JP2001202211A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer for allowing a user to efficiently select an objective program in the calling or erasing work of programs by a panel operation. SOLUTION: A program managing means 13 judges frequency from the value of a counter counted-up each time a program is called (that is, judges that the frequency is the highest when the value of the counter is the highest, and that the frequency is the lowest when the value of the counter is the lowest), and list-displays the registered programs on a control panel 14 in the order of the higher frequency. Thus, it is possible to simplify the calling or erasing work of the program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer for printing an image on paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When print data stored in a host computer is transmitted to a printer for printing, printing conditions (resolution, paper selection, scaling, output tray selection, printing direction, double-sided printing, offset position, etc.) are determined. You may want to change some of them.

For this reason, many printers have a panel operation section on the apparatus, and the user can change the setting of some printing conditions using the panel operation section.

[0004] In a printer device, the setting of the printing condition changed in this way is usually held in a volatile memory. Therefore, if the emulation is switched or the power is turned off, the print condition settings stored in the volatile memory will be cleared, so printing will be performed the next time the power is turned on or the emulation is started. The setting of the condition returns to the initial value determined by emulation.

However, the user often wants to continue using the changed print condition settings regardless of the timing of switching the emulation or turning on the power again. In such a case, it is necessary to switch the emulation or change the power supply. It is necessary to reset the same printing conditions as before by the panel operation every time re-input, which is troublesome.

For this reason, some printers are further provided with a non-volatile storage device, and the user registers the changed printing condition settings as a program in the non-volatile storage device in accordance with an instruction from an operation panel. Save)
Some of them have a function of calling and using a registered program when necessary, and a function of deleting an unnecessary program. By using this function, the trouble of resetting the printing conditions can be reduced. In addition,
Examples of this type of technology include those described in JP-A-9-131948 and JP-A-11-78168.

[0007]

By the way, when a program registered in such a printer is called or an unnecessary program is deleted, a list of programs already registered is displayed on a panel and used from among them. Conventionally, the user is allowed to select a target program, but conventionally, the order of displaying the program list is an order depending on the convenience of implementation (random as viewed from the user), a registration order, or The numbers assigned for identification at the time of registration, the numbers in the name, and the alphabetical order.

However, the list display in such an order is not very meaningful for a user to select a target program.

The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and a printer which allows a user to select a target program more efficiently in a work of calling or deleting a program by panel operation. It is intended to provide a device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a program, which is a set of emulation printing condition setting values, is registered using a nonvolatile storage device and an operation panel. A non-volatile storage device having a counter area for recording the frequency of use of the program, wherein the program management means includes a program management unit that realizes a function of calling and deleting the program. It is characterized in that the value of the counter is increased each time it is called.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the above object is achieved.
According to the invention described in the first aspect, in the printer device according to the first aspect,
The program management means refers to the counter value of each program when a program is called by an operation from the operation panel, and displays a list on the operation panel in order from the largest counter value. It is.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising:
According to the invention described in the first aspect, in the printer device according to the first aspect,
The program management means refers to the counter value of each program when a program is called by an operation from the operation panel, and displays a list on the operation panel in ascending order of the counter value. It is.

According to the present invention, the frequency of use is determined from the value of a counter which is incremented each time the program is called (the one with the largest counter value is the most frequently used, and the one with the smallest counter value) Is the least frequently used), and by listing registered programs in order of frequency of use,
Make it easier to call and delete programs.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The host computer 1 and the printer device 2 are connected, and the host computer 1
The print data created in step 2 is printed out by the printer device 2.

[0015] The present printer device uses emulation 1
2. An operation panel 14, a host I / F device 15, a nonvolatile storage device 16, a ROM 17, a RAM 18, and a print engine device 19 are connected to a controller device 11 having a program management means 13.

