JP4422457B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having an external interface (wireless interface, infrared interface, etc.) and printing data received from the outside via this interface.

  There is a printing apparatus that is operated by being connected to a processing apparatus through a serial interface such as an RS232C interface and that prints data transferred from the processing apparatus. In this type of printing apparatus, an interface error occurs when the processing apparatus is turned off while the processing apparatus and the printing apparatus are connected online. When an interface error occurs, the printing apparatus notifies the interface error and stops the subsequent printing process. For this reason, even if the processing apparatus is turned on and print data is transferred after an interface error occurs, there is a problem that print output cannot be performed unless the error of the printing apparatus is canceled.

  Therefore, conventionally, when an interface error occurs, the printing device is provided with a function for determining whether the interface error is caused by turning off the processing device. When an interface error is caused by turning off the processing device, the interface error is automatically detected. There is a printing apparatus that is automatically released (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, there is a printing apparatus that has a wireless interface, an infrared interface, or the like as an interface with a processing apparatus, and prints data received wirelessly from the processing apparatus via the interface. For example, this corresponds to a portable printer that is used for issuing discount labels at a mass retailer of a distribution retailer.

  In this type of printing apparatus, when the power is turned on, each apparatus component including the interface is initialized in the startup sequence. When a connection request is received from the processing device after the initialization is completed, parameters such as the baud rate are correctly set in the interface, and a connection link with the processing device is established. In this case, the interface operates normally and the data received from the processing device is printed correctly.

However, since this type of printing apparatus requires a processing time of several seconds to several tens of seconds for initialization, a connection request may be received from the processing apparatus before the initialization is completed. In that case, since the interface operates alone to establish a connection link with the processing device, parameters that are not compliant with the printing device are set in the interface, and data from the processing device cannot be received correctly. You may be unable to print. In such a case, the user has dealt with by canceling the interface error by turning on the power of the printing apparatus again to initialize the interface.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-197810

  Conventionally, however, the printing device continued to operate even if an interface error occurred when the power was turned on. Therefore, the user must investigate the cause of the data output from the processing device if it is not printed out, and it must be out of paper or jammed. I suspected that there was an interface error, and turned on the power again. In particular, the portable printer has only an LED light emitting element as a display, and even if an error is notified by, for example, a blinking operation, it cannot be immediately determined what the error is caused by. For this reason, it was not possible to quickly respond to this type of interface error. Moreover, in order to cancel the interface error, it was necessary to turn the power off and on, which was troublesome.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to respond promptly and with good operability to the interface error at the time of power-on without requiring the user to be aware of it. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of improving work efficiency.

The present invention has an interface with the outside, for example, a wireless interface, an infrared interface, etc., in a printing apparatus for printing data received from the outside via this interface, each device component comprising by Ri interface to the power-on before after being initialized, checks for errors occurring in the interface to the interface were established a connection link with the external alone before initializing the interface is completed, the interface initialization is completed In addition, when the interface alone establishes a connection link with the outside, the power is turned off when it is detected that an error has occurred in the interface .

  According to the present invention in which such a measure is taken, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can respond quickly and with good operability to the interface error when the power is turned on, and can improve the work efficiency of printing work. .

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a portable printer that prints and issues labels and the like.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of a portable printer. FIG. 1 (a) shows a top view thereof, and FIG. 1 (b) shows a front view thereof. The portable printer has a small and lightweight printer main body 1 and uses a battery 15 (see FIG. 2) housed in a battery case 2 of the main body 1 as a drive source. Then, the data received from the outside is printed on a roll of label paper or receipt paper stored in the printer main body 1 in a replaceable manner, for example, by a thermal head (not shown), and a discount label or a receipt is issued. It is supposed to be.

  Such a portable printer has a power button 3 that switches power on and off, a feed button 4 that feeds paper while being pressed, and an LED light emitting element 5 that displays a status by lighting and flashing on the upper surface of the printer body 1. Provided. In addition, a paper issue port 6 for discharging printed paper is formed in the front of the printer main body 1. The paper issuing port 6 is provided with a cutter 7 for cutting the discharged paper.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the printer main body 1. In the printer main body 1, a print control board 11, a printer engine 12, a wireless interface module 13, an infrared interface module 14, a battery 15, and a power switch 16 are arranged.

