Heating control method and printing chip

Abstract

The invention provides a heating control method and a printing chip, and the method comprises the steps: responding to the gray information of a pixel line and a preset heating point number, and generating a plurality of heating instructions which can be executed in sequence; the heating instruction is used for controlling whether each pixel point of the pixel row executes a heating action or not in unit time; the number of the heating points is specifically the maximum number of the pixel points capable of simultaneously executing the heating action in each heating instruction; sequentially executing the plurality of heating instructions, and correspondingly controlling each pixel point to execute a heating action; by the adoption of the method, the number of the pixel points executing the heating action at the same time can be controlled not to exceed the preset number in the thermal printing process, and the problem that the total power is too high due to the fact that the number of the pixel points heated at the same time is too large is effectively solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of thermal printing, and more specifically, to a heating control method and a printing chip. Background Art

[0002] Thermal printers can not only print black and white information, but also grayscale information. The principle is that a row of heating units that can be heated independently are set on the thermal printer. By controlling the temperature of each heating unit and heating the thermal paper, the corresponding grayscale pixels can be printed on the thermal paper. Specifically, the higher the temperature of the heating unit, the darker the pixel generated on the thermal paper. Therefore, by controlling the heating time of the heating unit, the heating temperature of the heating unit can be correspondingly controlled, and the grayscale value of the pixel on the thermal paper can be indirectly adjusted.

[0003] In the prior art, in order to control the heating time of the heating unit, as Figure 4 As shown, a pulse signal is usually used to control the opening and closing of the heating unit. The high level of each pulse signal can be regarded as turning on the heating unit, and the low level of the pulse signal can be regarded as turning off the heating unit. Therefore, by controlling the number of pulse signals, the heating time of the heating unit can be controlled accordingly.

[0004] During thermal printing, by outputting a pulse signal to each heating unit, the heating time of the heating unit can be independently controlled. There are currently two control modes for the heating unit: Figure 4 As shown in the figure, all the heating units start to output PWM signals at the same time, and the heating units with shorter heating time return to low level state after heating. After all the heating units have finished heating, the thermal printing paper is printed. The second method is to randomly distribute the heating pulses of all points in a row of heating units in the total heating time.

[0005] The above two heating methods have a common disadvantage, that is, during the heating process, there may be too many heating units that need to be heated simultaneously, which will cause the thermal printer to be in a high-load state and affect the service life of the thermal printer. Summary of the invention

[0006] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a heating control method and a printing chip to overcome the disadvantage that during the printing heating process of the existing image forming device, too many heating units need to work simultaneously, resulting in excessive heating power of the device.

[0007] The above technical objectives of the present invention are achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a heating control method is provided.

[0009] In response to the grayscale information of the pixel row and the preset number of heating points, a plurality of heating instructions that can be executed sequentially are generated; the heating instructions are used to control whether each pixel point of the pixel row performs a heating action within a unit time; the number of heating points is specifically: the maximum number of pixel points that can simultaneously perform a heating action in each heating instruction;

[0010] The plurality of heating instructions are executed sequentially, and each pixel point is controlled to perform a heating action accordingly.

[0011] In one embodiment, the method for determining the number of heating points specifically includes:

[0012] Based on the number of pixels X in the pixel row and the grayscale value Y corresponding to each pixel i , calculate the total gray value Z of all pixels in the pixel row, including:

[0013] Based on the gray value sum Z and the instruction number N of the heating instructions, the number of heating points M is calculated, including: M=Z / N.

[0014] In one embodiment, the grayscale information specifically includes: a grayscale value of each pixel in the pixel row.

[0015] In one embodiment, the instruction number N of the heating instructions is greater than, equal to, or less than an upper limit of the gray value.

[0016] In this embodiment, when the number of heating instructions is greater than the upper limit of the grayscale value, the number of heating points at the same time can be further reduced, thereby reducing the total power. When the number of instructions is less than the lower limit of the grayscale value, the printing speed can be accelerated.

[0017] In one embodiment, when the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up.

