JP4449367B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer capable of canceling a print job, and more particularly to a printer capable of automatically returning an error state of a printer caused by a print job to be canceled by a print job cancel request.

  When canceling printing when the printer is printing data from the host computer, it is usually necessary to perform a print cancel operation on the screen of the host computer. In this case, a reset command is sent from the host side to the printer side, and the printer driver on the host side discards the print data.

  As another method, there is a method of operating the print cancellation on the spooler screen of the OS (operating system) of the host computer. In this case, the data stored in the spooler is deleted.

  As a method for canceling printing on the printer side, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-289297 (Patent Document 1), received print data is discarded (erased) without printing. According to this patent document, the printer starts printing when it receives print data from the host. If the printer is reset immediately after that, the print data of the job being executed becomes dust print data. Therefore, the printer does not print such dust print data, and discards (deletes) it from the reception buffer without analyzing it even if it is received.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-44557 (Patent Document 2) is another method for forcibly stopping the printer by an operation on the printer side. In this example, when an error or the like occurs in the printer, the printer is forcibly stopped by an operation on the printer side. That is, the printer starts printing when it receives print data from the host. When the forced stop switch is pressed on the printer side due to some error after the start of printing, an error signal output is transmitted from the printer to the host, and the host pauses to stop the transfer of print data to the printer. During this time, the printer turns on the error LED, sequentially clears the RAM to erase the print data, stops printing, and discharges the paper. When the printer error is released, the printer transmits an error release signal to the host and turns off the error LED.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200825 (Patent Document 3), in response to job cancellation from the printer panel, the printer notifies the host of job cancellation, and in response, the host means job end. It has been proposed that print data with an end mark added is transmitted to a printer, and the printer discards the print data received up to the end mark so as not to perform dust printing.
JP 2000-289297 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-44557 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200825

  Examples of enabling cancellation of a print job from the host side or the printer side are disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents 1, 2, and 3. However, these patent documents do not describe how to cancel an error in the printer caused by a canceled print job. Normally, in order to cancel an error in the printer, the operator is made to remove the error state or confirm that it is not in the error state, and a special operation for canceling the error is requested.

  For example, for a print job to be printed with paper size A3, if it is detected that A4 paper is loaded in the paper tray, a paper size error occurs and the printer blinks the lamp on the operation panel. The paper size error is notified to the operator by, for example. In this case, even if the print job is canceled, the status of the paper size error is not canceled, and the next print job cannot be started. In order to be able to start the next print job, the error status caused by the canceled print job is canceled by operating the panel corresponding to the error, for example, operating the error correction completion switch. It is necessary to keep. Errors that occur inherent in the canceled print job, such as a paper size error or a paper out error, may not occur in the next print job if the error is canceled manually by the operator. However, in the conventional printer, in addition to the print job cancel operation, the operator is also requested to cancel the error that has occurred. Therefore, in order to start the next print job, the operator The cancel request operation and the error cancel operation are required.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printer that does not require an operation for canceling an error state of a printer caused by the print job other than a print job cancel request.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer that receives print data from a host and prints an image corresponding to the print data.
Printing means for receiving print job data including print data from the host and executing the print job;
When printing corresponding to the received print job is performed, the printing is stopped in response to the operation of the print cancel request on the operation panel of the printer, and further, due to the print job corresponding to the print cancel request And a print canceling unit for returning the generated error to a return state.

  According to the first aspect, an error caused by printing corresponding to the print cancel request is returned to the return state in response to the operation of the print cancel request on the operation panel of the printer. By simply performing an operation, the error state can be canceled and the next print job can be started, and no special error state canceling operation is required from the operator.

In order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention provides a printer that receives print data from a host and prints an image corresponding to the print data.
Printing means for receiving print job data including print data from the host and executing the print job;
In response to a print cancel request operation on the host, printing of the print job corresponding to the print cancel request is stopped, and an error caused by the print job corresponding to the print cancel request is recovered. And a print canceling means.

  According to the second aspect, when a print job is canceled in the printer in response to an operation of a print cancel request at the host, an error caused by printing corresponding to the print cancel request is restored. Since it is in the status, it is possible to cancel the error status and start the next print job simply by performing a print cancel request operation from the host side, and request the operator to perform a special error status cancellation operation. There is no.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention, but extends to the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 according to the present embodiment includes a data receiving unit 3 that receives print job data including print data from a host (not shown), and a received data buffer that temporarily stores the received print job data. 5. It has a command analysis unit 7 for analyzing the received data.

  The command analysis unit 7 analyzes the print job data, sends the print data contained therein to the image buffer development unit 9, and sends a paper feed signal to the paper feed unit 13. The image buffer development unit 9 develops the print data sent from the command analysis unit 7 as print image data in the image buffer 11 and sends the print image data to the status management unit 15.

