JPH05189172A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase capacity for supplying paper and to increase the kinds of paper sheets to be supplied. CONSTITUTION:A printer A judges the presence/absence of paper sheets in the own printer and the kind of paper sheets or the like in response to the input of printing data from a host device 12 to an input port 2. When it is judged by this judged result that the printing data can not be printed by the own printer, the printing data are transmitted from an output port 4 to a printer B in the next step. When it is judged according to the judged result that the printing data can be printed at the own printer, the printing data are printed on the paper sheets in the own printer. Even in the printer B the similar processing is executed as well concerning a printer C. Thus, the capacity for supplying paper sheets can be increased on the side of the host device 12, and the kinds of paper sheets to be supplied such as B4, A3, B5, A4 and postcard size, etc., can be increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printer device, and more particularly to a printer device for printing print data from a host device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general printer, printing on various paper sizes is possible by changing the paper.
Also, there are many models in which a plurality of paper cassettes are prepared and the paper size can be exchanged only by a command or a switching instruction from the operation panel.

Switching the paper size by selecting a paper cassette or the like is convenient, and switching by a command can be automated without human intervention, which is convenient.

The number of paper cassettes supported by one printer is usually one to two, and even a large number of models has three paper cassettes.
It is about a stand. This is a restriction due to the physical size of the printer device, but this level is often sufficient for normal specifications.

However, when a printer is shared in an office or the like, a large number of users use a large number of desired paper sizes, but in the conventional printer, only a few paper sizes can be selected. Therefore, there is a drawback that it is inconvenient because the paper has to be replaced.

The type of paper size used is 1-2.
There was a limit to the number of sheets of paper that could be used for each type.
Since the capacity of the paper feed cassette is about 200 to 250, the limit is about 500 even if two cassettes are used. Normally, it suffices if a person replenishes the paper when the paper runs out, but there is a drawback in that unmanned driving at night is not possible.

By the way, a plurality of printer devices are often connected in cascade. In such a connected state, when the power of each printer device is turned off, the host device conventionally sends a power-off command to each device. Therefore, when the number of printer devices is large, it takes time and effort to turn off the power of all the devices.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device which can eliminate the troublesome work of changing sheets and can increase the paper feeding capacity during continuous operation such as at night.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer device in which a plurality of printer devices can be easily powered off from a host device.

[0010]

The printer device according to the present invention is responsive to the input of print data from the preceding stage to detect the presence or absence of paper in the device.
A determination unit that determines the type of paper, a sending unit that sends the print data to the next-stage device when it is determined by the determination result that the print data cannot be printed by the own device, and a self-device based on the determination result. Printing means for printing the print data on the paper when it is determined that the print data can be printed.

Another printer device according to the present invention, in response to an input of a power-off command from the preceding stage, judges means for judging whether or not the next-stage device of the own device is in a power-on state, and based on this judgment result, the next And a power-off means for turning off the power of the own device in response to the power-off command, when the power-off command is given to the next-stage device. To do.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a printer device according to the present invention.

In the figure, the printer device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention shows print data (control code, character code, print data such as images and graphic commands) from a host device or the like connected in front of the printer device 1. Input port 2 for receiving a printer data), an output port 4 to another printer device connected to the next stage of the own device, and a print data buffer 3.

Further, the printer device 1 of the present example has a determination unit 6 for determining whether or not another printer device is connected to the output port 4 and whether or not printing can be performed on a designated sheet based on the print data, and from the determination result, a host device Control unit 10 for determining whether to print the print data of No. 1 by its own device, another printer device through the output port 4, or notify the upper device through the input port 2 that printing is impossible. It is configured to include and.

Furthermore, the printer device 1 of this embodiment has an interpreter 5 for interpreting and editing the print data in the buffer 3, a drawing unit 7 for drawing, and a page buffer for expanding the print image data of bitmap. 8 and a printing unit 9 that prints on paper.

In the present embodiment, the input port 2 and the output port 4 are assumed to be Centronics-compliant interfaces which are common as printer physical interfaces, but the present invention is not limited to these interfaces.

