JP3093881U - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To simplify a process of analyzing a command transmitted from a personal computer as a driver, thereby reducing a work area of a CPU, shortening an analysis time, and compressing a program code. A receive buffer unit (212) only determines whether a command received from a personal computer (1) is a print command requiring a response or a communication command requiring no response without performing analysis, As a result of this determination, a print command that does not require a response is printed by the print command analyzer 213.
To the communication command analysis unit 214 for the first time when a bulk-in request is received from the driver 1 for command analysis, and response data is created. To the driver 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Technical field to which the device belongs]

  The present invention uses USB (Universal Serial Bus) communication for data communication with the driver. In addition to bulk transfer, CPU work area and receive data buffer The present invention relates to a printing device in which a memory area is provided in one memory having a limited capacity.

[0002]

[Prior art]

  Generally, a serial printer (hereinafter simply referred to as "printer") is a driver. Sent from a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as "PC") Printing is performed while scanning the print head according to incoming commands and print data, and printing is performed. Printing is performed by repeating the conveyance of the recording paper in response to the scanning of the letter head. ing. Therefore, in the printer, the print data corresponding to one scan of the print head is printed. Is usually stored in the printer side. To store this one-time print data , In the conventional printing device, ASIC has a memory capacity of 1 Mbit (128 Kbytes). It is equipped with In addition, this memory stores the commands sent from the personal computer. It is also used as a work area for the CPU that analyzes and executes the.

[0003]   In such a printer, a personal computer (hereinafter, simply Is called "PC". ) Communication via USB communication such as bulk transfer. ing. As is well known, bulk transfer sends data unilaterally from the printer side. Cannot be received, and after receiving the data request (bulk-in) from the PC side, the Data transmission mechanism (for example, refer to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2) .

[0004]   Here, the printer information is returned to the command sent from the personal computer side. Commands that require, that is, commands that require a response (communication Command) and simply to turn on / off the printer Two types of commands, that is, commands that do not require a response (print commands) There is a command.

[0005]   Therefore, in a conventional printer, these two types of commands are distributed and In order to process each separately, the firmware part has the functional block configuration shown in FIG. Was becoming.

[0006]   That is, a USB communication interface for performing data communication with a personal computer (not shown) Interface 101 and a PC via this USB communication interface 101 Receive buffer unit 102 for accumulating commands and data received from A print frame for analyzing print commands stored in the sheave buffer unit 102 Communication unit 103 and communication buffers stored in the receive buffer unit 102. And a communication command analysis unit 104 that analyzes a command. .

[0007]   Processing when communicating with a personal computer in a conventional printer with such a configuration The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.   In USB communication, the receive buffer unit 102 receives commands from the personal computer. When it is received (Yes in step S11), the command is first issued at that time. Command that analyzes the command (step S12) and requires a response And a print command that does not require a response (step S13). So Then, only the communication commands that require a response are extracted and the internal response is extracted. The data is sequentially accumulated in the buffer area (not shown) (step S14). Also, sort Received print commands because there is no need to respond to the PC Each time it is transferred to the print command analysis unit 103 to analyze the command, The indicated process is executed (step S15).

[0008]   On the other hand, the communication commands stored in the response buffer area Monitor whether the bulk-in request packet is sent from the PC. (Step S16) When a bulk-in request packet is transmitted (step S16) If it is judged Yes in 16), the communiqué stored in the response buffer area Communication command to the communication command analysis unit 104 Application command is analyzed again (step S17), response data is created and It is transmitted to the driver (step S18).

[0009]   In this way, traditional printers have communication commands that require responses. The method of separately processing the print command and the print command that does not require a response The reason for adoption is as follows.

[0010]   That is, for commands that require a response and commands that do not require a response, Naturally, commands that do not require a response are easier to process. Meanwhile, need a response Command is executed every time a bulk-in request is received from the PC. It is necessary to process (analyze) and create response data. Thus requires a response The processing contents of the command that does not require a response are different from those that do not require a response. It adopts the method of treating each type according to the type of hand.

[0011]

[Patent Document 1]     JP 2001-86141 A

[Patent Document 2]     JP, 2001-212127, A

[0012]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

  By the way, recent printers use multiple models to reduce costs. It is necessary to operate with the same software, and its operation is also provided in the ASIC. The capacity of the CPU work area and received data buffer area is limited It must be implemented in one memory. In other words, in the work area of the CPU It is necessary to reduce unnecessary processing as much as possible.

[0013]   Recently, printers capable of borderless printing have become popular in image printing. coming. Therefore, even with conventional printers, it is not possible to suppress cost increases as much as possible. There is a need to support the borderless printing function.

