JPH05274097A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a user recognize an interface performing communication and to easily acknowledge whether or not printed data is user's own data by displaying an interface name performing the communication. CONSTITUTION:When a communication request is received from a certain host interface 11 (11a-11c), it is checked whether or not data is being received by another interface 11. When no data is received, the interface 11 from which the communication request is issued is acknowledged, and the interface name is displayed in a character string on the display part of an operation display part 3. When the data is being received by another interface 11, the communication request is refused. Thereby, it is possible to easily acknowledge whether or not the printed data is its own data by acknowledging the interface 11 performing the communication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as various printers and digital copying machines, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces for communicating with different external devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, in order to be connectable to any host computer (external apparatus) such as an office computer, a personal computer, a word processor, a data processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus, It has a plurality of interfaces conforming to RS232C and Centronics, etc., so that data transmitted from a plurality of host computers can be received and printed.

[0003]

However, in the image forming apparatus as described above, when data is sent from a plurality of host computers, which interface is valid (communicable) and receives the data. The user did not know if it was, and could not easily confirm whether the printed data belonged to him. Therefore, even though my data was not sent, I often waited for the print output and wasted time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to enable a user to easily know whether or not an interface used is effective.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces for controlling communication with different external devices.
A means for displaying the name of the interface currently being communicated is provided. In addition, when a certain interface is in communication and a communication request is made from another interface, a means for rejecting the communication request, an interface name for which the communication request is made, and not communicating are displayed. An image forming apparatus provided with the means is also provided.

[0006]

According to the image forming apparatus of claim 1, since the name of the interface currently in communication is displayed, the user can recognize the interface in communication and whether the printed data is his or her own. Can be easily known. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of waiting for the print output even though the user's data is not sent.

According to the image forming apparatus of claim 2,
When a certain interface is communicating and there is a communication request from another interface, the communication request is rejected,
Since the interface name for which the communication request has been made and the fact that communication is not being performed are displayed, it is possible to know whether or not the interface used by the user is valid, and the same effect as described above can also be obtained.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a laser printer showing an embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a printer controller 1, a printer engine 2, and an operation display section 3.

The printer controller 1 has, as interfaces (I / F), three host interfaces 11a to 11c for connecting different host computers 4a to 4c and an engine interface for connecting the printer engine 2. 12, a panel interface 13 for connecting the operation display unit 3, and an option interface 1 for connecting the option card 5.
4 and. Furthermore, CPU15, ROM16,
And a RAM 17, which are address buses,
They are mutually connected by a bus line 18 including a control bus and a data bus.

Each host interface 11a-11c
Are communication means with the host computers 4a to 4c, respectively, and an interface such as RS232C or Centronics compatible is used. Engine interface 1
Reference numeral 2 is a circuit for the CPU 15 to inquire and instruct the printer engine 2 about the state, and to send out the dot image information created in the printer controller 1.

The CPU 15 is a general-purpose 16- or 32-bit central processing unit, and controls the entire printer controller 1 using a control program in the ROM 16.
The ROM 16 is a read-on memory, and in addition to a control program that determines the operation of the CPU 15, resident font data and the like for converting data from the host computer into a print pattern are written.

The RAM 17 is a large-capacity random access memory, and includes a work memory used when the CPU 15 performs processing, a buffer for temporarily storing data from the host computer in page units, and data stored in the buffer. Is converted into an actual print pattern and then used as a bit map memory for storing it as video data.

The option card 5 is for expanding the function of the printer controller 1, and is, for example, an RO.
A font card for enabling a font other than the font stored in M16, a program card for changing the operation of the printer controller 1, a RAM card for processing more data, or many There is a disk card or the like for permanently holding the data in the printer controller 1. These are connected as necessary depending on the purpose of use of the printer.

Next, the operation of this embodiment thus constructed will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the processing according to the present invention by the CPU 15 of FIG. 2. When a communication request is received from a certain host interface (hereinafter simply referred to as “interface”), that is, the host connected to that interface. When a communication request is received from the computer via the interface, it is checked whether or not the data is received by another interface.

When the data is not received by another interface, the ID (identification information) of the interface for which the communication is requested is recognized, and the pointer is referred to by the ID to refer to the corresponding interface. After the name is obtained as a character string, the interface name and the fact that communication is being performed are displayed on the display unit of the operation display unit 3 as a character string.

If the data is received by another interface, the communication request from the certain interface is rejected. Even in this case, the ID of the other interface is recognized, the pointer is referred to by the ID to obtain the corresponding interface name as a character string, and the interface name and communication are operated. It is possible to display a character string on the display unit of the display unit 3.

Here, the RAM 17 has a table of interface names (character strings) for the interface IDs as shown in FIG.
In accordance with the pointer, an address that stores the interface name as a character string is designated, and the content of the address is read out to obtain the interface name corresponding to the interface ID.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the processing by the CPU 15 of FIG. 2 different from that of FIG. 1 according to the present invention.
When a communication request is received from a certain interface, it is checked whether or not the data is received by another interface, and if it is received, the communication request from the above-mentioned interface that has received the communication request is rejected. After recognizing the ID of the interface and referring to the pointer with the ID to obtain the corresponding interface name as a character string, the interface name and the fact that communication is not being performed are displayed on the display unit of the operation display unit 3. Display as a character string.

In the above-described embodiment, the operation display unit 3 displays the interface name being communicated and the fact that communication is being performed, or the interface name that cannot be communicated but a communication request has been made and that communication is not being performed. Although a character string is displayed in the section, it is also possible to notify the host computer of the contents through the interface that has requested communication.

Although the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a laser printer has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to other printers such as an LED printer and a liquid crystal shutter printer, and an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine. It is applicable.

[0021]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, since the interface name during communication is displayed, the user recognizes the interface during communication and prints the data. It is possible to easily know whether or not the user owns, and it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of waiting for the print output even though the own data is not sent.

According to the image forming apparatus of claim 2,
Since there is a communication request but the interface name that cannot be communicated and the fact that communication is not performed are displayed, it is possible to know whether the interface used by the user is valid,
After all, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a process according to the present invention by a CPU 15 of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a laser printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of FIG.

4 is a block diagram of a CPU 15 of FIG. 1 according to the present invention;
It is a flow chart showing processing different from.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Printer Controller 2 Printer Engine 3 Operation Display Units 4a-4c
Host computer 11a-11c Host interface 15 Central processing unit (CPU) 16 ROM 17 RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus provided with a plurality of interfaces for controlling communication with different external devices, respectively.
An image forming apparatus comprising means for displaying an interface name currently in communication. 2. An image forming apparatus having a plurality of interfaces for controlling communication with different external devices, respectively.
Means for rejecting a communication request when another interface makes a communication request while another interface is communicating, and means for displaying the interface name for which the communication request was made and not communicating An image forming apparatus comprising: