is the imaging data, the printing data unit of the combination printing data in this time interval is the imaging data of the second printing data unit corresponding to the time interval. In addition, in the t1-T2' time interval, the nozzle a prints the second page, while the nozzles b and c still print the first page; in the T2'-t2 time interval, the nozzle a prints the second page, while the nozzle b does not print, and the nozzle c still prints the first page; in the t2-T3' time interval, the nozzles a and b print the second page, while the nozzle c prints the first page; therefore, in the t1-T3' time interval, the printhead prints the first page and the second page at the same time.

[0061] Please refer to 9, Figure 9 Exemplary combination printing data is shown when the first page and the second page overlap. In the t1-T1', t2-T2', t3-T3' printing time, the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit are both imaging data, so the combination printing data corresponding to the t1-T1', t2-T2', t3-T3' time includes the imaging data of the first page or the imaging data of the second page.

[0062] The embodiments of the present application also provide a printing method applied to a digital printer, for example, Figure 1 the digital printer 100 in FIG. 1, which comprises the following steps:

[0063] The digital printer generates the combination printing data according to the generation method of the combination printing data provided by the above embodiments, and prints the first page and the second page in sequence on the printing medium according to the combination printing data.

[0064] The digital printer can obtain the first printing parameter of the first page and the second printing parameter of the second page. When the nozzle of the digital printer reaches the printing start coordinate of the first page, the nozzle starts printing the first page. When the nozzle of the digital printer reaches the printing start coordinate of the second page, the nozzle starts printing the second page. If the page interval between the first page and the second page is less than the printing width, when the nozzle reaches the printing start coordinate of the second page, the printing of the first page is not completed, and the nozzle prints the first page and the second page simultaneously, that is, the nozzles above the first page print the first page according to the combined printing data, and the nozzles above the second page print the second page according to the combined printing data. When the printing of the first page is completed, the digital printer obtains the third printing parameter of the third page in advance to prepare for printing the third page. Specifically, please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 In some embodiments, Figure 3 the nozzle of the digital printer has the same nozzle arrangement as that of the digital printer in Figure 2 When the first row of nozzles reaches the position directly above the start printing position of the page 302, the second row of nozzles is above the area between the page 301 and the page 302, and the third row of nozzles is above the page 301. That is, at the same printing time, the first row of nozzles and the second row of nozzles can print the page 302 and the page 301, respectively, and the second row of nozzles does not print ink at this time.

[0065] Each page in the embodiments of the present application corresponds to a printing parameter. For example, the first page corresponds to the first printing parameter, and the second page corresponds to the second printing parameter. The printing parameter includes page storage information (such as a page data storage address, a page data size, etc.) and printing control information (such as a page start coordinate, etc.).

[0066] The printing method provided by the embodiments of the present application can combine the first printing data of the first page and the second printing data of the second page into one piece of combined printing data, so that the nozzle can print the first page and the second page according to the combined printing data, regardless of whether the preset page interval is greater than, less than, or equal to the printing width. Even when the preset page interval is less than the printing width of the nozzle and the nozzle is above the first page and the second page at the same time, the nozzle can print the first page and the second page according to the combined printing data. Therefore, the embodiments of the present application can reduce the preset page interval between the two adjacent pages to be less than the printing width, thereby reducing the waste of printing medium between adjacent pages.

[0067] The embodiments of the present application provide a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, which stores computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions are executed by an electronic device to perform the method in any of the method embodiments described above, for example, the method described above.Figure 4 the method steps S41-S43 in the method of

[0068] The embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including a computer program stored on a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, the computer program including program instructions, when the program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes the method in any method embodiment described above, for example, executes the method described above. Figure 4 the method steps S41-S43 in the method of

[0069] The product described above can execute the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, has the function module and beneficial effect corresponding to the execution method. The technical details not described in detail in the embodiment can refer to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0070] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be realized by means of software plus a general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be realized by hardware. Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above embodiment method can be completed by a computer program instructing related hardware, and the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program is executed, it can include the processes of the above embodiment. The storage medium can be a magnetic disc, an optical disc, a read-only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM).