[0018] In one embodiment, when the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up to obtain a first number of heating points M1, and the number of heating points M is rounded down to obtain a second number of heating points M2;

[0019] The heating instruction specifically includes:

[0020] The first heating instruction is used to control the first heating point number M1 pixel points to perform a heating action;

[0021] The second heating instruction is used to control the second heating point number M2 pixels to perform a heating action;

[0022] The first instruction quantity N1 corresponding to the first heating instruction and the second instruction quantity N2 corresponding to the second heating instruction satisfy the following conditions:

[0023]

[0024] In this embodiment, the calculation of the number of heating points each time is more accurate, reducing the number of heating points at the same time.

[0025] In one embodiment, the sequential execution of the plurality of heating instructions specifically includes:

[0026] Rearranging the order of the first heating instruction and the second heating instruction based on the ratio of the first instruction quantity N1 to the second instruction quantity N2;

[0027] All reordered heating instructions are executed sequentially.

[0028] In one embodiment, each of the heating instructions is generated by the following steps:

[0029] Based on the number of heating points M and the grayscale value of each pixel point in the current unit time, specifying the pixel points with the highest grayscale value less than or equal to M to perform the heating action, and specifying the remaining pixel points not to perform the heating action;

[0030] The grayscale value of each pixel designated to perform the heating action is reduced by one.

[0031] In one embodiment, the pixel row is divided into at least two pixel groups, and the pixels in each pixel group are not adjacent to each other; and each pixel group is driven in sequence to execute the heating control method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0032] In this embodiment, the heating heat is more uniform, avoiding concentrated heating.

[0033] In a second aspect, a printing chip is provided, wherein the printing chip is used to execute the heating control method as described in the first aspect.

[0034] In a third aspect, a thermal printing device includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and when the processor executes the computer program, the method described in the first aspect is implemented.

[0035] A fourth aspect provides a thermal printing system, comprising the thermal printing device as described in the fourth aspect.

[0036] In summary, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: a heating control method, comprising: in response to a pixel row heating instruction containing grayscale information, generating a plurality of heating instructions that can be executed sequentially based on a preset number of heating points; the heating instruction is used to control whether each pixel point performs a heating action within a unit time; the number of heating points is specifically: the maximum number of pixel points that can simultaneously perform a heating action in each heating instruction; sequentially executing a plurality of the heating instructions, correspondingly controlling each pixel point to perform a heating action; by adopting the method of the present invention, during the thermal printing process, the number of pixel points that perform a heating action at the same time can be controlled to not exceed a predetermined number, thereby effectively solving the problem of excessive total power caused by too many pixel points heated at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 A flow chart of a heating control method of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a thermal printing device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 3 A block diagram of a thermal printing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the relationship between pixel grayscale and pulse signal in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a heating instruction queue in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 6 Generate a flow chart for all heating instructions in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 7 This is a flow chart for generating a heating instruction per unit time in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] In order to make the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Several embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0045] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" and similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can be represented by: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0046] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in a combination of electronic hardware, computer software, and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0047] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0048] In several embodiments provided in the present application, any function can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if it is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for enabling a device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0049] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

[0050] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0051] Embodiment 1

[0052] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a heating control method, such as Figure 1 As shown, the method includes:

[0053] S1. In response to the grayscale information of the pixel row and the preset number of heating points, a plurality of heating instructions that can be executed sequentially are generated; the heating instructions are used to control whether each pixel point of the pixel row performs a heating action within a unit time; the number of heating points is specifically: the maximum number of pixel points that can simultaneously perform a heating action in each heating instruction;

[0054] S2. Execute a number of heating instructions in sequence, and control each pixel point to perform heating action accordingly.

