JP2001080167A - Printing apparatus, information-processing apparatus, method for controlling them, and information-recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a function equivalent to a real time clock by setting a time request process part and a time receipt process part, requesting an information-processing apparatus connected to a printing apparatus to transmit time information, and receiving time information transmitted by the information- processing apparatus. SOLUTION: When a CPU 104 of a printer 101 detects it necessary to obtain time information from a host computer 150 by some reason, the CPU 104 requests the host computer 150 to transmit the present time information via an interface 102. When receiving the request, the host computer 150 obtains the present time information from a real time clock by a built-in CPU by a predetermined accuracy, and transmits the obtained time information to the printer 101 in a form of a time set command. The CPU 104 receives the time set command and stores time information included in the time set command to a time memory region in a RAM 103.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and an information recording medium. In particular, by transmitting information on the current time to a printing device that does not have a real-time clock for acquiring the current time, a function equivalent to the real-time clock can be realized by the printing device. Printing device, information processing device, control method thereof, and
The present invention relates to an information recording medium on which a program for realizing these is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printing device (printer) is widely used as a device for printing characters and figures on a printed material such as paper. Such a printer is connected to an information processing device (host computer), and the host computer transmits data for printing characters and graphics and data for controlling the printer itself to the printer. On the other hand, the printer can transmit data such as its own status to the host computer.

In such a printer, ink is used to print characters and figures. Ink jet printers use replaceable ink tanks, and dot impact printers and thermal transfer printers use replaceable ink ribbons. Information such as the time when these ink supply units are replaced and the service life are important as information for cost reduction and maintenance / operation of the printer.

[0004] In addition, printers use consumables such as print heads and paper cutters, and as with the ink supply unit, they can be used for maintenance and operation if information such as the time of replacement can be obtained. Necessary advice can be provided to the user.

Conventionally, in order to obtain such information on the time of replacement, the actual time, that is, the information of the date, month, day, hour, minute, and second at a desired point in time is obtained by a printer with a predetermined accuracy (for example,
It has been common to incorporate a real-time clock that can be obtained in days, hours, minutes, seconds, etc.). The flash EEPRO provided with the ink supply unit management information (for example, color or black and white, how many prints, and the standard remaining life), and the time when the ink supply unit was attached to the printer.
M (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only M
The information is stored in a non-volatile storage device such as emory), and when the information is needed, the information is transmitted from the printer to the host computer or printed from the printer on paper.

[0006]

However, some printers do not have enough space for downsizing. In these cases, the real-time clock cannot be built into the printer. For this reason, there is a great demand for such a printer to obtain information on the actual time.

Further, since the real-time clock needs to operate even when the power supply of the printer is turned off, from the viewpoint of reducing power consumption, the real-time clock is not incorporated in the There is also a great demand for the information side to obtain information on the actual time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and transmits current time information to a printing apparatus that does not have a real-time clock for acquiring the current time. Accordingly, a printing apparatus, an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, and a printing apparatus capable of realizing a function equivalent to a real-time clock in the printing apparatus.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an information recording medium on which a program for realizing the above is recorded.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the following invention is disclosed in accordance with the principle of the present invention.

[0010] A printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a time request processing unit;
A time reception processing unit, wherein the time request processing unit requests the information processing device connected to the printing device to transmit time information, and the time reception processing unit determines the time transmitted by the information processing device. To receive the information.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention can further include an elapsed time measuring section and a current time section, and the elapsed time measuring section is provided after the time receiving processing section receives the time information. The elapsed time is measured, and the current time output unit is configured to calculate and output the current time information from the time information received by the time reception processing unit and the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement unit. can do.

In this configuration, for example, time information is obtained from the information processing device only once when the power of the printer is turned on, and the information is stored in a RAM (Random Access Memory) or flash memory.
The stored time is stored in a storage device such as an EPROM, and the elapsed time is measured by a counter or the like provided in the printer. Therefore, it is not necessary to inquire the information processing apparatus many times.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention further comprises a time request processing control unit and a current time output unit, and when the time request processing control unit determines that information on the current time is necessary, Request the request processing unit to send time information,
The current time output unit can be configured to output the information on the time received by the time receiving unit.

