JP2001199138A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer system which can resume printing without requiring removing papers by a user's input to change a transfer path when a printer in the middle of printing is jammed. SOLUTION: When the printer 115 in the middle of printing is jammed, the printer 115 notifies a host computer 112 of an event of generation of the jam. A printer monitor 120 monitoring a state of the printer 115 displays usable transfer paths by a list, so that the user selects the transfer path to be used in place of the jammed path. The selected result is transmitted as a command to the printer 115. The transfer path is changed inside the printer 115.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer system including at least one printer and a host computer device, and more particularly to a manual operation by a user when a jam occurs in a printer during printing. The present invention relates to a printer system in which reduction in processing executed on a host computer device side and reduction in the frequency of print interruption due to occurrence of a jam are considered.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printer system including at least one printer and a host computer device, when a jam occurs in a printer during printing, the printer interrupts a printing operation. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-71988 discloses a technique in which, when a jam occurs, print data that cannot be printed out is managed by the host computer. However, in this conventional example, the process of storing the remaining print data as a file in the host computer device is performed, and the number of processes on the host computer device increases, and the load on the host computer device increases. There was a problem.

In order to cope with such a situation at the time of occurrence of a jam, a printer is managed on a network or the purpose of clearing the jam is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-7-141125, 8-22
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 1232, 10-301726, and 11-20277 disclose Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 10-301726 and 11-20277. In the above conventional example, the above object is achieved based on notifying a user or an administrator of a jam occurrence event. However, JP-A-7-14
1125, JP-A-8-221232, JP-A-10-301726, and JP-A-11-20
In the related art disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 277, a manual operation by a user is required to clear the jam.

[0004]

Accordingly, the first aspect of the present invention is as follows.
The purpose of the present invention is that, when a jam occurs in a printer during printing, if there is another transport path on which the paper can be transported other than the location where the jam has occurred in the printer, the user performs a change input of the transport path, An object of the present invention is to provide a printer system capable of restarting printing without requiring an operation of removing paper.

[0005] A second object is that when a jam occurs in a printer during printing, and when there is another conveyance path in the printer other than the place where the jam has occurred, the user can perform printing. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer system capable of restarting printing by inputting continuation without requiring the user to select another available transport path.

Further, a third object is that when a jam occurs in a printer during printing, and when the transport path cannot be changed by the same printer, printing is performed by another printer connected on the network. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer system capable of reducing the frequency of interrupting printing by inputting an instruction for continuation by a user and performing switching output using another printer.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is provided with at least one printer and a host computer device, wherein the printer is configured to convey paper at the time of print output. In a printer system having a jam detecting unit that detects the occurrence of a jam in a path, when the printer detects the occurrence of a jam in the sheet conveying path by the jam detecting unit, the printer generates a jam occurrence event and a list of other available sheet conveying paths. To the host computer device, the host computer device receives the event and the paper transport path list transmitted from the event / paper transport path list transmitting device, and the user Display means for displaying a paper transport path list so that an operation can be selected; and a display means for displaying the list. When the user selects and inputs a paper transport path to be changed and used from the paper transport path list based on the paper transport path list, the paper transport path selected and input from the paper transport path as the paper transport path to be used in the printer. And a command transmitting means for transmitting a command for changing the command to the printer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system comprising at least one printer and a host computer device, wherein the printer has a jam detecting means for detecting the occurrence of a jam in a sheet conveying path at the time of print output. When the printer detects the occurrence of a jam in the paper transport path by the jam detection unit, the printer indicates a jam occurrence event and a sheet indicating another available one automatically selected from the paper transport paths provided in the printer. An event / paper transport path information transmitting means for transmitting the transport path information to the host computer; the host computer receiving the event and the paper transport path information transmitted from the event / paper transport path information transmitting means; , Whether to change to the paper transport path information and the paper transport path indicated by the paper transport path information and continue printing Display means for displaying options for asking the user, and when the user inputs printing continuation with reference to the transport path information, the paper transport path to be used by the printer is changed from the paper transport path information to the paper transport path information. And a command transmission means for transmitting a command for changing the paper transport path to the printer to the printer.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the invention described above, when a paper jam occurs in the paper feed port of the printer, the command transmitting means transmits a command for switching to another paper feed tray capable of feeding and conveying.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, when a paper jam occurs at the paper discharge port of the printer, the command transmitting means includes:
It is characterized in that a command for switching to another discharge tray that can discharge paper is transmitted.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system comprising a plurality of printers and a host computer device, wherein the printer has a jam detecting means for detecting occurrence of a jam in a sheet conveying path at the time of print output. The printer has an event transmitting means for transmitting a jam occurrence event to the host computer when the jam detection means detects the occurrence of the jam, the host computer receiving the event transmitted from the event transmitting means, Display means for displaying a search result of searching for usable printers from among the printers and options for asking the user whether or not to continue printing. When one of the printers is selected and input to continue printing, A command to transfer the print job to the print output data is stopped to the printer selected input from the printer, and having a command transmission means for transmitting to the printer.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
According to the drawing, the printer system according to the present embodiment includes a host computer device 112 and a printer 115.

