JP2000187577A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of separately notifying the error contents with a simple configuration. SOLUTION: When data DATA0 to DATA7 are inputted from a host device through a data signal line, a CPU 105 decides whether or not an error occurs, and when the inputted data are an error status selection command '05H', the CPU 105 makes a busy signal BUSY LOW and enables command receiving from the host device. After that, the CPU 105 notifies the host device of the existence/absence of plural errors in a printer in a preliminarily defined and prescribed sequence in response to plural sequentially inputted error output commands 'FFH' from the host device through the data signal line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which prints characters and the like on print paper in response to print data and has a function of notifying an error when an error occurs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus has been used which has a function of printing characters and the like corresponding to print data received from a host apparatus on a print sheet and notifying an error when an error occurs. As a method of inputting print data from the host device to the printing device, an interface of a Centronics specification, a parallel communication method using only necessary signal lines from signals of the Centronics specification, and the like are adopted.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of a conventional printing apparatus using an interface conforming to the Centronics specification. In FIG. 5, when an error occurs in the printing apparatus after performing the printing process of the print data D1, an error signal ERR indicating that the error has occurred in the printing apparatus.
OR is set to a low level (LOW), and a busy signal BUSY indicating inhibition of print data input is set to a high level (HIGH). As a result, the printing apparatus notifies the host apparatus that an error has occurred and prohibition of print data input. After that, even if the host device sets the strobe signal STROBE to LOW and inputs the print data D2 to the printing device, the printing device ignores the print data D2.

[0004]

The above-mentioned interface signals of the Centronics specification include an error signal indicating an error as a signal indicating an abnormal state of the printing apparatus,
There is only a paper empty signal indicating print paper out (no paper). For this reason, the host device recognizes only various errors, such as near-end, voltage error, temperature error, and cutter error indicating a cutter error for cutting the print paper when the remaining print paper is low. It is not possible to recognize that an error has occurred, but it is impossible for the host device to recognize the details of the error. In other methods,
A printing apparatus which does not have a function of notifying the host apparatus of the content of the error but merely has a function of simply notifying the occurrence of the error has the same problem as described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a printing apparatus capable of individually notifying the contents of an error with a simple configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of individually notifying error contents to a host device by using an interface having no function of individually notifying error contents such as Centronics specifications. I have.

[0006]

A printing apparatus according to the present invention performs printing on print paper in response to print data input from a host apparatus via a data signal line, and
In response to an error information request command from the host device, the printing device notifies the host device of the acceptability of the print data using a busy signal, detects an error, and notifies the host device of the error using an error signal. In addition, an error information output means for notifying the presence or absence of a plurality of types of errors in a predetermined order is provided. The error information output means responds to the error information request command from the host device, and notifies whether or not an error has occurred in a predetermined order.

The error information request command includes an error status selection command for notifying the start of a request for error information, and a plurality of error output commands which are input following the error status selection command and request output of presence or absence of an error. The error information output means may be configured to sequentially notify the presence or absence of an error in the predetermined order in response to a plurality of error output commands following the error status selection command.

The error information output means controls a busy signal in response to the error status selection command input via the data signal line to notify that a command can be received. Means, and error notifying means for notifying the presence or absence of a corresponding error in the predetermined order in response to the plurality of error output commands input via the data signal line. Further, the error notifying unit may be configured to notify a corresponding error by controlling an error signal in response to the error output command.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an interface portion of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a central processing unit (CPU) 105
Are input from a host device (not shown) to the print data input terminals D0 to D7.
TA7 is input via a resistor and an 8-bit flip-flop 104 in synchronization with the strobe signal STROBE. Here, the CPU 105 constitutes error information output means for controlling the operation of the entire printing apparatus and outputting error information. Further, the CPU 105 constitutes an error detecting means for detecting an error content together with a plurality of sensors (not shown) for detecting an error state such as out of print paper (out of paper). Although not shown, the CPU 105 transmits print data D from the host device.
It is connected to a print head that prints on print paper in response to ATA0 to DATA7, and is also connected to a motor via a motor drive circuit that feeds the print paper.

The strobe signal STROBE input from the host device is input to the clock input terminal CK of the flip-flop 103, the clock input terminal CK of the flip-flop 104, and the interrupt input terminal INT of the CPU 105 via the inverter 102. The clear signal output terminal BCLR of the CPU 105 is connected to the reset terminal R of the flip-flop 103. Flip-flop 10
3, the set terminal S and the data input terminal D are connected to a power supply Vcc via a pull-up resistor, and the output terminal Q is connected to one input terminal of the OR gate 101. The other input terminal of the OR gate 101 is connected to the busy signal output terminal BSY of the CPU 105. OR gate 1
The output terminal 01 is connected to a host device via a buffer 107, and the buffer 107 outputs a busy signal BUSY.

