JPH02247725A - Color hard copying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a sending time by connecting plural hosts to a printer server through a LAN, temporarily saving sent hard copy data in a disk and successively outputting the saved data. CONSTITUTION:When a certain host 10 desires the hard-copy of current screen data, the host sends the screen data to the printer server 15 through the LAN 14. When a hard copy request is outputted from another host network control is executed by a controller for the LAN 14. The printer server 15 temporarily saves the data sent from the host in a disk 16. The picture data stored in the disk 16 are loaded at the proper time and converted into R, G and B signals and these signals are outputted to a hard copying device 11. At this time, a printing start command is simultaneously issued to a remote copying switch 17. Consequently, the fixing time of the screen can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Al Industrial Field of Application) This invention relates to a color hard copy system in which one hard copy device is shared by a plurality of hosts.

(b) Prior Art As shown in FIG. 2, this type of conventional system includes a plurality of hosts 10, one (in some cases, several) hard copy devices 11, and print command signals from each host 10. and a remote copy switch 13 that remotely controls the print start switch of the hard copy device 11.
0 to the hard copy device 11, the RGB signals are sent as they are in parallel. The multiplexer 12 gives a priority to print start commands output asynchronously from a plurality of hosts, and the remote copy switch 13 outputs a print switch-on signal to the hard copy device 11 located at a remote location. . Also,
When the hard copy device 11 is far away from each host 10, an RGB signal compensator, an RGB expander, or the like is inserted into the RGB signal transmission line.

With the above configuration, when the host wants to hard copy the content displayed on the CR7 screen 10a using the hard copy device 11, the host 10 sends it to the multiplexer 1.
2, a print start command is issued to the remote copy switch 13. At this time, the hard copy device 11 receives the RGB signal from the host to which the print start command has been sent, stores it in the buffer memory, and outputs a hard copy.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above system, since the print start commands issued from multiple hosts are asynchronous, the RGB signals output from each host are transmitted to the hard copy device 11.
Therefore, it is necessary to perform control between the hosts to avoid this ROB signal collision, which makes control extremely complicated. Furthermore, since RGB signals are sent directly from each host to the hard copy device 11, the farther the hard copy device 11 is from the host, the worse the print quality will be. If there is a problem and you want to solve it, install an RGB compensator or RGB signal line on the RGB signal line.
There is a problem in that an expander device or the like must be inserted, which increases the cost accordingly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a color hardware that can solve the above problems by connecting each host via a LAN and further connecting a printer server with a scheduling function for hard copying data to the LAN. The purpose is to provide a copy system.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems This invention provides an L
It is characterized by being connected to the printer server via an AN, and provided with means for temporarily saving hard copy data sent from each host to the printer server on a disk, and means for sequentially outputting the saved hard output data to a hard copy device. shall be.

(e) Function The color hard copy system according to the present invention has a function in which the printer server temporarily saves hard copy data sent from each host in the DrSK, and sequentially outputs the saved hard output data to the hard copy device. It has the function of In other words, since each host connected to the LAN has a scheduling function,
All you need to do is issue a print start command to the printer server using AN, and there is no need to synchronize with other hosts.The data output from each host is saved on the printer server's DISK. The generated data is sequentially output to a hard copy device.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a color hard copy system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Each host 10 is connected to a LAN 14, and a printer server 15 is further connected to this LAN 14. The printer server 15 has a hard DI with an appropriate capacity.
SK16 is connected and RGB is sent from printer server 15.
The signal is output to the hard copy device 11. Further, a remote copy switch 17 is arranged between the printer server 15 and the hard copy device 11. Note that for the LAN 14, for example, an Ethernet LAN is used. When the host with the above configuration wants to make a hard copy of the current screen data, the screen data is sent to the printer server 15 via the LAN 14. At this time, if a hard copy request is also issued from another host, network control is performed by the controller of the LAN 14 (this controller is normally provided in the host). In the printer server 15, the data sent from the host is temporarily saved in the DISK 16 (and at an appropriate time, the screen data stored in the DISK 16 is loaded, converted to RGB signals, and sent to the hard copy device 11. At the same time, a print start command is output to the remote copy switch 16.
issue against.

In the above configuration, since the printer server 15 and the hard copy device 211 are connected on a 1:1 basis, there is no need for a multiplexer, and one set of RGB signal lines is sufficient. Of course, since the printer server 15 can be placed near the hard copy device R11, there is no need for an RGB compensator or an RGB expander. Furthermore, even if the host and the printer server are far apart, this can be easily handled by simply extending the distance of the LAN 14. Moreover, since the printer server 15 saves the data to the DISKI 6, the screen data can be stored on the host side. can be sent to the printer server 15 at high speed.

Therefore, even if the O8 on the host side does not have multitasking specifications or cannot send screen data in the background, there is an advantage that the screen fixation time can be extremely short.

In the embodiment, the printer server 15 directly sends RGB signals to the hard copy device 11, but the printer server 15 and the hard copy device 1
1 with a cable such as R3232C.

(A) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, hosts and printer servers are connected by a LAN, and screen data is transmitted through the LAN, and the printer server receives data sent to the printer server. DISK to save once
Because of this, it is possible to shorten the time it takes to send screen data to be hard-copied from each host to the printer server, and there is no need for a conventional multiplexer. In addition, since the printer server has a scheduling function that temporarily safes the hard copy data sent from the host in DiSK and outputs the saved data to the hard copy device at an appropriate time, each host A command to print screen data can be issued at any time without worrying about the status of other hosts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a conventional color hard copy system. 10-host, 11-hard copy device, 14-LAN
, 15-printer server 16-DISK.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A means for connecting multiple hosts and a printer server via LAN, temporarily saving hard copy data sent from each host to the printer server on a disk, and sequentially hard copying the saved hard output data. A color hard copy system characterized by being provided with means for outputting to a device.