  On the other hand, the paper feed unit 13 sends a paper feed command to the status management unit 15, and in response to the paper feed command, the status management unit 15 drives the print engine 17 to feed paper to the paper feed unit 17C.

  The status management unit 15 manages printing for a print job and drives the print engine 17 as described above. The print engine 17 includes an inkjet head operation unit 17A, a carriage return unit 17B, a paper feed unit 17C, and the like, and executes printing by controlling these mechanical operation units.

  Further, the status management unit 15 receives a printer status request from the host via the status information creation unit 19 and responds to the status request to the host via the status information creation unit 19 in response to the status request. To do. This status information includes internal information of the printer, and returns status information with the internal information added. This internal information includes information when the printer side is in error. Examples of printer errors include a paper size error when a paper size different from the paper size of the print job exists in the paper feed tray, When there is no paper in the tray, no paper error, head hot error when the head temperature rises above a certain level, ink error when ink is insufficient, or ink cover is open Ink cover open error, paper jammed paper error, and so on. Among the above errors, paper size error, paper out error, head hot error, etc. are errors that occur due to a specific print job, and are not common to all print jobs, On the other hand, the error does not occur, and it does not require an operation for canceling a specific error by the operator. On the other hand, ink errors, ink cover open errors, paper clogging errors, etc. are common errors that occur in the same way in other print jobs even if they occur due to a specific print job. Requires operation.

  The host does not send print data to the printer when error information is added to the status information reply. The host continues to request status information until it gets a reply with status information that the printer is normal. When the host determines that there is no error on the printer side in response to the status information, transmission of print data to the printer is resumed.

  Further, the status management unit 15 is controlled by pressing each switch on the panel switch 21 of the printer, while displaying the printer status by controlling the light emitting unit corresponding to the pressed switch. The light emitting unit is a panel switch of the printer itself or an LED corresponding to each switch. Examples of printer panel switches include a reset switch 21A, an ink switch 21B, a paper switch 21C, and a power switch 21D.

  The operator presses the panel switch of the printer to transmit a command to the status management unit 15 to control the printer. The status management unit 15 lights or blinks the switch pressed in response to this command, and transmits the printer status to the operator. Further, when an error occurs in the printer, the light emitting unit of the panel flashes to notify the operator of the occurrence of the error. When the operator performs a panel operation for canceling the error after removing the error by a certain operation, the error state of the printer is cancelled.

  The status management unit 15 has an error status register corresponding to the aforementioned error in order to manage the error state of the printer. Then, when an error occurs, the corresponding error status register is set, and in response to the error canceling operation from the operation panel, if the error state disappears, the error status register is reset. Then, the status management unit 15 informs the status information creation unit 19 of the status of the error status register, and the status information creation unit 19 returns an error status to the host in response to a status request from the host.

  Next, the operation when a request for canceling a print job during printing, such as a paper size error such as a wrong paper size or an incorrect cut paper and roll paper, in the printer having the above configuration will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of print data in the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a job start command JS and a job end command JE are added to the beginning and the end of the print data PDATA so that the beginning and end of the print job can be identified. Furthermore, job identification information JOBID for identifying the job is also added. The job identification information is information that can identify which print job from which host. As shown in FIG. 2, the print data is a set of print data in band units including a header and image data. The header includes image data management commands such as color information, resolution, data length, and compression method information. The print data is added with a code ZZZ indicating the end of the image for each predetermined number of bands.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a sequence chart for canceling a print job from the panel switch of the printer in the present embodiment. A printer driver is installed in the host computer, and a status management means STM for managing the printer status is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, at the start of printing, the driver transmits a status request to the printer (S300), and in response, the printer answers the current status by the status information creation unit 19 (S302). If the current status is a normal state that is not an error state, the driver transmits a job start command JS indicating the start of the print job (S304), further transmits a job identification information command JOBID (S306), and subsequently. The print data is transmitted (S308). In response to this, the printer starts printing (S310). Even after the printing is started, the status request and the status reply are repeated every few seconds, and through the exchange, the driver acquires the job identification information to be currently printed.

  When the operator starts a job cancel switch on the printer panel in order to cancel the print job for some reason such as a paper size error at the stage of starting printing (S312), the printer status management unit 15 operates the switch. In response to, printing is immediately stopped, the paper is discharged, and the remaining print data is discarded (S314). At the same time, the printer transmits a job cancel request to the driver as an answer to the status request via the status information creation unit 19 (S316). When the status of this job cancellation request is answered, the driver has already acquired the job identification information to be canceled. Alternatively, job identification information JOBID may be transmitted at the time of this status reply.