[0071] Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit them; under the idea of the present application, the technical features in the above embodiments or different embodiments can also be combined, the steps can be implemented in any order, and there are many other changes of different aspects of the present application as described above. In order to be simple, they are not provided in details; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that: it can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent replacement to part of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for generating combined print data, applied to a digital printer, characterized in that, The digital printer includes at least one printhead, and the printhead includes multiple rows of nozzles, with each nozzle in each row arranged sequentially along the conveying direction of the printing medium. The method includes: The printing data of the nozzle is determined, the printing data includes first printing data of the first page and second printing data of the second page, and the printing data has a corresponding relationship with the printing time; Based on the print data, the print time, and the correspondence, the first print data and the second print data corresponding to the same print time are determined. The print data includes print data units, which include the first print data unit of the first print data and the second print data unit of the second print data. The print data also includes a data identifier, which includes the first data identifier of the first print data and the second data identifier of the second print data. The data identifier is a valid identifier or an invalid identifier. The data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time is determined based on the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time. If the data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same printing time is the valid identifier, then the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same printing time are combined to obtain combined print data, so that the nozzle prints the first page and the second page sequentially on the printing medium according to the combined print data, wherein the first page and the second page are two adjacent pages.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The data identifier of the combined print data corresponding to the same print time is determined based on the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same print time, including: If the first data identifier or the second data identifier corresponding to the same printing time is a valid identifier, then the data identifier of the combined printed data corresponding to the same printing time is determined to be a valid identifier; If both the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same printing time are invalid identifiers, then the data identifier of the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time is determined to be an invalid identifier, and the invalid identifier is used to indicate that the nozzle is not ejecting ink.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time includes: If the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same printing time are a valid identifier and an invalid identifier, respectively, then it is determined that the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time includes the first printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time. If the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same printing time are respectively an invalid identifier and a valid identifier, then it is determined that the combined printing data corresponding to the same printing time includes the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time; If both the first data identifier and the second data identifier corresponding to the same printing time are valid identifiers, then the first printing data unit and the second printing data unit corresponding to the same printing time are combined according to their data types. The data types include imaging data and placeholder data, and the placeholder data is used to indicate that the nozzle is not ejecting ink.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of combining the first print data unit and the second print data unit according to the data types of the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same printing time includes: If both the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are placeholder data, then it is determined that the combined print data corresponding to the same print time includes the placeholder data; If the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are the imaging data and the placeholder data, respectively, then it is determined that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time includes the imaging data of the first page corresponding to the same print time. If the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are placeholder data and imaging data, respectively, then it is determined that the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time includes the imaging data of the second page corresponding to the same print time. If both the first print data unit and the second print data unit corresponding to the same print time are imaging data, then the combined print data unit corresponding to the same print time is determined to include the imaging data of the first page or the second page corresponding to the same print time.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The printing data for determining the nozzle includes: The page dot matrix data of each page in the first page and the second page obtained by rasterization data processing is acquired, wherein the page dot matrix data includes the row dot matrix data of each nozzle; Based on the position of each nozzle, the row dot matrix data of each nozzle is extracted from the dot matrix data of the page; The imaging data of the nozzle is determined based on the position of the nozzle and the row dot matrix data; The occupancy data is determined based on the position of the nozzle; A printing data unit is generated based on the imaging data and the occupancy data of the nozzle; The first data identifier and the second data identifier of each nozzle are generated based on the printing time corresponding to the printing data unit.

6. A printing method applied to a digital printer, characterized in that, The digital printer includes at least one printhead, the printhead including multiple rows of nozzles, each nozzle in each row being arranged sequentially along the transport direction of the printing medium, the method including: The combined print data is obtained by the method according to any one of claims 1-5; Based on the combined printing data, the nozzles are controlled to sequentially print the first page and the second page on the printing medium.

7. The printing method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The first page is located at the front end of the conveying direction relative to the second page, and the step of controlling the nozzle to sequentially print the first page and the second page on the printing medium according to the combined printing data includes: If the effective printing width of the printhead is greater than the page spacing between the first page and the second page, then when the printhead reaches the printing start position of the second page, the multiple rows of nozzles are controlled to print the first page and the second page simultaneously according to the combined printing data.

8. A digital printer, characterized in that, The digital printer includes a data processor, which, when executing instructions, causes the digital printer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or causes the digital printer to perform the method according to claim 6 or 7.

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