JP2001306283A - Network printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network printer connectable to a network without extending any NIC. SOLUTION: This network printer is provided with a network connection interface so as to be connected through the NIC to a network. The network connection interface is connected to the network connection interfaces of the other network printers connected to the network. This network printer is provided with a control means for executing printing when a printing job received from the network through the NIC is destined to the network printer itself, and for transmitting the printing job through the network connection interface to the network connection interface of the other network printer when the printing job is destined to the other network printer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention particularly relates to a network printer utilizing a plurality of interfaces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, a printer is provided with a parallel port I / F.
Data is received from the PC via the (interface) and printed. However, when performing data communication by connecting a large number of terminals, it may be necessary to control access to data flowing on a network. Conventionally, in such a case, an NIC (network interface card), which is a network communication interface, is attached to the printer, and the printer prints print data received via the NIC. FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional example. As shown in FIG. 4, the network 107a includes P
Printers PRINTER1 and PRINTER2 are connected via C106a and NICs 103a and 108a.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-269157, a plurality of terminals, such as a scanner and a printer, are provided with a plurality of preset combinations of an input side and an output side, and control is performed to manage data flowing between them. A method for connecting a terminal having no network function to a network by using an apparatus is disclosed.

[0004]

However, the prior art has the following problems. As shown in FIG. 4, the NICs 103a and 108a are connected to the network 107a.
PRINTER1, PRINTER2 via the printer
Is connected, and printing can be performed via the network 107a.
NICs 103a and 108 of the same number as the number of TER2
a must be connected to the network 107a.

[0005] However, the NIC is generally expensive, and a P which can be connected to one network via the NIC.
The number of printers C and the number of printers are limited due to the limitation of the number of ports of a hub (HUB: concentrator), the limitation of the number of network addresses that can be used, and the like. When the terminal is used up, it is not possible to connect more terminals such as PCs and printers. JP-A-10-269157
Also in the publication, the same problem arises in that the control device requires connection terminals as many as the number of printers to be connected, and the number of printers is limited according to the number of connection terminals.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for effectively utilizing network resources without adding an NIC.
An object of the present invention is to provide a network printer that can be added on a network.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution. The gist of the invention according to claim 1 includes a network connection interface,
A network printer connected to a network via a network interface card, wherein the network connection interface is connected to a network connection interface of another network printer connected to the network, and the network connection interface and the network printer If the print job connected to the network interface card and received from the network via the network interface card is addressed to itself, the printing is executed, and if the print job is addressed to the other network printer, Control means for transmitting the print job to the network connection interface of the another network printer via the network connection interface It consists in the network printer, characterized in that. The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that the control unit is configured to determine whether the job is addressed to itself or the other, in accordance with a tag that specifies a network printer provided in the print job. The network printer according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether the print job is a print job addressed to the network printer. 4. The gist of the invention according to claim 3, wherein the control means includes a main processing means, a storage means storing a program, a data transmission / reception control means for switching transmission / reception of the network connection interface, and the network connection interface. And a data receiving unit for receiving data via the network connection interface, wherein the main processing unit stores the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit. And if the other network printer is specified by the tag, the data transmission / reception control means switches the network connection interface to transmission by the data transmission means, and the other network printer executes the print job. Prepared network It consists in the network printer according to claim 2, characterized by transmitting to the connection interface. The gist of the invention according to claim 4 is that the control unit includes a printer engine and a video interface connected to the printer engine, and the main processing unit executes the processing of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit. 4. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the print job is transmitted as print data to the printer engine via the video interface when the tag itself is specified by the tag. 5.
In the network printer. The gist of the invention according to claim 5 is that the main processing unit refers to the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit, and the tag specifies both the self and the other network printer. 2. The network printer according to claim 1, wherein if not, an error message is printed. The gist of the present invention resides in a network printer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the network connection interface is a parallel port interface. The gist of the invention according to claim 7 resides in the network printer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the network connection interface is a SCSI interface. The gist of the invention according to claim 8 is that the storage means includes a RAM in which a conversion table of a printer name and a SCSI-ID is registered in advance by a user, and the main processing means operates in accordance with a program stored in the storage means. The printer refers to the tag of the print job, converts the printer name specified by the tag to SCSI-ID with reference to the conversion table, and transmits the print job to the printer specified by the SCSI-ID. A network printer according to claim 7, wherein: The gist of the invention described in claim 9 resides in a network including the network printer described in claims 1 to 8. A gist of the invention according to claim 10 is a network including a network connection interface, wherein the network printer is connected to a network via a network interface card, and the network connection interface is provided in another network printer connected to the network. When a print job received from the network via the network interface card is addressed to itself by the control means connected to the connection interface and connected to the network connection interface and the network interface card, printing is executed. If the print job is directed to the other network printer, the print job is sent to the other network printer via the network connection interface. Consists in a method of connecting a network printer, characterized in that the operation control to be sent to the network connection interface provided in the printer.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The network printer according to the present embodiment utilizes the fact that the parallel port I / F is not used when the NIC is used and is often vacant, and the vacant parallel port I / F is used for transmission. In this case, another printer is connected to a parallel port which is usually used for receiving a print job of the printer, and one NIC handles two printers.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
3 is connected to the network 107 via
A printer 102 is connected to the printer 101 according to the embodiment through a parallel port I / F 105. PC
A print job 106 for the printer 101 or the printer 102 is transmitted to the printer 10 via the network 107.
Send to 1. If the received print job is for the printer 101, the printer 101 performs printing by itself, and if the received print job is for the printer 102, the print job is sent to the printer 102 via the parallel port I / Fs 104 and 105. Then, printing is performed by the printer 102. These series of operations are performed by the controller 211 of the printer 101.
Is controlled by