[0055] In practical applications, the pixel point performs a heating action, which means that the printing unit on the thermal printer heats the corresponding area on the thermal printing paper. In order to limit the power of the pixel points of the thermal printer, this application first limits the pixel points that can work simultaneously, that is, the preset number of heating points; the grayscale information is used to specify the heating time of each pixel point. The larger the grayscale value, the more pulses the pixel point needs. The heating instruction refers to a specific instruction for controlling which pixel points perform the heating action and which pixel points do not perform the heating action within a pulse signal time period. The specific reflection is on the pulse signal. In the same time period, the pulse signal corresponding to the pixel point that needs to perform the heating action is a high level, and the pulse signal corresponding to the pixel point that does not need to perform the heating action is a low level (the high and low level pulses here do not constitute a limitation, and a low level pulse can also be used to represent the pixel point that performs the heating action, and a high level can be used to represent the pixel point that does not need to perform the heating action). When the heating instructions are arranged in chronological order, the corresponding pixel points can be controlled to perform the heating action within each pulse time period. In the present application, the maximum number of pixels that can perform heating actions simultaneously is limited by a preset number of heating points, and corresponding heating instructions are generated under this limitation. This can avoid the problem of too many pixels working simultaneously and the total power of the device being too large, which affects the stability and service life of the device during the heating process.

[0056] In one embodiment, the grayscale information specifically includes: the grayscale value of each pixel in the pixel row.

[0057] In actual applications, since the pixels are arranged in a horizontal linear pattern, each time the pixels are printed, one row of pixels is printed. By obtaining the number of pixels in the pixel row, the number of pixels to be heated can be determined. In this application, the grayscale value of the pixel adopts 256 levels of grayscale as an example. The highest grayscale value is 255. When the grayscale is 0, it means that the pixel is not heated and the printed pixel is a white pixel. Whenever the grayscale of the pixel deepens by one degree, a pulse signal can be added to the corresponding pixel. After extending the heating time, the temperature of the pixel is higher and the grayscale value generated by the print is deeper.

[0058] In one embodiment, the instruction number N of the heating instructions is equal to the upper limit of the grayscale value.

[0059] In practical applications, fixing the number of instructions as the upper limit of the grayscale value can reduce the complexity of the control system and avoid the need to dynamically calculate or adjust the number of instructions, thereby reducing the complexity of system implementation and improving control efficiency; it can also ensure that the heating time is proportional to the grayscale value, making it easier to adjust the control instructions based on image information.

[0060] In one embodiment, the method for determining the number of heating points specifically includes:

[0061] The number of pixels X based on the pixel row, and the gray value Y corresponding to each pixel i , calculate the total gray value Z of all pixels in the pixel row, including:

[0062] Based on the total gray value Z and the instruction number N of the heating instructions, the number of heating points M is calculated, including: M=Z / N.

[0063] In practical applications, the number of heating points M is dynamically calculated based on the total grayscale Z of the pixel row and the number of instructions N, which can meet the needs of different grayscales and pixel rows and effectively balance the heating power and heating speed. In addition, this embodiment considers the grayscale distribution of the pixel row while considering the total grayscale value Z, and can more accurately allocate heating instructions to meet printing requirements, ensure accurate grayscale levels, delicate printing effects, and improve the quality of finished product images.

[0064] In one embodiment, when the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up.

[0065] In practical applications, since the number of pulses needs to be an integer, if the maximum number of heating times has an upper limit, and the number of heating points M is not an integer, the number of heating points M needs to be rounded up to keep the number of heating points M at the minimum value without exceeding the maximum number of heating times. In this way, the power required during the heating process can be reduced to a minimum, avoiding excessive load on the thermal printer that affects its service life.

[0066] In the actual process of generating the heating instruction, the heating instruction is determined according to the predetermined instruction quantity N. Therefore, in the actual generation process, it is necessary to perform repeated actions on the heating instructions of each unit time to generate the predetermined number N of heating instructions, such as Figure 6 As shown, first of all, it is necessary to initialize various parameters, and then generate a corresponding heating instruction according to the parameters of the current unit time. After the generation, the number i of heating instructions is counted. If the number i of generated heating instructions is less than the number of instructions N, the heating instructions are continuously generated. If the number i of generated heating instructions is equal to the number of instructions N, it means that all heating instructions for the current pixel row have been generated and the heating action can be executed.

[0067] In one embodiment, Figure 7 As shown, each heating instruction is generated through the following steps:

[0068] S101, based on the number of heating points M and the grayscale value of each pixel point in the current unit time, specifying less than or equal to m pixels with the highest grayscale values ​​to perform a heating action, and specifying the remaining pixels not to perform a heating action;

[0069] S102, reducing the grayscale value of each pixel designated to perform a heating action by one.