In this configuration, the time information is obtained from the information processing device every time the current time needs to be known. Therefore,
It is not necessary to provide a counter for measuring the elapsed time.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention further includes a storage unit and a notification processing unit, and the storage unit stores the time information output by the current time output unit and the management information of the printing apparatus. The notification processing unit can be configured to notify the time information and the management information stored in the storage unit.

The notification processing unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
The information processing apparatus may be configured to be notified by transmitting the time information and the management information to the information processing apparatus.

The notification processing unit of the printing apparatus according to the present invention includes:
The time information and the management information can be configured to be notified by printing.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a time request reception processing section, a current time acquisition section, and a time information transmission processing section, and the time request reception processing section includes a printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus. The current time acquisition unit receives the request for transmitting the time information to be transmitted, and the current time acquisition unit acquires the current time information when the time request reception processing unit receives the request for transmitting the time information. The unit transmits the current time information acquired by the current time acquisition unit to the printing device.

Further, the information processing apparatus of the present invention further comprises:
An information reception processing unit may be provided, and the information reception processing unit may be configured to receive time information transmitted by the printing apparatus and management information of the printing apparatus.

According to the control method of a printing apparatus of the present invention, a time requesting step for requesting the information processing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus to transmit time information is provided. Receiving the time.

Further, the control method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention further comprises an elapsed time measuring step of measuring an elapsed time after receiving the time information in the time receiving step, and a measuring step of the time received in the time receiving step. A current time output step of calculating and outputting current time information from the information and the elapsed time measured in the elapsed time measurement step may be provided.

In this configuration, for example, time information is obtained from the information processing device only once when the power of the printer is turned on, and the information is stored in a storage device such as a RAM or a flash EEPROM. Measure the time. Therefore, it is not necessary to inquire the information processing apparatus many times.

Further, the control method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention further determines whether or not the current time information is necessary, and if so, executes a time request step, and executes a time request step. A current time output step of outputting information of the time received in the time receiving step.

In this configuration, every time it is necessary to know the current time, time information is obtained from the information processing device. Therefore,
It is not necessary to provide a counter for measuring the elapsed time.

Further, the printing apparatus control method of the present invention further comprises a storage step of storing the time information output in the current time output step and management information of the printing apparatus, and a time stored in the storage step. And a notification step of notifying the information and the management information.

Further, the notification step of the printing apparatus control method of the present invention can be configured to notify the information processing apparatus by transmitting time information and management information to the information processing apparatus.

Further, the notifying step of the control method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention can be configured so that the time information and the management information are notified by printing.

According to the control method of an information processing apparatus of the present invention, a time request receiving step of receiving a request for transmission of time information transmitted by a printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus; When a request for information transmission is received, the method includes a current time acquisition step of acquiring information of the current time, and a time information transmission step of transmitting the information of the current time acquired in the current time acquisition step to the printing apparatus. .

Further, the control method of the information processing apparatus of the present invention can be configured to further include an information receiving step of receiving information on a time transmitted by the printing apparatus and management information of the printing apparatus. .

The printing apparatus and information processing apparatus of the present invention and a program for realizing these control methods are stored in an information recording medium such as a compact disk, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a digital video disk, a magnetic tape, and a semiconductor memory. Can be memorized.

Further, a program for controlling the printing apparatus and the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is written in WWW (World Wide WWW).
eb), the program can be updated by downloading the program from the server computer as appropriate and stored in the printing device or the information processing device, and the printing device or the information processing device can execute the program.

[0032]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The embodiments described below are for explanation, and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art can adopt embodiments in which each of these elements or all elements are replaced with equivalents, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

(Printing Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing apparatus (printer) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The printer 101 is connected to the host computer 1
50 and an interface 102 for transmitting and receiving data.

When the host computer 150 transmits data, the interface 102 receives the data, and
A receive buffer in AM 103 stores this data.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10
4 interprets the data stored in the reception buffer and, if this is a print command, stores the print image in the RAM 10.
3, the print processing unit 105 including a print head, a platen, a paper feed mechanism, and the like is operated at a predetermined timing such as when the print buffer becomes full, and prints characters and figures on paper.

