JPH04188221A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a printer as if exclusive printers are apparently connected to respective host computers by independently setting printing conditions for respective interface parts and permitting a switch part to switch the interface parts and the corresponding conditions. CONSTITUTION:The printer 2 consists of interface units 6a-6c, interface slots 7a-7d, CPU10, a panel switch 11, LCD12, CGROM13, program ROM15, RAM16 and a printing mechanism part 17. When one of the interface units 6a-6c is selected by a selection switch, it receives data transmitted from corresponding host computers 1a-1c and the control part 10 prints received data in accordance with the printing condition corresponding to the selected interface unit among the printing conditions which have been set by parts 16a-16d. Thus, the printing conditions can independently be set for respective interface units 6a-6c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer interface.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when connecting a plurality of host computers 1, for example, three, and one printer 2, a computer switch 4 is used to connect the three computers externally to the printer 2, as shown in FIG. la, lb.

There was a option to select one of the ICs.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the conventional printer has only a single interface 3, when three host computers 1 are connected using the computer switch 4, each host computer If the printing conditions (emulation, paper format, etc.) desired to be set for the printer 2 differ depending on the host computer 1, it is necessary to reset the printing conditions for the printer 2 each time the host computer 1 is switched, resulting in poor operability.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer that includes a plurality of interface sections and can independently set printing conditions for each interface section.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the printer of the present invention includes a switching section for switching each interface section, and a printing section for independently setting printing conditions for each interface section. The printer is configured to include a condition setting section and a control section that prints data transmitted from the host computer according to the printing conditions.

[Operation] The printer of the present invention having the above configuration receives data transmitted from a host computer at the interface section selected by the switching section among the plurality of interface sections, and controls the reception by the control section. The data is printed in accordance with the printing conditions corresponding to the selected interface section among the printing conditions set by the printing condition setting section.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the printer 2 connected to three host computers la, lb, and lc.

This printer 2 includes an interface unit 6, an interface slot 7, and a CPU (central processing unit) 10.
, panel switch 11, LCD (liquid crystal display) 12,
CGROM13, program ROM15, RAM16,
It is composed of a printing mechanism section 17 and the like.

The host computer 1 has an interface cable 30
is connected to the interface unit 6 by. Interface units 6a16b and 6c are host computers la and lb, respectively.

It is equipped with the necessary hardware to receive data transmitted from 1c, and its external appearance is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the interface connector 18 is a portion to which an interface cable 30 is connected, and the card edge connector 19 is a portion that contacts the interface slot 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the interface unit 6 of this camera is removably installed in an interface slot 7 provided on the rear surface of the printer.

This printer 2 includes four interface slots 7, including an interface slot 7a.

7b, 7c have interface units 6a16b, 6
c is installed, and the interface slot 7d is left unused. In addition, interface slots 7a, 7b, 7
c and 7d are each connected to CPU10.

The panel switch 11 is for each interface unit) 6a
, 6b, and 6c. The selection switch 25 shown in FIG. 4 selects the interface unit 6a.

One of 6b and 6c is selected. In addition, by selecting a printing condition using the menu switch 26 and cursor keys 27, 28 and pressing the setting switch 24, each printing condition ASB, C is written to the printing condition buffers 16a, 16b, 16c in the RAM 16 by the CPU 10. It can be done. These three sets of printing conditions are completely independent and do not interfere with each other. The printing conditions mentioned here are:
These include emulation, paper format, fonts, etc.

The LCD 12 displays items set by the panel switch 11, the current printer status, error information, etc.

The CPU 10 operates according to a program written in the program ROM 15, and when receiving data from the computer 1 via the interface unit 6, it discriminates the data according to the set emulation.
The control command directly controls the printing mechanism section 17, and print data is stored in the text buffer 16e. Next, when a print command is received from the computer 1, print data is extracted from the text buffer 16e, font data corresponding to the print data is read from the CGROMI 3, the font data is developed in the image buffer 16f, and the print condition buffer 16a116b , 16c, the image buffer 16f is edited, and the printing mechanism section 17 is controlled to perform printing.

To explain the operation of the printer configured as above, first, assuming that the printer driver of the application software running on the computer 1a is compatible with a serial printer, the interface unit 6a is selected by the selection switch 25, and the printing The emulation item in the condition buffer 16a is set to serial printer. Also, if necessary, set the paper format to A4 landscape. Similarly, the print condition buffer 16b corresponding to the computer 1b is set as an emulation of a laser printer and is set to A4 portrait size, and the print condition buffer 16C corresponding to the computer IC is set as an emulation of a plotter and set to A3 size.

After setting the print condition buffers 16a, 16b, 16c, the selection switch 25 is used to select one of the interface units 6a, 6b, 6c. For example, if the interface unit 6a is selected, the CP
U10 becomes ready to print the print data received by the interface unit 6a, and when the print data is transferred from the computer 1a connected to the interface unit 6a, the CPU 10 reads the contents of the print condition buffer 16a from the RAM 16, and Based on this, the printing mechanism section 17 is controlled to perform printing. If you want to continue printing by computer 1b, press selection switch 2.
If the interface unit 6b is selected by 5 and the print data is transferred, printing is executed based on the contents of the print condition buffer 16b.

If the interface unit 6 to which the computer 1 that transfers print data is connected is switched in this way, the printing conditions will also be automatically changed. buffer 1
Since it is possible to print according to the contents of 6c, each computer 1 can be used as if it were connected to a dedicated printer 2. In addition, in this embodiment, the interface section is composed of the interface slot 7 and the interface unit 6, so the number of interface sections can be easily increased or decreased, making it possible to create a flexible system according to the number of computers used. Can be configured.

Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in this embodiment, there are four interface slots 7, but
The number is not particularly limited as long as it is plural.

Furthermore, if the above-mentioned printing conditions are written in the EEFROM, the contents will be retained even when the power of the printer is turned off, so there is no need to reset the printing conditions every time the power is turned on again.

Furthermore, the interface unit 6 can not only be switched manually using the selection switch 25, but also automatically switched by giving priority to the first-arrived data, which eliminates the need to operate the selection switch 25, further improving operability. improves.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the printer of the present invention, the printing condition setting section independently sets the printing conditions for each interface section, and the switching section allows the printing conditions to be set independently for each interface section. By switching the corresponding printing conditions, each host computer can be used as if it were connected to a dedicated printer.

Therefore, unlike conventional printers, there is no need to reset the printing conditions of the printer each time the computer is switched, and the operability is extremely improved. Further, since a computer switch is not required outside the printer, space can be saved, and an interface cable for connecting the computer switch and the printer is not required, resulting in a reduction in total cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show embodiments embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the printer connected to three host computers. Figure 3 is an external view of the interface unit, Figure 4 is an external view of the panel switch, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing a conventional printer connected to three host computers. It is a diagram. In the figure, 1 is a host computer, 2 is a printer, 6 is an interface unit, 7 is an interface slot, 10 is a CPU, 24 is a setting switch, 25 is a selection switch, 26 is a menu switch, and 27 and 28 are cursor keys.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a printer having a plurality of interface sections for receiving data transmitted from a host computer, a switching section for switching each interface section and a printing condition independently set for each interface section are provided. A printer comprising: a printing condition setting section for setting printing conditions; and a control section causing data transmitted from a host computer to be printed according to the printing conditions.