JP2000238384A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printer in which retransmission of a print data is not required even upon occurrence of such a situation as the power supply must be interrupted and thrown in again and a print data already stored in a spool memory can be printed. SOLUTION: A print data received by a host interface 7 from a host unit 1-3 is stored in a spool memory 11 and a management table recording management information, e.g. print conditions of print data, is stored in a nonvolatile memory 12. When power supply is interrupted due to occurrence of some trouble and thrown in again, a CPU 8 reads out the management table stored in the nonvolatile memory 12 and prints out an unprinted data stored the spool memory 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for receiving print data such as figures and characters and performing printing on print paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses which receive print data such as characters and figures by a receiving means and print the data on print paper by the printing means have been used in various fields. In a conventional printing apparatus, print data received by a receiving unit from a host apparatus is temporarily stored in a spool memory sequentially constituted by a random access memory (RAM) or a hard disk (HDD). Then, after being read and subjected to the rasterizing process, the data is printed by a printing unit on a print sheet corresponding to the print data.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus, if any trouble occurs and the power of the printing apparatus is turned off, the print data stored in the spool memory is lost. Therefore, when the capacity of the spool memory also increases (for example, about several hundred MB to 1 GB) with the increase in the print data transmitted from the host device, and a situation occurs in which the power must be shut down when a trouble occurs. However, since the print data stored in the spool memory disappears, it becomes necessary to retransmit a huge amount of print data, which is extremely complicated. In addition, there is a problem that it is not easy to confirm which print data has been printed and the like.

According to the present invention, even in the event that the power must be turned off and turned on again, the transmitted print data need not be retransmitted, and the print data already stored in the spool memory is printed. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of performing processing. Also, the present invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that can easily confirm which print data has been printed.

[0005]

A printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a receiving unit for receiving print data, a spool memory for storing the print data received by the receiving unit, and a printing unit. In a printing apparatus for printing stored print data by the printing means, a storage means for storing management information related to the print data stored in the spool memory; and when the power is turned on again, the unprinted print data based on the management information. And print processing means for outputting to the printing means and performing print processing. When the power is turned on again, the print processing unit outputs the unprinted print data to the printing unit based on the print data management information stored in the storage unit and performs the printing process.

[0006] The print processing means may be configured to output the management information to the print means. At this time,
A first operation unit for instructing output of the management information,
The print processing unit may be configured to output the management information to the print unit in response to the instruction from the operation unit. Further, the processing unit may be configured to receive a management information output request from a host device and output the management information to the printing unit. On the other hand, the print processing unit may be configured to transmit the management information to a host device. At this time, there is provided a second operation unit for instructing the output of the management information, and the print processing unit is configured to transmit the management information to the host device in response to the instruction from the operation unit. You may. Further, the processing means may be configured to receive a management information output request from a host device and output the management information to the host device.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, LA
The N (Local Area Network) cable 4 is connected by buses to host devices 1 to 3 for sending print data such as characters and figures, and a printing device body 5 for receiving and printing the print data. As the LAN, for example, TC
CSMA / CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with P / IP (Transmission Control Protocol))
Collision Detection) method can be used.

[0008] The printing apparatus main body 5 includes a LAN cable 4.
, A central processing unit (CPU) 8 as print processing means for performing processing to be described later, a clock 10, and management for recording management information of print data stored in the spool memory 11. A nonvolatile memory 12 as a storage unit for storing a table and an engine interface 14 are connected by a bus 13. The CPU 8 includes a CPU
8 is stored in a read-only memory (RO)
M) 9, a first operating unit for instructing the CPU 8 to print out the management information to the printer engine 6 and a LAN
An operation panel 15 also serving as second operation means for instructing the CPU 8 to transmit the management information to the host devices 1 to 3 via the cable 4 is connected.
Incidentally, the spool memory 11 can be constituted by various storage media such as a flash ROM or an HDD. Further, the printing apparatus main body 5 is connected to a printer engine 6 as printing means by an engine interface 14. The printer engine 6 includes a print sheet supply / discharge device, a printing mechanism, and the like, and has a function of printing print data from the printing apparatus main body 5 on a corresponding print sheet.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a management table stored in the non-volatile memory 12. As the management information of the print data recorded in the management table, the port number that received the print data (this is the host device 1-3) ), The date and time when the print data was received from the host devices 1 to 3, the file name of the received print data, the output date and time when the print data was printed out, and the output indicating that the print output was completed. There is a completion flag. The file name of the print data is recorded only when the file name is transmitted from the host device 1 to 3. Note that a single host device can use a plurality of input ports. In this case, the port number and the host device do not have a physical one-to-one correspondence.

FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing the processing of the CPU 8. FIG. 3 is a print data receiving process (task 1), FIG. 4 is a print data output process (task 2), and FIG.
Indicates a process (task 3) when the power is turned on again.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, in the print data receiving process, as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 8 determines whether or not print data has been received (step S301).
If not received, this process is repeated. Host device 1
When the print data is received by the host interface 7, the CPU 8 determines that the print data has been received, stores the print data in the spool memory 11 (step S302), and receives the print data. The management information in the management table such as the port number and the reception date and time is updated (step S303), and thereafter, the above operation is repeated.

Next, when print processing is performed on the print data stored in the spool memory 11, as shown in FIG.
First, it is determined whether print data is stored in the spool memory 11 (step S401). If print data is not stored, this process is repeated. If the print data is stored in the spool memory 11, the stored print data is analyzed and rasterized, and output to the printer engine 6 via the engine interface 14 (step S403). In the printer engine 6, printing is performed on print paper corresponding to the print data.