The ink supply unit 106 for supplying ink to the print head of the print processing unit 105 is replaceable, and the CPU 104 can obtain information on whether or not the ink supply unit 106 has been replaced.

The printer 101 requests the time information from the host computer 150 as necessary, and obtains the current time information as a response, so that the actual time of replacement of the ink supply unit 106 can be known. This time information can be temporarily stored in the time storage area in the RAM 103.

If the printer 101 is configured to measure the elapsed time from the time when the time information is received from the host computer 150 by the counter 107,
The number of time inquiries to the host computer 150 can be reduced.

The counter 107 is, for example, a CPU 1
The elapsed time is measured by integrating the number of clocks necessary for operating the 04. In this case, when time information is received from the host computer 150, the CPU
104 can clear the counter 107 and restart the integration from the beginning.

The counter 107 may be configured as a dedicated electronic circuit, or may increase the value of the counter area in the RAM 103 by using the clock interrupt generated by the CPU 104 at every predetermined clock. The processing may be performed by an interrupting process.

Thus, the counter 1 shown in FIG.
07, the above two methods can be adopted as a method for obtaining the current time. If the counter 107 cannot be provided due to cost or space limitations, an embodiment may be employed in which the host computer 150 is inquired about the time each time the time information is needed.

The flash EEPROM 108 stores the date and time of replacement of the ink supply unit 106, management information of the ink supply unit 106 (whether it is black and white or color, how many times it has been printed, how long it is estimated that it will last, etc.). )
Is stored in a nonvolatile manner. These pieces of information are transmitted to the host computer 150 via the interface 102 and are used as maintenance information of the printer 101.

The management information can be printed by operating the print processing unit 105.

For the sake of explanation, the ink supply unit 106 is taken as an object to be managed. However, as other objects to be managed, a cutter blade for cutting paper, a print head, or the like may be added or the object to be managed may be changed. Is easy. If there are multiple managed objects, flash EEP
What is necessary is just to provide an area for each management object in the ROM 108.

Each unit operates under the control of the CPU 104. The control program is stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory).
mory) 110, and the CPU 104 sequentially executes the programs stored in the ROM 110 from power-on. The program stored in the ROM 110 can be appropriately upgraded.

Here, the interface 102 is
U 104 functions in cooperation with U 104 to function as a time request processing unit, a time reception processing unit, and a notification processing unit.
In cooperation with PU 104, it functions as an elapsed time measuring unit,
The CPU 104 functions as a current time output unit in cooperation with the RAM 103 and the counter 107.
Functions as a time request processing control unit, and the flash EE
The PROM 108 functions as a storage unit, and the print processing unit 105 functions as a notification processing unit.

It should be noted that a flash EEPROM is used as a storage unit.
Instead of the OM 108, a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk or a floppy disk can be used. Further, the host computer 150 connected via the interface 102 can be used as a storage unit. These embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

The ROM 110 functions as an information recording medium on which a program for controlling the printing apparatus is recorded.

(Information Processing Apparatus) FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As the information processing device of the present invention, various information processing devices such as a general-purpose business computer, a portable terminal, a register, and an accounting system can be adopted. By causing these information processing apparatuses to execute the program stored in the information recording medium of the present invention, the information processing apparatus of the present invention can be realized.

Information processing device (host computer) 15
0 is controlled by the CPU 202. CPU 2
02 is the printer 10 via the interface 203.
1 and communicate with each other. The CPU 202 uses the RAM 204 as a temporary storage area such as a buffer required for communication.

An initial loader program (Initial Program Loader) executed by the CPU 202 when the power is turned on is RO.
M 205. The initial loader program is stored in the hard disk 206 or the floppy disk 2 as appropriate.
07 and the like stored in the information storage medium of the present invention into the RAM 204,
Runs.

The user inputs an instruction from an input device 208 such as a keyboard or a mouse, and responds to the instruction.
No. 01 prints characters and figures and notifies management information. The management information transmitted by the printer 101 can be displayed on a display device 209 such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal display.

The current time (year / month / day / hour / minute / second) can be obtained from the real time clock (RTC) 210 of the host computer 150 with a predetermined accuracy. The RTC 210 has a battery backup, such as a battery or a large-capacity capacitor, separately from the power supply of the host computer 150 itself.

