JP2013097477A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system for making it unnecessary to develop any driver software or application program for each operating system, and for making it unnecessary for a user to perform the annoying installing operation of software.SOLUTION: In a print system in which host equipment and a printer are connected via an interface, the host equipment includes: a display part for displaying an HTML (Hyper Type Markup Language) file read from the printer on the basis of a browser program; an input part for performing character input on the basis of a browser screen displayed at the display part; and a control part for creating print data according to the input character, and for outputting the print data to the printer. The printer includes: a storage part for storing print data output from the control part; and a print processing part for performing print processing to a recording medium according to the print data.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system in which a printing apparatus and a host device are connected via a USB interface.

  In recent years, a host device such as a personal computer (PC) and a printing device such as a printer device are connected by a USB (universal serial bus) cable, and print data created by the host device is transmitted to the printing device, and a standard cut sheet or the like is transmitted. A printing system that prints output on a recording medium is used. In such a printing system, for example, driver software corresponding to the specifications of an operating system (OS) of a personal computer is installed and used in advance. Further, in a printing apparatus that does not use, for example, A3 size or A4 size standard cut paper as a recording medium, a dedicated application program is installed and used in a personal computer.

  Patent Document 1 is an invention of a so-called multi-function machine having a multi-function such as a scanner function, a printer function, a setting content notification function, etc., and an invention in which each function of the multi-function machine can be used without using a device driver. Is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Literature 2 reads out an execution file of an application program from a printer device to a personal computer by a normal access operation in a personal computer and printer connected to a USB port, and installs the application program in the personal computer in advance. An invention that enables execution of an application program is disclosed.

JP 2004-302658 A JP 2010-55447 A

  As described above, in the conventional system, the driver software corresponding to the operating system specification of the personal computer and the printing apparatus using special paper have to install and use a dedicated application program in the personal computer. For this reason, driver software or the like to be installed in the host device needs to be developed for each operating system that may connect the printing apparatus with a USB cable. However, developing software for many operating systems is limited in terms of development time and cost. In addition, software installation is performed manually by the user, which is troublesome for the user.

  Accordingly, in view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system that does not require driver software and application programs to be developed for each operating system, and does not require troublesome software installation work by a user.

  According to the present invention, in the printing system in which a host device and a printing device are connected via an interface, the host device displays a display unit according to a display control file read from the printing device based on a browser program. An input unit that performs designation input based on a browser screen displayed on the display unit, and a control unit that creates print data according to the designation input, and the printing apparatus stores the display control file This can be achieved by providing a printing system that includes a storage unit and a print processing unit that performs print processing on a recording medium in accordance with the print data.

  According to the present invention, there is no need for troublesome software installation work by the user without using driver software corresponding to the specifications of the operating system of the host device or a dedicated application program corresponding to a printing apparatus using special paper. No printing system can be provided.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment. It is a figure explaining the structure of a shared memory part. It is a flowchart explaining the basic processing of a personal computer. It is a flowchart explaining the basic processing of a personal computer. It is a flowchart explaining the basic processing of a personal computer. 3 is a flowchart illustrating basic processing of the printer apparatus. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation of the personal computer when transmitting print data from the personal computer to the printer apparatus. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation of the personal computer when transmitting print data from the personal computer to the printer apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing operations of the printer device when print data is transmitted from the personal computer to the printer device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a printing system according to this embodiment. A personal computer (PC) as a host device and a printer device 1 as a printing device are connected via a USB cable 2.

  The personal computer (PC) includes a storage unit 3, a calculation unit 4, an input unit 5, a display unit 6, and a USB interface (hereinafter referred to as USB I / F) 7. The storage unit 3 stores a personal computer (PC) system program, and the calculation unit 4 controls the host device according to the system program. The storage unit 3 also stores a browser program for displaying an HTML file described later.

  The input unit 5 includes, for example, a keyboard or a mouse (not shown), and transmits an operation signal from the user to the calculation unit 4. The display unit 6 is configured by a liquid crystal display or the like, and display according to the HTML file is performed by driving a browser program. The USB I / F 7 is an interface that communicates with the printer apparatus 1 via the USB cable 2.