In such a configuration, print data received from the host device via the input port 2 is temporarily stored in the buffer 3. The interpreter 5 reads the received data from the buffer 3, interprets and edits the control code, character code, image, figure command, etc., and delivers the edited print data to the drawing unit 7 and prints the bitmap print image on the page buffer 8.・ Develop into data. This print image is transmitted to the printing unit 9 when the data for one page is prepared, and is printed on a sheet (not shown).

Information about the paper size (paper type) and the presence / absence of paper currently set in the apparatus is detected by the printing unit 9 and notified to the control unit 10.

Further, the interpreting unit 5 interprets the control code from the host device and notifies the control unit 10 of necessary information concerning device control such as designation of paper size.

Here, when the conventional printer runs out of paper or does not supply the paper of the size required by the host device, a PE (paper empty) signal is returned to the host device via the input port 2 to print. Could not be executed.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the output port 4
If another printer device can be connected via the printer and the printer cannot print, the printer device prints. The other printer device may be a conventional printer device or a printer device having the same configuration as this example.

FIG. 2 shows an operational connection example of the printer apparatus of this example. The figure shows an example in which three printers of this example are connected, but as can be seen, by connecting the output port 4 of one printer to the input port 2 of the next printer, any number of cascades can be connected. it can. 1
Reference numeral 2 is a host device for sending print data.

Judgment unit 6 in each printer (see FIG. 1)
Senses the signal of the output port 4 to determine the state of the printer device connected to this port 4. The state of the printer device mentioned here refers to the presence / absence of connection of the printer device, power-off, paper out state, and fault state.

Here, the paper out condition and the fault condition are
Each can be detected by the paper empty signal and fault signal of the Centronics interface. Further, the presence / absence of a printer connection and power failure can be detected by +5 [V] (pin 18).

Returning to FIG. 1, the operation of the controller 10 will be described. The control unit 10 receives a request for the paper size of the higher-level device from the interpretation unit 5, collates with the information of the supportable paper obtained from the printing unit 9, and if printing is possible, executes printing by itself. In this case, the output port 4 is not used. If the self-device cannot print, that is, if the paper runs out or if the size of the paper requested by the host device is not available, the state of the output port 4 is checked. as a result,
If the printer is not connected, or if the printer is in a power-off state or a fault state, printing cannot be performed even by the printer device in the next stage, so the upper device is notified via the input port 2 by a paper empty signal or the like that printing is not possible.

In other cases, a paper size request command requested by the host device is sent to the printer device of the next stage, the paper empty signal of the printer device of the next stage is sensed, and if it is released, the buffer 3 of the buffer 3 is released. The data and the subsequent received data from the host device are transmitted to the printer device of the next stage via the output port 4. If the paper empty signal is not released even after the elapse of a certain period of time, printing cannot be performed even by the printer devices of the next stage and the upper device is notified using the paper empty signal that printing is not possible.

Next, the operation in the case where the printers of this embodiment are cascade-connected as shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In the figure, A3 size (Japanese Industrial Standard A row No. 4) paper is fed to all of the three printer devices (printers A to C) connected in cascade, and a print request from the host device to A4 paper is made. If so, the printer A first executes printing. When the printer A runs out of paper, the printer A checks the state of the printer B,
After confirming that the power is turned on and the preparation for printing is completed, an A4 size selection command is issued to the printer B.

Since the printer B has A4 size paper, it does not return the paper empty signal and the like.
Sends the print data from the upper apparatus to the printer B, and the printing is handed over to the printer B. After the printer B runs out of paper, printing is similarly handed over to the printer C.

When the printer C also runs out of paper, since there is no subsequent printer, a paper empty signal is sent to the printer B. Similarly, the printer B sends the printer A, and the printer A receives the host device. Returns a paper empty signal to.

In other words, when viewed from the host device 12, it is equivalent to connecting one printer having a paper capacity three times larger. However, even if three units are connected, the host device 12
No special operation from is required. Also, regarding the paper capacity, if 500 sheets can be mounted per machine, three times that is 15
Can feed a large capacity of 00 sheets. Further, the paper feeding capacity can be further increased by increasing the number of printer devices connected in cascade if necessary. No matter how many printer devices are connected,
No special operation from the host device 12 or change of hardware and software is required.

