JPH05181621A - Print controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inform a distant operator of an error state when a printer has an error in its working state. CONSTITUTION:The image date received from a host computer 1 are evolved into a bit map memory 5 and printed at a recording part 7. If an error, occurs in a print mode, this error is informed through a display panel 11, a buzzer 12 and a lamp 13. At the same time, a prescribed time is counted by a timer 17. When this prescribed time passed, an NCU dials a prescribed number through a telephone circuit. Then a sound signal producing part 14 produces a sound signal in accordance with the error state, and this error state is transmitted to a distant operator via a telephone.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus or the like for forming an image based on image information input from a host computer and recording the image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printing apparatus of this type is controlled by a printing control apparatus as described below. Description will be made with reference to FIG. 5 as an example.

The print information sent from the host computer 21 is stored in the page buffer memory 23 via the interface 22. A character font memory 24 stores a character font corresponding to a character code input from the host computer. A bit map memory 25 stores a dot image for developing a character image formed by referring to a font or developing an image received from the host 21 and transferring the image to the recording unit 27. A parallel-serial conversion unit 26 converts parallel data read from the bit map memory 25 into serial data and sends the serial data to the recording unit 27. Reference numeral 28 denotes a CPU, which controls page editing, recording processing, error processing, and the like according to a control program stored in the ROM 29. R
The AM 30 is mainly used as a work area during execution of various control programs and the like. The recording unit 27 records an image under the control of the print control device having the above configuration. The recording unit 27 is a portion that fixes an image by an electrophotographic method, an inkjet method, or the like, and permanently forms a visible image on a recording sheet based on input image information.

In the print control device having the above-described structure, if an error such as a jam in the recording unit 27 is supplemented during the printing operation, an error message is displayed on the panel 31 or a buzzer 32 sounds. The operator was informed that an error occurred by giving a signal or turning on the lamp 33.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when the place where the printing apparatus is installed is far from the operator or when the operator works away from the terminal, an error message is displayed on the display panel. The operator sometimes did not notice the occurrence of an error even when was displayed, the buzzer sounded, or the lamp was lit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus capable of notifying an error during printing even when an operator is away from the printing apparatus or the terminal.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the print control apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration.

A print control apparatus for controlling printing based on received print information, comprising: communication means, means for designating a destination with which the communication means communicates, and a printing state for the designated destination. It is characterized by comprising a transmitting means for transmitting.

[0009]

With the above configuration, the status of the printing device is transmitted to the designated destination via communication.

[0010]

【Example】

<First Embodiment> An electrophotographic printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Structure and Recording Operation> FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of the printer device of this embodiment. The printer device is controlled by the CPU 8 executing a program stored in the ROM 9. Under the control of CPU8,
The printer device operates as follows.

When the print information sent from the host computer 1 is received via the interface 2, the input information is temporarily stored in the page buffer memory 3. If the information stored in the memory 3 is image data, if it is character code data, the character font memory 4 is referred to obtain a font to generate image data, and the image data is expanded in the bitmap memory 5. The image data expanded in the bitmap memory 5 is input to parallel-serial conversion, converted from parallel data to serial data, and input to the recording unit 7. The recording unit 7 fixes an image on a recording sheet by an electrostatic recording method, and records an image of an input image on the sheet. The RAM 10 is mainly used as a work area during execution of various programs.

When an error such as a jam occurs in the recording unit 7 during the printing operation, an error message is displayed on the panel 11, a buzzer 12 gives a sound, or a lamp 13 is turned on. Then, the operator is notified that an error has occurred. After this, if the operator does not perform error recovery processing within a certain time, the NCU (network control unit) connected to the telephone line network
Dial the preset phone number. When someone answers the call, the data of the error message registered in the ROM 9 is read according to the type of error, converted into a voice signal by the voice signal generation unit 14, and then transmitted through the telephone line network.

Now, the procedure of processing by the CPU 8 when an error occurs in the recording section 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart is described from the time when the error is captured.

When an error is caught, first, the display panel 1
An error message corresponding to the type of error is displayed in 1 (S201), a buzzer sounds (S202), and a lamp is turned on (S203). After that, a message notifying that an error has occurred and the printing apparatus is stopped is issued to the host 1 (S204).

After performing the processing for notifying the operator of the occurrence of the error in this way, the timer 17 is set so as to expire after a predetermined time (S205), and whether the operator intervenes for the error processing (S206) or the predetermined time. Wait for the passage of time (S207).

If a predetermined time has passed without operator intervention, the NCU dials a pre-registered telephone number and sends a voice error message (S).
208).