The program management means 13 of the present invention includes a set (hereinafter referred to as a set) of set values of printing conditions (resolution, paper selection, magnification, output tray selection, printing direction, double-sided printing, offset position, etc.) of the emulation 12. A function of registering, calling, and deleting such a program using the nonvolatile storage device 16 and the operation panel 14 is realized. Examples of the nonvolatile storage device 16 include an NVRAM and a hard disk drive.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the present invention. Hereinafter, the control operation of the present invention will be described with reference to steps S1 to S11 shown in FIG. Here, the user transmits print data on the host computer 1 to the printer device 2 via the host I / F device 15 and prints the print data (resolution, paper selection, scaling ratio, output If the user wants to print after changing some of the destination tray selection, printing direction, double-sided printing, offset position, etc., the user gives an instruction to change the printing conditions via the operation panel 14 of the printer device 2.

If the user wants to register (save) the changed print condition set value as a program in the nonvolatile storage device 16, the user inputs a program registration instruction via the operation panel 14 of the printer device 2 (Y in S1). Shall be performed.

Upon receiving the instruction, the printer device 2 holds the changed print condition setting values in a volatile memory such as the RAM 18 and calls up and executes the program management means 13 operating on the controller device 11.

The called program management means 13
The print condition setting values stored in the RAM 18 are copied and stored in the nonvolatile storage device 16 (S2). At this time, a counter area for recording the frequency of use of the program is additionally secured in the storage area of the nonvolatile storage device 16 for storing the set value, and a value of 0 is written as the value of the counter ( S3).

Next, when the user wants to call the previously registered program, the user operates the operation panel 1 of the printer 2.
It is assumed that an instruction to call a program (Y in S4) is made via the program No. 4. In the printer device 2 which has received the instruction, the program management means 13 operating on the controller device 11
Call and execute.

The called program management means 13
For all programs stored in the non-volatile storage device 16, refer to the counter value of each program,
Operation panel 1 in ascending order of the counter value
The list of programs (or identification numbers, etc.) is displayed as a list in S4 (S5), and the user is prompted to make a selection.

Then, for the program finally selected by the user, the set values of the printing conditions stored in the non-volatile storage device 16 are copied to the RAM 18 (S
6). At this time, the value of the counter of the program is increased by one and written (S7).

Next, when the user wants to delete the previously registered program, the user operates the operation panel 14 of the printer 2.
Command to delete a program (Y in S8). Upon receiving the instruction, the printer device 2 calls and executes the program management means 13 operating on the controller device 11.

The called program management means 13
For all programs stored in the non-volatile storage device 16, refer to the counter value of each program,
Operation panel 1 in ascending order of the counter value
4 displays a list of programs (or identification numbers, etc.) in a list (S9), and prompts the user to make a selection.

Then, with respect to the program finally selected by the user, the set value (area for printing) of the printing condition stored in the nonvolatile storage device 16 is deleted (S10).
At this time, the counter value (area for the program) of the program is also erased (S11).

[0027]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, in calling a program from the operation panel, the most frequently used program (the most frequently called program), that is, the most likely to be selected. Since the list is displayed from the highest program, the possibility that the target program can be selected and called faster than before is increased, and the operation efficiency is improved.

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, when deleting a program from the operation panel, the program which has been used the least frequently (the number of times of calling is small),
That is, since the list of the programs most likely to be selected is displayed, the possibility that the target program can be selected and deleted earlier than before is increased, and the operation efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer 2 Printer device 11 Controller device 12 Emulation 13 Program management means 14 Operation panel 15 Host I / F device 16 Nonvolatile storage device 17 ROM 18 RAM 19 Print engine device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer device comprising program management means for realizing a function of registering, calling, and deleting a program, which is a set of print condition setting values of emulation, using a nonvolatile storage device and an operation panel, The non-volatile storage device has a counter area for recording the frequency of use of the program, and the program management means increases the value of the counter each time each program is called. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the program management means refers to a counter value of each program when the program is called by an operation from an operation panel, and the counter value is the largest. A printer device that displays a list on an operation panel in order from the first. 3. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the program management means refers to a counter value of each program when the program is called by an operation from an operation panel, and the counter value is the smallest. A printer device that displays a list on an operation panel in order from the first.