JP2000168208A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent misunderstanding of an operator as to disagreement between the result of printing and printing conditions in the case where a set value of one item in the printing conditions is altered according to an instruction for discrete setting. SOLUTION: A printer apparatus is equipped with an operation/display panel 110 which enables setting or alteration of printing conditions and also display of the printing conditions, while the apparatus enables execution of setting or alteration of the printing conditions by an input from the operation/display panel 110, according also to an instruction which it receives from a host apparatus 112. In the case when the set contents of the printing conditions corresponding to each image data received from the host apparatus 112 differ from the set contents according to the instruction for setting one item of the printing conditions discretely, the set contents according to the instruction for the discrete setting are displayed in the operation/display panel 110 on the printer apparatus by using display contents different from ordinary ones in regard to setting of the printing conditions received together with the image data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a printer connected to a host device, and more particularly to a printer device capable of instructing a printing condition such as a printing direction and a reduction ratio from the host device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer device directly connected to a host device by a connection cable and a printer device connected to the host device via a network are known. Further, in such a printer device, the printing direction is set in accordance with an instruction from a host device or an instruction from an operation / display panel on the printer device in response to image data printing conditions set corresponding to each received image data. It is possible to set new printing conditions for image data in which printing conditions such as a printing ratio and a reduction ratio are changed. On the other hand, in such a printer apparatus, apart from the image data print conditions set corresponding to the respective image data, for each item of the print conditions, an instruction from the host apparatus or an operation / display on the printer apparatus is performed. Printing conditions can be individually set according to an instruction from the panel. For example, the reduction ratio, which is one of the printing condition items set in advance corresponding to each image data received by the printer device, is determined by operating the printing condition setting key on the operation / display panel or transmitting from the host device. The set value (for example, 100
%, 88%, etc.) can be changed. In addition, among the items of the above printing conditions, for some items (for example, printing direction, reduction ratio, double-sided printing, etc.), printing conditions can be individually set. For example, in accordance with an instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition such as an instruction to change the reduction ratio, a new individual setting of the reduction ratio of the printer apparatus is performed separately from the reduction ratio in the printing condition corresponding to each image data. Can be. By the way, the printing condition corresponding to each image data is determined by the operation /
The setting is changed by operating a printing condition setting key on the display panel or a printing condition change instruction sent from the host device, and the changed setting value is reflected on the printing condition corresponding to each image data. Therefore, even when an instruction including the initialization setting is received from the host device or the operation / display panel, the setting value changed corresponding to each image data is not changed. In addition, each setting value of the printing condition item corresponding to each image data can be confirmed by printing the printing condition list, and the actual setting value in which one printing condition item is individually set. Is displayed on the operation / display panel and can be confirmed.

[0003]

However, the setting value changed by an instruction for individually setting one item of the printing condition, such as the above-described instruction for changing the reduction ratio, that is, the setting value changed by an individual instruction not corresponding to each image data. The set values that have been set are not reflected in the printing conditions corresponding to each image data. Therefore, when an instruction including the initialization setting is received from the host device or the operation / display panel, the changed setting value is cleared, and the printing condition setting value corresponding to the original image data is returned. For example, when the reduction ratio for printing image data is changed from 100% to 88% by a printing condition setting key or a printing condition change instruction sent from the host device, the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed is 88%. %, And the set value of the reduction ratio under the printing condition corresponding to the image data is also changed to 88%. At this time, the reduction ratio displayed on the operation / display panel is changed from 100% to 88%, and the set value of the reduction ratio during printout when printing the print condition list is also changed to 88%. . However, an instruction for individually setting one item of the printing condition, such as the instruction for changing the reduction ratio, causes the setting of the reduction ratio to be one.
When changing from 00% to 88%, the reduction ratio actually printed is changed to 88%, but the set value of the reduction ratio in the printing conditions corresponding to the image data remains at 100%. . At this time, the reduction ratio displayed on the operation / display panel is 88% because the reduction ratio actually printed is displayed.
Is changed to However, when the print condition list is printed, the set value of the reduction ratio printed in the print condition list is
Since the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition corresponding to the image data is printed, the printing is performed at 100% before the change. That is, 88% is displayed on the operation / display panel, and 100% is printed in the print condition list even though the actual printing is reduced to 88% and printed. Conversely, judging from the result of printing the print condition list, the reduction ratio is set to 100%, but when printing is actually performed, it is reduced to 88% and printed.

