JPH03240853A - Port controller for photographic processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the smooth control of data by providing a port controller between a personal computer and plural photographic processing devices. CONSTITUTION:Various set data are stored in the printer processors 11 and 12 and the film processors 13 and 14 respectively. These processors are operated based on those set data. These set data and the measurement data acquired periodically or occasionally are gradually fetched by a port controller 17 in the idle times of the CPUs contained in the processors 11 - 14 so as not to interrupt the operations of these processors. When the data equivalent to a single block are collected, the controller 17 identifies the data by reference to the ID data given previously to a photographic processing device. When the identified data are correct, these data are transferred to a personal computer 18 after conversion of the data format.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a boat controller used for data communication between a photo processing device and a personal computer.

[Conventional technology]

A photographic processing apparatus 9, such as a printer processor, film processor, etc., is operated based on various preset data, and each part is automatically controlled so that the set data and measured data match. The various data managed by this photo processing device are quality control, production control, and consumables management.

It can be used for recording the history of operating conditions, diagnosing malfunctions and maladjustments, etc. -For boat fishing, the data formats of photo processing equipment and computers are different, and data cannot be communicated while the photo processing equipment is in operation. is being entered.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As described above, in the past, data managed by a photo processing apparatus was input into a personal computer off-line, making it impossible to smoothly manage the data.

The present invention enables the operation of photographic processing equipment to be
It is an object of the present invention to provide a port controller for a photo processing device that allows data managed by the photo processing device to be imported into a personal computer.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the photo processing device port controller of the present invention includes a switch section for selecting one for data communication from among a plurality of photo processing devices, and a switch section built in the selected photo processing device. A first communication control unit that finds idle time of the CPU and performs data communication in accordance with the data transfer speed of the CPU during this time; a buffer memory that stores irregularly fetched data; and a buffer memory that stores data that is irregularly fetched, and transfers data from this buffer memory to a personal computer. A communication target identification unit that identifies whether the data is from a photo processing device requested by the computer when transferring, a data format conversion unit that converts the data read from the buffer memory into the computer data format, and the computer data. It is configured with a second communication control section that transfers data in blocks according to the transfer speed.

Photographic processing devices include, for example, a film processor, a printer processor, etc. in a minilab system, and a film processor/printer, a paper processor, a charge calculator, a notch puncher, etc. in a large-scale photofinishing laboratory.

[Effect]

When instructed to read data from the computer, the port controller selects the photo processing device with which data communication should be performed using the switch section, and then selects the photo processing device built in the photo processing device.
Check U's free time. The idle time of this CPU is determined, and during that time, data managed by the photo processing device is taken into the buffer memory little by little. Then, when one block of data is collected, it is determined whether the data is correct or not, then it is converted into the data format of the personal computer, and the data is transferred to the personal computer in blocks. By doing the opposite, you can transfer data from your computer to a photo processing device.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment] In FIG. 1 showing a data communication system, a plurality of photo processing devices and peripheral devices can be connected to a pass line IO. In this embodiment, two printer processors 11
．． 12 and two film processors 13.14 and 1
The densitometer 15 on the stand is connected. The printer processors 11, 12 and 13, 14 have various setting data stored therein, and are operated based on this data. This setting data and measurement data obtained periodically or at any time can be used to find out the idle time of the CPU built into printer processors 11, 12 and film processors 13, 14 so as not to interrupt their operation. 17 little by little, and 1
When a block of data is collected, the boat controller 17 identifies the data by referring to the ID data given to the photo processing device in advance, and if the data is correct, converts the data format and then Transfer to PC 18.

Generally, there are many photo processing devices and peripheral devices installed at minilab stores, so one boat controller
Limiting the maximum number of connectable units of 7 to 4 is advantageous for stores in terms of cost and operating efficiency.

