JP2000172480A - Printer and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which can easily obtain information on the Internet. SOLUTION: The printer 10 is equipped with a client part 13 which accesses the Internet by using a URL 16 stored in a memory and acquires a file by the URL and a data generation part 20 which generates job data for print from the file. This printer 10 is equipped with a proxy server 13 on a personal computer 4, stores the last address connected by the personal computer in a memory, and can download and print out a file at proper timing 17 from the address on the Internet. This printer 10 is therefore used to easily obtain information from the Internet, etc., by itself.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer connectable to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, various information provided by a WWW server 2 exists on a computer network such as the Internet 1 or an intranet. These pieces of information can be viewed using an application such as a web browser running on the personal computer 3. Further, the information viewed on the browser can be printed by the printer 5 connected to the personal computer 3.

The Internet 1 has a dedicated line or L
There is a method of connecting via an AN, or a dial-up connection to an access point of a provider 7 via a modem or a terminal adapter 8 as shown in FIG.

[0004]

In recent years, information provided via the Internet has increased, and the number of users who access the Internet and obtain information has increased. In addition, users who access the Internet in the past were limited to researchers and others, whereas current users of the Internet are students, employees,
It is widespread regardless of age and gender, such as housewives at home. For this reason, devices that access the Internet
From a conventional personal computer to a home electric appliance such as a web TV, it is spreading. Information distributed via the Internet is not limited to science and technology, but also covers a wide range such as news, weather forecasts, and advertisements including shopping information.

In view of the above, in the present invention, in view of the fact that the range of information provided by Internet users and the Internet has been widened, there is provided a device which can more easily acquire information on the Internet and provide the users with the information. It is an object.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the present invention is connected to the Internet or another computer network (hereinafter referred to as a network) by itself, and designated and obtained at a predetermined location, for example, a URL in the case of the Internet. A printer that can print out the information is provided. That is, in the present invention, means for storing a location on a network, means for connecting to a network and acquiring a file from the location, and means for creating job data for printing from a file obtained via the network And a means for printing the job data. In this printer, information on the network is printed out in the following steps.

First, a connection to a computer network is established, and a connection with a WWW server including a location stored in a memory is established. Next, a file is obtained from the location and job data for printing is created from the obtained file. Then, the job data is printed.

[0008] Even now, there are printers that are provided with a LAN interface to allow a plurality of users to share the printer and can be connected to a network. However, these printers only receive and output job files or job data sent from a personal computer or a printer server via a network. Therefore, the printer does not need the function of accessing a specific address on the network to obtain a file, and as a result, the conventional printer does not have such a function.

Further, print job data or a job file supplied to a printer is created in a job language which can be understood by the printer. Such job data and job file correspond to each printer. It is created by a printer driver installed in a personal computer. Therefore,
In order to output information on the Internet by a printer, H sent from a WWW server by HTTP is used.
The data in the TML format or another format is decoded and edited by using the function of a browser running on a personal computer, and the image data generated as a result is grouped in page units or the like and converted into job data by a printer driver. When the job data is sent to the printer, the printer receives the job data and performs printing. Therefore, the printer does not need a function of converting a file obtained by itself into job data in order to perform a printing process, and as a result, a conventional printer does not have such a function.

On the other hand, the printer of the present invention has a function of accessing a location set in a memory by itself to establish a connection and obtain a file, and a function of converting the obtained file into printable job data. I have. Therefore, the printer can access the network by itself and output information on the network at the location set in the printer.

Some information on the network is regularly updated, and the printer of the present invention is suitable for outputting such information. For example, news,
In the weather forecast or shopping information, information on the same location is sequentially updated so that the user can easily access the latest information. The printer of the present invention accesses a location set in the printer at a predetermined timing, for example, at a certain time or at a certain time, or further, at a timing such as when the printer is started, and prints information there. be able to. Therefore, the printer of the present invention can automatically and periodically output information such as news or weather forecast on the network by itself. Of course, the location set in the printer is not limited to one, and information can be automatically output periodically from a plurality of URLs.

Thus, according to the printer of the present invention,
The process of acquiring information on a network such as the Internet and printing out can be performed only by the printer, and the information on the network can be acquired by an extremely low-cost system.

When acquiring information on the Internet using a personal computer or a web TV, the user starts up a personal computer, activates an application such as a web browser, and then acquires the information of the information. You need to specify an existing address. Therefore, even if the information provider updates the information on the network, the information does not reach the user unless the user accesses the information. There is also a system for automatically distributing information by Internet mail, but also in this case, the information cannot be obtained unless the user accesses a server having his or her mailbox.