  The print control board 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111 constituting a control unit body, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112 in which fixed data such as programs are stored in advance, and various memory areas such as a reception buffer and a drawing buffer. RAM (Random Access Memory) 113 formed with a signal, an input / output (I / O) port 114 to which a signal from the feed button 4 is input and a drive signal is output to the LED light emitting element 5, and the printer engine 12 are controlled. The engine controller 115 for performing the printing operation, the first interface driver 116 to which the wireless interface module 13 is connected, the second interface driver 117 to which the infrared interface module 14 is connected, and the like are provided. The CPU 111, the ROM 112, the RAM 113, the I / O port 114, the engine controller 115, and the first and second interface drivers 116 and 117 are connected by a bus line 118 such as an address bus and a data bus.

  The printer engine 12 is provided with a print head such as a paper conveyance motor and a line thermal head, and driving of these motors and heads is controlled by an engine controller 115.

  The wireless interface module 13 can establish a connection link with an external processing device by a wireless communication method, and receives print data wirelessly from the processing device with which the connection link is established.

  The infrared interface module 14 can establish a connection link with an external processing device by an infrared communication method, and wirelessly receives print data from the processing device with which the connection link is established.

  The power switch 16 is closed when the power button 3 is turned on and opened when the power button 3 is turned off. When the power switch 16 is closed, the power supply voltage of the battery 15 is supplied to each part of the print control board 11, the printer engine 12, and the wireless and infrared interface modules 13 and 14, respectively. The power switch 16 is automatically opened in response to an opening command signal from the CPU 111 to forcibly cut off the power supply of the battery 15.

  In the portable printer having such a configuration, when the power switch 16 is closed by turning on the power button 3, and the power supply voltage of the battery 15 is supplied to each part such as the print control board 11, the CPU 111 starts up. Then, the CPU 111 starts the power-on process of the sequence shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 based on the startup program stored in the ROM 112.

  First, the CPU 111 searches the I / O port 114 as ST (step) 1 to determine whether or not the feed button 4 is pressed. When it is recognized that the feed button 4 is pressed by an input signal to the I / O port 114, activation in the self-diagnosis mode is instructed, so that the CPU 111 performs self-diagnosis to the register in the CPU 111 as ST2. A mode flag is set (self-diagnosis command means). On the other hand, when it is recognized that the feed button 4 has not been pressed, the self-diagnosis mode flag is not set because the normal activation is not in the self-diagnosis mode.

  Next, the CPU 111 activates the wireless interface module 13 and the infrared interface module 14 via the first and second interface drivers 116 and 117 as ST3. In addition, the CPU 111 initializes each device component such as the RAM 113, the I / O port, and the engine controller 115 as ST4. The initialization is the same as in the past, and it takes a time from several seconds to several tens of seconds.

  When initialization is completed as ST5, the CPU 111 checks the states of the wireless interface module 13 and the infrared interface module 14 via the first and second interface drivers 116 and 117 as ST6 (interface diagnostic means).

  If it is confirmed in ST7 that no error has occurred in either the wireless interface module 13 or the infrared interface module 14, the CPU 111 determines that the interface modules 13 and 14 are normal. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that an error has occurred in at least one of the interface modules, the CPU 111 determines that each of the interface modules 13 and 14 is abnormal.

  If it is determined in ST7 that each of the interface modules 13 and 14 is normal, the CPU 111 checks the self-diagnosis mode flag in ST8 to determine whether or not it is activated in the self-diagnosis mode. Here, when the self-diagnosis mode flag is set, since it is the start-up in the self-diagnosis mode, the CPU 111 drives the printer engine 12 via the engine controller 115 as ST9 and displays the self-diagnosis result on the sheet. To print. After that, the CPU 111 turns on the LED light emitting element 5 in ST10 and starts the printer normally.

  If the self-diagnosis mode flag is not set in ST8, the CPU 111 does not start in the self-diagnosis mode, so the CPU 111 proceeds to ST10 to turn on the LED light emitting element 5 and normally start the printer.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in ST7 that each of the interface modules 13 and 14 is abnormal, the CPU 111 checks the self-diagnostic mode flag in ST11 to determine whether or not it is activated in the self-diagnostic mode (determination of activation condition means). Here, when the self-diagnosis mode flag is not set, the CPU 111 does not start in the self-diagnosis mode, so the CPU 111 outputs the opening command signal of the power switch 16 to close the power switch 16 as ST12, The power supply of the battery 15 is cut off. That is, the power is turned off (power cutoff means).

  When the self-diagnostic mode flag is set in ST11, since it is a start in the self-diagnostic mode, the CPU 111 drives the printer engine 12 via the engine controller 115 as ST13, that is, the self-diagnosis result, that is, Print on the paper that an interface error has occurred. Thereafter, in ST14, the LED light emitting element 5 is blinked and stopped as an error state (error notification means).

