JP3018407B2 - Printing device and printing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus used in a relatively large-scale printing system for use in, for example, a bank report creation business or a company direct mail issuing business. The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly, to a printing apparatus and a printing system having a function for effectively managing directory information related to printing.

2. Description of the Related Art Various printing apparatuses for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor and performing printing using an optical technique such as a laser beam and an electronic technique have been commercialized. Among these, a relatively large-scale printing device is provided with a relatively large-capacity nonvolatile storage device such as a magnetic disk device, in which printing resources such as fonts are stored in advance, and various resources are It is designed to print data. Such a relatively large-scale printing apparatus is provided with input / output devices such as a keyboard and a display for an operator to perform various operations. In addition, one printing system is often configured together with one or a plurality of host computers that output print data and printing apparatuses of the same type.

When printing is performed by such a printing apparatus, if printing resources required for printing are stored in a nonvolatile storage device, printing can be performed immediately using the storage resources. Needs to capture these resources from a host computer or the like and use them for printing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in such a printing apparatus or printing system, when print resources such as print data and fonts are supplied from the host computer to individual printing apparatuses, these are stored in a non-volatile memory. Although stored in the apparatus, the host computer could not directly confirm what printing resources are stored in the nonvolatile storage device. For this reason, when the printing device performs new printing, the contents of the printing resources stored in the printing device are checked by operating the keyboard or the like of the device, and the contents are reported, or the content is reported or necessary for new printing. It was necessary to unconditionally send all printing resources to the printing apparatus.

In the former case, both the trouble of confirming to the printing apparatus operator and the trouble of informing the host computer of the insufficient printing resources are required, which is troublesome and requires a considerable amount of time. there were. Also,
In the latter case, even though the printing device has a non-volatile storage device for storing print resources, it is possible to store print resources again ignoring the print resources already stored in this device. This not only imposes an excessive burden on the host computer, but also wastes time for transferring duplicate print resources again.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a printing system that can receive only necessary resources that are not stored in its own nonvolatile storage device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the invention described in claim 1, a printing unit that performs printing by (a) a printing unit that performs printing and (b) a font that is used for printing by the printing unit is stored. A memory, (c) communication means for communicating with the host device, (d) search means for searching for the presence or absence of a print resource designated by the host device in response to a request from the host device received by the communication means, E) a printing apparatus which transmits a negative signal when there is no designated print resource based on the search result of the search means, and a transmitting means for transmitting directory information to the host apparatus by the communication means when the designated print resource exists. To be prepared.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus sends a negative signal if there is no designated print resource based on the search result of the search means, and sends directory information of the designated print resource to the host apparatus if there is the designated print resource. In this way, only the necessary printing resources are transferred from the host device to the printing device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system in which a host computer and a printing device are connected via a communication unit, and (a) the host computer inquires of the printing device whether or not there is a printing resource required for printing. And means for downloading print resources that need to be printed but not provided by the printing device based on a reply from the printing device in response to the inquiry. (B) The printing device downloads printing resources from the host computer. A search unit that searches for a corresponding print resource in response to an inquiry about presence / absence, a negative signal if there is no designated print resource based on a search result of the search unit, and a negative signal if there is a specified print resource. A transmitting unit for transmitting directory information to the host device; and a unit for storing print resources downloaded from the host computer. ) Host computer after downloading those not provided with the printing apparatus a printing resources required to print the print data, is characterized in that is printed by the printing device.

Then, the printing apparatus searches for the corresponding print resource in response to an inquiry about the presence or absence of the print resource from the host computer, and if there is no print resource, sends a negative signal to download the print resource and perform printing, while performing printing. If there is a resource, the directory information is transmitted to the host device.

Also, in the invention according to claim 3, the printing system is a printing system in which the first printing device and the second printing device are connected via communication means, and (a) the first printing device is required for printing. Means for inquiring of the second printing device about the presence or absence of a suitable printing resource, and, based on a reply from the second printing device in response to the inquiry, downloading the printing resources which the second printing device does not have among the printing resources which need to be printed. With means, (b)
The second printing device performs a search in response to an inquiry about the presence or absence of print resources from the first printing device, and returns a search result to the first printing device, and downloads the search result from the first printing device. Means for storing the printing resources
(C) The first printing device downloads printing resources necessary for printing the printing data, which are not provided in the second printing device, and then causes the second printing device to print the printing data. It is characterized by:

Then, the case where the first and second printing apparatuses are connected via communication means and the case where the second printing apparatus performs printing is handled. The first printing device downloads to the second printing device a printing resource required for printing the print data, which is not provided by the second printing device, and uses the downloaded printing resource for the second printing device. Make sure the device can print.

"Example" Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

FIG. 2 shows a main part of a printing system using a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printing system is assumed to be composed of one host computer 11 and one printing device 12 for simplicity of explanation.