Next, the operation when the printer apparatuses of FIG. 1 are cascade-connected as shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

In this operation example, the printer A has sheets of A3 size (Japanese Industrial Standard A row No. 3) and B4 size (Japanese Industrial Standards B row No. 4), and the printer B has A4 size and B5 size (Japanese Industrial Standards row). The paper in the B row 5) is fed to the printer C as the A5 size paper (Japanese Industrial Standard A row 5) and the postcard size paper.

In this configuration, when the A3 size is designated by the host device 12, the printer A in the figure executes printing. When the A4 size is designated, the printer A transfers the print data from the host device to the printer B, and the printer B executes the printing. When the A4 size of printer B runs out of paper, printing is handed over to printer C. When the postcard is designated, the printer C executes printing. This is equivalent to the fact that from the host apparatus 12, three sheet cassettes, that is, six printer apparatuses are connected. In this operation example, as in the operation example of FIG. 2, no special operation is required on the host device side.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, parts equivalent to those in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and a power supply unit 11 capable of controlling power-off from the control unit 10 is added to the structure of FIG. Further, the control unit 10 has the following functions in addition to the functions of the device of FIG. That is, when the interpretation unit 5 interprets the power-off command of the printer device from the higher-level device and notifies the control unit 10, the determination result of the determination unit 6
When the power supply of the next-stage printer device is on, a power-off command is issued to the next-stage printer device. afterwards,
After necessary processing such as processing of received print data and discarding of unprinted data, the power supply unit 11 is instructed to turn off the power and the power of the printer apparatus itself is turned off.

It should be noted that whether or not the power supply of the printer device at the next stage is on or off can be confirmed by the +5 [V] signal in the case of the Centronics interface.

After the power-off command is issued to the next printer, it is not necessary to specifically confirm the power-off, but if a reliable operation is expected, after confirming the power-off of the next printer, the power of the self-device is confirmed. The power should be turned off. In this case, monitoring is performed for a certain period of time, and when the power is not cut off, the upper device is notified of the error occurrence by a fault signal or the like.

When the printer device shown in FIG. 4 is connected as in the operation example of FIG. 2, when the host device 12 issues a power-off command to the printer A, the printer A sends the printer B to the printer B. Since the power-off command is issued and the printer B is also issued to the printer C, the power of all the printers can be easily turned off after all.

As described above, according to the present invention, by connecting two or more printers in cascade, it is possible to easily increase the paper feeding capacity and simultaneously support a large number of paper sizes. .. This expansion is a simple operation of simply preparing a printer device and connecting it with a cable, and does not require any setting change of software and hardware on the host device.

Further, even if only one printer device of the present invention operates in the same manner as the conventional printer device, it can be used in a cascade connection according to operational requirements, or can be used as a single printer device in a plurality of departments. Further, since the printer device at the final stage may be a conventional printer device,
Flexible operation is possible, such as a combination of two units of this printer device and a conventional printer device.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the host device issues the power-off command only to the printer device directly connected to itself, and the power supply of all the printer devices connected in cascade is turned on. It can be turned off, further simplifying operation.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, based on the print data, it is judged whether or not printing is possible by the device itself, and if it is not possible, the print data is sent to the printer device of the next stage. As a result, the supply capacity can be increased and various types of paper sizes can be supported, so that it is possible to eliminate the trouble of paper replacement work. Further, according to the present invention, there is an effect that all cascaded printer devices can be powered off simply by issuing a power-off command from the host device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an operation example of the printer apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing another example of operation of the printer apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer device 2 Input port 3 Buffer 4 Output port 5 Interpretation unit 6 Judgment unit 7 Drawing unit 8 Page buffer 9 Printing unit 10 Control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A judging means for judging presence / absence of a paper, a kind of paper, etc. in its own device in response to an input of print data from the preceding stage, and judging by the judgment result that the own device cannot print the print data. And a printing means for printing the print data on the paper when it is determined by the determination result that the print data can be printed by the own device. A printer device. 2. A determination unit that determines whether or not the next-stage device of its own device is in the power-on state in response to the input of a power-off command from the previous stage, and the next-stage device is in the power-on state based on this determination result. A printer device comprising: a sending means for sending a power-off command to the next-stage device when it is determined to be present, and a power-off means for turning off the power of the device itself in response to the power-off command.