JP2004082401A - Printer, print system, control method of printer, control program of printer and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer and a print system in which a print efficiency can be enhanced by utilizing a memory efficiently according to the use, and to provide a control method and a program of the printer and a recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: A host interface block 201 specifies an interface from which data is received and delivers specification results to a jam recovery control block 202. The jam recovery control block 202 confirms jam recovery information stored in a nonvolatile memory 109. When a jam recovery processing is set effectively, a memory controller 203 decreases the memory area and the like being used for the work of a storage buffer 208 to ensure a storage buffer area before starting normal jam recovery processing. When the jam recovery processing is set ineffectively, the memory controller 203 uses the storage buffer 208 as the work area or any other work area thus enhancing the print efficiency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing device, a printing system, a printing device control method, a printing device control program, and a recording medium suitable for application to a network or the like to which a higher-level external device or the like is connected.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A page printer connected to a higher-level external device such as a personal computer via a network prints one page at a time when one page of print data sequentially sent from the network is completed. As this type of printing apparatus, there is an apparatus using a thermal head, an ink jet, or the like. Here, an electrophotographic printer will be described as an example.
[0003]
The electrophotographic printer includes a controller, an engine unit, and an engine controller. The controller is connected to a higher-level external device such as a workstation or a personal computer via a network or the like, receives print data from the higher-level external device, edits the print data, creates edited print data, and further has an engine unit. Processing is expanded to an image data format that allows printing. The edited print data has a data configuration including character code data and control data, and is converted into image data represented by a pixel matrix composed of dots of a predetermined resolution by a development process.
[0004]
The engine controller controls the engine unit based on the image data developed by the controller. The engine unit includes a printing drum or the like, and performs printing on printing paper based on image data input from the engine controller. As a light emission system of the engine unit, a laser system, an LED system, a liquid crystal shutter system, a plasma display system, and the like are known.
[0005]
In this type of printing apparatus, a printing failure such as a jam, running out of toner, or a simple mechanical failure may occur during printing.In such a case, the printing apparatus stores print data stored in a page buffer memory or the like. It has been erased. For this reason, the printing apparatus employs a jam recovery method in which print data is stored in a main memory in advance, and printing is restarted based on the stored data after recovery from a failure. By using the jam recovery method, printing can be performed without receiving print data again from a higher-level external device.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described jam recovery method, in the case of a printing apparatus that performs high-speed double-sided printing or the like, since a plurality of sheets exist in the sheet traveling path, edited print data for a plurality of pages corresponding to the plurality of sheets is copied. There is a need for a page buffer memory for double storage. Therefore, such a printing apparatus also has a disadvantage that it is very expensive because a large capacity is also required for the main memory.
[0007]
In addition, when performing jam recovery within a small main memory capacity, it is necessary to reduce the memory area used for work and secure a memory area for storing saved data for jam recovery. It may not be able to be used for printing and may hinder the printing process.
[0008]
Further, in the conventional printing apparatus, the setting of the jam recovery process cannot be set for each interface with the higher-level external device. For this reason, even when the user prints relatively close to the printer device and does not require much jam recovery processing, such as via a bidirectional parallel interface, the user needs to print away from the printer device via a network or the like to perform jam recovery processing. In this case, it is necessary to use the printing apparatus under the same settings.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a printing apparatus, a printing system, and a control method of a printing apparatus that can efficiently use a memory according to an application and improve printing efficiency. To provide a control program for a printing apparatus and a recording medium.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The printing apparatus according to the first invention of the present application includes one or more interfaces, a specification unit that specifies an interface to which print data has been input from the one or more interfaces, and a specification unit that specifies the interface. Reading means for reading information indicating which interface has been set, and jam recovery information indicating whether the jam recovery processing set to the specified interface is valid or invalid, and a jam read by the reading means. And control means for controlling the execution of jam recovery processing according to the recovery information.
