JP3039144B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to data access of a ROM cartridge which is optionally mounted on a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an emulation cartridge which supplies a printer emulation which is not built in a printer as an option, but this emulation cartridge is used continuously even if the printer model is changed. When the clock speed of the CPU is increased in a new printer, a wait is added to a read cycle when data is read from the emulation cartridge. The emulation cartridge is a kind of the ROM cartridge, and the ROM in the ROM cartridge is used.
Stores a printer emulation program. When a new emulation cartridge is created, the new emulation cartridge is mounted in the same slot as the old emulation cartridge, so that data is read in a read cycle with a wait.

[0003]

However, in a new printer, the clock speed of the CPU is increased in order to increase the printing speed, and even when an emulation cartridge is mounted on the new printer, data is read without adding a wait. It is desirable to carry out.

[0004] Of course, an old emulation cartridge cannot be accessed in a read cycle without wait since a ROM having a low access speed is mounted on the cartridge because of an old design. However, new emulation cartridges are newly developed, so ROMs with high access speed
Need not be added to the read cycle.

Therefore, in the present invention, new and old emulation cartridges are mounted using exactly the same slots, and data is read out from the old emulation cartridge with a weight, and the new emulation cartridge is loaded into the new emulation cartridge. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer that reads data without adding a wait.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a printer according to the present invention comprises an RO connected to a printer main body.
M cartridge 31, reading means 32 for reading data from the ROM cartridge, and when the data reading means reads data from the ROM cartridge,
Timing switching means 33 for switching data reading timing; determining means for setting the timing switching means to a first timing to read data from the ROM cartridge and determining whether the read data is specific data or not; 34, wherein the timing switching means switches to a second timing faster than the first timing when the determination means determines that the data is specific data.

[0007]

In the printer of the present invention having the above configuration, when data is read from the ROM cartridge 31 by the data reading means 32 from the ROM cartridge 31 connected to the printer, first, the timing of data reading is changed by the timing switching means. 33 switches to the first timing. Then, the determination means 34 determines whether the data read from the ROM cartridge 31 at the first timing is specific data. When the judging means 34 judges that the data is the specific data, the data reading means 32 switches the timing switching means 33 to the second timing to read the data from the ROM cartridge 31 thereafter. When the judging means 34 does not judge that the data is the specific data, the data reading means 32 keeps the timing switching means 33 at the first timing and reads data from the ROM cartridge 31 thereafter.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying a printer of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration including the printer 1 and the ROM cartridge 2 connected to the printer 1. The printer 1 includes an engine unit 3 that conveys paper and prints paper, and a video controller 4 that converts data received from the computer 5 into image data and sends the image data to the engine unit 3.

The video controller 4 includes a CPU 6 for controlling the entire video controller 4, a ROM 7 for storing a program for controlling the CPU 6, a RAM 8 for temporarily storing data, and a connection for connecting the ROM cartridge 2. A cartridge interface 9, a printer interface 10 for connection to the computer 5,
An engine interface 11 is connected to the engine 3. These are connected by the internal interface bus 12 to C
Connected to PU6. As one type of the ROM cartridge 2, there is an emulation cartridge in which an emulation program of a printer is stored. Hereinafter, the emulation cartridge will be described.

FIG. 3 shows that the CPU 6 is the ROM cartridge 2
The timing for reading data from the ROM 13 is shown. FIG. 3A shows a timing in which no wait is inserted in a read cycle when data is read from the ROM 13. Since no wait is input at this timing, the program of the ROM cartridge 2 can be executed quickly. However, if the data is read at this timing, the data may not be normally read from the ROM 13 of the old emulation cartridge. The old emulation cartridge referred to here is the one used in the model before the printer of the present embodiment, and the ROM 13 having a slow access speed is used because the design is old. ROM
If the data reading from the memory 13 is not performed normally, there is a risk of the program going out of control.

FIG. 3B shows a timing at which two waits are inserted when data is read from the ROM 13. At this timing, both the old emulation cartridge and the new emulation cartridge operate normally. However, since the CPU 6 cannot exert its full potential because of the weight, the printing speed is slower than when the emulation cartridge is operating at the timing shown in FIG. The new emulation cartridge referred to here is a cartridge designed at the same time as the printer of the present embodiment and uses the latest ROM.
The normal operation is performed without adding a wait to the 13th read cycle.

Next, the ROM 13 of the ROM cartridge 2
Will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A shows an old emulation cartridge, and FIG. 4B shows a new emulation cartridge.

The emulation cartridge shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is divided into a header section 21 and an emulation program main body 22. The header part 21 has an R
An emulation cartridge identifier 23 for the video controller 4 to identify that the OM cartridge is an emulation cartridge, and other information related to emulation, for example, an emulation attribute section 24 containing data indicating the size of the emulation program and the type of the corresponding printer. Become.

Emulation cartridge identifier 23
This is for distinguishing this ROM cartridge 2 from another type of ROM cartridge, for example, a font cartridge storing font data. The emulation program main body 22 contains a printer emulation program.

The actual operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, when the video controller 4 first accesses the ROM cartridge 2, the wait of the read cycle for the ROM cartridge of the cartridge interface 9 is set to two waits. FIG. 3B shows the read cycle of the CPU 6 when the read cycle is set to 2 waits. If the read cycle is a two wait cycle, both the old emulation cartridge and the ROM 13 of the new emulation cartridge can normally read data.

Next, in step S2, the header portion 21 of the emulation cartridge is read. The first six bytes of the header portion 21 contain an identifier for distinguishing between an old emulation cartridge and a new emulation cartridge. The old emulation cartridge has a "BRPR" as shown in FIG.
OG ”is included. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the new emulation cartridge has "BR
EMU ".

It is determined in step S4 whether the first 6 bytes of data of the ROM cartridge 2 read out in step S2 are "BREMU". If the determination is "BREMU", the read cycle wait for the ROM of the cartridge interface 10 is set to 0 wait (no wait) in step S4.

If it is determined in step S3 that the status is not "BREMU", the read cycle for the ROM 13 of the cartridge remains at two waits. Therefore, after step S4, the data reading from the ROM 13 is performed with the old emulation cartridge with two waits, and the data read from the ROM 13 is performed with the zero emulation (no wait) with the new emulation cartridge.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an old emulation cartridge can be used in a new printer, and when a new emulation cartridge is used, printing can be performed without reducing the printing speed.

In this embodiment, the emulation cartridge in which the emulation program of the printer is stored in the ROM cartridge 2 has been described.
The same effect is obtained for a font cartridge in which font data is stored in the cartridge 2.

[0023]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the printer of the present invention, a conventional ROM cartridge can be used, and a new ROM cartridge does not slow down the printing speed of the printer. Can be read.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a read cycle of a CPU for reading data from a ROM when a zero wait (no wait) is performed in the printer. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a read cycle for the ROM of the CPU in the case of two waits.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of an emulation cartridge;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 ROM cartridge 6 CPU 9 Cartridge interface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A ROM cartridge connected to a printer main body, reading means for reading data from the ROM cartridge, and timing for switching the data reading timing when the data reading means reads data from the ROM cartridge Switching means; and timing determining means for setting the timing switching means to a first timing to read data from the ROM cartridge, and determining whether the read data is specific data. When we determine that the data is specific,
A printer, wherein the timing switching means is switched to a second timing faster than the first timing.