JPH0234370A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make possible the realization of wasteless printing and of ease of operation by providing a constitution in which a temporary stop status best suited to procedures to be taken in accordance with the cause for the stop halfway through printing can be selected. CONSTITUTION:If either one of the first operating device 4 or the second operating device 5 is operated, and either one of the first signal or the second signal is output, the first and the second control device 6, 7, in response to the output, immediately stop the output of printing data from a host computer 1 invariably in both cases. Then if the first signal is output, the first control device 6, in addition to the afore-mentioned processing, allows a storage device 2 to print its printing data continuously using a printing section 3, and stops the action of the printing section 3. If the second signal is connected, the second control device 7 temporarily stops the action of the printing section 3 simultaneously with the afore-mentioned processing. That is, an operator can optionally select a temporary stop status halfway through printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer having an improved processing function when temporarily stopping printing.

[Prior art]

With conventional printers, during printing, you press the online/offline switch key on the printer's operation panel to specify offline mode.
It is configured so that printing can be paused.

Then, the print data for several lines or several pages sent from the host computer is stored in the reception buffer,
When a printer that extracts print data line by line from this reception buffer and performs printing receives a command to stop at -, it temporarily stops sending print data from the host computer and prints the remaining print data in the reception buffer. The printer is configured to immediately stop the printing operation without any trouble.

Furthermore, when receiving a command to stop at -, the print data transmission from the host computer is temporarily stopped as described above, and then the print operation continues, and the remaining print data in the receive buffer is finished printing, and then the print operation starts. A system configured to temporarily suspend the process has also been proposed.

However, conventional printers have only one of the above-mentioned temporary stop functions.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, when printing is temporarily stopped for reasons such as wanting to immediately check the print result of the line currently being printed during printing, there are the following disadvantages, especially if the printer is equipped with the above-mentioned former pause function.

In other words, since the remaining print data in the reception buffer is not printed, it is necessary to perform printing on the remaining print data in the reception buffer by another operation after stopping at -, until the subsequent printing is resumed. It takes a lot of time. Further, if the power to the printer is accidentally turned off after stopping at -, the remaining print data in the reception buffer will be lost.

In addition, for printers equipped with the latter pause function mentioned above,
If the reason for temporarily stopping printing during printing is, for example, replacing the printing ribbon or misaligning the printing position, the following problems occur.

In other words, even if printing is temporarily stopped due to a print position misalignment, the remaining print data in the reception buffer will be printed, resulting in printing with the print position misaligned, and the print position will be changed later. Even after correcting the misalignment, the same area must be printed again, which not only takes time but also results in wasted paper and printing ribbon.

As described above, it has been pointed out that in conventional printers, no matter what the reason for temporarily stopping printing, one must use one of the stop functions, which is inconvenient to use.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and provides an easy-to-use printer that allows the most preferable form of pause to be selected depending on the cause of the stoppage during printing, thereby realizing printing with as little waste as possible. It is intended to.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the printer according to the present invention has a storage means 2 for temporarily storing print data sent from a host computer 1, and causes a printing unit 3 to print the stored print data. The first operating means 4 outputs the first signal, the second operating means 5 outputs the second signal, and the host computer 1 immediately stops sending print data in response to the first signal. and a first control means 6 for stopping the printing operation of the printing section 3 after the printing section 3 prints all the printing data stored in the storage section 2; and a host computer in response to a second signal. 1, and a second control means 7 that immediately stops sending out the print data of the storage means 2 and stops the printing operation of the printing section 3 without printing the print data stored in the storage means 2. Has characteristics.

[Effect]

The effects of the configuration of the present invention are as follows.

First operating means 4. When either the second operating means 5 is operated and either the first signal or the second signal is output, the first
．． The second control means 6.7 responds to this and immediately stops the print data transmission of the host computer 1 in both cases.

By the way, when the first signal is output, the first control means 6 causes the printing section 3 to continue printing the print data stored in the storage section 2 in addition to the above processing, and then controls the printing section 3. Stop the operation. When the second signal is output, the second control means 7 temporarily stops the operation of the printing section 3 as well as the above processing.

In other words, with the printer of the present invention, the operator can arbitrarily select the form of pause during printing.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer of the present invention. In the figure, IO indicates a central processing unit for printer control (hereinafter abbreviated as printer CPU), and this printer CPU10 is 1.0 in FIG. It functions as a second control means.