[0011]
A printing system according to a second invention of the present application is a printing system having one or more higher-level external devices and a printing device connected to each other by a network, wherein the printing devices each include the one or more higher-level external devices. One or more interfaces to which a device is connected, a specification unit for specifying an interface to which print data has been input from the one or more interfaces, and an interface specified by the specification unit Means for reading jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface, and jam recovery according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means. And control means for controlling the execution of the processing.
[0012]
The control method of the printing apparatus according to the third invention of the present application is a step of specifying an interface to which print data has been input from among one or two or more interfaces, and an interface specified by the specifying unit. Reading jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface, and performing jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading unit. Controlling the execution of the program.
[0013]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control program for a printing apparatus, comprising: a computer that specifies, from one or more interfaces, an interface to which print data is input; and an interface specified by the specifying unit. And a read procedure for reading jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface, and a jam recovery information read by the reading unit. And a control procedure for controlling the execution of the jam recovery processing in response to the control procedure.
[0014]
The computer-readable recording medium according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium comprising: a specification step of specifying, from one or more interfaces, an interface to which print data has been input; A reading procedure for reading information indicating an interface, and jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface; and jam recovery information read by the reading unit. And a control program for controlling the execution of the jam recovery processing in accordance with the control program, and a control program of the printing apparatus for executing the control.
[0015]
In the present invention, setting of the jam recovery information is possible for each interface. Therefore, by setting the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery processing according to the necessity of the jam recovery processing, it is possible to efficiently use the memory according to the application. As a result, printing efficiency is improved.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a printing apparatus, a printing system, a printing apparatus control method, a printing apparatus control program, and a recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0017]
A printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a controller, an engine unit, and an engine controller. The configurations of the engine unit and the engine controller are the same as those of the related art. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller unit of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0018]
The controller unit 103 provided in the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is connected to the host external device 101 via the interface 102. The controller unit 103 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 104, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 105, an ASIC (Application Specific IC) 106, and a CPU 107. The controller unit 103 further includes a setting unit 108 and a nonvolatile storage device 109.
[0019]
The interface 102 is a serial interface such as a so-called RS232C, a bidirectional parallel interface, or a LAN interface such as IEEE802.3 or IEEE802.5. The DRAM 105 is a main storage device used for storing input data, a work storage area, and the like. An ASIC (Application Specific IC) 106 is an application-specific IC for receiving print data created by a host external device and outputting a video signal to the printer engine based on the print data. The CPU 107 is a central processing unit that controls the entire printing apparatus, and sequentially reads and executes programs from a ROM (read only memory) 104 that stores work procedures (control programs) for the entire printing apparatus. The setting unit 108 is provided with, for example, an operation screen. Through the setting unit 108, the user sets the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery process. The nonvolatile storage device 109 stores information set via the setting unit 108.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the DRAM 105 and the ASIC 106 in FIG. The DRAM 105 includes a reception buffer 207, a storage buffer 208, a drawing memory 209, and a bitmap memory 210. The ASIC 106 includes a host interface block (specifying unit) 201, a jam recovery control block (reading unit) 202, a memory controller (control unit) 203, a drawing block 204, a dot image forming block 205, and a video interface block 206. .
[0021]
The host interface block (specification unit) 201 captures print data from the higher-level external device 101 via the interface 102, and outputs information on which interface the print data has been received to the jam recovery control block 202. The received print data is stored in the reception buffer 207 of the DRAM 105 via the memory controller 203.
[0022]
The drawing block 204 analyzes the print data stored in the reception buffer 207 and converts the print data into a drawing command so that image processing can be performed by hardware. Font data required for the conversion is supplied from a font storage unit (not shown). The converted drawing command is stored in the drawing memory 209 of the DRAM 105 via the memory controller 203.
[0023]
The dot image formation block 205 forms an image of a drawing command stored in the drawing memory 209 by hardware, and develops it into a bitmap in page units or band units. The expanded bitmap data is stored in the bitmap memory 210 of the DRAM 105 via the memory controller 203.
