JP3217485B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention enables bidirectional communication with a host device such as a host computer.
The present invention relates to a printing device such as a printer , a copying machine , and a word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when bidirectional communication is performed between a host machine and a printing apparatus, an application incorporated in the host machine forms print information in combination with various instructions based on a certain instruction system. Then, when the user instructs the execution of printing, the printing information is transmitted to the printing device.

However, when the printing apparatus has a plurality of instruction systems (hereinafter, referred to as emulation), the emulation currently selected on the printing apparatus side is based on the printing transmitted by the application on the host machine side. It is quite possible to have a command system that is completely different from the information. In such a case, the command interpreter of the printing device cannot interpret the transmitted print information at all, and abnormal printing is performed many or many times, causing a problem that paper is wasted. was there.

If the data sent from the application differs from the currently selected emulation command system, the connection to the host machine must be forcibly disconnected by turning off the power of the printing apparatus. I had to. If there is a large amount of data sent from the host machine, the data remains in the buffer on the host machine, so even if the printer is turned off, the data will be printed the next time the printer is started up. Sent to the device,
The malfunction sometimes continued as it was.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a transmission stop command as abnormal data when print information having a code system of an emulation different from the currently selected emulation is transmitted from a host machine. Is sent to the host machine to interrupt the data transfer so that wasteful consumption of paper can be prevented. In this case, even if data remains in the buffer on the host machine side, transmission from the host device can be stopped without turning off the power on the printing device side, and the user is notified of an emulation selection error. Is to be able to do that.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus, comprising: means for connecting to a host device for transmitting / receiving image information or communication control information to / from a host device; and image information transmitted from the host device. Or storage means for temporarily storing communication control information, information analysis means for determining whether or not the stored image information or communication control information matches the currently selected instruction system; and Rutotomoni and transmitting means for transmitting the transmission stop command or transmission continuation command to the host device via said connecting means on the basis, and display means for performing error display when the information analyzing means has a determination result of different, the Cancel transmission stop command
Means for analyzing the information, wherein the information analyzing means
Transmission continuation command to the higher-level device in response to
Control the transmission means, and then from the higher-level device again.
Even if image information or communication control information is transmitted,
The analysis is not performed .

Further, when the judgment result of the information analysis means are different, in addition to the display by the display means, Ru can also be further configured to perform error notification by a buzzer sound or voice by the voice generator.

[0008]

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, if the printing information sent from the host machine (upper device) is different from the currently selected emulation code system, the printing apparatus sends the printing information to the host machine. A transmission stop command is transmitted and the user is notified of the transmission stop command. In addition,
Release the transmission stop command and issue a transmission continuation command in response to the release.
Send to host machine, then send from host machine
The printed information is not analyzed and the data
Only capture

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a laser printer according to the present invention. The laser printer 10 includes a controller 11
, A printer engine 12, an operation panel 13, a tone generator 14, and a main power (power supply) 15, and can perform bidirectional communication with a host machine 16.

The controller 11 is a laser printer 10
Is a control mechanism that converts print data from the host machine 16 into video data and outputs the video data to the printer engine 12 in accordance with the control mode set by the host computer 16 and the control code from the host machine 16.
8, RAM 19, NV-RAM 20, and program ROM
21, a font ROM 22, an engine I / F 23, a panel I / F 24, and a sound source I / F 25. The functions of these modules are as follows.

The host I / F 17 is an interface for transmitting and receiving control signals and data from the host machine 16 to the laser printer 10 and status signals from the laser printer 10 to the host machine 16.

The CPU 18 processes data (print data, control data) from the host machine 16 according to a program stored in the program ROM 21.

A RAM 19 is a work memory for processing by the CPU 18, a buffer for temporarily managing data from the host machine 16 in page units and temporarily storing the data, converting the data stored in the buffer into an actual print pattern, It is used as a bitmap memory for storing data.

The NV-RAM 20 is a non-volatile RAM for storing data to be retained even when the power is turned off. The program ROM 21 stores a program for controlling data processing in the controller 11 and peripheral modules. The font ROM 22 stores various fonts used for printing.

The engine I / F 23 includes a controller 11
Interface for transmitting and receiving control signals from the printer engine 12 to the printer engine 12 and status signals from the printer engine 12 to the controller 11. Panel I / F24
Are various signals from the operation panel 13, for example, a signal for switching the state, mode, font, and the like of the laser printer 10;
This is an interface for transmitting and receiving a signal for performing display to the device. The sound source I / F 25 is an interface for controlling the sound source device 14.

The printer engine 12 includes the controller 1
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor in accordance with the video signal and control signal from 1 and developed, and a transfer sheet is fed from a sheet feeding unit, and transferred and fixed to form an image. The operation panel 13 is a display unit that indicates the state of the laser printer 10, and is also a switch unit that switches the mode, fonts, and the like of the laser printer 10.

