JPH04371879A - Output machinery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display the detailed data related to machinery while avoiding the scale-up of the machinery and enhancing operability. CONSTITUTION:The exchange of a message between machinery and a user is performed by an operation panel 1. The control around an engine is performed by an engine CPU 6 and the control around a controller is performed by a controller CPU 9. Output data is transmitted from a host computer 12 and printing-out is performed on the basis of the output data transmitted from the host computer 12 by a printer engine 13. A change-over switch 14 changes over the output of an LCD driver to an engine operation panel driver 7 or a controller operation panel driver 10 under the control of the control CPU 9.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output device such as a color printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation panel of an output device has, for example, a key switch 2 for inputting the user's intention, an LED 3 for indicating the status of the device, and a more detailed status of the device. LCD (Lyquid
Crystal Display) etc. are used. As shown in FIG. 5, this operation panel connects the host computer 12 and the printer engine 13 of the output device.
It transmits data from the host computer 12 to the printer engine 13 and serves as an input/output unit for various service processes such as communication protocol selection, output format selection, output font selection, etc. so that the output processing proceeds smoothly when outputting data. It is used.

Incidentally, in recent years, the amount of information handled by output devices has increased, and for example, the host computers and output devices themselves have become color-based, and these devices have come to handle full-color data. In this situation,
Opportunities to use the operation panel to perform various service processes are increasing, and the burden on the operation panel as an input/output section tends to increase.

[0004] As service processing, for example, on the engine side of the output device, color balance, which finely adjusts color information of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black), and complication are performed. There are error messages for diagnosing errors in output devices and reporting error information, and service modes used at the time of shipment from the factory or by service personnel when a failure occurs. Furthermore, on the controller side of the output device, a method is used in which increasing information is compressed and transmitted, and received information is expanded on the controller side. At this time, complex selections of various service processes occur, such as selection of necessary compression/decompression algorithms, selection of character fonts, and selection of color information.

As described above, as output devices become more sophisticated and complex, such as color printers, information on the engine side,
It becomes necessary to display detailed information on the controller side and to make the interface with the user simple and easy to understand. On the other hand, since the engine side and the controller side generally become more sophisticated and complicated individually, it is easier to perform the above-mentioned processing separately, and it is also easier to deal with additions and changes in functions. For this reason, as shown in Figure 6, the operation panel that serves as the output section for detailed information uses two separate expensive LCDs, one on the engine side and one on the controller side. There is.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional output device described above uses two LCDs to output detailed information such as the status of the device, so although the user interface and operability are good, the price of the device increases. This also has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the equipment.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following configuration as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, a first control means that executes predetermined control based on information from the host, a second control means that controls the printer engine based on information from the first control means, and a second control means that controls the printer engine based on information from the first control means.
an instruction means for giving a predetermined instruction to the control means and the second control means, and information corresponding to the instruction by the instruction means according to control by the first control means or the second control means. and display means for switching and displaying.

[0008]

[Operation] The above configuration functions to display detailed information regarding the device while avoiding the increase in size of the device and improving operability.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the operation panel 1 is similar to the operation panel shown in FIG.
Multiple key switches 2, multiple LEDs 3, and LCD 4
It is an input/output unit that exchanges messages with the user. In addition, this device also includes the engine CPU 6, LCD driver, LED driver, and
and a switch key scan circuit; an engine ROM 8 that stores LCD display data and engine control programs; a controller CPU 9 that controls the controller; and like the engine operation panel driver 7, an LCD driver and an LED. A controller operation panel driver 10 consisting of a driver, a switch key scan circuit, and a controller that stores display data on an LCD and a controller control program.
It is composed of a RAM 11.

Further, output information is transmitted from the host computer 12, and the printer engine 13 prints out based on the output information transmitted from the host computer 12. Then, the changeover switch 14 switches the output of the LCD driver to the engine operation panel driver 7 side or the controller operation panel driver 10 side under the control of the controller CPU 9.