FIG. 2 shows a controller 2 of the printer 101.
11 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing the internal configuration of the eleventh embodiment. The controller 211 includes a main processing circuit 20 as shown in FIG.
1, an operator panel 202, a ROM 209 storing a program, a RAM 208, and a printer engine 21.
2 and video I connected to this printer engine 212
/ F210, parallel port I / F104 and N
IC 103 is connected (parallel port I / F1
04 and the NIC 103 may be mounted on the same substrate). Further, the controller 211 includes a parallel port I
/ F 104 has a data transmission / reception control circuit 207 for switching between transmission / reception of print data, and has a data transmission circuit 206 and a data reception circuit 205. The data transmission circuit 206 is used for data transmission, and the data reception circuit is used for data reception. The receiving circuit 205 is used.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a general printer 102 is connected to a printer 101 according to the present embodiment. The printer 101 includes the controller 211 shown in FIG.
7 is connected. Also, the parallel port I / F10
4 and connected to the printer 102. Printer 10
The second controller (not shown) may be a conventional one.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the printer 101. Here, the printer identification names in the LPR protocol used in the network using TCP / IP are “Printer 101” and “Printer 10”.
2 ".

The PC 106 sends a print job to the NIC 103 attached to the printer 101 using the LPR protocol. In the print job, a tag for designating a printer name is provided. In the tag, whether the user wants to print with the “printer 101” or the “printer 102” is specified.

The printer 101 receives the print job via the network 107 in STEP 1, determines in step 2 whether or not the data is for “printer 101” based on a tag designating the printer name of the print job, and determines whether the tag is “printer 101”. 101 ”, the printer 10
1 proceeds to STEP 3 as it is to perform printing.

However, if it is determined in STEP 2 that the tag designating the printer name of the print job does not indicate that it is data for “Printer 101”, the process proceeds to STEP 4 and the printer of the print job is checked. It is determined whether or not the data is for “Printer 102” by the tag specifying the name, and as a result, “Printer 102” is specified,
If it is determined that the data is for the “printer 102”, the process proceeds to STEP 5 and the parallel port I / F 104
From the printer 102 to the parallel port I / F 105 of the printer 102, and the print job is printed by the printer 102. If it is determined in STEP 4 that the data is not data for the “printer 102”, the process proceeds to STEP 6, and
The error message is printed by the printer 101.