  The printer device 1 includes a shared memory unit 9, a control unit 10, and a printing unit 11. The shared memory unit 9 is a large-capacity storage device and is handled as an expansion drive from the personal computer (PC) side. The shared memory unit 9 is composed of sectors that are divided and managed in blocks of a fixed number of bytes, and is composed of a directory area and a data / file area.

  The control unit 10 controls the shared memory unit 9 and also controls the system of the printer apparatus 1. For example, the control unit 10 converts print data into image data and outputs the image data to the printing unit 11. The printing unit 11 prints image data on special paper such as label paper.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the shared memory unit 9 which is a large-capacity storage device, including a partial configuration of a personal computer (PC). As described above, the shared memory unit 9 is composed of sectors managed by blocks of a fixed number of bytes, and includes a directory area and a data / file area. The directory area stores a file name and actual data of the file. Address (sector) information is stored. On the other hand, the actual data of the file managed by the directory area is stored in the data / file area, and each piece of data is stored in one or more sectors indicated by the directory entry.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the sector information of the file A stored in the data / file area is indicated by the directory entry of the file A, and the sector information of the file B is indicated by the directory entry of the file B. The

  The file A is, for example, data transmitted to a personal computer (PC), and is a file in which print status information of print data, which will be described later, is written. File B is a file in which print data transmitted from, for example, a personal computer (PC) is written.

  In the above configuration, first, the basic processing of this example will be described using a flowchart. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing basic processing on the personal computer (PC) side, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing basic processing on the printer apparatus 1 side.

  First, basic processing on the personal computer (PC) side will be described. FIG. 3 illustrates a process when the personal computer (PC) receives file data from the printer apparatus 1. For example, a case where HTML file data stored on the printer apparatus 1 side is received is described. is there.

  First, the personal computer (PC) reads out the sector in the directory area (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1) and searches the directory entry of the file to be read out (S2). Next, the file data stored in the sector indicated by the directory entry is read (S3). This process is a process when the HTML file is read out to the personal computer (PC) in this example as described above.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing when the personal computer (PC) receives communication data from the printer apparatus 1. The difference from the processing shown in FIG. 3 is that the file A defined in advance is stored in the personal computer. (PC) to read. Also in this case, the personal computer (PC) first reads the sector in the directory area of the shared memory unit 9 (S4), and searches the directory entry of the file A from the sector in the read directory area (S5). Next, the file A stored in the sector indicated by the directory entry is read and communication data is received (S6).

  Next, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing when a personal computer (PC) transmits communication data to the printer apparatus 1. Also in this case, first, the sector of the directory area of the shared memory unit 9 is read (S7), and the directory entry of the file B is searched from the sector of the read directory area (S8). Next, file data (transmission data) is written in unused sectors in the data / file area (S9). Thereafter, the directory area is updated (S10). That is, the directory entry in the directory area is updated after new file data is written in the unused data / file area.

  For example, in this example, processing for transmitting print data from a personal computer (PC) to the printer apparatus 1 and storing the print data as file B in the data / file area corresponds.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure on the printer apparatus 1 side. This processing procedure is performed corresponding to the file writing and reading described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 on the personal computer (PC) side.

  First, the sector is determined (step (hereinafter referred to as ST) 1). In this determination, when writing data to the shared memory 9 or reading data from the shared memory 9, the sector area to be read / written differs depending on the purpose, and this difference is discriminated.

  For example, if it is determined that the sector is a directory area, the sector information of the directory area is returned (ST2). For example, this is a process corresponding to the above-described processes (S1, S4, S7), and the directory entry information is transmitted to the personal computer (PC) by this process.

  For example, if it is determined that the sector is normal, normal sector information is transmitted to the personal computer (PC) (ST3). For example, this process corresponds to the process (S3) shown in FIG. 3 described above, and in this example, the case where an HTML file is transmitted to a personal computer (PC) corresponds.

  For example, if it is determined that the sector is transmission, the transmission data is returned to the personal computer (PC) (ST4). In this case, since the transmission data is different every time, the normal sector data is always distinguished from the same content, and appropriate data is returned to the personal computer (PC) each time the above processing is executed. For example, this process corresponds to the above-described process (S6) shown in FIG. 4, and the data of file A is transmitted to a personal computer (PC).

