JPH04250078A - Page printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the useability of a page printer per user by a method wherein information in an IC card is read into a page printer device by operating a reading switch part, and the information in the page printer device is written to the IC card by operating a writing switch part. CONSTITUTION:A control part 10 reads operation environment information stored in a memory part 11, whereby a page printer device 1 prints characters on paper. At this time, if an IC card reading switch part 14 is operated, the control part 10 controls the processing so that information stored in an IC card 20 is read by an IC card reader/writer 13 and stored in the memory part 11 through a communication part 12. On the other hand, if an IC card writing switch part 15 is operated, the control part 10 controls the processing so that information stored in the memory part 11 is transmitted to the IC card reader/ writer 13 through the communication part 12 and written in the IC card 20. As a result, the IC card 20 never loses its storage information even when being removed from the IC card reader/writer 13.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page printer, and more particularly to a page printer equipped with an IC card reader/writer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of page printer device has been used to store information about the internal state of the page printer device, such as operating environment information of the page printer device such as "vertical writing", "horizontal writing", "number of copies", "font source", etc. Various states of the page printer were stored in a non-volatile memory within the page printer device.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional page printer device described above, when attempting to register the operating environment of the page printer device for each user, there is a limit to the amount of information that can be registered in the non-volatile memory. The drawback was that only a few users could be registered.

Furthermore, if there is an operating environment registered in page printer device A and it is being used by another user of page printer device A when you want to use that operating environment, when you use another page printer device B, the page It is necessary to register the same operating environment in page printer device B as printer device A. At that time, if there are many registered items, there is a possibility that a registration error will be made.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A page printer device of the present invention includes a storage section that stores the internal state of the page printer device, a page printer operation control that prints information from a host device on paper, and the contents of the storage section. a control unit capable of reading and writing information; an IC card reading/writing device capable of reading and writing contents of a read/write IC card external to the page printer device;
a communication unit that exchanges data from the card reading/writing device; an IC card read switch unit that issues an instruction to the control unit to read the contents of the IC card into the storage unit; and an IC card read switch unit that issues an instruction to write the contents of the storage unit to the IC card. and an IC card light switch section that issues to the control section.

[0006]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The page printer device 1 includes a control unit 10 that controls the operation of the page printer, and information about the page printer, such as "vertical writing" and "horizontal writing" as operating environment information.
, a storage section 11 that stores information such as "number of copies" and "font source"; an IC card read/write device 13 that can read and write data from the IC card 20; , a communication unit 12 that sends and receives data, and an IC card 20
an IC card read switch section 14 that issues an instruction to the control section 10 to read the contents of the storage section 11 and write it to the storage section 11; and an IC card write switch section that issues an instruction to the control section 10 to write the contents of the storage section 11 to the IC card 20. 15.

[0009] The IC card 20 is a storage medium that can be inserted into and removed from the IC card read/write device 13, and since it is non-volatile, it can retain memory even when power is not supplied.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

As an example, the operation of reading and writing operating environment information of a page printer from the IC card 20 will be explained.

[0012] The page printer device 1 stores, for example, "vertical writing", "horizontal writing", and "number of copies" as operating environment information.
, "font source", etc. are stored in the storage unit 11. The control unit 10 reads operating environment information stored in the storage unit 11, and prints characters on paper according to the operating environment information. At that time, when the switch of the IC card read switch unit 14 is pressed and the control unit 10 recognizes the timing to read the operating environment information, the control unit 10 instructs the communication unit 12 to operate the printer stored in the IC card 20. Issue instructions to read environmental information.

Next, the communication section 12 causes the IC card reading/writing device 13 to read the contents of the IC card 20. Then, the IC card reading/writing device 13 reads the operating environment information stored in the IC card 20 and passes it to the communication section 12. The communication unit 12 passes the operating environment information of the IC card 20 to the control unit 10 . Next, the control unit 10 writes the operating environment information stored in the IC card 20 received from the communication unit 12 into the storage unit 11.

The page printer device 1 prints characters on paper based on the read operating environment information. Further, when the switch of the IC card write switch section 15 is pressed and the control section 10 recognizes that it is the timing to write the operating environment information,
The control unit 10 reads the operating environment information from the storage unit 10 and issues an instruction to the communication unit 12 to write it into the IC card 20. Next, the communication unit 12 passes the operating environment information passed from the control unit 10 to the IC card reading/writing device 13, and causes the IC card 20 to write the information. Then, the IC card reading/writing device 13 writes the operating environment information passed from the communication section 12 to the IC card 20. The IC card 20 in which the operating environment information is written does not lose its memory even if it is removed from the IC card reading/writing device 13.

[0015]

As explained above, the present invention allows various information such as the operating environment of the page printer device to be stored in the IC card by pressing the IC card light switch section of the page printer device. By pressing the IC card read switch section of the printer device, the IC
Since the operating environment stored on the card can be imported from various IC cards to the page printer device,
Since the operating environment information of one user's page printer device can be stored in one IC card, for example, if page printer device A is being used by another person, the user can transfer it to another page printer device B. The user's operating environment can be easily set by inserting an IC card that stores the operating environment information of the user's page printer and having the operating environment information read. Furthermore, it has the effect of reducing registration errors and reducing input work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Control section 11 Storage section 12 Communication section 13 IC card reading/writing device 14 IC card lead switch section 15
IC card light switch section 20
IC card

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A storage unit that stores the internal state of a page printer device; and a control unit that controls the page printer operation to print information from a host device on paper and that can read and write the contents of the storage unit. In a page printer device, a read/write IC external to the page printer device
An IC that can read and write the contents of the card
a card read/write device; a communication section that exchanges data between the control section and the IC card read/write device; an IC card reed switch section that issues an instruction to the control section to read the contents of the IC card into the storage section; A page printer device comprising: an IC card write switch section that issues an instruction to the control section to write the contents of a storage section onto an IC card.