[0070] Specifically, in the present application, if the heating action is performed on the pixels with fewer heating actions first, it may cause the pixels with more heating actions to not all perform the heating action, resulting in printing distortion. Therefore, in the present application, the first m pixels with the largest grayscale values ​​are preferentially selected to perform the heating action. If the pixel performs the heating action within the current unit time, the grayscale value needs to be reduced by one respectively until the number of times to be heated for all the pixels is 0, which means that the pixel has been heated and printing on the thermal paper begins.

[0071] In some cases, there may be two or more pixels with the same number of heating actions to be performed. In this case, one pixel can be randomly selected from them to perform the heating action, or based on the sequence number of the pixel, the pixel with a larger sequence number or the pixel with a smaller sequence number can be preferentially selected. Other selection situations should all fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0072] In some cases, since M is a maximum number rather than a fixed number, when the number of heating actions to be performed by certain heating units is reset to zero, there is no need to perform heating actions and counting actions.

[0073] In this embodiment, a specific heating instruction is used to illustrate the above heating control process as an example: Figure 5As shown, it is a truth table of a set of heating instructions, and an example is given for the process of pixel printing of 8 heating units. The vertical header in the truth table represents the unit time corresponding to each pulse signal, and the horizontal header in the truth table represents each heating unit. The value of 1 in the truth table indicates that the heating unit performs a heating action in the unit time, and the value of 0 in the truth table indicates that the heating unit does not perform a heating action in the unit time. In the printing process of a certain pixel row, the grayscale data of each pixel in the pixel row are 254, 5, 9, 4, 0, 185, 89, and 54 respectively; first, it is necessary to calculate the total grayscale value Z = 254 + 5 + 9 + 4 + 0 + 185 + 89 + 54 = 600; the number of instructions = the upper limit of grayscale value = 255; then calculate the number of heating points, including: M = 600 / 255 ≈ 2.35; since M is a non-integer, M is rounded up to obtain M = 3; therefore, the number of heating units that perform the heating action each time is 3.

[0074] Based on the number of heating points M=3, the pixels are designated in each heating instruction to perform the heating action, specifically including: starting from the heating instruction corresponding to the first pulse signal, the three pixels with the largest grayscale values ​​are selected, that is, the three pixels numbered 1, 6, and 7, and the three pixels are designated to perform the heating action within the time of the first heating instruction, and then the number of heating actions to be executed is reduced by one respectively, and then the heating instruction corresponding to the second pulse signal is judged, which is still the three pixels numbered 1, 6, and 7, and the above process is repeated until the number of heating actions to be executed for all pixels is 0.

[0075] In some cases, since M is a maximum number rather than a fixed number, when the number of pending heating actions for certain pixels is reset to zero, there is no need to perform heating actions and counting actions, such as Figure 5 As shown in the case corresponding to the 254th heating instruction in , when there is only one pixel point whose number of heating actions to be executed is not 0, it is only necessary to control the one pixel point whose number is not 0 to perform the heating action.

[0076] Based on the above process, the heating instructions in each unit time can be obtained. Each heating instruction corresponds to the content of each horizontal row in the truth table, that is, which pixels perform heating actions and which pixels do not perform heating actions in this unit time. After sorting all the heating instructions according to time, the heating control method corresponding to the pixel row can be obtained.

[0077] In summary, the present invention provides a heating control method, which calculates the number of heating points based on the grayscale value of the pixel row to control the maximum number of pixels that can work simultaneously per unit time. This method can effectively solve the problem of too many pixels being heated simultaneously and the excessive power of the thermal printing device, and effectively improve the defects of insufficient equipment stability and short service life.

[0078] Embodiment 2

[0079] Furthermore, based on Example 1, the present application further provides another specific implementation scheme. The technical scheme in Example 2 is similar to the technical scheme in Example 1, except that: when the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up to obtain a first number of heating points M1, and the number of heating points M is rounded down to obtain a second number of heating points M2.