Next, the operation of the output device shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. First, the output information is transmitted by the host computer 12, and the controller CPU9 transmits the output information to the controller RO.
The output information is processed according to a predetermined control program stored in M11. For example, character information or graphic information is processed into bit map information, or color information is added. At this time, the user can use the operation panel 1 to select desired font information or desired color information.

In this case, the selector switch 14 for selecting the LCD driver is tilted toward the controller, and the menu desired by the controller CPU 9 is displayed on the LCD on the operation panel 1.
(not shown) to prompt the user to make a selection. The bitmap information processed in this way can be transmitted to the printer engine 13 and printed out, but the user or service personnel can operate the engine side, for example, to adjust the color balance or to send a malfunction message. When you want to display something on the LCD on the panel 1, press the relevant key switch, the changeover switch 14 will fall to the engine side, and the initiative in LCD control will be from the engine CP.
U6 holds it. Then, the engine CPU 6 drives the engine operation panel driver 7 according to the control data stored in the ROM 8 to operate the operation panel 1. This allows the engine CPU 6 to display a color balance menu on the LCD and display detailed information at the time of failure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the switching algorithm of the changeover switch 14 in the output device according to this embodiment. In the figure, step S1
Then, as an initialization process, the selector switch 14 is turned to the controller side, and in step S2, it is monitored whether or not a key switch related to the engine side process is pressed. If the determination result in step S2 is Yes, the process proceeds to step S3, and if the result is No, the process of step S2 is repeated.

[0014] In step S3, the changeover switch 14 is turned to the engine side, and in the subsequent step 4, the processing on the controller side is completed, and it is monitored whether or not the control of the LCD driver can be released. If the determination result in step S4 is Yes, the process returns to step S1, and if the determination is No, the process returns to step S4 again. As explained above, according to this embodiment, the controller CPU of the output device controls the switching of the changeover switch, so that one LCD can be shared and used by the controller side and the engine side. This has the effect of improving operability without increasing the size.

It should be noted that the changeover switch 14 in the above embodiment
All switching processing is performed by the controller CPU 9, but if this processing is performed on a time-sharing basis, switching of the switch can be performed even while other processing is being performed on the controller side. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the controller C
Although the configuration is such that the PU takes control of the changeover switch,
This may be configured so that the engine CPU side takes initiative. Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the display section that outputs detailed information about the device is an LCD, but other display devices such as a plasma display may be used.

[Modification] FIG. 3 shows a modification of the above embodiment, in which only one operation panel driver is used. In the figure, a changeover switch 14 is used to switch the LCD control bus directly to the controller side or to the engine side. In the device of this modification, the same components as those in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted.

By employing the above-mentioned configuration, the output device according to this modification can have one LCD driver in the operation panel driver 20, and the device configuration can be simplified. The present invention may be applied to a system made up of a plurality of devices or to a device made up of one device. It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to cases where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or device.

[0018]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
By selecting and displaying information corresponding to an input instruction according to the source of the information, it is possible to avoid increasing the size of the device and improve operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an output device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[Fig. 2] Selector switch 1 in the output device according to the embodiment
A flowchart for explaining the switching algorithm of No. 4,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an output device according to a modification of the embodiment;

[Fig. 4] A diagram showing the configuration of the operation panel of the output device,

[Figure 5
] Diagram showing the position of the operation panel on the output device,

[Figure 6
] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional output device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Operation panel 2 Key switch 3 LED 4 LCD 5 Engine operation panel 6 Engine CPU 7 Engine operation panel driver 8 Engine ROM 9 Controller CPU 10 Controller operation panel driver 11 Controller ROM 12 Host computer 13 Printer engine 14 Selector switch 20 Operation panel driver

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first control means that executes predetermined control based on information from a host; a second control means that controls a printer engine based on information from the first control means; an instruction means for giving a predetermined instruction to the first control means and the second control means, and information corresponding to the instruction by the instruction means to be sent to the first control means or the second control means; An output device characterized by comprising: display means that switches and displays according to control.