JP3226841B2 - Printer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device connected to an information processing device or the like and used as an output device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer device connected to an information processing device or the like and used as an output device is connected to a host computer by various connection methods, and is used for various purposes.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a connection state of a first example of such a conventional printer (printer).
This is an example disclosed in JP-A-3-217936.

In FIG. 4, three printers 22a to 22a-2
2c is independently connected to the control device 23 which connects the four host computers 21a to 21d. Four host computers 21a to 21d
Can create information based on a plurality of types of processing systems. For example, information can be created based on the respective processing systems A, B, and C. On the other hand, the printers 22a to 22a
c can output, as visible information, information created based on a separate processing system. For example, the printer 22a can output information created based on the processing system A as visible information, the printer 22b can output information created based on the processing system B as visible information, and the printer 22c can Information created based on the processing system C can be output as visible information. Accordingly, the four host computers 21a to 21a
The information created by any of the host computers based on the processing system A is output to the printer 22a via the control device 23, and the information created based on the processing system B is output to the printer 22b. The information created based on the system C is output to the printer 22c.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection state of a second example of a conventional printer, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-298371.

In FIG. 5, a host computer 31
Are connected via an interface 36 to an image memory device 34 for storing image information. A facsimile adapter 33 connected to a facsimile machine (not shown), an image memory device 34, a scanner 35 for reading image information of a document, and a printer 32, which is an image forming device of an output device, have an interface 37 and an interface 38, respectively. And an interface 39 in series.

The image processing system configured as described above stores image data sent from a facsimile adapter 33 connected to a facsimile machine via an interface 37 in an image memory device 34, and The image data sent via the interface 38 is input to and stored in a memory in the scanner 35, and the image data read by the original reading unit of the scanner 35 and the image data stored in the memory are combined. To the printer 32 via the interface 39 for output printing.

[0008]

In the conventional printer described above, since a plurality of printers cannot be connected to each other, the same information can be simultaneously output and printed by a plurality of printers. There is a disadvantage that a plurality of different information cannot be output and printed simultaneously by a plurality of printer devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional printer device and to connect a plurality of printer devices to one host computer in series with a simple configuration so that the same information and It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device which can simultaneously output and print different information on a plurality of printer devices.

[0010]

The printer of the present invention is connected to a host computer or a printer at the preceding stage.
A first input / output driver circuit for continuously transmitting and receiving information;
The second, which is connected to the subsequent printer device to exchange information
An input / output driver circuit and the first input / output driver circuit
Connected to the second input / output driver circuit and
Sent from host computer with another number
Information that matches or does not match with the identification number
Information sent from the subsequent printer device
To the host computer or the
Identification number generation circuit to send to the linter device as identification information
And the self identification number connected to the identification number generation circuit.
And the identification number sent from the host computer
Sent from the host computer when
The host computer analyzes the received print command and sends it.
Print command data analysis time to receive received print data
Path and the print command received by the print command data analysis circuit.
A memory for storing data and the host computer
When a print start command is received from the
A print unit for outputting and printing the print data, and the print unit
And a print control circuit for controlling the printing operation of the printer .

[0011]

In particular, an identification number setting circuit for holding the identification number of itself and collating it with the identification number sent from the host computer, and when the collation result in the identification number setting circuit matches, the information is stored in the subsequent stage. A status arbitration circuit that transmits the identification information to the preceding host computer or the printer device as identification information in addition to the identification information sent from the printer device. The print command data analysis circuit, comprising: a reception command analysis circuit that analyzes commands including a print command and a print start command sent thereto; and a data control circuit that temporarily stores print data sent from the host computer. It is provided with.

[0013]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection state of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an identification number generating circuit and reception command data of the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating details of an analysis circuit.

In FIG. 1, a printer (printer)
Reference numeral 2 denotes an input / output driver circuit 3 connected to the host computer 1 or the preceding printer, an input / output driver circuit 4 connected to the subsequent printer, an input / output driver circuit 3 and the input / output driver circuit 4, and An identification number generation circuit 5 for holding the identification number and collating it with the identification number sent from the host computer 1, and receiving instruction data connected to the identification number generation circuit 5 and analyzing the instruction sent from the host computer 1 An analysis circuit 6; a memory 7 connected to the reception command data analysis circuit 6 for storing print data sent from the host computer 1;
Control circuit 8 for controlling the operation of printing section 9 by connecting
And a printing unit 9 for performing output printing under the control of the print control circuit 8.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 2 configured as described above connects the input / output driver circuit 3 of the first stage printer 2a to the host computer 1 and the second stage and subsequent printers 2b to 2n. Are connected in series by connecting the input / output driver circuits 3 to the input / output driver circuits 4 of the preceding printers 2a to 2 (n-1).

As shown in FIG. 3, the identification number generation circuit 5 includes an identification number setting circuit 10 and a status arbitration circuit 11
And The identification number setting circuit 10 holds the identification number of the printer 2 to which it belongs, and when the identification number is sent from the host computer 1, the identification numbers are compared. The status arbitration circuit 11 sends identification information to the host computer 1 or the preceding printers 2a to 2 (n-1).