The recording section of the electrophotographic printer of this embodiment has the following structure, for example.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the internal structure.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 740 denotes an LBP main body, which forms an image on a recording paper, which is a recording medium, based on the supplied character pattern and the like. Reference numeral 700 denotes an operation panel on which a switch for operation and an LED display are arranged.
A printer control unit 01 controls the entire LBP 740 and analyzes character pattern information and the like. The printer control unit 701 mainly converts character pattern information into a video signal and outputs it to the laser driver 702. These portions correspond to the portions of FIG. 1 excluding the recording unit 7 and the host 1.

The laser driver 702 is a semiconductor laser 70.
Laser light 7 emitted from the semiconductor laser 703 according to the input video signal.
Switch 04 on / off. The laser beam 704 is swung in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 705 and scans the electrostatic drum 706. As a result, an electrostatic latent image having a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 706. After this latent image is developed by the developing unit 707 around the electrostatic drum 706,
Transferred to recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording sheet, and the cut sheet recording sheet is stored in a sheet cassette 708 mounted on the LBP 740, taken into the apparatus by a sheet feeding roller 709 and conveying rollers 710 and 711, and supplied to the electrostatic drum 706. To be done.

Using the printing apparatus as described above,
By registering the telephone number of the operator's place in advance, it is possible to immediately know the error occurred in the printing apparatus even if it is installed in a distant place and deal with it.

The destination of the message is not limited to the operator in the same building, but may be directly called to an external maintenance company or the like.

The recording section 7 need not be of the electrophotographic type, but may be of another type such as an ink jet type or a dot impact type.

[0025]

[Other Examples]

<Second Embodiment> In the previous embodiment, the operator cannot be contacted if the telephone to which the user dialed is in a call or busy. In order to eliminate this, the error processing is changed to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.

Since the procedure is the same as the flow of FIG. 2 up to step S208 for transmitting a voice message to the operator by dialing with the NCU (up to step S308), the description of the procedure up to that point will be omitted.

In step S308, the telephone is dialed up and message transmission is attempted, the resulting state is tested (S309), and if successful, the process ends as it is (S309-YES). If the message cannot be transmitted due to busy or the like, the message is retried, but if the number of times of the trials is checked (S310) and the trial is not successful even if the predetermined number of times is tried (S310-YES), this time also ends. To do.

When the message transmission is not successful and the trial has not reached the predetermined number of times, the timer 17 is set to a predetermined time (S311). This predetermined time may be the same as the value set in step S307. If the predetermined time has elapsed (S312), the procedure from step S308 is repeated to transmit the message again.

By adding the above-mentioned procedure, it is possible to retry even if the message cannot be transmitted while talking.

It is also possible to register a plurality of telephone numbers to be dialed, and execute a procedure for changing the telephone numbers and dialing when retrying. This will greatly reduce the likelihood that the phone will remain unavailable for the same reason. <Third Embodiment> In the above embodiment, an error is notified by voice through a telephone line or the like. However, instead of the telephone, a terminal such as a personal computer or a facsimile machine is connected to the call destination, and the error information is displayed. May be sent as a code or image information for displaying instead of a voice signal, and may be displayed on a terminal or output from a facsimile device.

Further, in this case, not only the error notification but also print information such as how many pages have been printed at present can be periodically notified to the operator. In this case, the timer 17 is set to a predetermined time, and each time the timer expires, predetermined information is transmitted via the telephone line, which is repeated.

In this way, the message cannot be transmitted because the operator is absent, and if the message is output by facsimile, it will be printed on paper.
If output by a personal computer, the error status of the printing device can be recorded in the memory.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0034]

As described above, according to the print control apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to notify an error at the time of printing even if the operator is away from the printing apparatus or the terminal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an error processing procedure of the printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an error processing procedure of the printer of the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional page printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 host computer, 2 host interface, 3 page buffer memory, 4 character font memory, 5 bit map memory, 6 parallel / serial conversion section, 7 recording section, 8 CPU, 9 ROM, 10 RAM, 11 display panel, 12 buzzer, 13 Lamp, 14 audio signal generator, 15 NCU, 16 telephone

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for controlling printing based on received print information, comprising: communication means, means for designating a destination with which the communication means communicates, and printing to the designated destination. A print control apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that transmits a status. 2. The printing control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing status is an error status that occurs during printing. 3. The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting means includes means for measuring a lapse of a predetermined time, and when the predetermined time has elapsed after the occurrence of the error, the state is transmitted. 4. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting unit includes a unit for generating an audio signal, and transmits the status as an audio signal. 5. The transmitting means includes means for measuring the passage of a predetermined time and means for counting a predetermined number of times, and when the transmission is attempted, the transmission reaches the predetermined number of times or the transmission is completed every time the predetermined time elapses. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus transmits the print data until the print job.