In this case, in a large minilab shop with five or more photo processing devices and peripheral devices, multiple boat controllers can be used as shown in Figure 7 or Figure 8.
These can be managed using one computer. In FIG. 7, one is a master port controller 17a and another is a slave port controller i7b, and by connecting these to the master port controller 17a, a total of seven photo processing devices etc. can be managed. becomes possible. In FIG. 8, four slave controllers 17b
-17e makes it possible to manage a total of 16 photo processing devices.

The densitometer 15 measures the density of the check material created by the printer processor 11, 12.degree. film processor 13, 14 when checking the operating conditions thereof. This concentration measurement data is taken into the personal computer 18 via the port controller 17 and used for diagnosing failures and maladjustments. Note that in a printer processor equipped with a built-in densitometer, the density of the check material can be automatically measured using the built-in densitometer. In addition, since photographic processing requires at least one printer processor and one film processor, and one densitometer is required to check the operating status, these three machines are considered as one set. , a plurality of sets may be connected to the port controller 17.

The personal computer 18 has a personal computer main body 19. It consists of a monitor 20 and a keyboard 21 for displaying collected data and diagnostic results. This personal computer 18 manages the operating status of each photo processing device according to a management program, adjusts it by rewriting setting data so that optimal photo processing is performed, and issues a warning when adjustment is impossible. conduct.

As shown in Figure 2, the printer processor includes a printer section 2 for printing negative film onto color paper.
3, and a processor portion 24 for developing the exposed color paper. The printer section 23 and the processor section 24 are controlled by the CPU 26 according to a sequence program stored in the ROM 25. Also, R
The AM 27 stores various setting data, measurement data, ID data for identifying the photo processing device, and the like. This setting data includes data used to calculate the exposure amount, data used to manage the temperature and replenishment of the processing liquid, and the voltage of the light source for printing.

In addition, the measured data includes the measured temperature of the processing liquid.

There are paper processing volumes, etc. Further, the keyboard 28 is used for printing instructions and data input. The buffer memory 29 temporarily stores commands, commands, and data until the CPU 26 is free from printing work.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the film processor.

The film processor is a processor part 33 that develops the negative film. ROM34. CPU35. A RAM 36. Keyboard 37. It consists of 3 days of buffer memory. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the densitometer includes a density measuring section 42 for measuring the reflection density or transmission density of the check material produced by the photographic processing apparatus. ROM43. CPU44. RAM45. Keyboard 46. It is composed of a buffer memory 47.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the controller.

The switch section 50 is selectively turned on by the communication control section 51.
The communication control unit 51 sends and receives commands and data to and from the photographic processing device or densitometer connected to the selected switch. Time sharing is controlled when controlling the communication speed so that communication is carried out in a timely manner, or when capturing operating data from each photo processing device at regular intervals.

The port controller 17 sends and receives data and commands while checking the idle time of the CPU so as not to interfere with the original work of the photo processing device.

In this way, while the photo processing device is printing, data is exchanged irregularly between the photo processing device and the computer 18.
A buffer memory 52 is provided for storing at least one block of data in order to normally exchange data between the two.

In the communication target identification section 53, the relationship between the connection terminal of the switch section 50 and the ID data of the photo processing device connected thereto is set in advance. This set ID data and the ID imported together with the operating data from the photo processing device
By comparing the data, it is determined whether the data has been imported from the specified target by the personal computer 18. If - it has not been defeated, the data is not transferred to the personal computer 1B.

The data format conversion unit 54 converts data in various formats output from a photo processing device or a densitometer into a fixed format that can be decoded by the personal computer 18, for example, an ASCII code. On the contrary, commands and data sent from the personal computer 18 are converted into a format that each photo processing device can understand.

The J communication ff1lj jH unit 55 decodes the command from the personal computer 1B and transfers the data stored in the buffer memory 52 to the personal computer 18 in blocks at a constant communication speed. Of course, data from the personal computer 18 is also received.

Next, data communication will be explained with reference to FIG.

The user operates the keyboard 21 of the personal computer 18 to import data from a specific photo processing device, or imports data managed by each photo processing device at regular intervals using a time-sharing method. Using these data, operational status management, production management, etc. are performed.

