KR20040063666A - Printer with Portable Memory Device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A printer having a mobile memory device is provided to prevent the loss of the print data even if the printer is turned off or reset by transferring the print data to the mobile memory when the print is interrupted by the abnormality of the printer. CONSTITUTION: A buffer memory(22) temporarily stores the print data. The printer(24) prints the print data to a printing sheet. The mobile memory(26) temporarily stores the print data. A controller(20) sequentially transmits the print data to the printer after storing the print data from the outside to the buffer memory in a normal operation. When the printer is abnormal, the controller transmits the print data stored in the buffer memory to the mobile memory.

Description

Printer with Portable Memory Device {Printer with Portable Memory Device}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing data on printing paper, and more particularly, to a printer having a removable memory device suitable for accurately printing data even when a temporary error occurs.

Conventional printers print data from information terminal apparatuses such as personal computers, word processors, communication terminals, and the like on printing paper. For printing such data, a conventional printer has a configuration as shown in FIG.

The conventional printer shown in Fig. 1 has a buffer memory 12 and a printing device 14 connected to a data processor 10. The data processor 10 inputs print data to be printed on a print sheet from an external device (ie, an information processing device such as a personal computer and a word processor) and sequentially buffers the input print data. It stores in the memory 12. When the print data is all stored in the buffer memory 12, the data processor 10 sequentially reads the print data stored in the buffer memory 12, supplies the print data to the printing apparatus 14, and prints the data on the printing paper. To be.

In a conventional printer which continuously performs such data storage and printing operations, the printer is turned off or reset due to a mechanical abnormality or other error of the printing apparatus during printing operation or during data storage before the start of printing. It must be. When the power is cut off or reset, all print data stored in the buffer memory 12 in the conventional printer is lost. In this case, print data must be transmitted again from the information processing apparatus to the printer. However, print data (for example, discount coupons or parking tickets issued from an Internet site) that is only transmitted once for security reasons or the like cannot be printed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer having a removable memory device suitable for accurately performing data printing even in the event of a temporary error.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional printer.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a printer having a removable memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10,20: data processor 12,22: buffer memory

14,24: printing device 26: removable memory device

28: connection port

In order to achieve the above object, a printer having a removable memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a buffer memory for temporarily storing the print data; A printing apparatus for printing the print data on the printing paper; A removable memory for temporarily storing print data; And storing the print data from the outside in the buffer memory in the normal state of the printing apparatus, and sequentially transferring the print data stored in the buffer memory to the printing apparatus, and transferring the print data stored in the buffer memory in the abnormal state of the printing apparatus. And a control unit for transferring to the memory.

In addition, the control unit transfers the print data stored in the removable memory to the buffer memory at power-on and reset, and then sequentially transfers the transferred print data to the printing apparatus.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above objects will become apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a printer having a removable memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a printer having a removable memory device includes a buffer memory 22 and a printing device 24 connected to a data processor 20.

The data processor 20 inputs print data to be printed on the print paper from the outside (i.e., an information processing device such as a personal computer and a word processor) and sequentially buffers the input print data. It stores in the memory 22. When the print data is all stored in the buffer memory 22, the data processor 20 sequentially reads the print data stored in the buffer memory 22 and supplies it to the printing apparatus 24 so that the print data is printed on the print paper. To be.

In addition, the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a removable memory device 26 detachably attached to the connection port 28 electrically connected to the data processor 20. The connection port 28 electrically connects the data processor 20 and the removable memory device 26 to enable bidirectional data transfer between the data processor 20 and the removable memory device 26. The removable memory device 26 stores data when printing is interrupted due to a mechanical abnormality in the printing apparatus or when there is an abnormality in the printing apparatus 24 between after the printing data is stored in the buffer memory 22 and before printing starts. The print data from the processor 20 is stored. In addition, the removable memory device 26 uploads the print data stored when the power of the printer is turned on to the data processor 20 via the connection pod 28 so that the print data that has been interrupted in printing is normal. Make it printable. The removable memory device 26 includes a nonvolatile memory such as " EEPROM " so that print data can be maintained even without power supply.

When printing is interrupted due to a mechanical abnormality in the printing apparatus or when there is an abnormality in the printing apparatus 24 between after the printing data is stored in the buffer memory 22 and before printing is started, the data processor 20 stores the buffer memory. All of the print data remaining in the 22 is sequentially read, and the read print data is stored in the removable memory device 26 via the connection pod 28.

At power-on or reset of the data processor 20, it is checked whether the removable memory device 26 is mounted in the connection pod 28. At this time, if the removable memory device 26 is connected to the connection port 28, the data processor 20 checks whether there is print data stored in the removable memory device 26. If print data is stored in the removable memory device 26 mounted in the connection port 28, the data processor 20 sequentially reads all the print data stored in the removable memory device 26, and reads the read print data. Is stored in the buffer memory 22. Subsequently, the data processor 20 sequentially reads the print data stored in the buffer memory 22 and supplies the print data to the printing apparatus 24 so that the print data is printed on the printing paper. When all of the print data stored in the buffer memory 22 is printed on the printing paper, the data processor 20 initializes the removable memory device to lose the print data stored in the removable memory device 26.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

As described above, the printer having the removable memory device according to the present invention can prevent the loss of the print data even when the power is turned off or reset by transferring the print data to the removable memory when printing stops due to an abnormality of the printing apparatus. In addition, the printer having the removable memory device according to the present invention can print the print data on the printing paper normally even when the printing device is abnormal by causing the print data stored in the removable memory device to be printed at power-on and reset.

Claims (2)

A buffer memory for temporarily storing print data; A printing apparatus for printing the print data on the printing paper; A removable memory for temporarily storing print data; And After storing the print data from the outside in the normal state of the printing apparatus in the buffer memory, the print data stored in the buffer memory is sequentially transferred to the printing apparatus, and in the abnormal state of the printing apparatus is stored in the buffer memory And a control unit for transferring print data to the removable memory. The method of claim 1, And the control unit transfers the print data stored in the removable memory to the buffer memory upon power-on and reset, and then sequentially transfers the transferred print data to the printing apparatus.