On the other hand, if the printer of the present invention is used, new information can be periodically delivered to the user in a printed state. Information distribution services using mail or facsimile are common in that the information can be reliably delivered to the user's hand. However, information to be distributed by mail or the like cannot be selected by the distribution source, and includes unnecessary information not intended by the user.
Therefore, a huge amount of information is distributed, and the processing is time-consuming. In contrast, the printer of the present invention allows a user to select a distribution source (location) of information output by the printer. The user can freely change the source of the information to be obtained, and the selection of the information is completely left to the user. For this reason,
The user can quickly and easily obtain desired information with the printer of the present invention.

The printer of the present invention may be provided with a means for storing a file obtained from a network, such as a flash ROM or a magnetic disk. With such a printer, each time a network is accessed, the obtained information is printed, or instead of such a printout, the contents of a plurality of files stored in the storage means are output at once. You may do it. At this time, the display contents of the plurality of files stored in the storage unit may be reduced, and the aggregated job data may be created and printed out. Such an output form is particularly effective, for example, in weather prevention or when outputting images of fixed point observation over time.

The location accessed by the printer may be set from a personal computer by a method such as directly or via a network. Alternatively, such a function can be provided in a local panel of the printer. Further, if the printer is provided with a function as a proxy server and an appropriate location connected to a personal computer on behalf of the printer can be set in the printer, the trouble of inputting the location to the printer can be omitted. At the same time, the contents of the file to be output by the printer can be visually checked on the browser of the personal computer, which is convenient and correct. The proxy server can, of course, substitute a device that can view information on the Internet with a browser, for example, a web TV or the like, similarly to a personal computer, and is included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

The location set in the printer when functioning as a proxy server may be selected on a local panel or the like. Alternatively, the last address accessed by the browser may be automatically set as the location accessed by the printer.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system using a printer 10 according to the present invention. The printer 10 of the present embodiment can be connected to the Internet 1 via a modem or a TA (terminal adapter) 8. The printer 10 of the present example is provided with an interface capable of exchanging data with the personal computer 4, and employs a USB interface or a bidirectional parallel interface.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the printer 10 of this embodiment. The printer 10 has a TA8
A first interface 11 such as a USB or RS232C to which a personal computer 4 can be connected;
A second interface 12 such as EEE1394 is provided. These first and second interfaces are connected via a proxy server unit 13.

Therefore, when the personal computer 4 is connected to the second interface 12 and the web browser is operated, the proxy server 13 substitutes for the WWW of the specified address on the Internet based on the URL inputted by the web browser. Establish a connection with the server and relay the communication between them. Therefore, the information on the Internet can be accessed by the web browser of the personal computer 4. The second interface 12 also functions as a conventional printer interface. When print job data is received from the personal computer 4, the second interface 12 supplies the job data to the print control circuit 31 and performs printing by the printing mechanism 32. .

In this embodiment, the printer 10 is connected to the Internet 1 via the TA8. However, the printer 10 can be connected to the Internet by various other known methods such as a router or USB. It is needless to say that the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

The printer 10 of this embodiment further includes a client unit 14 having a function of accessing the Internet 1 by specifying a URL. The client unit 14 connects to a network by outputting a URL 16 stored in a nonvolatile memory 15 such as a magnetic disk or a flash ROM to the proxy server unit 13. As a result, as described above, the proxy server unit 1
3 establishes a connection with the WWW server including the URL 16, and the client unit 14 downloads the file by the URL 16.

URL 16 set in memory 15
Is transmitted from the personal computer 4 to the proxy server 13
The URL is always updated according to the URL required. Therefore, the URL specified by the client unit 14 to the proxy server 13 is the final URL accessed by the personal computer 4.

In the memory 15, a timing 17 at which the client unit 14 is automatically started together with the URL 16 is recorded. Then, the activating unit 18 interprets the timing 17 set in the memory 15 and activates the client unit 14, so that a file existing at a predetermined address on the Internet can be downloaded at that timing.

The file data downloaded from the Internet 1 by the client unit 14 is supplied to a data creation unit 20. The data creation unit 20 includes a decoding unit 21. In this decoding unit 21,
If the HTML file was downloaded, its H
Decode TML and link to HTM
It requests the client unit 14 for resources such as L and images, and as a result, obtains all resources necessary for printout and creates image data to be printed out. This image data is supplied to the job data creation unit 24. The job data creation unit 24 has a function as a conventional printer driver, and converts image data into job data that can be interpreted by the print control circuit 31. Further, even when the downloaded file is a file such as GIF or JPEG, the job data creation unit 24 converts data included in the file into job data that can be interpreted by the print control circuit 31.