  Further, the printer status management unit 19 is an error that has occurred due to a print job to be canceled, such as a paper size error or a paper out error, among the errors occurring at that time. If the error can be recovered without requiring the error, the corresponding error status register is reset to cancel the error, and the subsequent data reception from the host is enabled. Thus, the recoverable error can be recovered only by the print job cancel operation from the operator, and the error canceling operation by the operator is not required. Further, it is possible to start the next print job without waiting for an error canceling operation by the operator.

  Upon receiving the job cancel request notification, the driver determines whether the print job is currently being created (S318). If they match, the driver cancels the data creation, and sends the job end command JE to the print data being created. In addition, the data is transmitted to the printer, and the transmission of further print data is stopped (S322). If they do not match, the driver has completed the transmission of the print data to be canceled, and thus continues to create the print data that is currently being created. However, since the driver always adds the job end command JE to the end of the print data, the job end command JE is added to the transmitted print data stored in the received data buffer of the printer. . Furthermore, the driver transmits a job cancel request command together with the job identification information JOBID to the printer (S324). The order of steps S322 and S324 may be reversed.

  In response to the job cancellation request command, the printer returns the status of job cancellation from the status information creation unit 19 to the driver (S326). Further, the printer status management unit 15 continues the print interruption process in step S314, and executes the data reading discard process up to the job end command JE of the received print data. Therefore, even if a plurality of print jobs have been received, only print data of a print job whose printing has been canceled can be read and discarded. During the print interruption process in step S314, in response to the status request from the driver, the status indicating that the job is being canceled is notified (S326). Eventually, when the print data discarding process is completed, the printer notifies the driver of the end of cancellation as a status reply (S328). In response to this notification, the driver issues a status request S330 and receives a status reply indicating the normal state (S332), and transmits data for the next print job. At this point, since an error such as a paper size error due to the print job to be canceled has already been automatically restored, the next print job can be started immediately.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation on the driver side in response to the job cancel request in this embodiment. In FIG. 4A, when a job cancel is requested from the printer panel switch, the job ID being printed is JOB # 1, and the job being created on the host driver side when the job cancel request is received A case where the ID matches JOB # 1 is shown. In this case, the host driver cancels the data creation currently in progress, and transmits the print data with the job end command JE added thereto.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 4B, when a job cancel is requested from the printer panel switch, the job ID being printed is JOB # 1, and the job ID for which data is being created on the driver side when the job cancel request is received. Shows the case where does not match JOB # 2. In this case, data creation is continued and the job end command is not immediately transmitted. By adding job identification information in this way, if print data for the next print job is already being created on the driver side at the time of a printer panel cancel request, the data creation is not stopped and the time lag is reduced. Even if it occurs, data creation is not stopped inappropriately.

  As described above, in this embodiment, job identification information, a job start command, and a job end command are added, and in response to a job cancel request, the driver adds the job end command to the print data and transmits it to the printer. As a result, the printer can discard only the print job that is the subject of the cancel request. Further, the printer automatically recovers an error that has occurred due to the print job requested to be canceled and can be recovered without requiring an operator's operation. Enable reception.

  In the present embodiment, in order for the printer side to appropriately read out print data, it is necessary to receive a job end command from the driver side. However, even if the job end command cannot be received due to some trouble on the network, lack of specifications, etc., it is necessary to cancel the job so that dust printing is not performed.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence chart for explaining print job cancellation when an emergency such as a network connection error occurs. The same steps as those in FIG. 3 are given the same numbers. First, when requesting a print job, the host establishes a connection with the printer (S340). Thereafter, the status request S300, status reply S302, job start command transmission S304, job identification information transmission S306, print data transmission S308, and print start S310 are the same as those in FIG. When a job cancel request is operated by a panel switch of the printer after printing is started, the printer stops printing, discharges paper, and starts print data discarding processing (S312 and FIG. 3) (S312). S314). In addition, the printer cancels the recoverable error. Further, the printer transmits a job cancel request to the driver by status reply (S316). The driver checks whether or not it matches the print job being processed based on the job identification information (S318), and if it matches, the data generation is stopped (S320). Up to this point, the process is the same as in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 5, when an emergency situation occurs such as the network cable being disconnected, the job end command cannot be transmitted due to the network specifications, or the data is not received via the established connection, The built-in network card detects a connection error due to timeout (S342, S344). If no data is received for a predetermined time, it is assumed that the network is closed, and the printer starts a self-reset (S346). In this self-reset, all the received print job data is deleted, and a mechanical reset is performed to reset the head, the paper feed mechanism, and the like. Thus, even when the job end command JE cannot be received from the driver side, all the received print data can be deleted, and subsequent dust printing can be avoided.