  For example, if it is determined that the sector is receiving, sector information is written (ST5). This writing of file data means reception of communication data from a personal computer (PC), but at this point, the directory entry of “file B” does not indicate the written sector. It has not been determined whether or not it is received. For example, this process corresponds to the process (S9) shown in FIG.

  For example, if it is determined that the sector is an update of the directory area, an update process of the directory area is performed (ST6). That is, the printer apparatus 1 writes the update data of the directory area received from the personal computer (PC) to the sector of the directory area. For example, this process is a process corresponding to the process (S10) shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, it is checked whether or not the directory entry of file B is included in the sector data in the updated directory area. If there is an instruction for the directory entry of file B, the sector data is regarded as received data (ST7).

  An example in which print data is transmitted from the personal computer (PC) to the printer apparatus 1 and printed on a recording medium such as a label sheet based on the processing of the basic personal computer (PC) and the printer apparatus 1 described above. Will be described.

  7 to 9 are flowcharts for explaining the above processing. FIGS. 7 and 8 show processing on the personal computer (PC) side, and FIG. 9 shows processing on the printer apparatus 1 side.

  First, the user operates the input unit 5 of the personal computer (PC) to instruct the display unit 6 to display an HTML file (step (hereinafter referred to as STP) 1). In accordance with this instruction, the calculation unit 4 reads out a browser program for displaying the HTML file for display control stored in the shared memory unit 9 of the printer apparatus 1 from the storage unit 3 and starts it (STP2). By this processing, the initial screen of the browser is displayed on the display unit 6 of the personal computer (PC).

Next, when the user instructs to read out the HTML file from the browser screen displayed on the display unit 6, the personal computer (PC) executes the above-described processing (S1 to S3) shown in FIG. 3 and reads out the HTML file ( STP3). That is, the personal computer (PC) reads the sector in the directory area of the shared memory unit 9 (S1), searches for a read file, for example, an HTML file directory entry (S2), and stores it in the sector indicated by the directory entry. An HTML file is read (S3).
The personal computer (PC) displays the HTML file read from the printer device 1 on the display unit 6 (STP4).

  Next, a program (hereinafter referred to as a script) created in a script language (simple programming language) included in the HTML file displayed on the display unit 6 is executed (STP5). FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining processing executed in response to this script.

  First, the user operates, for example, a keyboard of the input unit 5 to input a character string desired to be printed (STP6). The calculation unit 4 generates print data according to the character string input by the user based on the application program stored in the storage unit 3, and transmits the print data to the printer apparatus 1 via the USB I / F 7 (STP7). This print data transmission process is performed based on the process (S7 to S10) shown in FIG. That is, the personal computer (PC) reads the sector of the directory area of the shared memory unit 9 (S7), searches the directory entry of the file B from the sector of the read directory area (S8), and unused the data / file area. The file data (print data) is written in this sector (S9), and the directory area is updated to indicate the sector of the file data (print data) written by the directory entry of file B (S10).

  On the other hand, on the printer device 1 side, file data is written in response to the processing of the personal computer (PC) (STP8). That is, the processing shown in FIG. 6 described above is executed, print data is written in the data / file area (ST5), the directory area is updated (ST6), and the data written in file B is received data (print data). (ST7).

  Next, it is determined whether the received data is print data (STP9). If the received data is not print data, the process is returned (STP9 is NO). If the received data is print data (STP9 is YES), the printing process is performed (STP10). That is, print output according to the print data is performed on, for example, label paper.

  Thereafter, the printing state is updated (STP11).

  Next, on the personal computer (PC) side, after transmitting the above-described print data to the printer apparatus 1 (STP7), the personal computer (PC) side waits for the reception of the print state from the printer apparatus 1, and the print state from the printer apparatus 1, that is, print Information on the result is received (STP12).

The above processing is performed according to the processing shown in FIG. 4 (S4 to S6). First, the sector of the directory area of the shared memory unit 9 is read (S4), and the file A, that is, the information of the printing process is read from the sector of the read directory area. Is retrieved (S5), and print processing information is obtained (S6).
Information on the print processing of the print data is displayed on the display unit 6 of the personal computer (PC) (STP13).