Next, the output completion flag of the print data for which the print processing has been completed is set to "1", the output date and time when the print processing has been completed is recorded with reference to the clock 10, and the management table is updated (step S1). S404). Thereafter, the print data stored in the spool memory 11 and subjected to the print processing is deleted (step S405). Thereafter, the above operation is repeated.

Next, when a trouble occurs for some reason and the power is turned off and turned on again, the processing shown in FIG. 5 is performed. That is, first, the management table stored in the non-volatile memory 12 is searched (step S501), and it is determined whether there is any unoutput data that has not been subjected to the printing process (step S502). If there is unprinted print data, the print processing shown in FIG. 4 is performed on the unprinted print data stored in the spool memory 11 (step S).
503). If there is no unoutput data in the spool memory 11 in step S502, the process ends.

On the other hand, when an instruction to print a management table is input by operating the operation panel 15, the CPU
Reference numeral 8 reads the management table stored in the nonvolatile memory 12 and outputs the management table to the printer engine 6 via the engine interface 14. As a result, the management table is printed by the printer engine 6 in the format shown in FIG. 2, and it is possible to easily confirm which print data has been printed or not printed by the printed management table. Become. At this time, an instruction is input through the operation panel 15 to print the management table relating only to unprinted print data, and the CPU 8 responds to this by searching for print data whose output completion flag is not “1”. Alternatively, the management table for only the unprinted print data may be printed.

When the user inputs an instruction to transmit the management table by operating the operation panel 15, the CPU
8 reads the management table stored in the non-volatile memory 12 and reads the host interface 7 and the LAN cable 4
, The management information may be transmitted to the host devices 1 to 3. As a result, each of the host devices 1 to 3 can confirm which print data has been transmitted to the printing device, or which print data has been completely printed, and the like. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the print data that has already been transmitted is retransmitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
A printing device that includes a host interface for receiving print data, a spool memory for storing print data received by the host interface, and a printer engine, and prints the print data stored in the spool memory by the printer engine , A non-volatile memory 12 for storing management information relating to print data stored in a spool memory 11, and when the power is turned on again, the unprinted print data is output to a print engine 6 based on the management information to perform print processing. It is characterized by comprising the CPU 8, so that even in the event that the power must be turned off and turned on again, the host device 1
It is not necessary to retransmit the print data from the print data to the print data, and the print data already stored in the spool memory 11 can be continuously printed. Therefore, it is not necessary to retransmit the print data transmitted from the host apparatuses 1 to 3 before the power supply of the printing apparatus is turned off, and the time for transmitting the print data is saved. In particular, the effect is more significant when an extremely large amount of print data is transmitted recently.

The management information is stored in the printer engine 6.
The first operation means for instructing the CPU 8 to print out to the host device and the second operation means for instructing the CPU 8 to transmit the management information to the host devices 1 to 3 via the LAN cable 4 The CPU 8 includes a panel 15,
Since the management information is output to the print engine 6 or the host devices 1 to 3 in response to the instruction from the operation panel 15, which print data has been printed or which print data has been transmitted from the host device It is possible to easily confirm whether or not the printing has been performed, and it is possible to easily manage the completion or incomplete printing of the print data. Here, the CPU 8 automatically prints out the management information to the printer engine 6 when the power is turned on again without receiving the respective instructions from the operation panel 15 or via the LAN cable 4. The management information may be transmitted to the host devices 1 to 3.

In this embodiment, the operation panel 15 is operated to input an instruction to transmit a management table. However, when an output request of management information is received from the host devices 1 to 3, The CPU 8 reads the management table stored in the non-volatile memory 12 and transmits the management information to the host devices 1 to 3 via the host interface 7 and the LAN cable 4 or outputs the management information to the print engine 6. It may be configured as follows. Further, the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment
The effect is great when applied to a printing apparatus with a single input port, but a greater effect can be obtained when applied to a printing apparatus with multiple input ports. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to various printing apparatuses such as a printer apparatus and a plotter apparatus.

[0020]

According to the present invention, even in the event that the power must be turned off and turned on again, there is no need to retransmit the print data, and the print data already stored in the spool memory can be used. It becomes possible to print. Also, it is easy to confirm which print data has been printed.

[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 diagram showing a management table used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-3: Host device 5: Printing device main body 6: Printer engine as printing means 7: Host interface as receiving means 8: CPU as printing processing means 9: ROM DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Clock 11 ... Spool memory 12 ... Non-volatile memory as a storage means 15 ... Operation panel as a 1st, 2nd operation means

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a receiving unit for receiving print data; a spool memory for storing the print data received by the receiving unit; and a printing unit. The printing unit prints the print data stored in the spool memory. In the printing apparatus, a storage unit for storing management information on print data stored in the spool memory, and when the power is turned on again, the unprinted print data is output to the printing unit based on the management information to perform print processing. A printing apparatus comprising: a print processing unit. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print processing unit outputs the management information to the print unit. 3. A printing apparatus, comprising: first operation means for instructing output of the management information, wherein the print processing means outputs the management information to the printing means in response to the instruction from the operation means. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing unit receives a management information output request from a host device and outputs the management information to the printing unit. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print processing unit transmits the management information to a host device. 6. A printing apparatus, comprising: a second operation unit for instructing output of the management information, wherein the print processing unit transmits the management information to a host device in response to the instruction from the operation unit. The printing device according to claim 5, wherein 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processing unit receives a management information output request from a host device and outputs the management information to the host device.