A CPU (central processing unit) 12 of the host computer 11 is connected to a RAM 14, a keyboard 15, a disk control unit 16, a display control unit 17, and a communication control unit 18 via a bus 13 such as a data bus. Here, a keyboard 15 as an input device is connected to the bus 13 via an interface circuit (not shown), and a mouse 19 as a pointing device can be connected as necessary. The disk controller 16 is connected to a magnetic disk 21 as an external storage device. The magnetic disk 21 stores a program for controlling the host computer 11,
Various print data and data such as fonts are stored.
The display control unit 17 is connected to a CRT 22 as an output device. The communication control unit 18 is connected to a communication control unit 26 of the printing device 12 via a cable 24.

 The printing device 12 also has its own CPU 27.

The CPU 27 is connected to a RAM 31, a keyboard 32, a communication control unit 26, a disk control unit 33, a tape control unit 34, a print control unit 35, and a display control unit 36 via a bus 28 such as a data bus.

Here, the disk control unit 33 is connected to the magnetic disk 37. The tape control unit 34 has a magnetic tape 38 connected thereto.
The magnetic disk 37 stores a program for controlling the printing apparatus 12 and also stores printing resources together with the magnetic tape 38. The print control unit 35 is connected to a printer 39 for performing printing. As the printer 39,
Laser printers are often used to enable high-speed printing. A CRT 41 is connected to the display control unit 36 as a visible image output device. The printing device 12
Has only the keyboard 32 connected as an input device,
Needless to say, another input device such as a mouse may be connected if necessary.

FIG. 1 shows a functional configuration of the printing system described above, FIG. 3 shows a state of control of a printing resource management unit on the host computer side, and FIG. It shows the state of control of the resource processing control unit. The host computer 11 is a data printing application program / print resource management program 51
Are stored on the magnetic disk 21 in FIG. 2, and are transferred to the RAM 14 and executed.

The data printing application program / print resource management program 51 issues a print resource directory upload request 53 to the print control device 52 before the printing device 12 starts the printing operation (FIG. 3). Steps). Here, the print resource directory upload request 53 is data including a print resource name as a name of a print resource to be printed by the printing apparatus 12 and a print resource type such as a font and an electronic form used at this time. It has a structure.

The print control device 52 includes a print resource management unit 55 that manages print resources. The print resource management unit 55 includes a volatile storage device 56, a nonvolatile storage device 57, a directory information analysis unit 58, a transfer control data creation unit 59, and a transfer data control unit.
Connected to 61. Here, the volatile storage device 56 is constituted by the RAM 14 shown in FIG. Among them, the nonvolatile storage device 57 is composed of the magnetic disk 21 shown in FIG.

Upon receiving the print resource directory upload request 53, the print resource management unit 55 of the print control device 52 checks this request command (step), and if it is ineligible (NG), sets an error code (step). ). On the other hand, if the print resource directory upload request 53 is qualified (OK), the print resource name and the print resource type are transferred to the transfer control data creating unit 59, and the directory upload request control data is created (step). An instruction to send (step) to the printing device 12 is issued.

The transfer control data creation unit 59 creates directory upload request control data composed of a print resource name or print resource type, and transfers this to the printing device 12 via the transfer data control unit 61. If a failure occurs in the transfer, the process proceeds to step (NG), otherwise, the process proceeds to the next step.

When the print resource management unit 55 confirms that the directory upload request control data has been accepted by the acknowledgment signal returned from the printing apparatus 12, the print resource management unit 55 creates the directory read control data for the transfer control data creation unit 59 next. (Step) and sending (step) to the printing apparatus 12 are instructed. The transfer control data creation unit 59 receives this and creates directory data read control data. The directory / data read control data is sent to the printing device 12 via the transfer data control unit 61. If a failure has occurred in this transmission, the process proceeds to step (NG), otherwise, the process proceeds to the next step.

The printing device 12 includes a print resource processing control unit 63.
The print resource processing control unit 63 is connected to a transfer data analysis unit 64, a transfer data inspection unit 65, a directory information editing unit 66, a volatile storage device 67, and a nonvolatile storage device access unit 68. A nonvolatile storage device 69 typified by a magnetic tape 38 in FIG. 2 is connected to a print resource processing control unit 63 via a nonvolatile storage device access unit 68.

By the way, when the transfer data analysis unit 64 in the printing apparatus 12 reads the directory data read control data from the host computer 11 (step), if it is not suitable, it sets an error code (step). ) Check directory upload request control data. Also in this case, if it is ineligible, an error code is set (step). If it is ineligible, the process proceeds to the next step.

In the step, it is checked whether the received control data is directory read control data or directory upload request control data. If the control data is directory read control data, an acknowledgment code is set and an acknowledgment signal is returned to the host computer (step). On the other hand, if the data is directory upload request control data, the print resource name and the print resource type for printing to be performed described therein are stored in the volatile storage device 67 (step). At the same time, it instructs the non-volatile storage device access unit 68 to confirm whether or not the print resources used for printing this time are already stored in the non-volatile storage device 69 in the printing device 12 (step).

