JPH0541726A - Remote print controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate an influence of the external noise upon even a printer in a remote place to improve the print quality by transmitting print information as communication information from a controller on the computer main body side and restoring it to print information by a controller on the printer side. CONSTITUTION:Transmission-side controllers Aa, Ab, and Ac receive print information S1 and set data of lines of a communication network alpha from computers (a), (b), and (c). Print information S1 is stored and is converted to signal standards for transmission to perform the line setting operation. Response to line setting of a reception-side controller B is confirmed, and reception of flow control information S3 or transmission completion of print information S1 is detected to terminate the transmission, and the flow control is performed between transmission-side controllers and the reception-side controller B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote printing control device which can be used for remote or shared use of a printer in the use of computers, workstations and the like (hereinafter referred to as computers).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional connection between a computer or the like and a printer, when these are in a short distance and are connected one to one, they are directly connected by a dedicated printer cable or a buffer device is used. Connected through. In the case where a computer or the like and a printer are installed apart from each other by a dedicated printer cable at a distance larger than that which can be directly connected, the conventional method is to connect via a local area network (hereinafter referred to as LAN). A method of connecting by a power wireless device or an infrared wireless device has been proposed or put to practical use.

On the other hand, regarding the shared use of a printer by a plurality of computers, there are a method of using a printer switching device, a method of using a print server connected by a LAN, and the like. As a method using the communication means, a method of transferring print information (file transfer) from the sending side computer to the receiving side computer and printing the file on the receiving side computer after reception is completed, or
The method of converting the contents of the document file into a fax signal by the computer on the transmitting side and receiving and printing by the fax machine on the receiving side is adopted.

[0004]

However, each of these conventional techniques has the following drawbacks. The method of connecting via a LAN requires complicated wiring because a dedicated cable is required, the equipment for configuring the LAN is expensive, and it is difficult to output to a printer at a remote place other than the premises. Is. In the method of connecting by the low power wireless device or the infrared wireless device, the usable range is limited to the range within which radio waves or infrared rays can reach. In addition, it is difficult to use it in an environment with a lot of electrical or optical noise.

In the method using the printer switch, the number of connecting terminals of the printer switch can physically connect the printer to the computer or the like. Further, while the circuit of one printer switching device is used, it is not possible to change to another circuit in the same switching device unless a buffer device or the like is connected between the printer switching device and the printer.

In the method using the communication means, since printing is performed after the file transfer, a computer is required on the transmitting side and the receiving side. Further, in the case of performing direct transmission to the fax machine, the computer on the sending side needs a fax output means and the fax machine on the receiving side is required. Furthermore, unless the receiving side device is equipped with some kind of communication storage means, if the receiving side device is receiving another communication, it naturally waits until the end of the communication. The cost is enormous.

[0007]

The above-mentioned problems can be solved by adopting the novel constituent means listed below the present invention. That is, the first feature of the present invention is that the computer main body side, which connects the computer main body and the printer, which are remotely installed to each other, through a communication network such as a public telephone network, a PBX network, a packet network, or an ISDN network. In the control device, means for receiving print information or setting data of the communication network line as necessary from a printer port or memory of the computer main body, means for accumulating the print information, and communicating the print information with the communication information. Means for converting to a signal standard for transmission via a network, and a line setting operation for the communication network, and confirming that the printer-side control device complies with the line setting, Alternatively, either the reception of a status signal from the printer-side control device or the detection of the completion of transmission of print information from the computer body or a combination The suit,
A remote printing control device comprising means for recognizing stop of transmission, releasing communication line and ending transmission, and means for transmitting while performing flow control between a printer side control device and a communication network.