[0024]
Upon receiving the bitmap data stored in the bitmap memory 210, the video interface block 206 converts the bitmap data into a video signal and sends it to the printer engine 211. Depending on the configuration of the printer engine 211, the printing device is classified into a laser beam printer, an inkjet printer, a thermal printer, a dot impact printer, and the like. In the present embodiment, the printer engine 211 may have any configuration. .
[0025]
The jam recovery control block 202 grasps from which interface 102 the print data is received based on the information output from the host interface block 201. The memory controller determines whether or not to use the storage buffer 208 for the jam recovery processing based on the jam recovery information of the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery processing which is set in advance for each interface and stored in the nonvolatile storage device 109. 203 is set. For an interface for which the jam recovery processing is set to be valid, the memory area or the like using the storage buffer 208 as a work is reduced to secure a reception buffer area, and normal jam recovery processing is executed. On the other hand, for an interface for which the jam recovery processing is set to be invalid, the storage buffer 208 is used as a work area or another work area to increase printing efficiency.
[0026]
Here, details of the setting mechanism regarding the enable / disable of the jam recovery process for each interface will be described with reference to FIG.
[0027]
The setting of the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery process can be executed via an operation screen provided in the setting unit 108. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the operation screen. As shown in FIG. 3, on this operation screen, for example, operation buttons 301 and 302 for enabling / disabling the jam recovery process for the RS232C interface (local interface) and the LAN interface (network interface) are displayed. .
[0028]
Through the screen shown in FIG. 3, the user sets the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery process for each interface. The information indicating the validity / invalidity is stored in the non-volatile storage device 109 as jam recovery information, and is referred to when selecting the use of the storage buffer 208.
[0029]
Next, an operation of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment configured as described above (a method of controlling the printing apparatus) will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrated in FIG. A program according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the ROM 104, and the following control method can be realized by activating the program.
[0030]
First, the user (processing executor) sets the enable / disable of the jam recovery process for each interface via the setting unit 108. This setting data is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 109.
[0031]
Thereafter, the CPU 107 checks whether there is data received from the higher-level external device 101, that is, whether print data has been output from the higher-level external device 101 (step S401). At this time, if there is received data, the received data is captured by the host interface block 201.
[0032]
Next, the host interface block 201 specifies the interface from which the data is received, and then outputs the specified result to the jam recovery control block 202. The jam recovery control block 202 is set by the processing executor in advance, and from the jam recovery information on the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery setting for each interface stored in the nonvolatile storage device 109, the jam recovery information for the specified interface. Is confirmed (step S402).
[0033]
As a result of this confirmation, when the jam recovery processing is set to be valid, the memory controller 203 reduces the memory area or the like of the storage buffer 208 used for work, secures the storage buffer area, and performs normal jam processing. A recovery process is performed (Step S403).
[0034]
On the other hand, when the jam recovery processing is set to be invalid, the memory controller 203 uses the storage buffer 208 as a work area or another work area to increase printing efficiency (step S404).
[0035]
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to set the enable / disable of the jam recovery process for each interface with the higher-level external device. Therefore, the jam recovery process is enabled only for higher-level external devices that need high jam recovery processing, and the jam recovery process is disabled for high-level external devices that do not require high jam recovery processing. By doing so, it becomes possible to efficiently use the memory according to the application. As a result, printing efficiency is improved.
[0036]
In addition, even in a printing apparatus that requires a large main memory to perform double-sided printing or the like, the memory can be efficiently used when performing the jam recovery using the main memory of a predetermined capacity. It is.
[0037]
In the above embodiment, the setting unit 108 is provided in the printing apparatus itself as shown in FIG. 1, but the setting unit is not provided in the printing apparatus itself, and the printing apparatus can communicate with the printing apparatus via an interface. A setting unit (external setting means) may be provided in the information processing device thus set. In other words, the user may enable / disable the jam recovery process via the information processing device. In such a case, the jam recovery information from the information processing device is transmitted to the printing device. The valid / invalid setting of the jam recovery process is stored in the non-volatile storage device 109 via the host interface block 201 in association with the interface type.