  When the self-reset is completed and a new connection is established (S348), the status request S330, the status reply S332, and the subsequent printing process are performed. Since all the print data to be canceled is discarded due to the self-reset, it is avoided that the remaining print data and new print data are combined to execute the meaningless dust printing.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence chart for canceling a print job from the host side. According to this embodiment, even when a print job is canceled from the host side, it is possible to cope with the same specification. In FIG. 6, the status request S300 to the print start S310 are the same as those in FIG. When a cancel request is issued from the status management means STM of the host driver when printing is started (S350), the cancel request is transmitted to the driver, and the driver stops generating corresponding print data, and thereafter Data generation is not performed (S350). Then, the driver transmits a job cancellation request together with job identification information JOBID to the printer (S354), and further adds a job end command JE to the created print data and transmits it to the printer (S356).

  The printer checks whether the print data corresponding to the job identification information JOBID specified in the job cancellation request is being executed. If they match, the printer stops printing, ejects paper, and completes the job end command. A print data discarding process is performed (S358). At this time, an error that has occurred due to the print job requested to be canceled and can be recovered without an operator's operation, for example, a paper size error, a paper out error, a head hot error, or the like is cancelled. If the print job corresponding to the job cancel request is not being printed, the print data corresponding to the job identification information JOBID in the received data buffer is discarded up to the job end command without stopping the print processing. As a result, even if there is a time lag between the job cancellation request and the printing, only the print job corresponding to the job cancellation request can be discarded.

  The canceling of the print job in FIG. 6 is the same as the process after step S318 in the sequence in the embodiment of FIG. 3, and with the same printer driver, canceling the print job from the printer panel switch and canceling from the driver side. And can be executed. In addition, in response to a print job cancel request on the host side, an error caused by the print job on the printer side and a recoverable error is recovered, so that an operator operation for canceling the error is required separately. Without executing the next print job.

  In the above-described embodiment, a job end command is received from the host driver, and print data reading up to the command is discarded. However, assuming that the job end command cannot be received for some reason, dust printing is avoided by detecting a connection error and resetting itself. Therefore, the printer preferably accepts only one print job in one connection. The printer does not accept the next print job until the received print job is completed. In this way, even if the print data in the received data buffer is forcibly discarded due to self-reset, it is possible to prevent even the print data that is not subject to cancellation from being discarded.

1 is a diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the print data in this Embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence chart diagram for canceling a print job from a printer panel switch in the present embodiment. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement by the side of the driver responding to the job cancellation request | requirement in this Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence chart for explaining print job cancellation when an emergency such as a network connection error occurs. FIG. 6 is a sequence chart diagram when canceling a print job from the host side.

Explanation of symbols

1: printer, 3: data receiving unit, 5: received data buffer, 7: command analyzing unit, 9: image buffer developing unit, 11: image buffer, 13: paper feed control unit, 15: status management unit, and 17: print engine, 19: Status information creation unit 21: Panel switch

Claims (4)

In a printer that receives print data from a host and prints an image corresponding to the print data,
Printing means for receiving print job data including print data from the host and executing the print job;
When printing corresponding to the received print job is performed, the printing is stopped in response to the operation of the print cancel request on the operation panel of the printer, and further, due to the print job corresponding to the print cancel request of the generated error, you have a print cancel means for errors which do not require the manipulation of the error reset by the operator in the return state,
The print job data is appended with a job end command at the end,
The print cancel unit transmits a job cancel request to the host to stop the transmission of the print data, adds the job end command to the print job data corresponding to the print job, and returns the print job data.
The printer further includes a discard processing unit that performs discard processing of print data received in the printer up to the job end command;
Printer, characterized in that the rear job cancellation request, if the data from the host for a predetermined period of time is not received, to have a print data deleting means for deleting all the print job data of the printer. In a printer that receives print data from a host and prints an image corresponding to the print data,
Printing means for receiving print job data including print data from the host and executing the print job;
In response to the operation of the print cancel request at the host, the printing of the print job corresponding to the print cancel request is stopped, and further, among the errors generated due to the print job corresponding to the print cancel request , have a print cancellation means that the error which do not require the manipulation of the error cancellation by the operator to return state,
The print job data is appended with a job end command at the end,
The print cancel unit transmits a job cancel request to the host to stop the transmission of the print data, adds the job end command to the print job data corresponding to the print job, and returns the print job data.
The printer further includes a discard processing unit that performs discard processing of print data received in the printer up to the job end command;
Printer, characterized in that the rear job cancellation request, if the data from the host for a predetermined period of time is not received, to have a print data deleting means for deleting all the print job data of the printer. In claim 1 or 2,
A printer that is connected to the host via a network, accepts only one print job in one connection of the network, and does not accept a next print job until the received print job is completed. In claim 1 or 2 ,
The error generated due to the print job includes at least a paper size error in which the paper of the print job differs from the paper in the paper tray.

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