Image Forming Apparatus Rendering Circuit Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming systems require large-scale hardware circuits and inflexible software updates to handle rendering tasks, leading to increased manufacturing and updating costs, and lack flexibility in processing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with converting, rendering, storing, determining, and controlling means that parses Page Description Language data into depiction commands, determines whether hardware or software processing should handle rendering operations based on stored information, and updates processing accordingly, allowing for efficient and flexible operation without requiring hardware circuit scale expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If both processing hardware and processing software are configured to process all objects to ensure complete processing capability, then processing reliability is improved, but hardware circuit scale and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing capability information into a separate storage unit (lookup table) independent of the hardware circuit. The hardware circuit only needs to store metadata about supported command types, while the actual processing capability determination is made by comparing command types against the stored processing capability information. This segmentation allows the hardware to be simple while maintaining complete processing reliability through software-based capability matching.
2Adaptability or versatility
If processing hardware is configured with large-scale circuits to handle all processing tasks, then processing capability is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the processing capability determination logic from the hardware circuit design and places it in a separate storage unit. The hardware circuit only performs simple comparison operations using stored capability information, while the complex decision-making about which commands the hardware can process is extracted to the lookup table. This extraction allows versatile processing capability without requiring complex hardware circuits, thereby reducing manufacturing cost.
3Manufacturing precision
If processing is categorized by depiction command level with hardware handling high-quality rendering, then rendering quality is improved, but system flexibility and hardware upgradability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic processing assignment mechanism where the determination of whether hardware or software processes a command is not fixed by command level categorization but by real-time comparison of command types against stored processing capability information. This dynamic approach allows the system to flexibly assign processing tasks based on current hardware capabilities, enabling easy hardware upgrades without rigid reconfiguration of processing categories.
4Adaptability or versatility
If processing assignment software is updated to match new hardware capabilities, then processing adaptability is improved, but updating cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a lookup table that stores processing capability information as copyable data rather than hard-coded software logic. When hardware is upgraded, the processing capability information is simply updated in the lookup table through data copying or replacement, rather than requiring software compilation and installation. This copying mechanism dramatically simplifies the update process and reduces updating cost while maintaining full processing adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an image forming apparatus that makes it possible to suppress the scale enlargement of the electric circuit, so as to make the apparatus highly flexible. The apparatus forms an image based on image data acquired by applying a rendering operation to depiction commands and includes: a converting section to convert input data to the depiction commands; a first rendering section to apply the rendering operation to a first depiction command; a second rendering section to apply the rendering operation to a second depiction command; a reading section to read out first information from the storage section; a determining section to determine whether the first rendering section or the second rendering section should apply the rendering operation to each of the depiction commands; and a control, section to make either the first rendering section or the second rendering section apply the rendering operation to each of the depiction commands.