JP2002111945A - Portable printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the user of a portable telephone to print and output the image data received by means of the telephone then and there. SOLUTION: The portable telephone 1 is connected to the connector 5 of a portable printer through a cable 3 with connector and the printer fetches the image data from the telephone 1 through an interface 7 and stores the data in a memory 9. At this time, a control section 11 composed of a microcomputer detects the connection between the telephone 1 and connector 5 and, at the same time, automatically discriminates the type of the connected telephone 1. When the user of the automatic printer operates a print key 15, the printer sends the data stored in the memory 9 to a printing processing section 17 after converting the data into a prescribed printing format by means of an image processing section 13. Then a printing section 21 composed of the printing processing section 17 and a mechanical engine 19, such as the print head, etc., starts to print the images of graphics, characters, etc., on printing paper based on the image data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable printing apparatus which is connected to a portable telephone and prints image data such as figures and characters from the portable telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the functions of portable telephones have been remarkably improved, and it has become possible to transmit and receive an image including data captured by a digital camera that only makes use of characters. However, since the received image data cannot be stored due to the capacity of the memory built in the mobile phone, the image data once received is erased at the next stage of receiving new image data. Therefore, the only way to keep the received image data is to save it in an external memory or connect it to a personal computer and print it with a printer.

[0003]

By the way, portable telephones are mostly used while going out, and generally, there is no personal computer or external memory at hand, so that they can be easily carried. There is a demand for a device that can print image data received by a mobile phone on the spot and leave the received image as a printed output.

As a technique related to data printing of a mobile phone, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-320977, character data such as a telephone number or an answering machine which is connected to the mobile phone and registered in the mobile phone are disclosed. There has been proposed a method in which voice data such as a message from a service or the like is captured, and these data are printed by a print output unit.

However, according to the publication described in this publication, the print target is limited to a telephone number or an answering machine message, and Web data including an image received by a mobile phone having a recent Internet connection function is printed on the spot. It does not have a function to perform this function, and the received image cannot be left as a printout.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to enable image data received by a portable telephone to be printed out on the spot.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a portable size which is connected to a portable telephone and prints image data such as figures and characters from the portable telephone. In the portable printing device, a connection unit connectable to a mobile phone, a detection unit that detects connection of the mobile phone to the connection unit, and an operation performed by detection of the detection unit to be displayed on a display screen of the mobile phone Shape,
It is characterized by comprising a storage unit that captures and stores image data such as characters, and a printing unit that prints images such as graphics and characters on paper based on the image data stored in the storage unit.

According to such a configuration, when the mobile phone is connected to the connection unit, the connection is detected by the detection unit, and image data is fetched from the mobile phone, and the fetched image data is stored in the storage unit. Then, the image data is printed by the printing unit. Therefore, when an image is received by the mobile phone, by connecting the mobile phone to the connection unit, the received image data can be printed out anytime and anywhere.

At this time, if the portable telephone has an Internet connection function, the image data of the connected Internet Web page can be sequentially printed out using the portable telephone, and the user can print necessary information anywhere. Can be reliably left.

Further, the present invention provides an identification unit for identifying a model of the portable telephone whose connection has been detected by the detection unit, and a method for storing the image data in a format corresponding to the model identified by the identification unit. It is characterized in that it comprises a processing unit for converting the data into a format and sending it to the printing unit.

According to this configuration, even if the types of mobile phones are various, the model of the mobile phone whose connection has been detected by the detection unit is identified by the identification unit, and the format according to the identified model is determined. The image data is converted into a printable format by the processing unit and sent to the printing unit, so that it is possible to support various types of mobile phones.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a key for starting printing is provided, and the printing unit starts printing by operating the key. According to such a configuration, printing of image data can be reliably started by operating the print start key.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the printing section starts printing upon detection of the detection section.
According to such a configuration, since the image data is printed on the condition that the connection of the mobile phone is detected by the detection unit, there is no need to provide a special key for starting printing.
The configuration can be simplified.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the printing unit starts printing in response to a print command output from the mobile phone. According to such a configuration, printing can be started by operating a specific key on the mobile phone side.
There is no need to provide a special key for starting printing, and the configuration can be simplified.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the printing section starts printing with a predetermined set of the paper. According to such a configuration, since printing can be started by setting a predetermined sheet, there is no need to provide a special key for starting printing, and the configuration can be simplified.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a portable telephone 1 is connected to a device-side connector 5 as a connecting portion by a cable 3 with a connector, and a CHTML (Compact Hyp
Image data such as characters and figures in ertext Markup Language (ertext Markup Language) is captured and temporarily stored in a storage unit 9 such as a RAM.

At this time, the control unit 11 composed of a microcomputer or the like connects to the device-side connector 5 of the mobile phone 1 based on, for example, whether predetermined pins of the device-side connector 5 and the connector of the cable 3 are connected to each other. Connection is detected. Such detection processing by the control unit 11 corresponds to a detection unit.