This printer CPU10 has a host computer 11
．． No. 1 on the operation panel 12! A printing speed switching key (hereinafter referred to as speed key) 13 as an operating means and an online/offline switching key 14 as a second operating means are connected via an interface 15. moreover,
The printer CPU10 includes a ROM 16 in which predetermined operating programs and the like are written, a reception buffer 17 that temporarily stores several pages of print data sent from the host computer If, and a reception buffer 17 that temporarily stores one line of print data. The print heads 21 . A carriage moving motor 222, a paper feeding motor 23, and their drive circuits 24 to 26 are connected via an ink face 27.

Next, the procedure and operation of a temporary stop during printing will be explained with reference to FIG. 3 for the printer configured as described above.

When the online mode is set by pressing the online/offline switch key 14, the print data is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 17 as the print data is sent from the host computer 11, and then read out from the reception buffer 17. The print data for one line is developed as image data in the image buffer 18, and is sent to the print head 21 . The present embodiment employs a well-known method for performing predetermined printing by operating the carriage moving motor 22 and the paper feeding motor 23, and will not be described in detail here.

If a problem occurs during this printing, such as replacing the ink ribbon or misaligning the print position, simply stop the printing temporarily, take measures for the problem, and then continue the printing mode just before the stop. It is necessary to print again. Therefore, since the online mode is currently set, the operator must press the online/offline switch key I4.
Select offline mode by pressing down.

As a result, the port of the interface 15 corresponding to the online/offline switching key 14 becomes 'LJ', so the printer CPU10 determines YES in step S1 and activates the immediate stop function (step S2) according to a predetermined program written in the ROM 16. and S3). In this way, the online/offline switching key 14 acts as a second operating means that instructs immediate stop when pressed to switch from online mode to offline mode. Specifically, the printer cputo gives a wait signal to the host computer 11 in step $2 to immediately stop sending print data, and then in step $3
After printing all the image data remaining in the image buffer 18, the drive circuit 24 and the print head 2
1 is immediately stopped, and the print data remaining in the reception buffer 17 is saved as is. After this, wait for the online mode to be instructed in step S4, and -
When the operator presses the online/offline switch key 14 again after the cause of the stoppage has been taken care of, the
It is judged as S and returns to the print processing routine that continued the printing before the pause.

However, if the operator wishes to temporarily stop printing after printing all of the print data stored in the reception buffer 1f, the operator depresses the speed key 13. The speed key 13 acts as an operation means for instructing a change in printing speed when not printing, but when pressed during a printing operation, it acts as a first operation means for instructing a temporary stop after a predetermined printing operation, as will be described later. act. By pressing this speed key 13, the port of the interface 15 corresponding to the speed key 13 becomes rH, so the printer CP
U1 determines YES in step S5 and executes the function of stopping after printing the print data (steps 86 to S8) according to a predetermined program written in the ROM 16. Specifically, the printer CPU 1 gives a wait signal to the host computer 11 in step S6 to immediately stop sending the print data, and in step S7 causes the drive circuit 24 and print head 21 to continue operating without stopping. All print data remaining in the reception buffer 17 is printed on paper according to well-known operations. After the printing is completed, the printing operation is temporarily stopped in step S8. In this case, receiving puffer 17
is emptied.

After this, wait for the speed key 13 to be pressed down again, and if necessary, if the speed key 13 is pressed down by the operator, it will be determined YES in step S9 and the printing process routine will be returned to start printing again. .

Note that it is also possible to change the process of step S3 in the above embodiment to a process that immediately stops the printing operation without printing the remaining image data in the image buffer 18. In addition, in the above embodiment, the third
The first operating means may be provided with a speed key, and processing may be added to immediately stop the printing operation without printing the remaining image data in the image buffer 18 by operating the first operating means. 13, and the online/offline switching key 14 is used as the second operating means, but it may be replaced with another suitable one.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible for the operator to select the most preferable form of pause based on the reason for stopping printing. It is possible to provide a printer that has more functions than a printer that does not have it, and is efficient and easy to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram corresponding to the claims of the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 relate to one embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the temporary stop operation. 1... host computer, 2... storage means, 3.
...Printing section, 4...First operating means, 5
...Second operating means, 6...First control means, 7
...Second control means. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a printer that has storage means for temporarily storing print data sent from a host computer and causes a printing unit to print the stored print data, the printer includes a first operation means that outputs a first signal, and a second signal. a second operation means for outputting a second operation means for immediately stopping the print data transmission of the host computer in response to the first signal and causing the printing section to print all the print data stored in the storage means; a first control means for stopping the printing operation of the unit; and a first control means for immediately stopping the printing data transmission of the host computer in response to the second signal and for printing the printing without printing the print data stored in the storage means. 1. A printer comprising second control means for stopping a printing operation of the printer.