The host computer device 112 is connected to the printer 115 and transmits a printer setting command and print data to the printer 115. Also, the printer 115
Is composed of a controller 110, an engine unit 108, a panel device 110, a disk device 114, and the like.

The configuration of the controller 100 in the present embodiment is as follows. 101 is a program ROM
The CPU controls the entire controller 100 in accordance with a program stored in the controller 104, a mode instruction from the panel device 110, and a command from the host computer device 112. An IC card 102 supplies font data and programs from the outside. Reference numeral 103 denotes a nonvolatile storage device that stores the contents of a mode instruction from the panel device 110, and is, for example, an NVRAM. 1
A program ROM 04 stores a control program for the controller 100.

A font ROM 105 stores font pattern data and the like. 106 is CPU1
No. 01, a work memory, an input buffer for input data, a page buffer for print data, and a RAM used as a memory for download fonts. 1
An engine interface 07 communicates commands, statuses, and print data with the engine unit 108. Reference numeral 108 denotes an engine unit that actually performs printing.
A panel interface 109 communicates commands and status with the panel device 110.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a current printer 115 to the user.
This is a panel device that informs the status of the device and gives a mode instruction. Reference numeral 111 denotes a host interface that communicates with the host computer device 112.
F and RS232C. 112 is a printer 115
Is a host computer device as a host device. 1
Reference numeral 13 denotes a disk interface for communicating with the disk device 114. 114 is font data,
A disk device that stores various data such as programs and print data, for example, a floppy disk device or a hard disk device.

Next, the output operation of the printer 115 will be described. When the printer 115 receives the data (character data, control code, control command) transmitted from the host computer 112, the controller 10
At 0, the received data is temporarily stored in the input buffer. Next, the data held in the input buffer is taken out, and the data is read for each character on a page-by-page basis such as the head address of the font pattern, the width of the font pattern, the height of the font pattern, and the printing position. Store layout information in page buffer.

When one page of data is stored in the page buffer, the data stored in the page buffer is developed in a bitmap and stored in the frame buffer. When the bitmap development of the data for one page is completed, the engine interface 10
7, a paper feed tray selection command, a paper discharge tray selection command, and a print command are sent to the engine unit 108.
The bitmap data stored in the frame buffer is output as video data.

On the other hand, the engine unit 108 executes paper feeding from a specified paper feeding tray in accordance with a paper feeding tray selection command, a paper ejection tray selection command, and a printing command from the controller 100, and performs printing and specification in accordance with video data. Output to the output tray.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram in the host computer device 2. When printing data, the application 116 uses an OS (operating system).
The intermediate print data unique to the OS created via the interface 117 is sent to the printer driver 118. The printer driver 118 converts the received intermediate data into a printer control command (final print data) unique to the printer 115 and sends it to the print manager 119.

Here, after temporarily spooling the print data, the print manager 119 sends the print data to the printer 11.
5, the print data is transmitted. Here, by temporarily spooling the print data, the print manager 119 has an advantage that the print processing of the application 116 can be completed quickly and the application 116 can be released quickly. Also, the print manager 119 passes through the printer monitor 120,
Information such as printer status can be obtained from the printer 115, and the printer monitor 120 can send items set from the user interface to the printer 115 as commands based on the information obtained from the printer 115.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram when the host computer 112 and a plurality of printers (here, the printer 115 and the printer 115a) are connected via a network. According to the present invention, when a paper jam occurs during printing by the printer 115, if there is no suitable transport path for switching and printing on the transport path provided in the printer 115, the output destination is switched to another appropriate printer 115a. And restart printing.

Next, the operation of the printer system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

When the printer 115 starts printing (step S101), it is sequentially determined whether all print data has been printed and printing has been completed (step S102). If it is determined that all the print data has been printed out (step S102 / YES), the printing ends (step S111). On the other hand, if it is determined that all the print data has not been printed out (step S102 / N
O), it is determined whether or not a jam is detected by a jam detection sensor or the like (step S103).