  As described above, according to this example, the browser program is activated to read the HTML file, the shared memory unit 9 of the printer apparatus 1 is handled as an extended drive of a personal computer (PC), and the HTML file is used to the extended drive. The print data transmission process is performed as if the data is read and written, and the print process is performed without using the driver software or the dedicated application program.

Therefore, it is not necessary to develop software with a high development period and cost corresponding to the operating system, and it is not necessary for the user to perform troublesome software installation work.
In the above description, HTML is used as a language for describing a description language file that is read and displayed by the browser. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other markup languages such as SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) are used. ) Etc. can also be used.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is included in the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents. Hereinafter, the invention described in the scope of claims at the beginning of the filing of the present patent application will be added.

Appendix 1
In a printing system in which a host device and a printing device are connected via an interface,
The host device is
A display unit for displaying according to a display control file read from the printing apparatus based on a browser program;
An input unit for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
A control unit for creating print data in accordance with the designated input,
The printing apparatus includes:
A storage unit for storing the display control file;
A print processing unit for performing print processing on a recording medium according to the print data;
A printing system comprising:

Appendix 2
In the host device connected to the printing device via the interface,
A display unit for displaying according to a display control file read from the printing apparatus based on a browser program;
An input unit for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
A control unit for creating print data according to the designated input;
An output unit for outputting print data from the control unit to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A host device characterized by comprising:

Appendix 3
The storage unit includes a directory area and a data / file area, and the display control file is stored in a data / file area designated by a directory entry of the directory area. Printing system.

Appendix 4
The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the display control file includes a script program written in a simple description language, and the display unit displays the browser screen by processing the script program.

Appendix 5
4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the print data is stored in a data / file area, and the directory area is updated after the print data is stored in the data / file area.

Appendix 6
A method for controlling a host device connected to a printing apparatus via an interface,
Processing to display on the display unit according to the display control file read from the printing device based on the browser program;
Input processing for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
Processing for creating print data in accordance with the designated input;
An output process for outputting the print data to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A control method for a host device.

Appendix 7
A program used for a host device connected to a printing apparatus via an interface,
Processing for displaying a display control file read from the printing apparatus on a display unit;
An input process for performing designation input based on the screen displayed on the display unit;
Processing for creating print data in accordance with the designated input;
An output process for outputting the print data to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A program characterized by causing a host device to perform the operation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer apparatus 2 ... USB cable 3 ... Memory | storage part 4 ... Calculation part 5 ... Input part 6 ... Display part 7 ... USB I / F
9... Shared memory unit 10 .. control unit 11 .. printing unit PC .. personal computer

Claims (7)

In a printing system in which a host device and a printing device are connected via an interface,
The host device is
A display unit for displaying according to a display control file read from the printing apparatus based on a browser program;
An input unit for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
A control unit for creating print data in accordance with the designated input,
The printing apparatus includes:
A storage unit for storing the display control file;
A print processing unit for performing print processing on a recording medium according to the print data;
A printing system comprising: In the host device connected to the printing device via the interface,
A display unit for displaying according to a display control file read from the printing apparatus based on a browser program;
An input unit for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
A control unit for creating print data according to the designated input;
An output unit for outputting print data from the control unit to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A host device characterized by comprising:   2. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes a directory area and a data / file area, and the display control file is stored in a data / file area designated by a directory entry of the directory area. Printing system.   The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the display control file includes a script program described in a simple description language, and the display unit displays the browser screen by processing the script program.   4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the print data is stored in the data / file area, and the directory area is updated after the print data is stored in the data / file area. A method for controlling a host device connected to a printing apparatus via an interface,
Processing to display on the display unit according to the display control file read from the printing device based on the browser program;
Input processing for performing designation input based on the browser screen displayed on the display unit;
Processing for creating print data in accordance with the designated input;
An output process for outputting the print data to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A control method for a host device. A program used for a host device connected to a printing apparatus via an interface,
Processing to display on the display unit according to the display control file read from the printing apparatus;
An input process for performing designation input based on the screen displayed on the display unit;
Processing for creating print data in accordance with the designated input;
An output process for outputting the print data to a storage unit of the printing apparatus in order to cause the printing apparatus to perform a printing process;
A program characterized by causing a host device to perform the operation.

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