The data creation unit 20 further has a function 22 for writing the downloaded file 26 as it is or after appropriately converting it into the file storage area 25 of the memory 15. In addition, when a predetermined number of files are written to the file storage area 25, a read function 23 for reading and editing the files is provided.
In the printer 10 of the present embodiment, the reading function 23 reads the file 26 recorded in the file storage area 25
In the case of image information such as, for example, a function of reducing (compressing) the content into a thumbnail and creating job data aggregated into one or several pages is also provided. The data edited by the reading function 23 is sent to the job data creation unit 24 and converted into job data.

The job data created by the job data creation unit 24 or the job data received from the personal computer 4 connected to the second interface is supplied to the print control circuit 31. The print control circuit 31 interprets the data based on the job information included in the job data, and finally outputs the data to the printing mechanism 32 as binarized drawing data. As a result, the printing mechanism 32 prints out an image based on the job data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of a process for accessing the Internet among the processes performed by the printer 10 of the present embodiment.

First, in step 51, it is determined whether the personal computer 4 is connected to the second interface 12. Next, in step 62, it is determined whether or not the data transmitted from the personal computer 4 is job data for printing. If the data is job data, the job data is printed in step 60. That is, the same processing as that of the conventional printer is performed.

On the other hand, if the web browser is running on the computer and the URL is output, at step 52,
The proxy server unit 13 establishes and relays a connection with a WWW server on the Internet according to the URL output from the personal computer. When the connection is established, the URL is stored in the memory 15 in step 53.
Is stored as a URL used by the client unit 14.

In step 51, when the browser is not running on the personal computer, or when the personal computer 4 is not connected to the printer 10, the printer 10 itself operates as a client. First, in step 54, it is determined whether it is time to connect to the Internet. This determination is made based on the timing set in the memory 15. When connecting to the Internet, for example,
Minute or hour unit (interval), predetermined date and time,
The time, or the time when the printer 10 is activated, may be considered. Of course, these may be combined and set.

At a predetermined timing, the client unit 14 starts up, and outputs the URL set in the memory 15 to the proxy server unit in step 55 to establish a connection. Then, the file at the location specified by the URL is downloaded by the specified means. In step 56, the file 26 downloaded by the printer 10 is stored in the file storage area 25.
If it is set to accumulate before processing
In step 57, the downloaded file is written to the file storage area 25. Then, when a predetermined number of files are accumulated in the storage area 25 in step 58, the accumulated files are read out to create job data in step 59. That is, after accessing the Internet a predetermined number of times, the work of editing and collecting the information obtained during that time is performed in step 59. The collected information is converted into job data and printed at step 60.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the output. For example, if the weather forecast is periodically acquired and accumulated, it is possible to see the change of weather within a predetermined period such as one day or one week.

On the other hand, if it is set in step 56 that the downloaded file is to be printed without being stored, the job data is created from the downloaded file in step 61 and supplied to the print control circuit 31. To print its contents immediately.

As described above, the printer 10 of the present embodiment becomes a client by itself and has a predetermined URL on the Internet.
And print out the data present there. Therefore, only with the printer 10,
It is possible to access information on the Internet without using a personal computer or another communication device such as a Web TV, and to print out the contents.
Therefore, with the printer 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to construct a minimally configured system for printing out information on the Internet, and it is possible to obtain information on the Internet very inexpensively and easily.

When a plurality of personal computers are used for one printer at home, the same resources are cached and used. For this reason, traffic generated via the TA 8 is reduced, so that communication costs can be reduced.

Further, since the printer 10 of this embodiment can set the timing for connecting to the Internet, it is possible to periodically print out information such as news or weather forecast provided on the Internet. Further, the source of the information can be appropriately selected according to the user's preference. Therefore, by using the printer 10 of this example, a system in which information from an information source selected by the user is automatically distributed can be easily constructed.

Further, the printer 10 of this embodiment has a function as a proxy server, and an address accessed via the proxy server is automatically set. For this reason, the user can actually see and select the information to be output from the printer 10 on the web browser of the personal computer 4, and the address is automatically set in the printer 10. Also does not occur. Therefore, anyone can easily select information to be output by the printer 10.