The data sent from the host machine 16 through the host I / F 17 is used by the CPU 18 to print data and print control data (SP, CR, LF, HT, V).
T) and other data, and the print data and print control data are stored in a buffer. When the print command from the host machine 16 or the received data exceeds one page, the controller 11 sends a print start command to the printer engine 12 through the engine I / F 23. Print data from the host machine 16 is printed via the printer engine 12 in such a series of flows.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed in the laser printer 10 upon receiving a printer printing application from the host machine 16. The printer printing application incorporated in the host machine 16 selects various fonts according to a certain command system, processes various printing information such as image information and an image print position designation command in the application, and combines them. , Host I / F1
7 to the laser printer 10.

Upon receiving such print information (step S1), the controller 11 of the laser printer 10
The print information is temporarily stored in a temporary print information storage buffer (pre-buffer) allocated in the AM 19 (step S2). Then, the stored print information is read according to a resident program in the program ROM 21.
Investigate every byte in the order of storage.

First, it is checked whether the one-byte data is an ESC code (escape code) (step S3).
If it is not the ESC code, one-byte data is taken out again from the buffer. If it is an ESC code, the next 1-byte data following the ESC code is taken out, and the data is compared with the table of the command system of the currently selected emulation to determine whether or not there is a matching one with reference to the table. (Step S4). Here, the command system table is a collection of all the command strings supported by a certain emulation, and FIG. 4 shows an example of the table.

When a match is found in the table (step S5), the write count is incremented by one (step S6), and then it is determined whether or not the write count has reached a specified value (for example, 20). (Step S7). The greater the specified value, the higher the reliability that the currently selected emulation matches the print information generated by the application. If the write count exceeds this specified value, it is considered that the received print information and the emulation match, the previous print information is fetched into the input buffer in the RAM 19 (step S8), and normal printing is performed. The mode is shifted to (step S9).

On the other hand, if they do not match in step S5, a transmission stop command (Xoff or the like) is immediately returned to the host machine 16 (step S10), and the host machine 16 sends erroneous print information any longer.
Do not send to 0. Next, program RO
The program in M21 displays an emulation selection error on the operation panel 13 through the panel I / F 24 (step S11). If the user is to be informed aurally that an emulation selection error has occurred, the sound source device 14 is operated through the sound source I / F 25 to generate a buzzer sound or a sound with specific error contents (step S12). ).

If an emulation selection error occurs, the process proceeds to a transmission stop command canceling routine shown in FIG. In this routine, when an emulation selection error occurs and the transmission stop command release button on the operation panel 13 is pressed (step S13), the data in the pre-buffer is interpreted by the command interpreter (CPU 1) of the controller 11.
A subroutine that only takes in data and does not perform command analysis is called without passing through the function performed mainly on step 8 (step S14).

Next, a code for canceling the transmission stop command, that is, a transmission continuation command (Xon or the like) is transmitted from the laser printer 10 to the host machine 16 (step S1).
5). Therefore, the host machine 16 is
Although the print information is transmitted again to the laser printer 10, although the print information is temporarily stored in the laser printer 10, the command enters a subroutine in which the command analysis is not performed even if the data is fetched. I can't.

When there is no print data from the host machine 16 and transmission from the host machine 16 stops, the pre-buffer becomes empty (step S16), so that the command interpreter routine is called upon this, and The display of the emulation selection error, which has been continuously displayed until, is also released, and the operation returns to the normal operation mode (step S1).
7). After returning to the normal operation, the user may select an emulation that matches the previously used application by using the operation panel 13 or a command.

[0026]

According to the present onset Akira, according to the present invention, when the printing information sent from the host machine that is a higher-level device, was different from the command system of Emi configuration that is currently selected,
It is possible to inform the user that the emulation selection is wrong without wasting a large amount of paper unlike the related art.

Further, even after the Emulation selected error occurs, the host machine, without taking forcible means, such as any power off the printer, yet without wasting paper, Emulation selection The error can be cleared.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser printer as an example of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed in the laser printer upon receiving a printer printing application from a host machine.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a routine following FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a command example of a command system table;

[Explanation of symbols]

10 the laser printer 11 controller 12 printer engine 13 operation panel 14 tone generator device 15 main power 16 host machine 17 host I / F 18 CPU 19 RAM 20 NV-R A M 21 program ROM 22 font ROM 24 panel I / F 25 sound I / F

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A printing device capable of performing bidirectional communication with a higher-level device, a connection unit with a higher-level device for transmitting and receiving image information or communication control information to and from the higher-level device; Storage means for temporarily storing the image information or communication control information transmitted from the higher-level device, and determining whether the stored image information or communication control information matches the currently selected command system Information analyzing means, a transmitting means for transmitting a transmission stop command or a transmission continuation command to the host device based on the determination result through the connection means, and Ru and a display means for performing
In both cases, there is provided means for canceling the transmission stop command,
The information analysis means transmits in response to the release of the transmission stop instruction.
Controlling the transmitting means to transmit a continuation command to the higher-level device;
Control, and then the image information or communication
Do not analyze control information when it is sent
A printing device, characterized in that: 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a sound generating means for giving a buzzer sound or an error notification when the information analyzing means determines that the information is different.