[0080] In the first embodiment, only the number of heating points M is rounded up, which will cause the heating instruction to control the number of pixels to be heated to maintain the maximum M in the early stage, and the power is large, and the number of pixels to be heated in the subsequent heating instruction is less than M, and the power is small. In this embodiment, since the total gray value Z is certain, the maximum number of prints is also related to the upper limit of the gray value and fixed, so in order to reduce the number of points heated at the same time as much as possible, the number of points heated at the same time can be rounded up and rounded down respectively to obtain the first number of heating points M1 and the second number of heating points M2.

[0081] In one embodiment, the heating instruction specifically includes: a first heating instruction for controlling a first heating point number M1 pixel points to perform a heating action; a second heating instruction for controlling a second heating point number M2 pixel points to perform a heating action; a first instruction number N1 corresponding to the first heating instruction, and a second instruction number N2 corresponding to the second heating instruction, satisfy the following conditions:

[0082]

[0083] In practical applications, after rounding up or down the number of heating points M, since the total number of heating instructions M is unchanged, the first instruction number N1 and the second instruction number N2 need to satisfy: N = N1 + N2; since the total grayscale value Z is unchanged, the first instruction number N1 and the second instruction number N2 also need to satisfy Z = N1*M1+N2*M2.

[0084] By combining the two equations, the first instruction number N1 and the second instruction number N2 can be calculated respectively.

[0085] like Figure 5As shown, by the gray value sum Z=600 and the number of heating instructions, the number of heating points M=600 / 255≈2.35 can be calculated; then M is rounded up to obtain the first number of heating points M1=3, and M is rounded down to obtain the second number of heating points M2=2;

[0086] Based on the above equations:

[0087]

[0088] Calculation shows: N1=90 (89.25 rounded up); N2=165 (165.75 rounded down).

[0089] In actual applications, based on the above steps, it can be seen that the number of heating instructions for three pixels to perform heating actions at the same time is greatly reduced, from 138 in Example 1 to 90; it can effectively reduce the duration of high-power operation and effectively extend the service life of the thermal printing equipment.

[0090] Embodiment 3

[0091] Based on the second embodiment, several heating instructions are executed in sequence, specifically including:

[0092] Rearranging the order of the first heating instruction and the second heating instruction based on the ratio of the first instruction number N1 to the second instruction number N2;

[0093] All reordered heating instructions are executed sequentially.

[0094] In order to avoid the continuous operation of the heating instructions that require more pixels to be heated at the same time, the present application re-sorts the heating instructions based on the ratio of the two heating instructions, and divides the heating instructions into heating instruction sets based on the ratio of the two heating instructions. The heating instructions in each heating instruction set are the sum of two proportional elements. For example, if the ratio of the number of the first heating instructions and the second heating instructions in Example 2 is 90:165=11:6, then the number of heating instructions in each heating instruction set is 17. If the heating instructions are executed in the order of the heating instruction set, 11 first heating instructions can be executed first, and then 7 second heating instructions can be executed, and the cycle will be repeated in sequence. In this way, the first heating instructions will be separated by the second heating instructions, avoiding the long-term execution of multiple first heating instructions, causing the thermal printer to be in a high-load state for a long time, making the heating power of the thermal printer more even, and can effectively solve the problem of long-term high-load operation of the thermal printer.

[0095] In one embodiment, based on the ratio of the first instruction number N1 to the second instruction number N2, the order of the first heating instructions and the second heating instructions are rearranged. The first heating instructions and the second heating instructions can also be cross-mixed in one heating instruction set. For example, the ratio of the number of first heating instructions and the second heating instructions is 11:6. The 17 heating instructions can be sorted arbitrarily and are not limited to executing 11 first heating instructions first and then executing 6 second heating instructions.

[0096] In one embodiment, in order to make the working power of the pixels of the thermal printer more evenly distributed, the ratio can be further reduced on the basis of strict ratio restrictions to make the elements on both sides of the ratio as small as possible, for example: 11:6≈1:2, and the number of heating instructions in each heating instruction set can be divided into 3. In this way, in the process of sequentially executing the heating instructions, three pixels will not be heated all the time, thus avoiding the high-load state, making the heating power more evenly distributed, and effectively solving the problem of long-term high-load operation.

[0097] Embodiment 4

[0098] Furthermore, based on the first embodiment, this embodiment further provides a heating control method.