If it is determined from the detection result that a jam has not been detected (step S103 / NO), the determination in step S102 is performed again. On the other hand, if the printer 115 determines that a jam has been detected based on the detection result (step S103 / YES), the printer 115 stores the jam occurrence event and a list of other transportable transport paths in the printer 115 in the host computer device. 112 (step S104).

The host computer device 112 receives the jam occurrence event and the list of the conveyance paths on the printer monitor 120, and displays a list setting screen so that the user can select the next operation (step S105). With reference to the setting screen, the user can input the setting contents (step S106). Next, it is determined whether or not the user has selected and input a transfer path to be changed (step S
107).

If it is determined that the user has not input the selection of the conveyance path (step S107 / NO), the paper jammed by the user is removed, and the printer 115 stops printing until the jam is cleared (step S10).
8). On the other hand, when it is determined that the user has selected and input the transport path to be changed (step S107 / YE).
S), the printer monitor 120 transmits a command for changing the transport path to the printer 115 (step S1).
09). Specifically, when the transport path can be changed, for example, if a paper jam occurs at the paper feed port, or if the jam occurs at a place where paper can be fed separately from another paper feed tray, printing is resumed when the transport path is switched. If the jam occurs at the paper discharge port, and the jam occurs at a place where the paper can be separately discharged to another discharge tray, the printing can be resumed by switching the conveyance path (step S110).

Therefore, when a paper jam occurs at the paper feed port, if the jam occurs at a place where paper can be fed separately from another paper feed tray, a paper feed tray switching command is transmitted and the printer 115 feeds the paper. Resume printing after changing the paper tip. Further, when a paper jam occurs at the paper discharge outlet, if the paper jam occurs at a place where paper can be discharged separately from another paper discharge tray, a paper discharge tray switching command is transmitted, and the paper discharge destination is changed by the printer 115. And then resume printing.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the printer 115 starts printing (step S201), it is sequentially determined whether all print data has been printed and printing has been completed (step S20).
2). If it is determined that all the print data has been printed out (step S202 / YES), the printing ends (step S211). On the other hand, when it is determined that all the print data has not been printed out (step S202 / NO), it is determined whether a jam has been detected by a jam detection sensor or the like (step S203).

When it is determined from the detection result that no jam has occurred (step S203 / NO), the determination in step S202 is performed again. On the other hand, if it is determined that a jam has occurred (step S203 / YES),
The printer 115 automatically selects the jam occurrence event and one of the other available transport paths in the printer 115 and stores the transport path information in the host computer 11.
2 (step S204). Printer monitor 1
Reference numeral 20 denotes a jam occurrence event, information on a conveyance path automatically selected, and information on the selected conveyance path and an option for asking the user whether to change to this conveyance path and continue printing. Is displayed on the setting screen (step S20).
5) The user can input the setting contents with reference to the setting screen (step S206). Next, it is determined whether or not the user has input an instruction to change the transport path and continue printing (step S207).

If it is determined that the user has not input the continuation of printing (step S207 / NO), the paper jammed by the user is removed, and the printer 115 stops printing until the jam is cleared (step S20).
8). On the other hand, if it is determined that the user has input to continue printing (step S207 / YES), the printer monitor 120 transmits a command for changing the transport path to the printer 115 (step S209). Specifically, when the transport path can be changed, for example, when a paper jam occurs at a paper feed port, when a paper jam occurs at a location where paper can be fed separately from another paper feed tray, printing can be resumed by switching the transport path, Further, when the paper jam occurs at the paper discharge port, if the paper jam occurs at a place where the paper can be separately discharged to another paper discharge tray, the printing can be resumed by switching the transport path (step S210).

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When the printer 115 starts printing (step S301), it is sequentially determined whether all print data has been printed and printing has been completed (step S30).
2). If it is determined that all the print data has been printed out (step S302 / YES), the printing ends (step S313). On the other hand, when it is determined that all the print data has not been printed out (step S302 / NO), it is determined whether a jam has been detected by a jam detection sensor or the like (step S303).

If it is determined from the detection result that a jam has not been detected (step S303 / NO), the determination in step S302 is performed again. On the other hand, when it is determined that a jam has occurred (step S303 / YE).
S), the printer 115 transmits a jam occurrence event to the host computer device 112 (step S30).
4). The printer monitor 120 receives this event, searches for another printer that can be used on the network (step S305), and asks the user about the search result and whether or not to continue printing on another printer. The options are displayed on the setting screen (step S306), and the user can input the setting contents with reference to the setting screen.