When importing data from a photo processing device that is in operation,
This is done by checking whether the CPU of the photo processing device is idle. That is, when the personal computer 18 needs data, it sends a read command (including ID data of the target photo processing device) to the port controller 17. The communication control unit 55 of the port controller 17 decodes the received read command and specifies the target photo processing device. For example, printer processor 1
If 1 is specified, the data format conversion unit 54 converts the data format into the data format of the printer processor 11. The communication control unit 51 operates the switch unit 50 to turn on the switch connected to the printer processor 11.
After setting it to N, the read command is sent to the buffer memory 29 of the printer processor 11 via the ON switch in accordance with the data communication speed of the printer processor 11.
write to.

Here, the hatched portion is the communication unavailable time, during which the CPU 26 performs processing for printing. Therefore, when the buffering time TI has elapsed and the print job is released, the CPU 26 fetches the read command written in the buffer memory 29 from the buffer memory 29. When the CPU 26 takes in the read command, it writes an echo back indicating completion of the reading into the buffer memory 29. The communication control unit 51 reads the echo back from the buffer memory 29 at a speed matching the data transfer speed of the printer processor 11. This echoback is converted to ASCII code and then sent to the computer 1.
Transferred to 8.

Next, the personal computer 18 sends the start address of the RAM 27 to the port controller 17. This start address is written into the buffer memory 29 of the printer processor 11 in the same manner as the read command described above.

Here, if the CPU 26 is idle, the echo back is sent to the port controller 17 via the buffer memory 29.
send to

Next, the CPU 26 executes the R command specified by the start address.
For example, 1 byte of data is read from the AM27 portion and sent to the port controller 1 via the buffer memory 29.
Send to 7. Thereafter, in the same way, using the idle time of the CPU 26, data stored in the memory portion specified by each address is sent to the port controller 17 one byte at a time, starting from the start address. Note that the code T2.
T3 is the buffering time.

When one block of data is thus collected in the buffer memory 52, the communication target identification section 53 refers to the ID data to confirm whether the data is correct. This confirmation is performed when importing data from the printer processor 11.
Since ID data is also taken in, this is done by checking whether the ID data matches the ID data specified by the personal computer 18.

If the data is correct, the data is read from the buffer memory 52, converted into ASCII code by the data format conversion section 54, and then one block of data is continuously transferred to the personal computer 18 via the interpreter section 55. This personal computer 18 uses data taken in from the printer processor 11 to diagnose the operating state, manage property, manage consumables, etc.

Further, the personal computer 18 can send data to the printer processor 11 in order to modify the setting data written in the printer processor 11. This data writing is performed in the same procedure as the data import described above, so the explanation thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, a film processor 13. The data communication with the fi-degree meter 15 is also the same, so the explanation will be omitted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above in detail, the present invention provides a boat that performs data communication speed control, data format conversion, identification of communication targets, connection control of photo processing devices, etc. between a personal computer and a plurality of photo processing devices. Since we have a controller,
Data managed by a photo processing device can be imported online to a computer. This makes it possible to manage operating conditions, manage production, manage consumables, record operating history, etc. using data from the photo processing device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a remote control system using the port controller of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer processor. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the film processor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the densitometer. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the port controller. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of data communication. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which seven devices are managed using two boat controllers. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which 16 devices are managed using five boat controllers. 11.12... Printer processor 13.14... Film processor 15... Density meter 17... Port controller 18... Personal computer 27.36.45... RAM. Figure 2 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Find the switch section that selects the one for data communication from among multiple photo processing devices and the free time of the CPU built in the selected photo processing device, and use the
The first step is to perform data communication according to the data transfer speed of the PU.
a communication control unit, a buffer memory that stores irregularly captured data, and a communication target identification device that identifies whether or not the data is from a photo processing device requested by the computer when data is transferred from this buffer memory to the computer. Department and
A photograph characterized in that it consists of a data format conversion section that converts data read from a buffer memory into a data format of a personal computer, and a second communication control section that transfers data in blocks according to the data transfer speed of the personal computer. Port controller for processing equipment.