Upon receiving the instruction, the non-volatile storage device access unit 68 searches the directory using the print resource name and print resource type as keywords (step). Then, it notifies the print resource processing control unit 63 of the result of confirming whether the relevant print resource exists in the nonvolatile storage device 69 of the printing apparatus 12. When there is no corresponding print resource (none), the print resource processing control unit 63 sets a negative response code and returns a negative response signal to the host computer 11. If there is a corresponding print resource (if any), it instructs the directory information editing unit 66 to edit the format of the directory information into a predetermined format for transfer. Upon receipt of this, the directory information editing unit 66 edits the read directory information into a predetermined transfer format (step). When this is completed, the print resource processing control unit 63 requests the transfer data analysis unit 64 to transfer the directory information in response to the notification of the completion (step). The transfer data analysis unit 64 sends the edited formatted directory information as response information to the host computer 11 (step).

In the host computer 11, the print resource management unit 55 receives the directory information via the transfer data control unit 61. This directory information is stored in the directory information analysis unit.
The analysis is performed at 58, and the result is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 57 or the volatile storage device 56 (FIG. 3 step). The host computer 11 can send only necessary printing resources to the printing apparatus 12 from the stored contents.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the host computer
11 requests directory information, but in a printing system to which a plurality of printing devices are connected, when one printing device sends data related to printing to another printing device to perform printing, one printing device It is also possible for the printing apparatus to request directory information and send only the necessary printing resources to the other printing apparatuses.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, if there is no print resource specified based on the search result of the search unit, a negative signal is output, and if there is the specified print resource, the directory is returned. Since the printing device transmits the information to the host device, only the necessary printing resources are transferred from the host device to the printing device, and the time required for preparing for printing and the effort required for confirming the printing resources are reduced. It can be significantly reduced. In addition, since the printing device sends either a negative response or directory information response to the host device, any response can be obtained even if a response delay occurs, and the host device starts wrong processing. Can be avoided. If the designated print resource exists, the directory information is sent to the host device. Therefore, the host device determines whether the print resource is used for printing from the sent directory information, and determines whether the print resource is used for printing. If it is not, it is possible to immediately download what is used for printing.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus searches for the print resource in response to the inquiry about the presence or absence of the print resource from the host computer. Is downloaded and printed, and if print resources are available, the directory information is transmitted to the host device. Therefore, only the necessary printing resources are transferred from the host device to the printing device, and the time required for preparing for printing and the labor required for confirming the printing resources can be greatly reduced.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the first printing apparatus downloads only the printing resources necessary for the second printing apparatus by communicating the directory information, so that the printing resources can be exchanged between the printing apparatuses. This makes it possible to substantially increase the number of printing apparatuses capable of printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

The drawings are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a functional configuration of a printing system, and FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing a main part of the printing system. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control of the print resource management unit on the host computer side, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control of the print resource processing control unit on the printing apparatus side. 11: Host computer, 12: Printing device, 27: CPU, 31: RAM, 37: Magnetic disk, 38: Magnetic tape, 39: Printer, 63: Print resource processing control unit, 66: … Directory information editing unit, 67… volatile storage device, 69… non-volatile storage device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Yoshie Kawabata 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Ken Yokota 3-7-1, Fuuchi, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama No. Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Satoshi Kuninaka 3-7-1 Funai, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (56) References JP-A 1-182072 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing unit for performing printing, a memory for storing printing resources such as fonts used for printing in the printing unit, communication means for communicating with a host device, A search unit that searches for the presence or absence of a print resource specified by the host device in response to a request from the host device; and a negative signal if the specified print resource does not exist based on a search result of the search unit. A transmission unit for transmitting directory information to the host device by the communication unit when the designated print resource exists. 2. A printing system in which a host computer and a printing device are connected via communication means, wherein the host computer inquires the printing device whether or not there is a print resource required for printing. Means for downloading, from the corresponding print device, a print resource that does not have the print device among the print resources that need to be printed, based on a reply from the print device, wherein the print device queries the host computer for the presence or absence of the print resource. Search means for searching for a corresponding print resource in accordance with the search result; a negative signal if the specified print resource does not exist based on the search result of the search means; and a directory if the specified print resource exists, Transmitting means for transmitting information to the host device; storing print resources downloaded from the host computer; The host computer downloads printing resources necessary for printing print data that are not included in the printing apparatus, and causes the printing apparatus to print the downloaded printing resources. system. 3. A printing system in which a first printing device and a second printing device are connected via communication means, wherein the first printing device determines whether there is a printing resource necessary for printing. Means for inquiring of the second printing apparatus, and means for downloading a printing resource that the second printing apparatus does not have among the printing resources that need to be printed, based on a reply of the second printing apparatus to the inquiry; Means for performing a search in response to an inquiry about the presence or absence of a print resource from the first printing apparatus, and returning the search result to the first printing apparatus; Means for storing printing resources downloaded from the apparatus, wherein the first printing apparatus downloads printing resources necessary for printing print data which are not provided by the second printing apparatus. And printing the print data by the second printing device after the printing.