JPH0475136B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Application of the Invention) The present invention comprises a print data creation means for creating print data, and a print control means for performing printing based on the print data transferred from the print data creation means. The present invention relates to a printing device equipped with such a device, and particularly relates to one in which the print data creation device side can monitor the number of printed sheets and control the interruption or cancellation of printing.

(Prior art) In recent years, many printing devices have begun to be adopted in which print data creation means for creating print data and print control means for receiving and printing the created print data have separate CPUs and buffer memories. . This is due to the spread of low-cost, simple data processing devices called personal computers, and by configuring these simple data processing devices so that they can be used as print data creation means, the cost of the entire printing device has decreased. This is to reduce the When printing the same print data on a plurality of bills, etc. using the above-mentioned printing device, there are two known methods for transferring the print data from the print data creation means to the print control means. ing. The first method is to transfer the print number data together with the print data, and the second method is to retransfer the print data every time printing for one sheet is completed.

However, in the former case, after the print data and print number data are transferred, the required number of sheets are printed by the unique operation of the print control means, so the data generation means can check the number of sheets to be printed and interrupt or cancel printing. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to do the following. In order to check the number of printed sheets and interrupt or cancel printing, the data creation means must be specially equipped with a printed sheet number display section, a keyboard with various control keys, etc., which poses a problem in terms of price.
Moreover, since both the data creation means and the print control means have operation sections, there is also a problem in operability.

In addition, in the latter case, it is possible to check the number of printed sheets and interrupt or cancel printing on the data creation means side, but the printing speed is extremely high because it is necessary to transfer the print data every time one sheet is printed. There is a problem that the value decreases.

(Object of the invention) The present invention was made in view of the above problems, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that allows data creation means to confirm the number of printed sheets, interrupt or stop printing, etc. without reducing the printing speed.

(Summary of the Invention) According to the present invention, the data creation means is configured to transfer print data during the first printing, and transfer a signal instructing reprinting during the second and subsequent printing, and the data creation means The above is achieved by being configured so that when print data is received, printing is performed based on the print data, and when a signal instructing reprinting is received, printing is performed based on the print data that has already been set. has achieved its purpose.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference number 1 is a print data creation means for creating print data and the like. The data created by the print data creation means 1 is transferred to the print control means 2 through the interface circuit 3 on the print data creation means 1 side and the interface circuit 4 on the print control means 2 side, and the data is received by the print control means 2. Printing is performed on printing paper (not shown) such as continuous bills based on the printing data.

To explain in detail the print data creation means 1, the print data creation means 1 is equipped with a CPU 10, which is connected to a program memory 12 and a buffer memory 13 by a bus line 11.
It is connected to the. Connected to the bus line 11 are a sheet counter 14 for counting the number of sheets to be printed, a display control circuit 15 for driving a display 16, and a keyboard 17 for inputting data to be printed. This keyboard 17 has a large number of data input keys 17a made up of numbers, alphanumeric characters, etc., and control keys made up of a print start key 17b, a print interrupt key 17c, a print stop key 17d, a retransfer key 17e, etc.

The print control means 2, like the print data creation means 1, has a CPU 20, and the CPU 20 is connected to a program memory 22 and a buffer memory 23 by a bus line 21. Furthermore, a print head drive circuit 24 is connected to the bus line 21 for driving a print head 25, such as a thermal head.

Next, the operation of the print data generating means 1 side of the printing apparatus having the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4. Incidentally, FIG. 4 shows an example in which the same print data is printed 10 times (for example, for 10 price tags).

First, data input key 17a of keyboard 17
The print data and the number of print sheets data are respectively input using the .

When the data input is completed, it is checked whether the print control means 2 side is printer ready. If the printer is not ready, a message to that effect will be displayed on the display 16, and the step
Repeat steps S1 to S4. If the printer is ready, it is determined in step S5 whether or not the print start key 17b is on, and if it is not on, the process returns to step S1, and if it is on, the process proceeds to step S6 to determine the number of sheets to be printed. A determination is made as to whether or not >1.

If the number of sheets to be printed is not > 1, it is determined that the total number of sheets to be printed is one sheet, and in step S7, the end code E is added to the print data D1, D2, D3...Dn and transferred to the print control means 2. back step
Return to S1. Here, on the print control means 2 side, one sheet of information corresponding to the print data D1, D2, D3, . . . Dn is printed.

Also, if the number of printed sheets > 1, the step
After the code [Y] is added to the print data D1, D2, D3, . . . Dn in S8, an end code E is further added. The code [Y] is a signal for prohibiting the contents of the buffer memory 23 of the print control means 2 from being cleared after printing. Then, in step S9, D1, D2, D3...Dn[Y]E are transferred to the print control means 2 through the interface circuits 3 and 4 as shown by "first time" in FIG. Here, on the print control means 2 side, print data D1,
The first sheet of information corresponding to D2, D3, . . . Dn is printed.

Next, in step S10, it is determined whether the transfer is completed or not, and if it is not completed, the step S10 is performed.
At S11, it is determined whether the print stop key 17d is on. When the print stop key 17d is on, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 16.
After displaying the key 17c, the process returns to step S1, and if it is not on, it is determined in step S13 whether or not the print interrupt key 17c is on. Printing interrupt key 1
If 7c is not on, return to step S9,
Also, if it is on, a message to that effect will be displayed on display 1.
After displaying at step S15, it is determined whether the retransfer key 17e is on. If the retransmission key 17e is on, the step
Return to S9, and if it is not on, repeat steps S11 to S15.

Meanwhile, in step S10, D1, D2, D3...Dn[Y]
When it is determined that the data of E has been completely transferred to the print control means 2, the sheet number counter 1
The value of the remaining number of printed sheets set to 4 is subtracted by "1". Then, in step S17, the contents of the data transferred to the print control means 2 and the remaining number of print sheets are displayed on the display 16, and then step S17 is performed.
At S18, it is determined whether the print stop key 17d is on.