A second feature of the present invention is the above first feature.
The control device on the printer side controls the computer
Status of own device in response to request for setting of communication network line by device
Depending on the line settings, communication status or transmission
The print information is transmitted according to the reception status of the print information.
A means to detect the end of transmission and release the communication network line, and
Received the communication information from the
The computer book is restored with the print information.
Perform flow control with the body side control device,
A means for accumulating print information and a plurality of the computer books
It is transmitted asynchronously from the body side via multiple communication network lines,
Means for controlling the printing order of the print information stored separately
And a means for controlling the printer.
It is a printing control device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, by taking the above means, the print information from the computer main body is transmitted as communication information from the computer main body side control device, and is received as the communication information by the printer side control device via the communication network. Since it is restored to print information, even a remotely installed printer can print with a quality far superior to the method using a fax machine, as long as it has a control device and a communication network.
It is possible to print in any environment.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
2 is an overall configuration diagram of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for transmitting print information of one computer in FIG. 1 to a communication network, and FIG. 3 is transmitted via the communication network in FIG. It is a block diagram of the apparatus which receives the said print information, and outputs it to a printer.

In the figure, S1 is print information, S2 is communication information,
S3 is flow control information, α is a public telephone network, PBX network, packet network, or communication network such as ISDN network, Aa, A
b and Ac are control devices that transmit the print information of the computers a, b and c, and B receives the print information S1 that is transmitted from the control devices Aa, Ab and Ac via the communication network α and outputs it to the printer. The control devices 1a, 1b, 1c are computer connection terminals connected to the printer connection ports of the computers a, b, c.

Reference numeral 2 is a printer interface unit, 3 is a storage unit for storing print information, 4 is a signal conversion / transmission unit, 5 is a transmission side communication network control unit, 6 is a control unit, and 7a, 7b and 7c are communication networks α. For connecting the communication line on the transmitting side to be connected to, 8a, 8
b, 8c are receiving side communication line connection terminals connected to the communication network α of the control device B, 9a, 9b. Reference numeral 9c is a receiving side communication network control unit, 10a, 10b and 10c are receiving / accumulating units, 11 is an output sequence control unit, 12d and 12e are control units for the printer d and the printer e, and 13d and 13e are printer connection terminals. ..

The specification of the present embodiment presents such a concrete embodiment, and its processing procedure will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, as an example, a case where printing is performed from the computer a to the printer d will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, in the transmission side control device Aa, when the computer a starts the printing process, the print information S1 is output to the printer connection port of the computer a. The control device Aa fetches the print information S1 from the printer connection port of the computer a via the terminal 1a into the printer interface section 2 and stores it in the storage section 3.

When the storage unit 3 stores the print information S1 or when the printer interface unit 2 detects the communication network control information S1 'such as the calling telephone number included in the print information S1, the control unit 6 determines The transmission side communication network control unit 5 is instructed to set the line of the communication network α so as to connect to the control device B. When making a call, communication network control information S
If the calling telephone number is not given by 1 ', the call is made with the preset telephone number.

When the line setting is completed and the connection with the control device B is confirmed, the signal conversion / transmission unit 4 transmits the print information S1 via the communication line of the communication network α, for example, a signal standard such as an analog telephone network. In the case of V. of CCITT standard. 32
It is converted into a modem signal and sent to the communication line through the terminal 7a. Note that the communication network control information S1 'is the control device Aa.
Since it is for controlling the communication network α, it is not transmitted to the control device B. Further, as will be described later, the flow control information S3 is sent to the control unit 6 of the control device Aa in accordance with the reception state of the control device B, so the flow control information S
According to 3, the transmission is temporarily stopped. When the transmission of the print information S1 stored in the storage unit 3 is completed, the control unit 6 instructs the transmission side communication network control unit 5 to disconnect the communication line.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the receiving side control device B
The processing operation of will be described. The control device B is a communication network α.
It has terminals 8a, 8b and 8c connected to the printer and terminals 13d and 13e connected to the printer. In this embodiment, the terminal 8 has three systems, the printer controller 12 and the terminal 13.
There are two systems, but the number of systems of both terminals and the control unit is an arbitrary number of 1 or more.

The control device B accepts the incoming call by the receiving side communication network control section 9a if it is in a state where it can receive the call from the control device Aa. Upon confirming the completion of the communication network line setting, the control device Aa starts transmitting the print information S1.
The control device B receives and stores the transmitted print information S1 in the reception / accumulation unit 10a. When the reception storage amount of the print information S1 approaches the storage capacity of the storage unit 10a in the control device B, the flow control information S3 is returned to the control device Aa in order to temporarily stop the transmission of the control device Aa.
When the output to the printer d is performed and the received storage amount falls below a certain value, the flow control information S3 for restarting the transmission of the control device Aa is transmitted to the control device Aa.