When the printer 101 requests the current time information via the interface 203, the CPU 202 acquires the current time information from the RTC 210 and sends this information via the interface 203 to the printer 101. Send to

For requesting the time information by the printer 101, for example, an ASB (Auto Status Back) function as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-137358 can be used. That is, whether or not the printer 101 is requesting time information is transmitted to the host computer 150 depending on whether or not a predetermined bit of a register assigned by ASB is set.

The host computer 150 checks this bit and transmits information on the current time to the printer using a normal command or a real-time command defined as follows. The following is the time setting command of the printer, where "0x" is a prefix indicating a hexadecimal number, "0" to "0".
9 'means an ASCII code corresponding to the numeral.

0x1b 0x ● '1''9''9''9''0''5''
0 '' 1 '' 1 '' 9 '' 2 '' 3 '' 3 '' 4 'This command sets the printer time to 19:23:34 on May 1, 1999.

The printer 101 stores the received time in the RAM
103 or the like. When there is no counter 107, this value can be directly used as information on the current time. When the counter 107 is used, the counter 107 is cleared when this value is received, and the current time information can be obtained by adding the time accumulated by the counter 107 to the time information stored in the RAM 103. it can.

The time setting command may be transmitted from the host computer 150 without a request from the printer 101. In this case, a time setting command is transmitted from the host computer 150 for each predetermined transaction (for example, for each page to be printed or for each job).

Here, the interface 203
In cooperation with U 202, it functions as a time request reception processing unit, a time information transmission processing unit, and an information reception processing unit.
10 functions as a current time acquisition unit in cooperation with the CPU 202.

The hard disk 206 and the floppy disk 207 function as an information recording medium on which a program for controlling the information processing apparatus of the present invention is recorded.

(Embodiment of Time Information Communication Processing) FIG. 3 shows a flow of time information communication processing in which information on the current time is exchanged between the printer 101 shown in FIG. 1 and the host computer 150 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows.

When the CPU 104 of the printer 101 detects that it is necessary to obtain the time information from the host computer 150 for some reason, this processing is started. The following reasons can be considered as triggers for the start of this processing.

When the power of the printer 101 is turned on. Especially when there is a counter 107.

When the printer 101 is reset.
Especially when there is a counter 107.

When the value of the counter 107 exceeds a predetermined value. This is based on the measurement error of the counter 107, and is a case where the time information stored in the RAM 103 is refreshed according to the allowable error.

The ink supply unit 1 in the printer 101
06 has been exchanged and needs to be stored in the flash EEPROM 108 with management information, current time information. Particularly, there is no counter 107.

First, the CPU 104 executes, for example, ASB
Using the function, a request is made to the host computer 150 via the interface 102 to transmit information on the current time (step S301).

When the host computer 150 receives a request for information on the current time via the interface 203 (step S302), the CPU 202
Information on the current time (year, month, day, hour, minute, second) is acquired from 210 with a predetermined accuracy (step S303).

Further, the time information acquired from the RTC 210 is transmitted to the printer 101 via the interface 203 in the format of the time setting command described above (step S304).

When the printer 101 is the interface 102
When a time setting command is received via the
305), the CPU 104 stores the time information included in the time setting command in the time storage area in the RAM 103 (step S306), and ends this processing.

The time setting command may be realized as a real-time command (a command interpreted by a reception interrupt generated by the interface 102) or a normal command (from the data stored in the reception buffer in the RAM 103 to the CPU 104). May be realized as commands which are interpreted sequentially. The former has higher accuracy of the time information, but the interrupt processing needs to be completed in a short time, so that it is possible to determine which command is to be adopted due to hardware limitations of the printer itself. .

(First Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a counter initialization process executed in the printer 101 when the printer 101 has the counter 107. This process is started when the power of the printer 101 is turned on or when the printer 101 is reset.

First, the CPU 104 executes the above-described time information communication processing (steps S301 to S301 shown in FIG. 3).
306) (step S401), and the RAM 1
The time information transmitted from the host computer 150 is stored in the time storage area 03.