An error signal output terminal ERR of the CPU 105
Are connected to a host device via a buffer 106, and the buffer 106 outputs an error signal ERROR. The error signal ERROR is a signal indicating whether or not an error has occurred in the printing apparatus. When LOW, it indicates that an error has occurred, and when HIGH, it indicates that it is normal. The outputs of the buffers 106 and 107 and the input of the inverter 102 are each connected to a power supply Vcc via a pull-up resistor.

At the time of initialization, the CPU 105 outputs a LOW pulse from the clear signal output terminal BCLR to reset the flip-flop 103, thereby turning the Q output low.
W, and the busy signal output terminal BSY is set to LOW. The Q output of the flip-flop 103 and the output of the busy signal output terminal BSY of the CPU 105
Is output to the host device as a busy signal BUSY. The busy signal BUSY is a signal indicating whether or not print data can be input. When the signal is LOW, the signal can be input. When the signal is HIGH, input is prohibited.

As the strobe signal STROBE, LOW
When the pulse is input, the falling edge of the strobe signal STROBE is inverted by the inverter 102, and the clock input terminal CK of the flip-flop 103, the clock input terminal CK of the flip-flop 104, and the CPU 10
5 is input as a rising signal to the interrupt input terminal INT. When a rising signal is input to the interrupt input terminal INT of the CPU 105, an interrupt process for data input is started.

As a result, the busy signal BUSY becomes HIGH in synchronization with the fall of the strobe signal STROBE, and the print data DATA0 to DATA7 are stored in the flip-flop 104. At the same time, the CPU 105 is interrupted, and the data input process of the CPU 105 is started. The CPU 105 sets the busy signal output terminal BSY to HIGH in the interrupt processing, and then sets the clear signal output terminal BCL
R outputs a LOW pulse, and the flip-flop 104
, The busy signal output terminal BSY is set to LOW and the busy signal BUSY is set to LOW when the input of the next print data is permitted.

When an error occurs in the printing apparatus, the CPU 105 sets the error signal output terminal ERR to LOW.
At the same time, the host device is notified of the occurrence of the error, and at the same time, the busy signal output terminal BSY is set to HIGH to notify the prohibition of the input of the print data DATA0 to DATA7. In response, the host device responds to the print data DAT.
It operates to stop the output of A0 to DATA7. On the printing apparatus side, when data DATA0 to DATA7 are received via a data signal line at the time of an error, the received signal indicates an error status selection command “05H” and an error status selection command “05H” for notifying the start of an error request. If the signal is other than the error output command “FFH” which is input after “05H” and requests the output of the error information, it operates so as to be ignored. The error status selection command “05H” and the error output command “FFH” constitute an error information request command for requesting the printing device to output error information from the host device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of the CPU 105, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of each error signal output processing (steps S206 to S211) in FIG. FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 2, data DATA0-DA are transmitted from a host device via a data signal line.
When TA7 is input (step S201), it is determined whether or not the error output terminal ERR is LOW, that is, the error signal ERRO.
It is determined whether R is LOW (step S202). If the error signal ERROR is HIGH, no error has occurred, and a printing process, which is a normal data input process, is performed (step S204). Error signal ERROR is L
If it is OW, it is determined whether the input signal is "05H" which is an error status selection command (step S203). At this time, if the data is not "05H", the data is ignored and the error signal ERROR
Is ended in a state where is set to LOW (step S21).
3).

In step S203, when the input data is "05H", the busy signal BUSY is
The status is set to OW and the host device is notified that the command can be received (step S205). Step S
Steps 203 and S205 constitute a command reception notifying unit. Next, the following error state notification processing is performed in a predetermined order. That is, an error signal output process for notifying that there is no paper error (step S20)
6), an error signal output process for notifying a head-up error indicating that the head is up (Step S20)
7), an error signal output processing for notifying a head temperature error state (step S208), an error signal output processing for notifying a voltage error state (step S209), and an error signal output processing for notifying an error state of the print paper cutting cutter (step S209). An error signal output process is performed in the order of step S210) and an error signal output process of notifying a paper near end error indicating that the end of the print sheet is near (step S211). The order is predetermined, and the host device also recognizes the error factor in the order. Here, steps S206 to S211 constitute an error notification unit. Then, after inputting the strobe signal STROBE (step S212), the error signal is set to LOW (step S213), and the process is terminated.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the details of the processing in steps S206 to S211. As shown in FIG. 3, in steps S206 to S211 the input of the strobe signal STROBE is awaited (step S30).
1), determine whether the input data is "FFH",
If the input data is not the error output command “FFH”, the flow shifts to step 213 in FIG. 2 (step S302).