The receiving / accumulating section 10a issues a print request to the output sequence control section 11 when the print information S1 is accumulated. The output sequence control unit 11 includes a plurality of reception / storage units 10
A switching function for transferring print information S1 to the printer control units 12d and 12e, having a function of grasping the vacant status of a plurality of printers d and e in response to print requests a, 10b, and 10c and managing the print order. Fulfill. Printer control unit 1
2d starts to output from the terminal 13d to the printer d when the print information S1 is transferred from the output order control unit 11.

Once, either of the receiving / accumulating units 10a, 1
0b, 10c, in this case, when the printer d output of the print information S1 of the reception / accumulation unit 10a is started, it is continued until the print of the print information S1 is completed. When the printing is completed, another receiving / accumulating unit 10 in which the print information S1 is accumulated
Output order control unit 1 for processing print requests b and 10c
1 performs the switching process. The control devices Aa, Ab and Ac can be incorporated in the computers a, b and c, and the control device B can be incorporated in the printers d and e. Printer d, e
When the control device B is incorporated in the printer control unit 12,
d, 12e and printer connection terminals 13d, 13e need only one system.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily connect a plurality of remotely installed computers and the like to a printer using a communication network, and share a high-performance printer. Therefore, when you want to send documents and data created in a remote place as soon as possible, it is possible to print with the same quality as hard copy mail without the letters being faint or lines being erased as with G3 fax, and the effect of external noise. Since it is less susceptible to noise, it can be used in an environment with a lot of electrical or optical noise as compared with the method using a low power wireless device or an infrared wireless device, and it can be used without changing the existing application program. Demonstrate excellent usefulness.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a transmission side control device according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving side control device of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 α ... communication network S1 ... print information S1 '... communication network control information S2 ... communication information S3 ... flow control information Aa, Ab, Ac ... transmission side control device B ... reception side control device 1a, 1b, 1c ... computer connection terminal 2 ... Printer interface unit 3 ... Storage unit 4 ... Signal conversion / transmission unit 5 ... Transmission side communication network control unit 6 ... Control unit 7a, 7b, 7c ... Transmission side communication line connection terminals 8a, 8b, 8c ... Reception side communication line Connection terminals 9a, 9b, 9c ... Receiving side communication network control section 10a, 10b, 10c ... Receiving / accumulating section 11 ... Output sequence control section 12d, 12e ... Printer control section 13d, 13e ... Printer connection terminal

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H04L 29/12 H04N 1/00 107 Z 4226-5C (72) Inventor Fujio Matsumoto Nishi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Shinjuku 2-3-2 International Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A computer main body side control device for responsively connecting a computer main body and the printer, which are remotely installed to each other via a communication network such as a public telephone network, a PBX network, a packet network, or an ISDN network, A means for receiving print information or setting data of the communication network line as necessary from a printer port or a memory of the computer body, a means for accumulating the print information, and a means for storing the print information via the communication network. A means for converting to a signal standard for transmission and a line setting operation for the communication network, and confirming that the printer-side control device complies with the line setting, and control the communication network or the printer-side. Either by receiving a status signal from the device or by detecting completion of transmission of print information from the computer body, or by a combination thereof, A remote control unit that recognizes a stoppage of communication, releases the communication line, and terminates the transmission; and a unit that performs transmission while performing flow control with the printer-side control device via the communication network. Print control device 2. The printer-side control device receives the print information transmitted or transmitted in response to a communication network line setting request from the computer main body-side control device according to the line setting according to the state of the device itself. A means for detecting the end of transmission of the print information depending on the state and releasing the communication network line;
A unit that receives the transmitted communication information, restores the print information from the signal standard on the transmission, performs flow control with the computer main body side control device, and stores the restored print information. A unit for controlling the printing order of the print information that is asynchronously transmitted from the plurality of computer main bodies via a plurality of communication network lines and accumulated in the accumulating unit, and a unit for controlling the printer. The remote printing control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein