JP2008171273A - Printing system and controlling method of printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the printing-controlling unit of a host computer of a printing device, wherein the unit can automatically turn off the power source of a printer without monitoring status and also can turn off the power source of the printer with timing which a user wants. <P>SOLUTION: In case that the power source of the printer 2 is set to turn off after printing, a controlling method of a printing device has following steps: a step which generates a power source "Off" command, which makes a printer 2 execute power source "Off" processing, and adds the command to the end of print data; a step which transmits the print data, to which the power source "Off" command is added, to the printer 2 (Step S17); and a step which executes the power source "Off" processing in response to the power source "Off" command transmitted from a host computer 1 (Step S22). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system including a printer and a host computer, and a printing system control method.

  A printer system in which a printer executes print processing in accordance with print data transmitted from a host computer is known. When printing with a printer from each application installed in the host computer, data is exchanged between the application and the printer driver. In general, even when the printing process based on the print data transmitted from the host computer is completed, the printer stands by until the next print data is sent in the power-on state.

  However, if the power is on and the standby state continues for a long time, the power is wasted even though the printer is not operated. Patent Document 1 describes a printing apparatus that performs power supply control in order to suppress wasteful power supply other than power consumed in print processing. When an input signal from the host computer is interrupted, a timer built in the printer measures the elapsed time from there, and the printer is automatically turned off when a predetermined time or more has elapsed. Patent Document 2 describes an image processing apparatus that measures elapsed time from the end of print processing and automatically turns off the power.

  In the printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 1, if it takes time to create print data on the host computer side, the printing apparatus is turned off at the timing when the print data is transmitted from the host computer depending on the set time of the timer. In some cases, the printing process is interrupted. In order to avoid such a situation, a printing system has been proposed in which the printer is set to turn off its own power by a power-off command from a host computer.

Specifically, bidirectional communication is performed between the host computer and the printer, and the host computer periodically sends commands to the printer to monitor the printer status. The host computer transmits a power OFF command after waiting for the status indicating the end of the printing process transmitted from the printer, the printer performs a power OFF process in response to the power OFF command, and transmits a power OFF response to the host computer (Patent Document). 3 and 4).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-9731 JP-A-6-319003 JP-A-8-339275 JP 2001-96851 A

  However, in the printers described in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4, it is necessary to monitor the print processing that the host computer is executing on the printer. That is, the host computer must transmit a status request command to the printer in order to acquire the printer status regularly or irregularly. On the other hand, if a response to the end of the printing process is returned from the printer in response to the status request command, the host computer automatically generates a power-off command and sends it to the printer. Even if you do not want to do this, the printer may be automatically turned off.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and the printer control device of the host computer can automatically turn off the printer power without monitoring the printer status, and the user desires. It is an object to enable the printer to be turned off at the timing.

The present invention is a printing system comprising a host computer and a printing device connected to be able to communicate with the host computer,
The host computer
A print data generation unit that generates print data to be transmitted to the printing apparatus; and a power-off command that causes the printing apparatus to execute a power-off process when the printing apparatus is set to be turned off after printing is completed. A command generation unit that generates and adds the print data to the end of the print data, and a transmission unit that transmits the print data to which the power-off command is added to the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus executes the power-off process in response to the power-off command transmitted from the host computer.

Further, the present invention is a method for controlling a printing system including a host computer and a printing apparatus connected to be able to communicate with the host computer,
Generating print data to be transmitted to the printing apparatus, and generating a power OFF command for causing the printing apparatus to execute a power OFF process when the power of the printing apparatus is set to be turned off after printing is completed. A step of adding to the end of the print data, a step of transmitting the print data to which the power OFF command is added to the printing apparatus, and the power OFF processing in response to the power OFF command transmitted from the host computer. And a step of executing.

  According to the above configuration, the power of the printer is accurately turned off after the printing process is completed without performing a complicated process such as sending a command for grasping the printer status at a predetermined timing and confirming the response. be able to. It is also possible to arbitrarily select whether or not to turn off the printer after the printing process is completed.

  In the present invention, the command generation unit adds the power-off command to the end of the final number of print data when the print data is print data for a plurality of copies.

  In the present invention, when the print data is print data for a plurality of copies, the power OFF command is added to the end of the final number of print data.

  According to the above configuration, even when the print data has a configuration that includes a plurality of copies, the power OFF command is added to the end of the last copy of the print data. In addition, it is possible to instruct the printing apparatus to execute the power-off process after the printing process is completed. That is, it is possible to prevent the power-off process from being executed in the middle of the printing process for a plurality of copies.

  Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The printing apparatus includes a host computer 1 and a printer 2. The host computer 1 mainly includes an application 10, a printer driver 11 that functions as a print control apparatus, a transmission / reception unit 12, and the like. Further, the printer driver 11 includes a print data generation unit 13 and a command generation unit 14. The printer 2 mainly includes a transmission / reception unit 20, a print buffer 21, a print control unit 22, a printing mechanism 23, and the like.

  The application 10 of the host computer 1 provides a user interface for causing the printer 2 to execute various commands related to printing. The user creates and edits print data and issues a print instruction on the application. The printer driver 11 is called by the application 10 and directly controls the operation of the printer 2. Specifically, the print data generation unit 13 generates print data in accordance with the setting in the application 10 and the command generation unit 14 generates various commands including a power-off command described later. The application 10 and the printer driver 11 are programs stored in advance in a ROM (not shown) of the host computer 1, and various functions are read and executed by a control unit (CPU) (not shown) of the host computer 1. It is realized by doing. The transmission / reception unit 12 is an interface unit for transmitting print data and commands to the printer 2.

  The transmission / reception unit 20 of the printer 2 is an interface unit for receiving print data, commands, and the like transmitted from the host computer 1. The print data temporarily stored in the transmission / reception unit 20 is expanded in the print buffer 21 and converted into dot data that can be printed by the printing mechanism 23. The print control unit 22 controls the operation of the printing mechanism 23 based on the received print command. The printing mechanism 23 performs a printing operation based on the converted dot data. The printing mechanism 23 includes a print head, a carriage, and the like for directly printing on the printing paper.

  Here, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a print setting screen of the application 10 of the host computer 1 of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. When the application 10 is activated, the display means (not shown) of the host computer 1 can display the print setting screen. The print setting screen is a screen that allows selection of a printer that performs print output, designation of a print range, designation of the number of copies, and the like. When the “OK” button 101 is pressed in the screen display, the printing process is executed. On the other hand, when the “Cancel” button 102 is pressed, the printing process is not executed. When the “property” button 103 is pressed in the display of the print setting screen, the property setting screen is displayed.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a property setting screen of the application 10 of the host computer 1 of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The property setting screen is a screen for setting a paper source, a paper output destination, a color mode, and the like. Here, for example, a print setting screen in the case of executing print processing on a label surface such as a CD or a DVD is shown. When each print setting of the property screen is made, a print preview based on each print setting of the property is displayed on the “preview screen” 201. For example, when “wide type” is selected in “media type” 202, a print preview of wide type media is displayed on the “preview screen” 201.

  In this property setting screen, a check box 203 for the “automatic power OFF” function is set, and when the “OK” button 204 is pressed with the check box 203 checked, the printer 2 is set after printing is completed. The power can be turned off automatically. Specifically, this is realized by the printer driver 11 adding a power OFF command to the end of the last print data at the time of printing.

  Next, the printing and printing end operations of the printing apparatus constituted by the host computer and printer configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of printing and power-off operation of the printer driver 11 installed in the host computer 1 of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, when a print command is issued from the application 10 in the host computer 1 (step S11), the print data generation unit 13 of the called printer driver 11 is for one page based on the print data passed from the application 10. Print data is generated (step S12). The generated print data for one page is transmitted to the printer 2 via the transmission / reception unit 12 (step S13).

  The printer driver 11 determines whether there is page data to be processed next (step S14), and if it exists, the process returns to step S12 and performs the same operation as described above.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the next data does not exist, the printer driver 11 determines whether there is a next copy to be processed (step S15), and if it exists, the process returns to step S12 and the same as above. Perform the operation.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the next number of copies does not exist, the printer driver 11 determines whether the automatic power-off setting is set, that is, the “automatic power-off” check box 203 is turned on in the setting of the application 10 described above. It is determined whether or not (step S16).

  If automatic power-off is set, the command generation unit 14 generates a power-off command for the printer 2 and adds it to the end of the print data before transmitting the print data to the printer 2 (step S17). On the other hand, if the automatic power OFF is not set, the last print data is transmitted to the printer 2 as it is (step S18).

  Here, the printer 2 operates as follows in accordance with the operation of the host computer 1.

  First, the print data for one page transmitted from the host computer 1 and received via the transmission / reception unit 20 in step S13 is developed in the print buffer 21. In the print control unit 22, the printing mechanism 23 executes print processing based on the print data developed in response to the print command. Further, the printing process for the last print data transmitted in step S18 is executed by the printing mechanism 23 in the same procedure (step S21).

  On the other hand, in the case of the print data with the “power OFF command” transmitted in step S17, when the print control unit 22 analyzes the power OFF command to which the print control unit 22 has been added after the print processing is executed in the same manner, the print Each mechanism unit of the printer 2 including the mechanism 23 is caused to execute a termination process, and the printer 2 is turned off (step S22).

  As described above, according to the printer driver (printing control apparatus) 11 of the host computer 1 of the present invention, the automatic power OFF of the printer 2 can be set and instructed from the setting screen of the printer driver 11. In other words, since the printer driver 11 directly adds the power OFF command to the end of the print data, the printer 2 can turn off its own power at an appropriate timing for the end of printing regardless of the amount of print data.

  Therefore, for example, even in a usage mode in which the frequency of printing processing is relatively low, the printer 2 can be turned off at a timing desired by the user, so that the printer 2 is not left for a long time in the power-on state. The power consumption of the printer can be suppressed.

  The printer driver 11 only generates a power-off command and adds the power-off command to the end of the print data, and does not need to monitor the status of the printer 2 thereafter. It is not necessary to acquire the status of the printer related to the power-off operation between and the communication processing, and the communication processing can be simplified.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the print setting screen of the application of a host computer of the printing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing a property setting screen of an application of a host computer of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of printing and power-off operation of a printer driver of a host computer of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: host computer, 2: printer, 10: application, 11: printer driver, 12: transmission / reception unit, 13: print data generation unit, 14: command generation unit, 20: transmission / reception unit, 21: print buffer, 22: print control , 23: Printing mechanism, 101: OK button, 102: Cancel button, 103: Property button, 201: Preview screen, 202: Media type, 203: Check box for automatic power OFF, 204: OK button, 205: Cancel button

Claims (4)

A printing system comprising a host computer and a printing device communicably connected to the host computer,
The host computer
A print data generation unit that generates print data to be transmitted to the printing apparatus;
A command generator for generating a power OFF command for causing the printer to execute a power OFF process when the printer is set to be turned off after printing, and adding the command to the end of the print data;
A transmission unit that transmits the print data to which the power OFF command is added to the printing apparatus,
The printing system, wherein the printing apparatus executes the power-off process in response to the power-off command transmitted from the host computer.   2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the command generation unit adds the power-off command to the end of the final number of print data when the print data is print data of a plurality of copies. A control method of a printing system comprising a host computer and a printing device communicably connected to the host computer,
Generating print data to be transmitted to the printing device;
Generating a power-off command for causing the printing apparatus to execute a power-off process when the power of the printing apparatus is set to be turned off after completion of printing, and adding to the end of the print data;
Transmitting print data to which the power-off command is added to the printing apparatus;
And a step of executing the power-off process in response to the power-off command transmitted from the host computer.   4. The printing system control method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of adding the power-off command to the end of the final number of print data when the print data is print data for a plurality of copies.

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