Further, the control section 11 is provided with a function as an identification section for automatically identifying the model of the connected portable telephone 1. More specifically, some connectable mobile phone models are registered in advance in the built-in ROM or the like of the control unit 11, and a code representing the model is obtained from the connected mobile phone 1 by the control unit. The control unit 11 determines whether or not the model code exists in the registered models, thereby enabling model identification.

As shown in FIG. 1, image data obtained from the mobile phone 1 in a format corresponding to the model of the mobile phone 1 identified by the control unit 11 is stored in the memory 9.
By operating the print key 15 for starting printing, the data stored in the memory 9 is converted into a predetermined printing format by the image processing unit 13 and the print processing unit 1
The image such as graphics and characters based on the image data is sent to a print processing unit 17 and a print unit 21 including a mechanical engine 19 such as a paper feed unit and a print head for feeding predetermined paper. Printing is started on the sheet. At this time, the paper is desirably in a roll shape in consideration of a portable size.

Here, the interface 7, the memory 9, the control unit 11, the image processing unit 13, the print key 15, the print processing unit 17, and the mechanical engine 19 are housed in a single portable size apparatus main body 23. ing.

As described above, when the portable telephone 1 is connected to the device side connector 5 by the cable 3 when necessary, the model of the portable telephone 1 is automatically identified, and the image data is taken in from the portable telephone 1. By temporarily operating the print key 15, the image data can be printed on paper by the printing unit 21.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when an image is received by the portable telephone 1, the portable telephone 1
Is connected, the image data received by the mobile phone 1 can be printed out on the spot.

In particular, when the mobile phone has an Internet connection function, image data of the connected Internet Web page can be sequentially printed out using the mobile phone, and the user can print necessary information anywhere. It can be surely left.

In the above embodiment, the print key 1
5 is provided, and printing is started by operating the print key 15. However, it is not always necessary to provide such a print key 15, and the function of the control unit 11 as a detection unit enables Mobile phone 1
The printing may be started on condition that the connection is detected. In this case, it is not necessary to provide a key for starting printing specially, and the effect that the configuration can be simplified can be obtained.

Further, the printing may be started by a print command output from the mobile phone 1 by a predetermined key operation of the mobile phone 1, or a predetermined printing such as a paper dedicated to printing a photograph on the printing unit 21 may be performed. The printing may be started by setting the sheet. In each case,
There is no need to provide a special key for starting printing, and the configuration can be simplified.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0028]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the portable telephone is connected to the connection unit, the connection is detected by the detection unit, and the image data is fetched from the portable telephone. Since the image data is stored in the storage unit and the image data is printed by the printing unit, by connecting the mobile phone to the connection unit when the image is received by the mobile phone,
It is possible to print out the received image data anytime and anywhere.

Further, when the mobile phone has an Internet connection function, the image data of the connected Internet Web page can be sequentially printed out using the mobile phone, and the user can print necessary information everywhere. It is possible to surely leave it.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if there are various types of mobile phones, the type of the mobile phone whose connection has been detected by the detection unit is identified by the identification unit.
Since the image data in a format corresponding to the identified model is converted into a predetermined format that can be printed by the processing unit and sent to the printing unit, it is possible to support various types of mobile phones.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably start printing image data by operating the print start key.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the image data is printed on the condition that the connection of the mobile phone is detected by the detecting unit, so that a key for starting printing needs to be specially provided. Therefore, the configuration can be simplified.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since printing can be started by operating a specific key on the mobile phone, there is no need to provide a special key for starting printing.
The structure can be simplified.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, printing can be started by setting a predetermined sheet, so that there is no need to provide a special key for starting printing.
The structure can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 5 Device side connector (connection part) 9 Memory (storage part) 11 Control part (detection part, identification part) 13 Image processing part 15 Print key 21 Printing part 23 Device main body

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A portable printing device connected to a mobile phone and having a portable size for printing image data such as graphics and characters from the mobile phone, comprising: a connection unit connectable to the mobile phone; A detection unit that detects the connection of the mobile phone to a connection unit; and a storage unit that captures and stores image data such as graphics and characters displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone by operating upon detection of the detection unit. A figure based on the image data stored in the storage unit;
A printing unit for printing images such as characters on paper. 2. An identification unit for identifying a model of the mobile phone whose connection has been detected by the detection unit, and converting the image data into a predetermined format according to the model identified by the identification unit. The portable printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a processing unit that performs processing to send the print data to the printing unit. 3. The portable printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a printing start key, wherein the printing unit starts printing by operating the key. 4. The portable printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit starts printing upon detection of the detection unit. 5. The portable printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit starts printing according to a print command output from the mobile phone. 6. The portable printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit starts printing by setting the paper.