[0099] Therefore, this embodiment further proposes a method for determining the number of heating points, and the number of heating points is specifically determined by the following steps:

[0100] Based on the number of pixels X in the pixel row to be printed and the grayscale value Y corresponding to each pixel, the total grayscale value z of all pixels is calculated, including:

[0101] Based on the total gray value z, the number of instructions N and the preset adjustment factor Q, the number of heating points M is calculated, including: M = Z / N. The number of instructions N can be adjusted according to actual needs, and can be greater than, equal to or less than the gray value upper limit; when the number of instructions N increases to be greater than the gray value upper limit, compared with the first embodiment, the number of heating points M decreases, which can further reduce the number of pixels heated at the same time; when the number of instructions N decreases to be less than the gray value upper limit, compared with the first embodiment, the heating printing speed can be accelerated.

[0102] Embodiment 5

[0103] Furthermore, since the distance between each heating unit in the thermal printing device is relatively close and the volume is relatively small, during the heating process, adjacent heating units usually affect each other, ultimately affecting the printing effect. Therefore, based on Examples 1-4, the present application further provides a specific implementation, specifically a heating control method, comprising: dividing a pixel row into at least two pixel groups, and the pixels in each pixel group are not adjacent;

[0104] Each pixel group is driven in sequence to execute the heating control method of any one of embodiments 1-4.

[0105] Specifically, in order to avoid the mutual influence of adjacent heating units when heating at the same time, resulting in inaccurate final temperature, in this embodiment, Figure 5 The 8 printing units shown are divided into 3 heating unit groups; the first group is 1, 4, 7; the second group is 2, 5, 8; the third group is 3, 6, so that during the heating process, the three pixels in the first group are first controlled to be heated, and the specific heating control method adopts a heating method such as any one of Examples 1-4. After the three pixels in the first group are heated, the second group performs the heating action, and after the second group is heated, the third group performs the heating action. The above specific implementation methods and numerical examples are for the convenience of technicians to understand this solution and should not be understood as limitations on this application.

[0106] By adopting the heating method in this embodiment, by dividing the pixel points into multiple groups, and the pixel points in each group are not adjacent, the adjacent pixel points can be prevented from being heated at the same time and affecting each other during the heating process, and the number of heating times performed can be better matched with the grayscale of the pixel points.

[0107] Embodiment 6

[0108] See also Figure 2 , illustratively, the present application provides a printing chip, and the printing chip is used to execute the heating control method pointed out in the above embodiment. For example, the microprocessor chip can be a microcontroller unit (MCU), a digital signal processing (DSP), an MPU (including a microprocessor unit and a memory protection unit), a micro central processing unit (CPU), etc., which can process digital signals, analog signals, or perform signal control functions, instruction processing and calculation functions, etc., or a micro central control chip or a system-on-chip chip.

[0109] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a thermal printing device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown, the thermal printing device includes: a memory 51 and a processor 52.

[0110] The memory 51 stores a computer program that can be executed on the processor 52 .

[0111] The processor 52 is configured to execute the method provided in the above embodiment.

[0112] Illustratively, the present application provides a thermal printing system, which includes the thermal printing device mentioned in the above embodiment.

[0113] Figure 3 This is a block diagram of a thermal printing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The thermal printing device can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a message sending and receiving device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, etc.

[0114] The device 600 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 602 , a memory 604 , a power component 606 , a multimedia component 608 , an audio component 610 , an input / output (I / O) interface 612 , a sensor component 614 , and a communication component 616 .

[0115] The processing component 602 generally controls the overall operation of the device 600, such as operations associated with display, phone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component 602 may include one or more processors 620 to execute instructions to complete all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned method. In addition, the processing component 602 may include one or more modules to facilitate the interaction between the processing component 602 and other components. For example, the processing component 602 may include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 608 and the processing component 602.

[0116] The memory 604 is configured to store various types of data to support operations on the device 600. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 600, contact data, phone book data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. The memory 604 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk or optical disk.

[0117] The power supply component 606 provides power to the various components of the device 600. The power supply component 606 may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the device 600.

