JP3176192B2 - Page printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page printer for printing print data stored as image data in a drawing memory on paper by a printing means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, there is known a label printer which prints image data stored in a drawing memory on a label by using a line thermal head. In this label printer, the thermal head and a platen roller are provided to face each other, and printing is performed by inserting a label between the thermal head and the platen roller. The host computer creates print data and sends it to a label printer using a communication line such as RS-232C. This label printer analyzes the received print data and draws print data for one label. The image is drawn on the memory as image data, and the image data of the drawing memory is supplied to the thermal head for each line of the thermal head, thereby printing on the label.

As an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory for storing a program for controlling the printer and the like, a flash EEPROM (Flash Electr
ic Erasable Program Read Only Momery (hereinafter referred to as flash memory)
No. 3,230,070. The reason for using this flash memory is when there is a bug in the program or when upgrading the version of the program.
This is because the program can be changed without replacing the element of the ROM storing the program. for that reason,
The program data to be changed is transmitted from the host computer connected to transmit the print data, and the program data is written to the flash memory.

[0004]

However, when writing data to the flash memory, it is necessary to check whether the written data is correct for each byte of data. If it is determined in this check that the written data is incorrect, the written print data is written again to the flash memory, and further checking is performed until the data is determined to be correct, for example, up to 25 times.
Repeat several times. However, since writing and checking are repeated for each 1-byte data in this way, processing time is extremely long. If data is successively transmitted from the host computer during the repetition of writing and checking,
In some cases, the capacity of the reception buffer becomes full and a part of the transmitted data cannot be received, or a communication error occurs, preventing correct data from being written to the flash memory.

[0005] In addition, by making the receiving buffer large enough to store all the data to be written to the flash memory, transmission is performed correctly and data writing to the flash memory is performed reliably. Increasing the memory capacity of the reception buffer for processing that is rarely performed is extremely wasteful.

An object of the present invention is to provide a page printer which can always write correct data to an electrically rewritable ROM.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a printing means for printing on paper, a drawing memory for storing print data to be printed by the printing means as image data, and a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting the stored data. Memory, receiving means for receiving received data from a higher-level model, determining means for determining whether or not a command for instructing data rewriting of the nonvolatile memory is provided, and determining by the determining means a command for instructing data rewriting. Then, storage means for storing the received data received by the receiving means in the drawing memory, writing means for writing the data of the drawing memory stored by the storage means to the nonvolatile memory, and writing means And a checking means for checking whether or not the data written is correct.

[0008]

As described above, when there is an instruction to rewrite the electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory, the received data transmitted from the upper model is stored in the drawing memory, and the data is written from the drawing memory to the nonvolatile memory. As a result, even if it takes time to check data writing to the nonvolatile memory, all received data to be written can be received.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a label printer for printing labels on paper using a line thermal head will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a label printer. A ROM 1, a RAM 4, an image buffer 5 as a drawing memory, and a flash memory 6 as an electrically rewritable ROM are connected to a CPU 1 via a bus line 2. . Also, C
Communication interface 7 to PU1 via bus line 2
A head controller 8, a motor controller 9, and an input / output port (hereinafter referred to as an I / O port, and also referred to as an I / O port in the drawing) are connected to each other (shown as a communication I / F in the figure). .

The head controller 8 is connected to a thermal head 11 whose heating element has a length substantially equal to the width of the label. A motor controller 9 drives a platen roller (not shown) to convey the label. 1
2 is connected, and a dip switch 13 is connected to the I / O port.
Is connected. The ROM 3 stores a program for writing to the flash memory and a program for executing initialization at power-on.
Although not shown, a reception buffer and various registers are provided,
A personal computer as an upper model (not shown) is connected to the communication interface 7 via a communication line such as RS-232C. The printing means is formed by the head controller 8 and the thermal head 11, and the motor controller 9 and the motor 12, and the communication means is formed by the communication interface 7.