If the input data is "FFH", it is determined whether or not a target error such as out of paper has occurred (step S303). The signal ERROR is set to LOW to notify the host device that the target error has occurred (step S304). If the target error has not occurred, the error signal ERROR is set to HIGH to notify the host device that the target error has not occurred (step S305). After that, the busy signal BUSY
Is set to LOW, and the process ends. Hereinafter, the above-described processing will be described with reference to FIG.
Is performed for each of steps S206 to S211.

An example of the error signal output processing will be described in further detail. When an error status selection command "05H" is input from the host device and then an error output command "FFH" is input sequentially, With all signal lines at HIGH, strobe signal STRO
When BE is set to LOW, the Q output of the flip-flop 103 becomes HIGH, so that the busy signal BUSY
Becomes HIGH. The CPU 105 determines in step S206
When the signal of the data signal line is determined to be “FFH” in the error signal output process (step S30)
2) If the error factor is “paper out”, the error signal E
If RROR is kept LOW, and if there is no paper, the error signal ERROR is set to HIGH and then the busy signal BUSY
To LOW. The host device confirms that the busy signal BUSY has become LOW and outputs the error signal ERROR.
Is high or low to determine whether there is no paper. Thereafter, similar processing is performed for other error factors. If it is determined that the data is not "FFH", the busy signal BUSY is set to HIGH to inhibit the reception, the error signal ERROR is set to LOW, and the error output operation is terminated at that time.

Next, the above-described error signal output processing is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. In FIG.
TA is 8-bit input data input from the host device, and is 8-bit data DATA0 to DAT in FIG.
A7 is supported. Data "05H", "FFH"
Indicates an error status selection command and an error output command, respectively, indicating data carried on the data signal line, and a blank portion indicates that any data may be used. In FIG. 4, when the printing apparatus is in the error state, the error status is output by inputting the error status selection command “05H” despite the busy signal BUSY being HIGH. It can be confirmed by the host device that both the cutter error and the cutter error have occurred. still,
In the present embodiment, “05H” is used as the error status selection command and the error output command “F
Although “FH” is used, the present invention is not limited to this, and various changes can be made.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
In response to print data input from a host device via a data signal line, printing is performed on print paper, and the host device is notified of the acceptability of the print data by a busy signal BUSY, and an error occurs. In a printing apparatus which detects an error and notifies an error by an error signal ERROR, an error information for notifying presence or absence of a plurality of types of errors in a predetermined order in response to an error information request command from the host apparatus. Since it is characterized by comprising output means, it is not necessary to increase the number of signal lines dedicated to error notification, so that it is possible to individually notify the contents of the error with a simple configuration.

The error information request command comprises an error status selection command for notifying the start of a request for error information, and a plurality of error output commands which are input following the error status selection command and request output of presence / absence of an error. The CPU 105 may be configured to sequentially notify the presence or absence of an error in the predetermined order in response to a plurality of error output commands following the error status selection command. Also, the CPU 105
Responds to the error status selection command “05H” input via the data signal line, by controlling a busy signal BUSY to notify that a command can be received (steps S203 and S2).
05) and error notifying means (steps S206 to S211) for notifying the presence or absence of a corresponding error in the predetermined order in response to the plurality of error output commands "FFH" input via the data signal line. Can be provided.

Further, error notifying means (step S20)
6 to S211) can be configured to notify the corresponding error by controlling the error signal in response to the error output command “FFH”. As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is no need to newly provide an interface line for notifying error contents and the like.
Error contents can be individually notified with a simple configuration. In addition, using an interface that does not have the function of individually notifying error details such as Centronics specifications,
Error contents can be individually notified to the host device.

[0026]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus capable of individually notifying error contents with a simple configuration. Further, it is possible to individually notify the host device of the error contents using an interface having no function of individually notifying the error contents such as the Centronics specification.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: CPU as error information output means 103, 104: flip-flop

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for printing on print paper in response to print data input from a host device via a data signal line, and notifying the host device whether or not the print data can be accepted by a busy signal. In a printing apparatus that detects the occurrence of an error and notifies an error using an error signal, in response to an error information request command from the host apparatus, the presence or absence of a plurality of types of errors is determined in a predetermined order. A printing apparatus comprising error information output means for notifying. 2. The error information request command includes an error status selection command for notifying the start of a request for error information, and a plurality of error output commands that are input following the error status selection command and request output of presence / absence of an error. 2. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the error information output unit sequentially notifies the presence or absence of an error in the predetermined order in response to a plurality of error output commands following the error status selection command. apparatus. 3. An error information output means, in response to the error status selection command input via the data signal line, controls a busy signal to notify that a command can be received. Means for notifying the presence or absence of a corresponding error in the predetermined order in response to the plurality of error output commands input via the data signal line. Item 3. The printing apparatus according to Item 2. 4. The error notification means controls an error signal in response to the error output command,
4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a corresponding error is notified.