JPH04164664A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To conduct a printing processing with an efficient printing information transmission by providing a plurality of reception buffers storing printing information received from reception means and a selection means sequentially selecting the stored printing information and outputting them to a printing means. CONSTITUTION:Upon completion of a printing job, a reception buffer control means 24 searches reception buffers 23a-23c, in which data to be printed next is stored, under the control of a control part 21. A switch 25 selectively changes over the reception buffers 23a-23c for inputting printing data to the control part 21 under the control of the reception buffer control part 24. A pattern developed on a frame buffer 26 for storing a recording pattern which is developed to a pattern to be recorded by the control part 21 is recorded on recording paper by a dot printer part 27. Even if printing information are simultaneously transmitted at different frequencies from host computers 11-13, the information are selectively received by reception devices 22a-22c in accordance with the frequencies. The received information are positively stored in the corresponding reception buffers 23a-23c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that inputs data from a host computer by wireless communication.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of printing apparatus has been connected to one host computer or to a plurality of host computers using a changeover switch.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] Therefore, in the former case, as many printing devices as there are host computers are required, which increases the economic burden on the user, and in the latter case, the switch Since switching takes time and effort, there are problems such as a decrease in work efficiency.

This invention was made in order to solve the above problems, and it buffers printing information transmitted from a plurality of external devices while sorting and receiving it by frequency, and sequentially outputs the received printing information. By printing, it is possible to always receive print information sent from multiple external devices even during printing, and to obtain a printing device that can receive print information from multiple external devices at the same time and perform print processing efficiently. The purpose is to

[Means for Solving the Problems] - A printing device according to the present invention includes a plurality of receiving means for selectively receiving print information wirelessly transmitted from each external device at different frequencies, and a plurality of receiving means for selectively receiving print information received by each receiving means. The apparatus is equipped with a plurality of receiving buffers for storing information, and a selection means for sequentially selecting printing information stored in each receiving buffer and outputting the selected information to a printing means.

[Operation 1] In this invention, even if print information is simultaneously transmitted from each external device at different frequencies, it is selectively received by each receiving means according to each frequency, and the received information is reliably stored in the corresponding receiving buffer. The print information stored in each reception buffer is sequentially selected by the selection means and output to the printing means, making it possible to continue the printing process until there is no more print information on each reception buffer.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which reference numerals 11 to 13 transmit print data and control commands to the main body of the printing apparatus at different frequencies.
A host computer that is capable of wirelessly transmitting data to other devices and functions as an external device.

In the printer main body 2, 21 is a control unit that controls the entire printer main body 2, and includes a ROM 2 lb that stores a control program and a CPU 2 that executes the program.
1a and a RAM 21c used as a workpiece.

22a to 22c are receiving devices for receiving data transmitted by the host computers 11 to 13;
The receiving device 22b is configured to be tuned to the transmitting frequency of the host computer 11, the receiving device 22c is tuned to the transmitting frequency of the host computer 13, and the receiving device 22c is tuned to the transmitting frequency of the host computer 13.

23a to 23C are reception buffers connected to the receiving devices 228 to 22C; 24 is a reception buffer control unit;
Under the control of the control unit 21, a buffer (any one of the reception buffers 23a to 23c) in which data to be printed next is stored is searched for when the print job ends.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a switch, which selects and switches a receiving buffer (any one of the receiving buffers 23a to 23c) to which print data is input to the control section 21 under the control of the receiving buffer control section 24. Reference numeral 26 is a frame buffer for storing a recording pattern developed into a pattern to be recorded by the control section 21, and the pattern developed in this frame buffer 26 is recorded on recording paper by a dot printer section 27.

In the printing device configured in this way, each external device (
In this embodiment, even if the print information is simultaneously transmitted from the host computers 11 to 13 at different frequencies, it is selectively received by each receiving means (in this embodiment, the receiving devices 22a to 22c) according to each frequency, and the received information corresponds to each other. It is reliably stored in the reception buffers 23a to 23c. The print information stored in each of the reception buffers 23a to 23c is sequentially selected by a selection means (in this modified embodiment, a switch 25 managed by the control section 21) and output to the printing means. The printing process continues until the print information on ~23c disappears.

FIG. 2 shows host computers 11 to 1 shown in FIG.
3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a transmission data format transmitted by the host computer 11.
13 transmits the amount of data to be transmitted, that is, the total number of bytes, prior to transmitting the data body DATA.