Next, a process executed by the apparatus according to a program stored in the ROM 3 or the flash memory 6 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In step 1 (step is shown as ST in the figure), it is determined whether or not data has been received in the reception buffer. When the data is received, the received data is analyzed, and it is determined in step 2 whether the command is a data write command to the flash memory 6. If not, a print command is determined in step 3. . If it is a print command, a print process is performed on the label in step 4 and the process returns to step 1 for determining data reception. Step 3
If the command is not a print command, it is determined in step 5 whether or not the command is a drawing command. If the command is a drawing command, the received data is drawn in the image buffer 5 in step 6 and the process returns to the determination of data reception in step 1. If it is determined that the command is not a drawing command, other processing such as setting of label size, setting of label peeling issue or continuous issue, and the like are performed in step 7, and the process returns to step 1.

When it is determined in step 2 that the received command is to be written to the flash memory 6, it is determined in step 8 whether the next data has been received, that is, whether or not there is data in the reception buffer. When the data is received, the received data is stored in the image buffer 5 in step 9 and it is determined in step 10 whether or not the reception is completed, and the storage in the image buffer 5 is continued until the reception is completed.

If it is determined in step 10 that the reception has been completed, one byte of the data stored in the image buffer 5 is read in step 11 and a write process is performed on the flash memory 6 in step 12. Next, at step 13, a check command is written at the address where the data of the flash memory 6 has just been written. Then, at step 14, the data at this address is read, and at step 15, it is determined whether the written data is correct.

If it is determined that the written data is not correct, at step 16 the writing to this address is
It is determined whether the process has been executed 25 times. If the process has not been executed 25 times, the write process is executed again to the same address from the process of step 11. If the writing process has been performed 25 times, it is determined that the flash memory itself is broken, and an error process such as transmitting an error to the personal computer is executed in step 17 and the process is terminated. I do. If the data written in step 15 is normal, it is determined in step 18 whether all data in the image buffer 5 has been completed. If not, the next data is written to the flash memory 6. The processing is executed from step 11. If the writing of all the data in the image buffer 5 to the flash memory 6 has been completed in step 18, this processing ends. Note that the check processing at the time of writing data to the flash memory 6 is processing specified by the manufacturer of the flash memory, and is always performed.

As described above, in the label printer, when a drawing command is transmitted from the host computer, desired data is drawn in the image buffer 5 by the drawing command. Next, when a print command is transmitted, it is printed on a label based on the data drawn in the image buffer 5.

Next, when there is a bug in the program in the flash memory 6 or when the program is changed for version upgrade, a write command to the flash memory 6 is transmitted from the host computer. In the label printer, data to be written to the flash memory 6 that follows is temporarily stored in the image buffer 5. Since the stored data is sequentially written to the flash memory 6, even if the writing of data, the writing of the check command, and the reading of this data are repeatedly executed for each byte, the capacity of the reception buffer is sufficient. All data can be received without being lost.

Further, for example, in this label printer,
The DIP switch 13 is set as a means for instructing the writing processing of the flash memory 6, and when the power is turned on, the state of the DIP switch 13 is checked. The written data may be written to a flash memory.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a label printer. However, the present invention can be applied to, for example, a laser beam printer. In addition to a flash memory as a ROM, an EEPROM (Electric Erasable
A printer using Program Read Only Momery) may be used.

[0019]

According to the present invention, data to be written to an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory which is received from an upper model is stored in a drawing memory, and the data is written from the drawing memory to the non-volatile memory. All write data can be received regardless of the time required for the data write check. Therefore, the capacity of the reception buffer does not run out during communication, all data can be received reliably, and correct data can be written to the rewritable nonvolatile memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 5 Image buffer (drawing memory) 6 Flash memory (rewritable ROM) 7 Communication interface (communication means) 8 Head controller (printing means) 9 Motor controller (printing means) 11 Thermal head (printing means) 12 Motor (Printing means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 5/30 G06G 3/12

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing means for printing on paper, a drawing memory for storing print data to be printed by the printing means as image data, a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting the stored data, Receiving means for receiving data, and determining whether the received data is a command for instructing rewriting of data in the nonvolatile memory;
Means and a command for instructing data rewriting by this determination means.
Storage means for storing the received data received by the receiving means in the drawing memory when determined to be a command , writing means for writing the data of the drawing memory stored by the storage means to the non-volatile memory, Checking means for checking whether data written by the writing means is correct.