Therefore, the operator who encounters the above result misunderstands that the printing condition and the printing result corresponding to the image data are different, and presses the printing condition setting key on the operation / display panel or prints from the host device. There is a possibility that an attempt to change the set value may be made by a condition change instruction. However, when the reduction ratio is changed from 100% to 88% by an instruction for individually setting one item of the printing condition, when an instruction including the initialization setting is received from the host device or the operation / display panel,
The changed setting value is cleared and returns to the setting value of the printing condition corresponding to the original image data, so that it returns to the setting value before the change of 100%. That is, although the actual setting value of the printing condition is the setting value of the reduction ratio 88% intended by the operator, the setting value printed in the printing condition list is the reduction ratio 100%. This is a wasteful operation of returning to the reduction rate of 100% once and then setting it again to 88% by the printing condition setting key or the printing condition change instruction sent from the host device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and has been described in the case where a setting value in a printing condition is changed by an instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device which does not misunderstand that a print result and a print condition do not match.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer apparatus capable of performing input operations for setting and changing printing conditions and displaying the printing conditions. A printer device that includes an operation / display panel having a function of performing printing and that can set and change the printing conditions according to an instruction received from the host device. When the setting content of the printing condition is different from the setting content based on the instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition without corresponding to the image data, the operation / display panel on the printer device displays the image Using a display different from the normal display of the print condition setting received together with the data, displaying the setting contents according to the instruction for individually setting And it features. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer device according to the first aspect, when the printer device can print out a list showing the contents of the set printing conditions, the output of printing the list of printing conditions is Using a print pattern different from a normal print pattern for setting print conditions corresponding to each image data received from the host device, printing out the setting contents according to an instruction to individually set one item of the print conditions. It is characterized by. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the second aspect, when printing the list of the printing conditions, a printing pattern for a setting content of a printing condition corresponding to each image data received from the host device; It is characterized in that both the print pattern and the print pattern of the setting contents according to the instruction to individually set one item of the print condition are printed. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to any one of the first to third aspects, the setting content of the printing condition corresponding to each image data received from the host device and one item of the printing condition are described. If the setting contents are different from the instructions set individually,
Even if an input for setting the printing condition is made from the host device or the operation / display panel, the setting content of the printing condition set after receiving the image data is not cleared.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic overall configuration of an embodiment of the printer device of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer device of the present embodiment includes a controller 100 for controlling the printer device, an engine 108 for printing an image on print paper, and a panel device 110 having an operation / display panel. The disk device 114 includes a floppy disk device or a hard disk device that stores various data such as font data, various programs, and print data. The controller 100 is connected to other devices by signal lines or the like. The controller 100 and the host device 112 outside the printer device are connected by a connection cable or the like.
Note that the host device 112 is a personal computer or the like that can send image data, print condition settings, and the like. The controller 100 includes a CPU 101 that controls the entire printer apparatus according to various programs, a mode instruction from a panel device, and an instruction from a host device, and executes image data conversion processing and the like. IC card 102 that supplies externally
An NVRAM 103 which is a non-volatile storage device for storing contents of a mode instruction from the panel device, and a program ROM 10 for storing a control program of the controller.
4, a font ROM 105 for storing font pattern data, a work memory for the CPU 101, an input buffer for input data, a page buffer for print data, a RAM 106 used as a memory for download fonts, and the like. Engine interface 107 for communicating instructions, status, print data, etc .; panel interface 109 for communicating instructions, status, etc. to panel device 110; and host interface for communicating with host device 112 111 and a disk interface 113 for communicating with the disk device 114.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the panel device 110 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the panel device 110 includes an operation / display panel 201 provided with a liquid crystal display (LCD) and various operation device keys. The operation / display panel 201 includes, for example, an LCD capable of displaying 16 characters × 2 lines at a time, a system condition setting key 202 for setting system conditions, and a printing condition setting key for setting printing conditions. 203, a test print key 204 for printing out a print condition list, an escape key 205 for returning to a state before exiting from the current processing or an initial state, and an execution key 2 for executing the set processing
06 etc. are provided. Note that the change of the print condition by operating the print condition setting key and the change of the print condition by the print condition change instruction sent from the host device can obtain the same change result. Only the change of the print condition by the print condition setting key is described, and the description of the change of the print condition by the print condition change instruction sent from the host device is omitted.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are views showing display contents of the LCD according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing display contents of the LCD 201 when the reduction ratio is 100%. In FIG. 3, "100%" displayed on LCD 201 indicates that the reduction ratio is 100% when no change is made by the print condition setting key.
(301) shows. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing normal display contents of the LCD 201 when the reduction ratio is 88%. In FIG. 4, the reduction ratio is set to 1 by the print condition setting key.
"88%" (401) displayed on the LCD 201 indicates that it has been changed from 00% to 88%. FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing display contents different from normal contents of the LCD 201 when the reduction ratio is 88%. In FIG. 5, "* 88%" displayed on the LCD 201 indicates that the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by the individual instruction of the printing condition.
(501) shows.