Next, the CPU 104 operates the counter 10
7 is reset to start integration (step S40).
2), end this processing.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the current time output process executed in the printer 101 after the counter initialization process shown in FIG. 4 is completed. In this process, information on the current time is obtained on the printer 101 side,
The information is stored ("output") in the RAM 103. Note that “output” can be considered to be performed on a register included in the CPU 104.

First, the CPU 104
The time information T stored in the time storage area is obtained (step S501).

Next, the CPU 104 sets the counter 10
The value s integrated to 7 is obtained (step S502).

Further, based on the time information T obtained in step S501, the value s obtained in step S502, and the integration cycle t of the counter 107 set in advance, the CPU 104 determines the current time n. It is calculated by the following equation (step S503).

N = T + s × t Finally, the CPU 104 compares the obtained time n with the CPU
The data is output by being stored in a register in the RAM 104 or a predetermined area in the RAM 103 (Step S
504).

The time n can be obtained with high accuracy by adding the following processing to this processing. That is, it is determined whether or not the value s obtained in step S502 is larger than a predetermined value. If it is larger, the counter is initialized (steps S401 to S402).
And then returns to step S501.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment, the printer 10
1 does not use the counter 107 or the counter 107
This can be applied when not provided. That is, the time information communication process (steps S301 to S306) described with reference to FIG. 3 may be performed instead of the current time output process of the first embodiment. Then, RAM 1
The current time information is output to the time information area in 03
Will be done.

(Application of Current Time Output Processing) The CPU 1 performs the current time output processing of the first and second embodiments.
04 can obtain information on the current time. Using this time information, for example, the ink supply unit 10
6, such as the replacement time of the ink supply unit 106
The information can be stored in the flash EEPROM 108 together with the above information. FIG. 6 shows an example of the area allocation of the flash EEPROM 108 in this manner.

The flash EEPROM 108 has an area 601 for storing date and time information when the ink supply unit 106 is mounted, an area 602 for storing the type of the ink supply unit, and an amount of use of the ink supply unit. An area 603 for storing the data and an area 604 for storing a value that predicts how long the ink supply unit can be used are prepared.

Further, by providing a plurality of these areas, the use history of the ink supply unit can be stored in the printer 10.
1 may be stored in a nonvolatile manner.

The information is transferred to the host computer 150.
, Or by driving the print processing unit 105 to perform printing on paper or the like. Since a known technique can be used for handling such management information, detailed description thereof is omitted in this application.

[0088]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

First, by transmitting information on the current time to a printing apparatus that does not have a real-time clock for acquiring the current time, a function equivalent to the real-time clock is realized by the printing apparatus. Printing apparatus, information processing apparatus, and control method thereof.

Further, the current time is obtained by the printing device,
For example, information such as the date and time of replacement of the ink supply unit is stored in a printing device in a nonvolatile manner together with the management information of the unit, and this information is used by an information processing device connected to the printing device or printed by the printing device itself. Thus, information necessary for maintenance, operation, and improvement of the printing apparatus can be obtained.

Further, the information recording medium on which the program is recorded can be easily distributed or sold as a software product independently of the hardware of the printing apparatus. When the program recorded on the information recording medium of the present invention is executed by a printing device, the printing device, the information processing device, and the control method thereof according to the above invention can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of time information communication processing executed by the printing apparatus and the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a counter initialization process executed in the first embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a current time output process executed in the first embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of area allocation of a flash EEPROM according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 printer 102 interface 103 RAM 104 CPU 105 print processing unit 106 ink supply unit 107 counter 108 flash EEPROM 110 ROM 150 host computer 202 CPU 203 interface 204 RAM 205 ROM ROM 206 hard disk 207 floppy disk 208 input device 209 display device 210 RTC 601 start of use Date / time area 602 Type area 603 Usage area 604 Expiration date prediction value area