[0118] The multimedia component 608 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 600 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundaries of the touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 608 includes a front camera and / or a rear camera. When the device 600 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front camera and / or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

[0119] The audio component 610 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 610 includes a microphone (MIC), and when the device 600 is in an operating mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a speech recognition mode, the microphone is configured to receive an external audio signal. The received audio signal can be further stored in the memory 604 or sent via the communication component 616. In some embodiments, the audio component 610 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0120] I / O interface 612 provides an interface between processing component 602 and peripheral interface modules, such as keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

[0121] The sensor assembly 614 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of status assessment for the device 600. For example, the sensor assembly 614 can detect the open / closed state of the device 600, the relative positioning of components, such as the display and keypad of the device 600, the sensor assembly 614 can also detect the position change of the device 600 or a component of the device 600, the presence or absence of user contact with the device 600, the orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the device 600 and the temperature change of the device 600. The sensor assembly 614 can include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 614 can also include an optical sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 614 can also include an accelerometer, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor or a temperature sensor.

[0122] The communication component 616 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device 600 and other devices. The device 600 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 616 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 616 also includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology and other technologies.

[0123] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 600 may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors or other electronic components to perform the above method.

[0124] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions is also provided, such as a memory 604 including instructions, and the instructions can be executed by the processor 620 of the device 600 to perform the above method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, etc.

[0125] The embodiment of the present application also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the instructions in the storage medium are executed by the processor of the thermal printing device, the thermal printing device can execute the method provided in the above embodiment.

[0126] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program, which is stored in a readable storage medium. At least one processor of the thermal printing device can read the computer program from the readable storage medium, and at least one processor executes the computer program so that the thermal printing device executes the solution provided in any of the above embodiments.

[0127] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present disclosure after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the present disclosure. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0128] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A heating control method, characterized in that: In response to the grayscale information of the pixel row and the preset number of heating points, a plurality of heating instructions that can be executed sequentially are generated; the heating instructions are used to control whether each pixel point of the pixel row performs a heating action within a unit time; the number of heating points is specifically: the maximum number of pixel points that can simultaneously perform a heating action in each heating instruction; The plurality of heating instructions are executed sequentially, and each pixel point is controlled to perform a heating action accordingly.

2. A heating control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method for determining the number of heating points specifically includes: Based on the number of pixels X in the pixel row and the grayscale value Y corresponding to each pixel i , calculate the total gray value Z of all pixels in the pixel row, including: Based on the gray value sum Z and the instruction number N of the heating instructions, the number of heating points M is calculated, including: M=Z / N.

3. A heating control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grayscale information specifically includes: the grayscale value of each pixel point in the pixel row.

4. A heating control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The instruction number N of the heating instructions is greater than, equal to, or less than an upper grayscale value limit.

5. A heating control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up.

6. A heating control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: In the case where the number of heating points M is a non-integer, the number of heating points M is rounded up to obtain a first number of heating points M1, and the number of heating points M is rounded down to obtain a second number of heating points M2; The heating instruction specifically includes: The first heating instruction is used to control the first heating point number M1 pixel points to perform a heating action; The second heating instruction is used to control the second heating point number M2 pixels to perform a heating action; The first instruction quantity N1 corresponding to the first heating instruction and the second instruction quantity N2 corresponding to the second heating instruction satisfy the following conditions:

7. A heating control method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The sequential execution of the plurality of heating instructions specifically includes: rearrange the order of the first heating instruction and the second heating instruction based on the ratio of the first instruction number n1 to the second instruction number N2; All reordered heating instructions are executed sequentially.

8. A heating control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the heating instructions is generated by the following steps: Based on the number of heating points M and the grayscale value of each pixel point in the current unit time, specifying the pixel points with the highest grayscale value less than or equal to M to perform the heating action, and specifying the remaining pixel points not to perform the heating action; The gray value of each pixel designated to perform the heating action is reduced by one.

9. The heating control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Dividing the pixel row into at least two pixel groups, wherein pixels in each pixel group are not adjacent; The pixel groups are driven in sequence to execute the heating control method described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A printing chip, characterized in that: The printing chip is used to execute the heating control method as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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