As shown in FIG. 3, the reception command data analysis circuit 6 includes a reception command analysis circuit 12 and a data control circuit 13.
And When receiving a print command or a print start command from the host computer 1, the reception command analysis circuit 12 analyzes them. When inputting print data from the host computer 1, the data control circuit 13 performs control to temporarily store the print data and write it into the memory 7.

Next, the operation of the printer 2 configured as described above will be described.

First, the host computer 1 sends out an identification number, and connects the printers 2a to 2 connected in series.
It is checked whether a printer corresponding to the identification number exists in n.

Each of the printers 2a to 2n having received the identification number from the host computer 1 has its own identification number held in the identification number setting circuit 10 in each identification number generation circuit 5, and the identification number inputted from the host computer 1. The numbers are collated, and when they match, a signal indicating that the identification numbers match is sent to the status arbitration circuit 11. The status arbitration circuit 11 adds information indicating that the comparison result matches the identification information sent from the status arbitration circuit 11 of the subsequent printer (for example, the printer 2b to the printer 2c), and The information is sent to the status arbitration circuit 11 of the printer (for example, the printer 2a with respect to the printer 2b) as new identification information.
If the collation results do not match, information indicating that the collation results match is not added, and the information sent from the preceding printer is transmitted as it is as identification information. The printer 2a at the forefront sends identification information to the host computer 1. The transfer of these identification information is performed by each printer 2.
This is performed through the input / output driver circuits 3 and 4 of the input / output driver circuits a to 2n. In this way, the printer 2
Among the printers a to 2n, information on a printer having an identification number matching the identification number sent from the host computer 1 is sent back to the host computer 1.

Next, the host computer 1 adds a print command and an identification number to the print data, and
n. Printers 2a to 2n that have received this information
Among them, the printer holding the same identification number as the added identification number analyzes the print command in the reception command analysis circuit 12 in the reception command data analysis circuit 6 so that the printer can receive the print data. Set the internal state. Subsequently, when receiving the print data, the reception command data analysis circuit 6 converts the received print data into the data control circuit 13.
, And then sends it to the memory 7 for writing.

Next, the host computer 1 sends a print start command. The printer receiving the print data
When the data is analyzed by the reception command analysis circuit 12 in the reception command data analysis circuit 6, the print data stored in the memory 7 is sent to the printing unit 9 via the print control circuit 8, and the output printing is performed. The printing control circuit 8 controls a printing operation in the printing unit 9.

Transmission of print data, a print command, and a print start command from the host computer 1 is performed by the printers 2a to 2n.
Is controlled by a signal transmitted from the status arbitration circuit 11 in the identification number generation circuit 5 of FIG.

To output and print the same print data on a plurality of printers, the host computer 1
The print data is transmitted with a plurality of identification numbers added thereto. When it is desired to output and print a plurality of different print data to different printers, the host computer 1
Sends a plurality of different print data with different identification numbers.

[0026]

As described above, the printer apparatus of the present invention retains its own identification number, compares it with the identification number sent from the host computer, and notifies the matching circuit of the matching or mismatch. By providing a circuit and a print command data analysis circuit that analyzes print commands sent from the host computer when the identification numbers match and receives print data, a plurality of printer devices can be serially connected to the host computer. There is an effect that any print data can be output and printed by any one of the plurality of printer devices when connected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection state of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of an identification number generation circuit and a reception command data analysis circuit of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a connection state of a first example of a conventional printer device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection state of a second example of a conventional printer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 31 Host computer 2.2a, 2b to 2n, 22a, 22b, 22c, 32
Printer 3 input / output driver circuit 4 input / output driver circuit 5 identification number generation circuit 6 reception instruction data analysis circuit 7 memory 8 print control circuit 9 printing unit 10 identification number setting circuit 11 status arbitration circuit 12 reception instruction analysis circuit 13 data control circuit 23 Control device 33 FAX adapter 34 Image memory device 35 Scanner 36/37/38/39 Interface

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first input / output driver circuit for transmitting and receiving information by connecting to a preceding host computer or a printer device, and a second input / output driver circuit for transmitting and receiving information by connecting to a subsequent printer device Is connected to the first input / output driver circuit and the second input / output driver circuit and collated with the identification number sent from the host computer while holding its own identification number and determining whether they match or not. An identification number generation circuit that adds information to the identification information sent from the subsequent printer device and sends the identification information to the host computer or the printer device of the preceding stage as identification information; Sent from the host computer when the identification number of the host computer matches the identification number sent from the host computer. A print command data analysis circuit that analyzes a print command and receives print data sent from the host computer, a memory that stores the print data received by the print command data analysis circuit, and starts printing from the host computer. A printer device, comprising: a printing unit that outputs and prints the print data stored in the memory when receiving a command; and a print control circuit that controls a printing operation of the printing unit. 2. An identification number setting circuit for holding the identification number of itself and collating it with an identification number sent from the host computer, and when the collation results in the identification number setting circuit match, the information is sent to the subsequent stage. claim, characterized in that it comprises the identification number generation circuit and a status arbitration circuit from said printer device are sent in addition to the identification information is sent as the host computer or the identification information to the printer device of the front stage 1 Symbol placement of the printer device. 3. A reception command analysis circuit for analyzing a command including a print command and a print start command sent from the host computer, and a data control circuit for temporarily storing print data sent from the host computer. preparative the print instruction claim 1 or claim 2 Symbol placement of the printer device, comprising a data analysis circuit having.