FIG. 3 shows the reception buffers 23a to 23c shown in FIG.
is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the receiving buffer 23a.
At the beginning of ~23c is a flag indicating completion of reception of print information, and while this flag is OFF, it indicates that there is no received data or that data is being received. continue,
There is a byte counter that counts the number of bytes of received data, the total number of bytes sent prior to the sending data body DATA is loaded here, and after that, every time a byte is received, it is subtracted by 1, and becomes ``0''. At the same time, the above-mentioned reception completion flag is turned ON. Subsequently, the storage pointer is initialized to indicate the beginning of the subsequent data storage area when the total number of bytes is received, and thereafter updated every time one byte is received.

Hereinafter, the printing processing operation in the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an interrupt processing procedure by the control unit 21 shown in FIG. Furthermore, (1)
~(6) shows each step. Further, in each of the above-mentioned step processes, this interrupt process is started every time the receiving devices 22a to 22c receive 1 byte of data.

When one of the receiving devices 22a to 22c receives 1 byte of data, interrupt processing is started, it is determined from which receiving device the interrupt has occurred, and the target receiving buffer is selected ( 1).

Next, it is necessary to determine whether the byte counter is "0" or not.
), if YES, set that value to the byte counter,
Initialize the reception buffer so that the storage pointer points to the beginning of the data storage area (3), and set the reception completion flag to 0F.
FL, the process ends.

On the other hand, if the judgment in step (2) is No, the data is stored at the location indicated by the storage pointer, the value of the byte counter is decremented by "1", and the update process is performed in which "1" is added to the value of the storage pointer ( 4) Determine whether the value of the byte counter is "0"51, if NO, end the process, and select YES
If so, turn on the reception completion flag 6) and end the process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a printing process procedure in the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, (1) to (
6) shows each step.

When the process is started using a timer interrupt or the like as a trigger, it is determined whether the reception completion flag of the reception buffer 22a is in the ON state (1), and if YES, the process proceeds to step (4).
The reception buffer control unit 24 is controlled to change the switch 25, input the data stored in the reception buffer 22a, print the contents, and end the process.

On the other hand, if the determination in step (1) is NO, it is determined whether the reception completion flag of the reception buffer 22b is in the ON state (2), and if YES, the process proceeds to step (5) and the reception buffer control unit 24 is controlled. Then, switch the switch 25, input the data stored in the reception buffer 22b, and
Print the contents and end the process.

On the other hand, if the determination in step (2) is NO, it is determined whether the reception completion flag of the reception buffer 22c is in the ON state (3), and if it is No, the process is terminated, and if it is YES, the process proceeds to step (6). , controls the reception buffer control unit 24, switches the switch 25, inputs the data stored in the reception buffer 22c, prints the contents, and ends the process.

In this way, by equipping the printing device with a plurality of receiving devices with different reception frequencies and receiving data from the host computer 1 using wireless communication, it is possible to simultaneously receive and receive data input from a plurality of host computers. The data can be buffered and printed out sequentially.

[Effect of the Invention 1 As explained above, the present invention includes a plurality of receiving means for selectively receiving printed information wirelessly transmitted from each external device at different frequencies, and a plurality of receiving means for selectively receiving printed information transmitted by radio at different frequencies from each external device, and a plurality of receiving means for storing the printed information received by each receiving means. Since we have provided a receiving buffer and a selection means that sequentially selects the printing information stored in each receiving buffer and outputs it to the printing means, it is possible to use multiple hosts without having to switch the switch means as in the conventional case. Print information sent from a computer or the like can be received at the same time even while it is being printed. Further, the print information stored in each reception buffer can be automatically searched and sequentially printed without performing operations such as switching print information.

Therefore, the transmission waiting time of the host computer, etc. is shortened, and there are effects such as being able to transmit print information and perform print processing more efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the transmission data format transmitted by the host computer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the reception buffer shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an interrupt processing procedure by the control unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure in a printing device. In the figure, 11 to 13 are host computers, 2 is a printer main body, 21 is a control unit, 22a to 22c are receiving devices, and 23
Reference numerals a to 23c designate reception buffers, 24 a reception buffer control section, 25 a switch, 26 a frame buffer, and 27 a dot printer section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printing device equipped with a printing device that receives and prints print information wirelessly communicated from an external device, the printer includes a plurality of receiving devices that selectively receive print information that is wirelessly transmitted from each external device at different frequencies, and each receiving device. 1. A printing device comprising: a plurality of reception buffers for storing print information received by the receiver; and selection means for sequentially selecting the print information stored in each reception buffer and outputting the selected print information to a printing means.