JPH02265832A - Cassette paper printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a labor time for resetting at the next time of utilization by providing a switch circuit settable by a utilizer of a printer, a set memory circuit, a time counting circuit and a sequence control circuit for controlling action of a paper from selecting mechanism in response to a line control circuit, a switch circuit, a time counting circuit and the set memory circuit. CONSTITUTION:A utilizer stores the selection of a paper form cassette, set through a switch circuit 6 or a communication line 9, in a set memory circuit 15 by a condition of the switch circuit 6. Thus by storing a preset value of the paper form cassette set by the utilizer, a labor time for resetting can be saved at the next time of utilization, while in the case of a single set of printer in common use by plural utilizers, the set value can be automatically reset after utilization to the standard prevent value for the most utilizers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing device, and more particularly to a paper cassette control method in a cut paper printing device having at least two paper cassettes.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of printing apparatus, a paper cassette to be printed is selected based on a designation sent from a host device via a switch circuit or a communication line. Settings related to paper cassette selection are stored in a dedicated setting storage circuit backed up by a battery or the like so that the stored contents will not be erased even if the power is turned off. This function is provided to save the user of the printing device the trouble of resetting the paper cassette he/she is using each time the printing device is used.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

With the conventional printing devices mentioned above, when multiple users share one printing device, there is a possibility that another user has used it just before and changed the setting values, so the so-called standard Users who use paper (for example, A4 paper) also had to reset the settings.

[Means to solve the problem]

The printing device of the present invention includes at least two sets of paper cassettes, a paper selection mechanism that sucks paper from either of the paper cassettes, a line control circuit that connects a communication line from the host device, and the use of the printing device. a printing control mechanism having a switch circuit, a time counting circuit, and a setting storage circuit that can be set by a person; and a sequence control circuit that controls the operation of the line control circuit, the switch circuit, the time counting circuit, and the setting storage circuit. There is.

〔Example〕

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

Referring to FIG. 1, a printing device 2 connected to a host device 1 via a communication line a is composed of a printing control mechanism 3 and a printing mechanism 4. The printing control mechanism 3 includes a communication line control circuit 5 that connects the communication line a, a switch circuit 6 that can be operated by the user of the printing device 2, and a time counting circuit 7 that counts the time required to control the printing device. , a setting storage circuit 15 that stores values set by the user via the switch circuit 6 or the communication line a, and the operations of the communication line control circuit 5, the switch circuit 6, the time counting circuit 7, and the setting storage circuit 15, respectively. It is composed of a sequence control circuit 8 that is controlled via signals S, C, D, and K.

The printing mechanism 4 is controlled by a sequence control circuit 8 via a signal e.
a paper selection mechanism 9 that sucks paper from either the paper cassette 12 or the paper cassette 13 according to instructions from the paper cassette 13; a print forming mechanism 10 that forms a printed image on the paper; and a paper forming mechanism 10 that discharges the printed paper to a paper stacker 14. It is composed of a paper ejection mechanism 11.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sequence control circuit 8, and the operation of the printing device 2 will be explained using this figure.

The sequence control circuit 8 determines whether there is print data based on the signal from the communication line control circuit 5. If there is no print data, this determination is repeated, and if there is print data, the process advances to the next step. In the next step, the communication line control unit 50 circuit is operated to receive print data transmitted from the host device 1 via the signal line. In the next step, it is determined whether or not to print using the paper in the paper cassette 12. If the paper cassette 12 is not the paper cassette 12, use the paper from the paper cassette 13, and if it is OK to use the paper from the paper cassette 12, proceed to the next step.

In the next step, the paper from the paper cassette 12 is sucked in based on the previous determination, the paper is sent to the print forming mechanism 10 to form an image, and the paper is further sent to the paper ejection mechanism 11 to be ejected to the paper stacker 14. When printing and ejection are executed, the paper cassette that has just been printed is stored in the setting storage circuit for printing the next page. The next step is to determine whether the switch provided in the switch circuit 6 is on or off. This switch can be set to either enable or disable by the user of printing device 2, and if the user wishes to use the functionality provided to the user by proceeding to the next step. Enable this switch if you want, and disable it if you don't.

Now, if this switch is disabled, the sequence control circuit 8
The status returns to the determination of the presence or absence of print data, and if it is valid, the process advances to the next step.

In the next step, the count value of the time counting circuit 7 is reset to zero via the signal d, and then counting of the elapsed time t is started. In the next step, it is determined whether there is print data for the next page. If there is print data, the process returns to the step of receiving the print data; if there is no print data, the process proceeds to the next step. In the next step, it is determined whether or not the counted value of the elapsed time for which counting was started earlier is greater than a specific value T. If t is smaller than T, this means that time T has not elapsed since the previous paper was ejected, that is, the previous printing was completed, and in this case, the presence/absence of print data is determined. The process returns to the step and waits for the arrival of print data or the elapse of time. If t is larger than T, this means that time T has elapsed since the previous printing was completed, and in this case, the process proceeds to the next step. In the next step, the paper cassette setting values previously stored in the setting storage circuit are reset and returned to the initial state setting values, for example, the setting values of the A4 paper cassette. After this step, the process returns to the process of determining the presence or absence of print data.

Therefore, according to the embodiment, the user can
Alternatively, the paper cassette selection set via the communication line a can be stored in the setting storage circuit 15 depending on the state of the switch circuit 6, or can be returned to the standard paper cassette selection. This function can be selectively used depending on the method of operating the printing device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the printing device using the present invention can save the paper cassette settings set by the user and save the trouble of resetting them the next time it is used, and can also be used for multiple uses. When a single printing device is shared by multiple users, it is possible to automatically return the setting value to the standard setting value most commonly used by the users after use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of a sequence control circuit. 1... Host device, 2... Printing device, 3
...Printing control mechanism, 4...Printing mechanism,
5... Communication control circuit, 6... Switch circuit, 7... Time counting circuit, 8... Sequence control circuit, 9...... Paper selection mechanism, 10
...Print forming mechanism, 11...Paper ejection mechanism, 12...Paper cassette, 13...
・Paper cassette, 14...Paper stacker, 15
...Setting memory circuit. Agent Patent Attorney Susumu Uchihara

Claims (1)

[Claims] Receives print data from the host device via the communication line,
A cut paper printing device that performs cut paper printing according to the print data includes at least two sets of paper cassettes, a paper selection mechanism that sucks paper from either of the paper cassettes, and a communication line connected to the host device. a switch circuit, a setting storage circuit, and a time counting circuit that can be set by a user of the printing device; A cut paper printing device comprising: a sequence control circuit that controls the operation of the paper selection mechanism.