  As described above, in the portable printer of the present embodiment, when the user turns on the power button 3, the respective units are initialized according to a predetermined activation sequence. Then, after the initialization is completed, the states of the wireless interface module 13 and the infrared interface module 14 are checked. Here, when both the interface modules 13 and 14 are operating normally, the LED light emitting element 5 is turned on. Thereby, the user can recognize that the printer has started up normally.

  However, for example, before the initialization of the wireless interface module 13 is completed, when a connection request comes from an external processing device that supports wireless communication, and the interface module 13 operates alone to establish a connection link with the processing device, Parameters not assumed by the printer are set in the interface module 13. In this case, an interface error is found by checking the interface modules 13 and 14 after completion of initialization. Then, the printer is automatically turned off.

  When the power is turned off, many users turn on the power button 3 again to turn on the power again. Then, since this type of interface error is canceled by turning on the power again, the printer starts normally unless a connection request is received from the external processing device before the initialization is completed again. Therefore, the user can quickly deal with an interface error in which the error is canceled by turning on the power again without being aware of the error. Further, since there is no need to turn off the power button 3 in order to turn on the power again, the operability can be improved.

  In particular, in the case of a portable printer, since there is only an LED light emitting element as a display, even if an error is reported, it is impossible to immediately determine what the error is caused by. However, in this embodiment, an error is reported regarding an interface error. There is no problem because it is not necessary.

  By the way, among the interface errors that occur when the power is turned on, there are errors that are not cleared even when the power is turned on again. In that case, even if the power button 3 is turned on again, the power is turned off again and the printer does not start at all. In such a case, the user turns on the power button 3 while pressing the feed button 4. Then, since it starts in the self-diagnosis mode, if an interface error has occurred, the fact is printed on the paper and the error is stopped. Thereby, the user can easily know that it is not activated due to an interface error.

  Incidentally, before the initialization of the infrared interface module 14 is completed, a connection request is received from an external processing device compatible with infrared communication, and the interface module 14 operates independently to establish a connection link with the processing device, and the interface It goes without saying that the same operation as described above is performed even when parameters not assumed by the printer are set in the module 14.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a portable printer including the wireless interface module 13 and the infrared interface module 14, but the present invention is also applied to a printing apparatus having any one of the interface modules. Can do. Also, the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus having a communication interface module other than wireless communication and infrared communication if the interface module establishes a connection link with an external processing apparatus alone. It is possible to achieve various effects.

  In addition to the above, it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, such as means for instructing activation in the self-diagnosis mode and interface error notification means at the time of activation of the self-diagnosis mode.

1 is an external view of a portable printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the portable printer. 3 is a flowchart showing a main part of power-on processing executed by the CPU of the portable printer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer main body, 3 ... Power button, 4 ... Feed button, 5 ... LED light emitting element, 11 ... Print control board, 12 ... Printer engine, 13 ... Wireless interface module, 14 ... Infrared interface module, 15 ... Battery, 16 ... Power switch.

Claims (3)

In a printing apparatus that has an interface with the outside and prints data received from the outside through this interface,
Ella by devices constituting portion including the interface Ri by the power-on after being initialized, resulting in the interface to the interface were established a connection link with the external alone before the initialization of the interface is completed -Interface diagnostic means to check the presence or absence,
Power to turn off the power when it is detected that an error has occurred on the interface to which the interface has to establish a connection link with the external alone before initializing the interface by the interface diagnosis means has been completed Blocking means;
A printing apparatus comprising: In a printing apparatus that has an interface with the outside and prints data received from the outside through this interface,
Self-diagnosis command means for commanding start-up in self-diagnosis mode;
Ella by devices constituting portion including the interface Ri by the power-on after being initialized, resulting in the interface to the interface were established a connection link with the external alone before the initialization of the interface is completed and interface diagnosis means for checking the presence or absence of the over,
Upon detection of an error on the interface to which to establish a connection link is generated between the external the interface alone before initializing the interface by the interface diagnosis means has been completed, at the self-diagnosis mode An activation condition determining means for determining whether or not it is activated;
An error notification means for notifying an interface error when it is determined by the activation condition determination means that the activation is in the self-diagnosis mode;
A power shut-off means for turning off the power when it is judged that the start-up condition judging means is not a start in the self-diagnosis mode;
A printing apparatus comprising:   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the interface is a wireless interface.

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