When the user selects another printer (eg, printer 115a) to which the output is to be changed based on the search result (step S307), the user is prompted to change to another printer and continue printing. Is determined (step S308). If it is determined that the user has not changed the printer to continue printing (step S308 / NO), the user removes the jammed paper, and the printer 115 continues printing until the jam is cleared. Stop (step S30)
9). On the other hand, when an input to change the printer and continue printing is made (step S308 / YE
S), the printer monitor 120 transmits to the printer 115 a command to transfer the print job, the printing of which has been stopped by the printer 115, to the printer 115a (step S310).

In response to this command, the printer 115 sends the data of the print job, which has stopped printing, to the printer 1.
15a. The printer 115a prints out the data of the portion where printing has been stopped in this print job (step S312).

[0037]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when a paper jam occurs in a printer during printing, a transport path capable of transporting the paper to a location other than the location where the paper jam occurs in the printer is provided. In this case, printing can be resumed by the user inputting a change in the transport path without the need to remove the paper. Further, at the time of the jam, the user can select whether to switch the transport path and continue printing.

Further, according to the present invention, when a paper jam occurs in a printer during printing, if there is another transport path on the printer other than the location where the paper jam has occurred, the user can perform printing. By entering continuation,
Printing can be resumed without the user having to select another available transport path. At this time, the user
It is possible to know where paper is fed and where paper is discharged.

Further, according to the present invention, when a jam occurs in a printer during printing, and when the transport path cannot be changed by the same printer, printing is performed by another printer connected on the network. When the user inputs an instruction to continue, switching output is performed using another printer, so that the frequency of interrupting printing can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram in the host computer device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a network in which a host computer device and a plurality of printers are connected in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printer system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printer system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 controller 101 CPU 102 IC card 103 NVRAM 104 program ROM 105 font ROM 106 RAM 107 engine interface 108 engine 109 panel interface 110 panel device 111 host interface 112 host computer device 113 disk interface 114 disk device 115, 115a printer 116 application 117 OS 117 Printer driver 119 Print manager 120 Printer monitor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printer system comprising at least one printer and a host computer device, wherein the printer has a jam detecting means for detecting the occurrence of a jam in a paper transport path at the time of print output. An event / paper transport path list transmitting means for transmitting a jam occurrence event and a list of other available paper transport paths to the host computer device when the jam detection means detects the occurrence of the paper transport path jam; The host computer device receives the event and the paper transport path list transmitted from the event / paper transport path list transmitting unit,
Display means for displaying the paper transport path list so that the user can select the next operation; and, based on the paper transport path list displayed on the display means, a change destination from the paper transport path list When a paper transport path is selected and input by the user, a command for changing the paper transport path to the selected and input paper transport path as a paper transport path to be used in the printer is transmitted to the printer. A printer system comprising transmitting means. 2. A printer system comprising at least one printer and a host computer device, wherein the printer has a jam detecting means for detecting occurrence of a jam in a paper transport path at the time of print output. When the occurrence of a jam in the paper transport path is detected by the jam detection unit, a paper jam indicating an event of the occurrence of the jam and another available paper sheet automatically selected from the paper transport paths provided in the printer. And an event / paper transport path information transmitting unit for transmitting path information to the host computer device. The host computer device transmits the event and the paper transport path transmitted from the event / paper transport path information transmitting unit. Information, and a paper transport path indicated by the paper transport path information and the paper transport path information Display means for displaying options for asking the user whether to change and continue printing, and when the user inputs printing continuation by referring to the transport path information, the printer A printer system, comprising: a command transmitting unit that transmits, to the printer, a command for changing the paper transport path to be used from the paper transport path to the paper transport path indicated by the paper transport path information. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a paper jam occurs at a paper feed port of said printer, said command transmitting means transmits a command for switching to another paper feed tray capable of feeding and conveying paper. Or the printer system according to 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a paper jam occurs at a paper discharge port of said printer, said command transmission means transmits a command for switching to another discharge tray capable of discharging paper. 3. The printer system according to any one of 3. 5. A printer system comprising a plurality of printers and a host computer device, wherein the printer has a jam detecting means for detecting occurrence of a jam in a paper transport path at the time of print output. When the occurrence of a jam is detected by the jam detecting means,
An event transmitting unit that transmits an event of a jam occurrence to the host computer device, the host computer device receives the event transmitted from the event transmitting unit, and generates an available one of the plurality of printers. Display means for displaying the searched search result and an option for asking the user whether to continue printing, and the user refers to the search result and selects one of the available printers A command for transmitting, to the printer, a command to transfer a print job, the print output of which has been stopped by the printer, to the selected and input printer, when the input is performed and an input indicating that printing is to be continued is made. A printer system comprising transmitting means.