FIGS. 6 to 9 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the print contents of the print condition list. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the print contents of the print condition list when the reduction ratio is 100%. In FIG. 6, the reduction ratio is 100 when no change is made by the print condition setting key.
"100%" written in the item of reduction ratio
(601) shows. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the print contents of the print condition list when the reduction ratio is 88%. In FIG. 7, “★ 88%” (701) described in the item of the reduction ratio indicates that the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by the printing condition setting key. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the print contents of the print condition list when the reduction ratio is 88%. In FIG. 8, "* 88%" (801) described in the item of the reduction ratio indicates that the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by the individual instruction of the printing condition.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the print contents of the print condition list when the reduction ratio is 88%. In FIG. 9, the fact that the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by the individual instruction of the printing condition is described in “* 88% (100
%) "(901).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the following description, an instruction for individually changing the reduction ratio, which is one of the instructions for individually setting one item of the printing condition, is referred to as a reduction ratio setting instruction. Normally, when the reduction ratio is changed from 100% to 88% by operating the print condition setting key 203, the set values of the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed and the reduction ratio of the printing condition are the same, 88%. . In this case, since the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed is displayed on the LCD 201, the display contents of the LCD 201 are changed from “100” (301) to “88” (40
It is changed to 1). In the print condition list, the set value of the reduction ratio as the print condition is printed.
% "(701). (Printed on printing conditions ★
The mark is attached to the item whose set value is different from the initial value.
On the other hand, the reduction ratio is changed from 100% to 88 by the reduction ratio setting instruction.
%, The actual printing reduction ratio is 88
%, But the set value of the reduction ratio under the printing conditions corresponding to the image data remains at 100%. In this case, since the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed is displayed on the LCD 201, the display content of the LCD 201 is “100”.
(301) is changed to "88" (401). However, in the print condition list, the set value of the reduction ratio in the print condition corresponding to the image data is printed.
% "(601) is printed.

FIG. 10 shows an LCD according to an embodiment of the present invention when the reduction ratio of the printing conditions is changed from 100% to 88%.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a display operation. In step S1, it is determined whether or not the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by the print condition setting key 203.
If step S1: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2, and if not changed (step S1: No), the process proceeds to step S3. In step S2, since the set value of the reduction ratio of the actual printing and the reduction ratio of the printing condition are the same of 88%,
The normal "88" (401) is displayed on the LCD 201. In Step 3, the reduction ratio is set to 100% by the reduction ratio setting instruction.
Since the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed is 88%, the setting value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition is different from 100%, so that the LCD 201 displays a different value from the normal "* 88". (501) is displayed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of a printing condition list according to an embodiment of the present invention when the reduction ratio of the printing condition is changed from 100% to 88%. The printing of the print condition list is executed, for example, by pressing a test print key. In step S11, it is determined whether or not the reduction ratio has been changed from 100% to 88% by operating the print condition setting key 203.
In step S11: Yes, the process proceeds to step S12,
If not changed (step S11: No), the process proceeds to step S13. In step S12, since the set value of the reduction ratio of the actual printing and the reduction ratio of the printing condition are the same of 88%, it is indicated that a normal change has been made in the item of the reduction ratio of the printing condition list. 88% "(701) is printed.
If the initial state is not changed, "100
% (601) is printed in the item of reduction ratio in the printing condition list. In step 13, since the reduction ratio is changed from 100% to 88% by the reduction ratio setting instruction, the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed is 88%. % To indicate that the change has been made by the reduction ratio setting instruction from the initial state.
% "(801) is printed.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention when the printing condition setting key is pressed after the setting has been changed. In step S21, after changing the reduction ratio from 100% to 88% by the reduction ratio setting instruction, the print condition setting key 203 is pressed. Step S2
At 2, it is determined whether or not the escape key 205 has been pressed. If pressed (step 22: Yes), the process proceeds to step S23, and if not pressed (step 22:
If No, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S23, the printing conditions are changed. In step S24, the value i of the counter indicating the presence or absence of the change is incremented by +1. In step S25, it is determined whether or not the numerical value i of the counter is 0. When the counter value i is 0 (step S
25: Yes), the process proceeds to step S26, and if the numerical value i of the counter is not 0 (step S25: No), the process proceeds to step S27. In step S26, since no item of the printing condition has been changed, the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition is cleared to 100% of the initial value.
Exit print condition setting without resetting to. In step S27, since the print condition item has been changed, the set value of the reduction ratio of the print condition is cleared and reset to 100% of the initial value, and then the change is executed. By configuring and operating as described above, when the setting value in the printing condition is changed based on the instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition, the operator does not match the printing result with the printing condition. It is possible to provide a printer device that does not misunderstand this.