Claims (25)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising: (A) a time request processing unit that requests the information processing device connected to the printing device to transmit time information; and (b) a time reception processing unit that receives time information transmitted by the information processing device. . 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: (C) an elapsed time measuring unit that measures an elapsed time after the time reception processing unit receives the time information; and (d) the time information and the elapsed time measurement unit that are received by the time reception processing unit. A current time output unit that calculates and outputs information on the current time from the elapsed time measured by 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: (E) a time request processing control unit for requesting the time request processing unit to transmit the time information when it is determined that the current time information is required; Current time output unit that outputs information. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: (G) a storage unit for storing the time information output by the current time output unit and management information of the printing apparatus; and (h) notifying the time information and management information stored in the storage unit. Notification processing unit. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the notification processing unit notifies the information processing apparatus by transmitting time information and management information to the information processing apparatus. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the notification processing unit notifies by printing time information and management information. 7. An information processing apparatus comprising: (A) a time request reception processing unit that receives a request for transmission of time information transmitted by a printing device connected to the information processing device; and (b) the time request reception processing unit requests transmission of time information. And (c) a time information transmission processing unit that transmits the current time information acquired by the current time acquisition unit to the printing apparatus. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: (D) an information reception processing unit that receives information on the time transmitted by the printing apparatus and management information on the printing apparatus. 9. A method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising the following steps. (A) a time requesting step for requesting the information processing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus to transmit time information; and (b) a time receiving step for receiving time information transmitted by the information processing apparatus. 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the following steps. (C) an elapsed time measuring step for measuring an elapsed time after receiving the time information in the time receiving step; and (d) a time information received in the time receiving step and measuring in the elapsed time measuring step. A current time output step of calculating and outputting information of the current time from the elapsed time. 11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the following steps. (E) determining whether or not information on the current time is necessary, and if so, controlling the time request processing to execute the time request step; and (f) determining the time received in the time receiving step. Current time output step to output information. 12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the following steps. (G) a storage step of storing the time information output in the current time output step and the management information of the printing apparatus; and (h) notifying the time information and management information stored in the storage step. Notification step. 13. The control method for a printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the notification step notifies the information processing apparatus by transmitting time information and management information to the information processing apparatus. 14. The printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said notifying step notifies by printing time information and management information. 15. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising the following steps. (A) a time request receiving step of receiving a request for transmitting time information transmitted by a printing device connected to the information processing apparatus; and (b) receiving a request for transmitting time information in the time request receiving step. If so, a current time obtaining step for obtaining current time information; and (c) a time information transmitting step for transmitting the current time information obtained in the current time obtaining step to the printing apparatus. 16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the following steps. (D) an information receiving step of receiving time information transmitted by the printing apparatus and management information of the printing apparatus. 17. An information recording medium having recorded thereon a program for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising the following steps. (A) a time requesting step for requesting the information processing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus to transmit time information; and (b) a time receiving step for receiving time information transmitted by the information processing apparatus. 18. The information recording medium according to claim 17, further comprising the following steps. (C) an elapsed time measuring step for measuring an elapsed time after receiving the time information in the time receiving step; and (d) a time information received in the time receiving step and measuring in the elapsed time measuring step. A current time output step of calculating and outputting information of the current time from the elapsed time. 19. An information recording medium recording a program according to claim 17, further comprising the following steps. (E) determining whether or not information on the current time is necessary, and if so, controlling the time request processing to execute the time request step; and (f) determining the time received in the time receiving step. Current time output step to output information. 20. An information recording medium recording a program according to claim 18, further comprising the following steps. (G) a storage step of storing the time information output in the current time output step and the management information of the printing apparatus; and (h) notifying the time information and management information stored in the storage step. Notification step. 21. A program for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said notifying step notifies said information processing apparatus by transmitting time information and management information to said information processing apparatus. Information recording medium. 22. The printing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the notifying step notifies by printing time information and management information. 23. An information recording medium recorded with a program for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising the following steps. (A) a time request receiving step of receiving a request for transmitting time information transmitted by a printing device connected to the information processing apparatus; and (b) receiving a request for transmitting time information in the time request receiving step. If so, a current time obtaining step for obtaining current time information; and (c) a time information transmitting step for transmitting the current time information obtained in the current time obtaining step to the printing apparatus. 24. The information recording medium according to claim 23, further comprising the following steps. (D) an information receiving step of receiving time information transmitted by the printing apparatus and management information of the printing apparatus. 25. The information recording medium according to claim 17, wherein the information recording medium is a compact disk, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a digital video disk, a magnetic tape, or a semiconductor memory. Information recording medium on which the program of the above is recorded.