If the print stop key 17d is on, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 16, and then the process returns to step S1. If the print stop key 17d is not on, it is determined in step S19 whether the print stop key 17c is on. If the print interruption key 17c is on, a message to that effect is displayed on the display 16, and then
At step S21, it is determined whether or not the print control means 2 is printer ready. If the printer is not ready, the process returns to step S18.
If the printer is ready, the step
In S22, it is determined whether the retransfer key 17e is on. If not on, step
Returning to S19, if it is on, proceeding to step S24.

Also, in step S19 above, press the print interrupt key 1.
If 7c is not on, it is determined in step S23 whether or not the print control means 2 is printer ready. If the printer is not ready, the process returns to step S18, and if the printer is ready, the process moves to step S24.

If it is determined in step S24 that the number of sheets to be printed is >1, it is necessary to print two or more sheets, and as shown by "second time" in FIG. 4, the data already set in the buffer memory 23 is [Q] [Y] as a signal to command reprinting based on
E data is created according to the program and transferred to the print control means 2. [Q] above prohibits converting input data into a bit image corresponding to the dot-type print head 25 on the print control means side, and prohibits setting the contents converted into a bit image in the buffer memory 23. This is the code for Here, on the print control means 2 side, a second sheet of information corresponding to the print data D1, D2, D3, . . . Dn is printed. Then, in step S26, the remaining number of sheets to be printed stored in the sheet number counter 14 is subtracted by "1", and in step S27
After displaying the remaining number of sheets to be printed on the display 16, the process returns to step S18.

By repeating the operations of steps S18 to S27 as described above, a signal instructing reprinting to print on the third to ninth sheets is transferred, and the printing control means 2 prints the 9th sheet. Printing up to the end is completed.

Furthermore, if it is determined in step S24 that the number of sheets to be printed is not > 1, the remaining number of sheets to be printed is 1.
Therefore, in step S28, data called a signal [Q]E for instructing reprinting as shown by "10th time" in FIG. When the data of [Q]E is transferred, the process returns to step S1 and enters a standby state for inputting the next data, and the operation on the print data generating means 1 side is completed. On the other hand, on the printing control means 2 side, 10
Printing is done on the bill corresponding to the number one sheet.

Next, the operation of the print control means 2 which performs printing based on the data transferred from the print data creation means 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, the contents of the buffer memory 23 that stores data to be printed are cleared, and a printer ready signal is output to the print data generating means 1.

Then, in step S32, it is determined whether print data or data corresponding to a signal instructing reprinting has been transferred from the print data creation means 1, and when the data has been transferred, it is stored in a predetermined location in the buffer memory 23. Incorporate into. Then, in step S34, it is determined whether or not there is [Q] in the received data. If there is [Q], the process moves to step S37; if not, it is determined that it is the first printing (first sheet), and the process moves to step S34. Move on to S35. In the case of the first printing, D1, D2, D3...Dn[Y]E are received as shown by "first time" in Fig. 4, and among this received data, the print data D1, D2,
D3...Dn are converted into bit images corresponding to the print head 25 according to the contents of the program memory 22. The data converted into a bit image is then set at a predetermined location in the buffer memory 23.

Next, in step S37, the print head drive circuit 2
4 and print head 25 are connected to the buffer memory 2.
One sheet of printing is performed based on the bit image data set to 3, and it is determined in step S38 whether or not there is [Y] in the data received from the print data creation means 1.
If not, the process returns to step S30, and if there is, there is no need to clear the contents of the buffer memory 23, so the process returns to step S31.

When performing the first printing as described above, in steps S35 and S36, the print data D1, D2,
After converting D3...Dn into a bit image, an operation is performed to set it in the buffer memory 23, but when printing from the second time onwards, the process advances from step S34 to step S37, and the bit image is converted based on the data of the bit image that has already been set. Printing is performed.

In the above embodiment, the control code is a code [Y] that prohibits clearing the contents of the buffer memory 23, and a code that converts the received print data D1, D2, D3...Dn into bit images. A code [Q] is used that prohibits the setting of bit images in the buffer memory 23. However, for example, during the first data transfer, print data D1, D2, D3
...transmits a code to convert Dn to a bit image and sets the converted bit image in the buffer memory 23, transmits a code to instruct reprinting at the second and subsequent data transfers, and only transmits a code at the final data transfer. This can also be done by adding a code for clearing the contents of the buffer memory 23 to the code for instructing reprinting.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the print data creation means transfers the print data during the first printing,
The print control means is configured to transfer a reprint command signal when printing for the second time or later, and when print data is received, the print control means prints based on the print data, and when the reprint command signal is received, it has already been input. The printer is configured to print based on the print data that has been set.

Therefore, when printing the same content multiple times, it is possible to check the number of sheets to be printed, interrupt or stop printing, etc. on the print data creation means side. Furthermore, during the second and subsequent printings, only a signal instructing reprinting is transferred and no print data is transferred, so that the printing speed does not drop significantly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Each drawing shows an embodiment of a printing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print data creation means, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control means, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of data transferred from the data creation means to the print control means. It is. In the drawings, 1...print data creation means, 2...print control means.

[Claims]

1. A method for controlling a dot matrix printer, which stores at least one line of print data in a print line buffer corresponding to each dot of a dot matrix printer, and then reads and prints the contents of the buffer, the method comprising: A stop bit for stopping the printing operation is stored in advance in surplus bits that are not used for storing print data, and when the contents of the buffer are read out and printed, the stop bit appears in the surplus bits. A control method for a dot matrix printer, characterized in that the printing operation is stopped when the printing operation is stopped.