[0014]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition corresponding to the image data is different from the reduction ratio at which the printing is actually performed, the display contents different from the normal display contents are displayed on the LCD. By displaying, the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed can be easily known. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the set value of the reduction ratio of the actual printing is different from the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition, the printing is actually performed by printing a different printing pattern from the printing condition list. The reduction ratio can be easily known.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition corresponding to the image data is different from the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed, a printing pattern different from the normal printing and the normal pattern are printed in the printing condition list. Accordingly, both the reduction ratio at which printing is actually performed and the set value of the reduction ratio of the printing condition can be easily known. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the reduction ratio set by the reduction ratio setting instruction from being cleared when the printing condition setting key is erroneously pressed due to an operator's misunderstanding or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic overall configuration of an embodiment of a printer device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the panel device 110 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing display contents of an LCD when a reduction ratio is 100%.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing normal display contents of the LCD when the reduction ratio is 88%.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing display contents different from normal contents on the LCD 201 when the reduction ratio is 88%.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating print contents of a print condition list when a reduction ratio is 100%.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating print contents of a print condition list when a reduction ratio is 88%.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating print contents of a print condition list when a reduction ratio is 88%.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating print contents of a print condition list when a reduction ratio is 88%.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an LCD display operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation of a printing condition list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: controller, 101: CPU, 10
2 ... IC card, 103 ... NVRAM, 104
... Program ROM, 105 ... Font RO
M, 106: RAM, 107: Engine interface, 108: Engine, 109: Panel interface, 110: Panel device, 111
... host interface, 112 ... host device, 113 ... disk interface, 114
..Disk devices, 201 ... LCD, 202 ...
System condition setting key, 203: printing condition setting key, 204: test printing key, 205: escape key, 206: execution key

Claims (4)

[Claims] An operation / display panel capable of performing an input operation for setting and changing printing conditions and having a function of displaying the printing conditions is provided, and setting and changing of the printing conditions are performed by a host. In a printer device that can also be implemented by instructions received from the device,
When the setting content of the printing condition corresponding to each image data received from the host device is different from the setting content based on an instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition without corresponding to the image data, the printer device The above operation / display panel displays a setting content according to the individual setting instruction by using a display different from a normal display of the setting of the printing condition received together with the image data. apparatus. 2. When the printer device can print out a list showing the contents of the set printing conditions, the output of printing the list of printing conditions corresponds to each image data received from the host device. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the setting content according to the instruction to individually set one item of the printing condition is printed out using a printing pattern different from a normal printing pattern for setting the printing condition. apparatus. 3. When printing the list of printing conditions, an instruction to individually set one item of the printing conditions and a printing pattern for setting contents of printing conditions corresponding to each image data received from the host device. 3. The printer device according to claim 2, wherein both the print pattern and the print pattern for the setting contents are printed. 4. When the setting content of the printing condition corresponding to each image data received from the host device is different from the setting content by an instruction for individually setting one item of the printing condition,
4. The setting content of the printing condition set after receiving the image data is not cleared even if an input for setting the printing condition is made from the host device or the operation / display panel. 4. The printer device according to any one of 3.