In this embodiment, the address accessed by the printer 10 is the last address accessed by the web browser, but, of course, the address may be set by another method. For example,
The address may be set as an address to be accessed by the printer 10 while accessing with a web browser.

For example, if a switch for storing an address is prepared in the local panel of the printer 10, the switch is operated and registered in a bookmark while a desired homepage or the like is being accessed by a web browser. The homepage address can be set in the memory 15 of the printer in the same manner as described above. A plurality of addresses may be set in the printer 10 by such a method, and the information of the homepage of the plurality of addresses may be periodically printed out. However, this method
The method of deleting the address registered in the printer needs to be easy, so that the configuration of the local panel and the operation for setting the address are complicated. For this reason, the cost of the printer 10 may increase and the printer may be somewhat difficult to use.

Of course, it is possible to set an address to be accessed by the printer 10 directly from the personal computer 4. In this case, the printer 10
It would be desirable to have a function as a P server so that it can be operated on a web browser running on the personal computer 4. However, providing such a function causes an increase in cost.

Although the printer 10 of this embodiment is provided with a function for storing downloaded files and a storage area, it is needless to say that this can be omitted, and the cost can be further reduced. Also, without providing a large-capacity cache for downloading, the print control circuit 3
It is also possible to print out information on the Internet by dividing and downloading a file in units within the capacity of one printer RAM, and repeating printing and downloading. With such a printer, the memory capacity can be minimized, and a very low-cost printer can print out desired information from information on the Internet.

The printer shown above is merely an example of the present invention, and is not limited to this. Of course, the connection to the Internet may be made via a dedicated line or via a LAN, and information on other computer networks such as an in-house LAN can also be obtained in a similar manner. Furthermore, each component of the printer is
Of course, any means having the same function can be replaced. Further, control of the printer can be realized by a suitable control configuration such as a suitable CPU, microcode or state machine.

Of course, it is also possible to connect the second interface of the printer to a device such as a Web TV which replaces a personal computer, and the same effects as described with the personal computer can be obtained. Further, it goes without saying that the second interface of the printer may be a LAN interface so that the printer can be connected to a home LAN or the like.

[0045]

As described above, according to the printer of the present invention and the control method thereof, information on a computer network such as the Internet can be obtained without using a personal computer or a Web TV directly by using the printer alone. Can be output. Therefore, information on the network can be printed out by a very low-cost system. Further, by setting the timing of connection to the network, it is possible to obtain an effect that an automatic distribution system can be constructed. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a printer that allows a wide range of users to easily use information on a network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic system using a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of the printer shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output result of a printer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a general system for acquiring information from the Internet.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Internet 8 Terminal adapter 10 Printer 11 Network connection interface (first interface) 12 Personal computer connection interface (second interface) 13 Proxy server unit 14 Client unit 15 Memory 16 URL (Universal) Resource
e Locator) 17 Timing 18 Automatic activation unit 20 Data creation unit 21 Decoding unit 22 Storage unit 23 Reading unit 24 Job data creation unit 25 File storage area 31 Printing control circuit 32 Printing mechanism

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A means for storing a location on a computer network, a means for connecting to a computer network and acquiring a file from the location, and creating job data for printing from a file obtained via the computer network. And a means for printing the job data. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the means for acquiring the file accesses the location at a predetermined timing. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the means for creating the job data comprises: means for storing a file obtained via a computer network; and creating job data for a plurality of files stored in the storing means. And a printer. 4. A printer according to claim 3, wherein said means for creating job data of said plurality of files creates job data in which display contents of said plurality of files are reduced and consolidated. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for connecting a personal computer; and proxy server means for connecting to the computer network on behalf of the personal computer. A printer, wherein the proxy server stores an address connected on behalf of a personal computer. 6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the means for storing the location stores an address to which the proxy server means connected last on behalf of a personal computer. 7. A method for connecting to a computer network and accessing a location stored in a memory, obtaining a file from the location, and creating job data for printing from a file obtained via the computer network. And a step of printing the job data. 8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of determining an access timing before the step of accessing. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of creating the job data includes the steps of: storing files obtained via a computer network; and when the number of stored files reaches a predetermined number, A step of creating job data whose display contents are reduced and consolidated. 10. The printer control method according to claim 7, further comprising: a step of functioning as a proxy server of a personal computer; and a step of storing, in the memory, a location connected as a proxy server of the personal computer. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of storing the location in the memory includes storing a last location connected as a proxy server.