[0038]
The print data may include a setting for enabling / disabling the jam recovery process according to the type of the interface. In such a case, the validity / invalidity of the jam recovery processing is not set in advance, and when the print data is transmitted from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus, the jam recovery information is transmitted together with the print data. The input is input to the host interface block 201, and thereafter, the jam recovery information of the enable / disable of the jam recovery processing for each interface type is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 109.
[0039]
Various local interfaces and network interfaces can be used as the interface.
[0040]
Embodiments of the present invention can be realized by a computer executing a program. Further, means for supplying the program to the computer, for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM in which the program is recorded, or a transmission medium such as the Internet for transmitting the program is also applied as an embodiment of the present invention. Can be. Further, the above-described program can also be applied as an embodiment of the present invention. The above programs, recording media, transmission media, and program products are included in the scope of the present invention.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, enable / disable of the jam recovery process can be set for each interface. Therefore, by setting the jam recovery process to be valid / invalid according to the necessity of the jam recovery process, the memory can be efficiently used according to the application. For this reason, printing efficiency can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller unit of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a DRAM 105 and an ASIC 106 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen for performing a setting relating to enable / disable of a jam recovery process.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
101: host external device 102; interface 103; controller 104; ROM
105; DRAM
106; ASIC
107; CPU
108; setting unit 109; nonvolatile storage device 201; host interface block 202; jam recovery control block 203; memory controller 204; drawing block 205; dot image forming block 206; video interface block 207; Drawing memory 210; Bitmap memory 211; Printer engine

Claims (13)

One or more interfaces;
Specifying means for specifying an interface to which print data has been input, from among the one or more interfaces;
Reading means for reading information indicating which interface is specified by the specifying means, and jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface;
Control means for controlling execution of jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means,
A printing device comprising: The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store jam recovery information set for each of the interfaces. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit configured to externally set jam recovery processing information for each of the interfaces. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein jam recovery information is set for each of the interfaces from an information processing apparatus capable of communicating therewith. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more interfaces include at least one selected from the group consisting of a local interface and a network interface. In a printing system having one or more higher-level external devices and a printing device connected to each other by a network,
The printing device,
One or more interfaces to which the one or more higher-order external devices are connected, respectively;
Specifying means for specifying an interface to which print data has been input, from among the one or more interfaces;
Reading means for reading information indicating which interface is specified by the specifying means, and jam recovery information indicating validity / invalidity of jam recovery processing set for the specified interface;
Control means for controlling execution of jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means,
A printing system comprising: The printing device,
A drawing block that converts the print data into a drawing command so that image processing can be performed by hardware;
A dot image forming block for developing the drawing command into bitmap data to be actually printed,
A video interface block for converting the bitmap data into a video signal and transmitting the video signal to a printer engine;
The printing system according to claim 6, comprising: The printing system according to claim 6, wherein the printing apparatus includes a storage unit configured to store jam recovery information set for each of the interfaces. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein the printing apparatus includes a setting unit configured to externally set jam recovery processing information for each of the interfaces. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein the information processing apparatus includes an external setting unit configured to set jam recovery information for each of the interfaces. Identifying an interface to which the print data has been input, from among one or more interfaces;
Reading information indicating which interface is specified by the specifying means, and jam recovery information indicating whether the jam recovery process set to the specified interface is valid / invalid;
Controlling the execution of jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means,
A method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising: On the computer,
A specifying procedure for specifying, from one or more interfaces, an interface to which print data has been input;
A reading step of reading information indicating which interface is specified by the specifying unit, and jam recovery information indicating whether the jam recovery process set to the specified interface is valid / invalid;
A control procedure for controlling the execution of jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means,
A control program for a printing apparatus. On the computer,
A specifying procedure for specifying, from one or more interfaces, an interface to which print data has been input;
A reading step of reading information indicating which interface is specified by the specifying unit, and jam recovery information indicating whether the jam recovery process set to the specified interface is valid / invalid;
A control procedure for controlling the execution of jam recovery processing according to the jam recovery information read by the reading means,
A computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a control program of a printing apparatus for executing the program.

Images