JPH05318841A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance operability by reporting the number of cases generated in every kind of an error in the past without operating a host computer. CONSTITUTION:When jamming of a form or abnormality of communication is generated, summing processing of +1 is performed for the counter of the number of cases generated in jamming of the form or for the counter of the number of cases generated in abnormality of communication which is formed in a RAM whose power source is backed up by a battery. When specified key input is performed by a keyboard, a label is issued on which the number of cases generated in obstacle is printed from the counting value of the counter of the number of cases generated in jamming of the form and of the counter of the number of cases generated in abnormality of communication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing based on print data transmitted from a host computer, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer, for example, a printer connected to a host computer via a line, when an error such as a paper jam or a communication error occurs, the number of error occurrences is recorded and managed by the host computer. Was there.

Therefore, when performing maintenance of such a printer, the number of occurrences by the type of error such as paper jam or communication error is displayed by the host computer for reference in order to know which type of error is occurring for reference. I was performing operations such as displaying on.

A service person who maintains the printer checks the number of occurrences of each type of error displayed on the display unit of the host computer, and focuses on the maintenance of the errors with a large number of occurrences.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional printer, when performing maintenance, the host computer must perform an operation such as displaying the number of past occurrences of each type of error on the display. It was Therefore, there is a problem that the operability is poor.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of notifying the number of past errors by type without operating the host computer, thus improving operability.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a printer for printing based on information from an information processing device,
A memory that stores and holds data even during a power outage, a failure occurrence determination unit that determines whether a failure such as a communication abnormality or a paper jam has occurred, and this failure occurrence determination unit determines that a failure has occurred. And failure occurrence number storage control means for storing the cumulative occurrence number for the failure in the memory, and occurrence number notification means for notifying the cumulative occurrence number stored in the memory when a preset specific input is performed. It is a thing.

[0008]

In the present invention having such a structure, the failure occurrence judging means judges whether or not a failure such as a communication abnormality or a paper jam has occurred, and the failure occurrence judging means judges that a failure has occurred. Then, the failure occurrence storage control means calculates the cumulative occurrence count for the failure,
The cumulative number of occurrences is stored in a memory that stores and holds data even in the event of a power failure.

Then, when the preset specific input is performed, the cumulative number of occurrences is notified by the occurrence number notification means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a thermal line printer connected to a host computer as an information processing device via a line.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit configuration of a main part of this thermal line printer. Reference numeral 1 is a C constituting a control unit main body.
It is a PU (central processing unit). This CPU
ROM storing the program data of the processing performed by 1.
(Read only memory) 2, RAM (random access memory) 3 as a memory in which the power of the battery is backed up and areas of various memories used by the CPU 1 for processing are formed, the presence or absence of paper, or printing on paper An input / output (I / O) port 5 for inputting an output signal from the paper sensor 4 for detecting a printed mark, a communication interface 6 connected to the host computer via a line, and a system bus 7. It is connected to the CPU 1.

Further, a keyboard controller 9 for controlling the keyboard 8 for performing a specific input for printing out the number of trouble occurrences, a display controller 11 for controlling the display device 10, a head driver 13 for driving the thermal line head 12, A motor driver 16 for driving a feed motor 14 for carrying a sheet and a ribbon motor 15 for carrying an ink ribbon is also connected to the CPU 1 via the system bus 7.

FIG. 2 shows the flow of the printing process performed by the CPU 1 when the communication interface 6 receives data from the host computer via the line.

First, there is a standby state until print request data is received by the communication interface 6 from the host computer via the line.

When the print request data is received, as a process of step 1 (ST1), it is developed into a dot image based on the print data received together with the print request data by the communication interface 6 from the host computer through the line. Print processing is performed based on the developed dot image.

During this printing process, it is judged by the paper sensor, communication status, etc. whether printing is completed, paper jam occurs, or communication abnormality occurs (failure occurrence judging means). Step 1
The process is returned to.

During the printing process, when it is judged that the printing is completed, the printing process is finished and another process is performed. Also, if it is determined that a paper jam has occurred,
The paper jam occurrence count counter formed in the RAM 3 is incremented by 1 (fault occurrence count storage control means), an error is displayed, etc., and a standby state is entered until error restoration processing is performed. Further, when it is determined that a communication abnormality has occurred, the communication abnormality occurrence number counter formed in the RAM 3 is incremented by 1 (fault occurrence number storage control means), an error is displayed, and the like, and an error recovery process is performed. It will be in a waiting state until.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of key input processing performed by the CPU 1 when key input is performed by the keyboard 8.

First, it is determined whether or not the key input entered on the keyboard 8 is a specific key input preset for printing out the number of trouble occurrences. If it is not a specific key input, another key input processing is performed and this key input processing is ended.

If the key input from the keyboard 8 is a specific key input, the number of trouble occurrences is expanded into a dot image based on the count values of the paper jam occurrence counter and the communication abnormality occurrence counter formed in the RAM 3. Then, the thermal line head 12 is driven based on the drawn dot image to perform label printing. (Number-of-occurrence notification means) When this label printing is completed, this key input processing is completed.

In the present embodiment having such a configuration, if a paper jam or a communication abnormality occurs during the printing process based on the print data received from the host computer by the communication interface 6, the RAM 3 whose power is backed up by the battery is stored. The addition processing of +1 is performed on the formed paper jam occurrence counter or the communication abnormality occurrence counter. Therefore, the cumulative occurrence number of paper jams and communication abnormalities is stored in the paper jam occurrence number counter and the communication abnormality occurrence number counter.

The keyboard 8 is used for maintenance there.
When a specific key is input at, the dot image of the failure occurrence number is developed based on the count values of the paper jam occurrence counter and the communication abnormality occurrence counter formed in the RAM 3, and the label is printed and issued. An example of this printed and issued label is shown in FIG. It can be seen from the printed and issued label that three past paper jams have occurred and one communication error has occurred.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when a paper jam or communication abnormality occurs, the paper jam occurrence counter or communication abnormality occurrence counter formed in the RAM 3 backed up by the battery is incremented by +1. When the addition processing is performed and a specific key is input on the keyboard 8, the host computer is operated by issuing a label in which the number of failure occurrences is printed from the count values of the paper jam occurrence counter and the communication error occurrence counter of the RAM 3. It is possible to notify the number of past paper jams and the number of communication abnormal errors that occurred. Therefore, operability can be improved.

Although this embodiment has described the paper jam and communication error, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, other various errors such as ink ribbon error due to cutting of the ink ribbon are described. Is also applicable.

Further, when a specific key is input on the keyboard 8, the number of trouble occurrences is printed and issued on a label. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is displayed on the display unit 10, for example. Is also good.

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a printer that can notify the number of past error occurrences by type without operating the host computer, thus improving operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a printing process of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of key input processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a print-issued label according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Paper sensor, 6 ... Communication interface, 8 ... Keyboard, 12 ... Thermal line head.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer that performs printing based on information from an information processing device, determines whether or not a memory for storing and holding data even in the event of a power failure and a fault such as communication abnormality or paper jam has occurred. Failure occurrence determination means, failure occurrence number storage control means for storing the cumulative occurrence number for the failure in the memory when the failure occurrence determination means determines that a failure has occurred, and preset specific input And a number-of-incidents notifying unit for notifying the cumulative number of occurrences stored in the memory when the printer is operated.