[0014]   In the case of borderless printing, for example, to print A4 size, the data amount is A4 size is not enough, and the amount of data that is a little off A4 size is required. So Because of this, even if the same A4 size Compared to the case, the amount of data is significantly increased, and one line sent from the personal computer The print data (to be exact, one swath) also greatly increases. Therefore, the ASIC With the conventional print data memory capacity secured in the memory, this 1 swath The print data memory capacity is increased because the print data cannot be stored. There is a need.

[0015]   In this case, it is possible to add memory separately, but this will increase the cost. However, there is a problem that the It is necessary to increase the memory area for storing data. In other words, CPU work area Need to be reduced.

[0016]   The present invention was created to solve these problems, and its purpose is to provide a driver. By simplifying the analysis process of commands sent from a personal computer , CPU work area is reduced, analysis time is shortened and program It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device which is intended to compress a card.

[0017]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

  The present invention is a USB communication interface for performing data communication with a driver. And commands received from the driver via this USB communication interface The receive buffer section that stores data, and the receive buffer section that stores this data A print command analysis unit for analyzing print commands, and the receive buffer A communication piece that analyzes the communication commands stored in the department And a receive analysis unit, and these receive buffer unit and print command Analysis unit and communication command analysis unit are in a single memory with limited capacity It is provided in. Then, the receive buffer unit analyzes the received command. Communication commands that require a response and Communication commands that require a response as well as a print command Command command is stored in the internal response buffer area and the bulk When a request is received, the communication frames stored in the response buffer area Applied to a printing device that analyzes the command again, creates response data, and sends it to the driver. There is.

[0018]   That is, the printing apparatus of the present invention is configured such that the receive buffer unit is operated from the receive buffer unit. Area is deleted, and the receive buffer section analyzes the received command. Print command that requires a response without performing The communication means that only determines whether the communication command is As a result of discrimination by other means, print commands that do not require a response are printed. Command transfer to the command analysis section for command analysis, Another consequence is that the driver is for communication commands that require a response. To the communication command parser for the first time when a bulk-in request is received from Means to transfer, perform command analysis, create response data and send to driver It is characterized by having and.

[0019]   That is, when receiving data, it is necessary to determine whether the data requires a response. Bulk-in request to parse the data for commands that only Since it was configured to perform the first time when the packet of Avoid duplicate data analysis such as data analysis at both bulk-in request To be done. Also, extract only the communication commands that require a response and The conventional processing of sequentially accumulating data in the response buffer area of the Answer The buffer area can be deleted and the program that executes it can be reduced. be able to.

[0020]

[Embodiment of 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 apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021]   This printing device receives print data for one swath from a personal computer 1 in sequence. The system configuration is such that the printing operation is performed while Therefore, the computer 1 and Through the communication cable 3 capable of bidirectional communication with the linter 2 by USB communication It is connected. In the present invention, the personal computer 1 and the printer 2 perform data communication with each other. The configuration is performed by bulk transfer of B communication.

[0022]   The personal computer 1 is equipped with a so-called printer driver. The IBA includes a print data storage unit 11 for storing print data, and a print data storage unit 11 Data analysis unit 12 that analyzes print data and commands stored in The compressed data creation unit 13 that compresses the print data of And a USB interface 14 for transmitting.

[0023]   On the other hand, the printer 2 is an ASIC which is a logic circuit IC configured exclusively for the printer. 21 and a CPU 22 which is firmware for controlling the CPU 21. CP The U22 includes a ROM 23 in which a program for executing a printing operation is stored, and each RAMs 24 for storing seed data are respectively connected.

[0024]   The ASIC 21 has a feed for feeding a recording sheet (not shown) to the print start position. How to feed recording paper to a carrier (not shown) equipped with a motor 25 and a print head 27 For reciprocating in the direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the direction (sub scanning direction) Data is printed by ejecting ink on the carrier motor 26 and the recording paper fed. The print heads 27 are connected to each other.

[0025]   In addition, the ASIC 21 communicates with the personal computer 1 via the communication cable 3. USB communication interface 211 and the command sent from PC 1 And a receive buffer unit 212 for temporarily storing compressed data (print data) , A pre-processor for analyzing print commands stored in the receive buffer unit 212. Input command analysis unit 213 and the communicator stored in the receive buffer unit 212. And a communication command analysis unit 214 that analyzes the application command. I am. The information receiving / analyzing unit according to claim 2 is the receive buffer unit 2. 12, print command analysis unit 213 and communication command analysis unit 2 It is realized by 14.

[0026]   FIG. 2 shows the receive buffer unit 212, the print command analysis unit 213, and the Showing an example of the data structure of the memory storing the communication command analysis unit 214 There is. In this embodiment, the capacity of this memory is 1 Mbyte (128 Kbyte). The print data for one swath sent from the PC 1 ( The print data storage area 212a for storing (reception data) is 126.5 to 127. K bytes, the work area 212b used by the CPU 22 is 1 to 1.5 Kbytes. Has become. By the way, in the conventional printer, the work area 212b is 4 Kbytes. However, the print data storage area 212a is about 124 Kbytes. It was Although not shown in the figure, the response bag reserved for conventional printers is used. The far area is deleted from the work area 212b of the present embodiment.

[0027]   Next, in the printer 2 having the above configuration, a processing operation when communicating with the personal computer 1 The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0028]   In USB communication, data transmission from the printer 2 is performed by bulk transfer In this case, the receive buffer unit 212 first sends a command from the personal computer 1. It is monitored whether or not it has been received (step S1).

[0029]   Then, when the command is received (when it is determined as Yes in step S1) , The receive buffer unit 212 does not analyze the received command , A print command that requires a response or a communiqué that does not require a response It is only determined whether the command is a motion command (step S2).

[0030]   As a result, if the print command does not require a response (in step S2, If it is determined No, the receive buffer unit 212 analyzes the print command. Transfers a command to the unit 213, analyzes the command, and executes the instructed processing (Step S3).

[0031]   On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S2, a communication command that requires a response If it is a command (if Yes is determined in step S2), the personal computer 1 It is monitored whether a bulk-in request packet has been sent from (step S 4). Then, when the bulk-in request packet is transmitted (Y in step S4) es)), the receive buffer unit 212 does not communicate for the first time here. The communication command to the communication command analysis unit 214, Analyze the Nation command (step S5), create response data and dry (Step S6).

[0032]   Thus, according to the printer of the present invention, the response sent from the personal computer 1 Analysis of communication commands that require When receiving a bulk-in request packet (that is, when sending data to the PC 1) Since it was done twice, it was only once when the bulk-in request packet was received. Therefore, the analysis time can be shortened accordingly, and the program code can be compressed. It is possible to reduce the work area of the save buffer unit 212. Also Since the work area can be reduced, the print data storage area 212 is set as described above. It is possible to increase a in comparison with the conventional one, and it is possible to sufficiently cope with borderless printing.

[Effect of device]

  According to the present invention, a communicator that requires a response sent from a personal computer. The analysis of the command is only performed once when the bulk-in request packet is received. Thus, the analysis time can be shortened and the program code can be compressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a data configuration example of a memory.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the processing operation when communicating with a personal computer in the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a firmware portion of a conventional printer.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining a processing operation when communicating with a personal computer in a conventional printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 PC (driver) 2 Printer (printing device) 3 communication cable 11 Print data storage 12 Data analysis section 13 Compressed data creation unit 14 USB communication interface 21 ASIC 22 CPU 23 ROM 24 RAM 25 feed motor 26 Carrier motor 27 print head 211 USB communication interface 212 Receive buffer section 213 Print command analysis unit 214 Communication Command Analysis Unit

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A U for performing data communication with a driver.
An SB communication interface, a receive buffer unit that stores commands and data received from the driver via the USB communication interface, a print command analysis unit that analyzes the print commands stored in the receive buffer unit, and the receive buffer unit. And a communication command analysis unit for analyzing the communication commands stored in the storage unit, and the receive buffer unit, the print command analysis unit, and the communication command analysis unit are provided in one memory having a limited capacity. The receive buffer section
By analyzing the received command, it is divided into communication commands that require a response and print commands that do not require a response, and only the communication commands that require a response are stored in the internal response buffer area, and the bulk When a request is received, the communication command stored in the response buffer area is analyzed again to create response data, and in the printing device that transmits to the driver, the response buffer area is deleted from the receive buffer section, The receive buffer unit is a discriminating means for discriminating only a print command which requires a response or a communication command which does not require a response, without analyzing the received command. Regarding a print command that does not require a response as a result of the determination in the step, means for transferring the print command to the print command analysis unit to perform command analysis, and a communication command requiring a response as a result of the determination in the determining means A device for transmitting a bulk-in request from the driver to the communication command analysis unit for command analysis for the first time, receiving response data, and transmitting the response data to the driver. . 2. A U for performing data communication with a driver
An SB communication interface and an information receiving / analyzing unit for receiving and analyzing a command or data transmitted from a driver via the USB communication interface are provided, and the information receiving / analyzing unit is one with a limited capacity. The information receiving / analyzing unit is provided in the memory of the above, and sorts the received command into a command requiring a response and a command not requiring a response, and only a command requiring a response. In the internal response buffer area, and when a bulk-in request is received from the driver, the command stored in the response buffer area is re-analyzed to create response data and transmitted to the driver. While deleting the response buffer area from the receiving / analyzing unit, The analysis unit determines, with respect to the received command, a determination unit that only determines whether the command requires a response or does not require a response without performing analysis, and the result of the determination by this determination unit. As for the command which does not require a response, the command analysis is performed, and as a result of the determination by the determination means, the command which requires a response is first analyzed when the bulk-in request is received from the driver, and the response is received. A printer for creating data and transmitting the data to the driver.