Next, the internal operation of the printer 101 will be described in detail for each STEP shown in FIG. 3 with reference to FIG. (STEP 1) The printer 101 receives the print job by the NIC 103. (STEP 2) In the printer 101, the main processing circuit 201 refers to the tag of the print job in accordance with the program stored in the ROM 209. (STEP 3) When “Printer 101” is designated, the print job received by the NIC 103 is processed by the main processing circuit 201, sent to the printer engine 212 via the video I / F 210 as print data, and printed. . (STEPs 4 and 5) If “Printer 102” is specified in the transmitted print job, the main processing circuit 201
The data transmission / reception control circuit 207 switches the parallel port I / F 104 for print job transmission using the data transmission circuit 205 in response to the instruction, and outputs the data received by the NIC 103 to the printer 102 via the parallel port I / F 104. Perform printing. (STEPs 4 and 6) If neither “Printer 101” nor “Printer 102” is specified in the received print job, the printer engine 212 is instructed to print an error message by the printer 101.

Since the network printer according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. In the present invention, two printers are connected to one common NI
Since the printer can be connected to the network via C, the number of printer NICs can be reduced to less than half the number of printers. In this way, consumption of network resources such as the number of hub ports and usable network addresses can be reduced.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The difference is that the interface (I / F) 01 is not a parallel port but a SCSI. Since the interface is SCSI, a plurality of printers can be daisy-chain connected to one printer. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the printers 501 and 503 are connected to the printer 501 by the SCSII / Fs 505, 506, and 50.
7 are connected.

Here, the printer identification names in the LPR protocol used in the network using TCP / IP are “printer 501”, “printer 502”,
"Printer 503" is used. On the PC 508 side, the NIC 504 attached to the printer 501 is
A print job is sent using the PR protocol. In the print job, a tag for designating the printer name is provided.
2 "or" printer 503 ".

The printer 501 receives the print job via the network 509, determines whether or not the data is for the “printer 501” by using a tag for specifying the printer name of the print job, and specifies the “printer 501” as the tag. In this case, the printer 501 prints the data as it is, and when “Printer 502” is designated by the tag, the print job is sent from the SCSII / F 505 of the printer 501 to the SCSII / F 506 of the printer 502 and At 502, the data is printed. When “Printer 503” is designated by the tag, the printer 5
01 SCIS / F505 to the printer 502 SC
SCSII of printer 503 through SII / F506
The print job is sent to / F507, and the data is printed by the printer 503. These series of operations are performed by the printer 50.
1 is controlled by a controller 611 included in the control unit 1.

In the present embodiment, a case where there are a total of three printers is described as an example. However, due to the limitation of the SCSI standard, a maximum of seven printers are connected to the printer 501 and a total of eight printers are connected. Printer with one NIC 504
Can be handled by

FIG. 6 shows the controller 6 of the printer 501.
11 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing the internal configuration of the eleventh embodiment. The controller 611 includes a main processing circuit 601 as shown in FIG.
And an operator panel 602, a ROM 609 storing a program, a RAM 608, and a printer engine 612.
And a video I / O connected to the printer engine 612.
F610, SCSII / F505 and NIC50
4 are connected (SCSII / F505 and NIC
504 may be attached to the same substrate). Further, the controller 611 has a data transmission / reception control circuit 607 for the SCSII / F 505, switches between transmission and reception of print data, includes a data transmission circuit 606 and a data reception circuit 605, and uses the data transmission circuit 606 for data transmission. The data receiving circuit 605 is used for data reception.

Next, the operation of the printer 501 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. A conversion table of the printer name and the SCSI-ID is registered in the RAM 608 in advance by the user.

The printer 501 receives the print job at the NIC 504 and refers to the tag of the print job at the main processing circuit 601 according to a program stored in the ROM 609. If “Printer 502” is specified as the printer name by the tag of the referred print job, the data transmission / reception control circuit 607 refers to the printer name SCSI-ID conversion table and converts the printer name to the SCSI-ID.
Convert to

Next, the printer 501 is connected to the data transmission circuit 6.
06, the SCSII / F is switched for print job transmission, and the data received by the NIC 504 is converted into the converted S
The data is output to the printer 502 via the SCSII / F 505 according to the CSI-ID and printed.

In this embodiment, the SCSI has been described, but another interface such as IEEE1394 may be used.

Since the network printer according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, it has an effect that it can support a wide variety of interfaces in addition to the effects of the first embodiment.

In each of the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above, and can be applied to a mode suitable for applying the present invention.

Further, the number, position, shape, etc. of the above-mentioned constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be set to suitable numbers, positions, shapes, etc. for carrying out the present invention.

In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to provide a network printer which can be added on a network without adding an NIC and effectively using network resources. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing an internal configuration of a controller 211 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation of the printer 101 shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram of an electric circuit showing an internal configuration of a controller 611 shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 102 Printer 103, 108 NIC 103a, 108a NIC 104, 105 Parallel port I / F 104a, 105a Parallel port I / F 106, 106a PC 107, 107a Network 201 Main processing circuit 202 Operator panel 205 Data receiving circuit 206 Data transmission Circuit 207 Data transmission / reception control circuit 208 RAM 209 ROM 210 Video I / F 211 Controller 212 Printer engine 501, 502, 503 Printer 504 NIC 505, 506, 507 SCSII / F 508 PC 509 Network 601 Main processing circuit 602 Operator panel 605 Data reception Circuit 606 Data transmission circuit 607 Data transmission / reception control circuit 608 RAM 609 ROM 610 Video I / F 6 1 controller 612 printer engine PRINTER1, PRINTER2 printer

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A network printer having a network connection interface and being connected to a network via a network interface card, wherein the network connection interface is a network connection interface of another network printer connected to the network. Connected to the network connection interface and the network interface card, and when the print job received from the network via the network interface card is addressed to itself, executes printing, and executes the other network. If the print job is a print job addressed to a printer, the print job is sent to the network provided by the other network printer via the network connection interface. Network printer, characterized in that it comprises a control means for transmitting to the network connection interface. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein said job is addressed to itself, or said print job is addressed to another network printer, according to a tag provided in said print job and designating a network printer. The network printer according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether the job is a job. 3. The control unit includes a main processing unit, a storage unit that stores a program, a data transmission and reception control unit that switches transmission and reception of the network connection interface, and a data transmission via the network connection interface. And a data receiving means for receiving data via the network connection interface, wherein the main processing means refers to the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage means, When the other network printer is specified by a tag, the data transmission / reception control means switches the network connection interface to transmission by the data transmission means, and transmits the print job to the network connection interface of the other network printer. Network printer according to claim 2, characterized by transmitting to Esu. 4. The control unit includes a printer engine and a video interface connected to the printer engine, and the main processing unit refers to the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit. 4. The network printer according to claim 2, wherein when the tag specifies itself, the print job is transmitted as print data to the printer engine via the video interface. 5. 5. The main processing unit refers to the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit, and when neither the own printer nor the other network printer is specified by the tag, The network printer according to claim 1, wherein printing of the error message is executed. 6. The network printer according to claim 1, wherein the network connection interface is a parallel port interface. 7. The network printer according to claim 1, wherein the network connection interface is a SCSI interface. 8. The storage device according to claim 6, wherein a conversion table of a printer name and a SCSI-ID is registered by a user in advance.
The main processing unit refers to the tag of the print job according to a program stored in the storage unit, and refers to the conversion table to a printer name specified by the tag, and converts the printer name to SCSI-ID. After conversion, the SCSI-I
The network printer according to claim 7, wherein the print job is transmitted to a printer designated by D. 9. A network comprising the network printer according to claim 1. 10. A network printer having a network connection interface and connected to a network via a network interface card, wherein the network connection interface is connected to a network connection interface of another network printer connected to the network. The control means connected to the network connection interface and the network interface card executes printing when the print job received from the network via the network interface card is addressed to itself, and executes the other network. If the print job is directed to a printer, the print job is provided to the other network printer via the network connection interface. Connection method of the network printer, characterized in that the operation control to be sent to Ttowaku connection interface.