JPH0566755A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily know the design of a font selected from an operation panel and to properly output specified information in an image forming device by remote control from a host computer. CONSTITUTION:When the font used for printing is selected by the control part of the operation panel, image data expressing the name and the shape/ appearance of the font which should be selected is displayed on the LCD display of the operation panel. In the case of receiving printer information printing command (specified information output instruction) from the host computer, printer inside information (specified information in the image forming device) corresponding to the command is selected, and converted to the image information which can be understood by decoding a character or a graphic. The image information is printed or displayed by triggering the detection of the specified instruction received from the host computer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various printers such as laser printers, image forming apparatuses such as digital copying machines and facsimile machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, when selecting a font from an operation panel, a method of selecting a font by a font name or a method in which a font has a number and the number is used to select the font Or, there is a method to select the font by inputting the font attributes. Whichever method is used, if you want to know the design (shape and appearance) of the currently selected font, print it on paper. I was investigating.

On the other hand, when print data is sent from the host to the image forming apparatus by an application program,
If the mode setting of the image forming apparatus is not set appropriately for the data to be sent, the output as intended by the user may not be obtained.

If there is a similar print result before with the same application, it should be possible to print as intended by making the same settings as at that time, but if the settings have already been changed,
Especially with the recent laser printers, the number of setting items has increased,
When the contents are diverse, it is difficult to remember the meaning of the setting items, and it becomes necessary to select the setting value suitable for the purpose while checking the meaning of the setting items one by one with the help of the printer or application manual.

Therefore, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a mode is selected by pressing a predetermined switch (for example, a test switch on an operation panel when offline) as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-290527. A lot of products that print out internal information such as setting status, font type and print examples, error history, etc. are generally available. There is also a bidirectional interface such as RS232C, which transmits information indicating the internal state to the host through the interface when an internal state request command is received from the host through the interface.

[0006]

However, in the image forming apparatus such as the former, when the user selects a font from the operation panel, if the user wants to know the design, print the sample of the font one by one and check it. , I have to check it by looking at the font samples listed in the printer manual,
It was inconvenient.

The soft font downloaded from the host computer can also be selected from the operation panel. In this case, the soft font design is described in the soft font manual, but not in the printer manual. Many.
For this reason, if you select a soft font with the desired design from the operation panel after downloading many soft fonts, you must have several manuals for all soft fonts at hand and check the font design. It was troublesome and inconvenient.

On the other hand, in the latter type image forming apparatus, the setting contents may be changed according to the contents by printing out the mode setting contents by a predetermined switch at the time of the first printing, so that the above-mentioned troubles are involved. Although it does not take any time, it requires a switch operation by an operator such as offline → test print → online and a labor of storing the output together with the print result by the application.

In addition, when creating print data to be sent from the host or an application therefor, or when debugging the command processing function of the image forming apparatus itself, it is necessary to combine position specification, area specification, various print attribute specification, and commands. You can draw characters and images, but for example, how many dots from the edge of the paper the character cursor is, how many dots the left margin is, and how to know the parameter value such as font name and attribute is bidirectional. There was only a status request command to the image forming apparatus equipped with the I / F. That is, the application must be a bidirectional interface and have a function of receiving and processing such data from the image forming apparatus side on the host side.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and makes it possible to easily know the design of a font selected from the operation panel and to check the internal state of the image forming apparatus from the host computer. The purpose is to enable appropriate output by remote control.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having means for selecting a font to be used for printing by means of an operating section, which is selected when the font is selected by the operating section. A means for displaying the shape and appearance of the desired font on the display unit is provided.

Further, triggered by the detection of the specific command received from the host computer, the specific information in the image forming apparatus corresponding to the specific information output command is decoded into characters or figures and converted into understandable image information. There is also provided an image forming apparatus provided with a means for outputting.

By understanding a specific emulation command system and providing a means for making the command system function by expanding the specific information output command, or by a specific command from the host computer or an operation from the panel,
It is advisable to provide means for changing the information such as the format, attributes, and position of printing the specific information in the image forming apparatus.

[0014]

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when the font is selected by the operation unit, the shape and appearance of the font to be selected are displayed on the display unit, so that the workability at the time of font selection is improved.

According to the image forming apparatus of claim 2,
Since the detection of a specific command received from the host computer is used as a trigger, the specific information in the image forming apparatus corresponding to the specific information output command is decoded and converted into image information that can be understood by decoding characters or figures, and then output. Data such as the mode setting status of the image forming apparatus can be easily recorded and stored together with the normal print data, and similar settings can be easily reproduced.

If a command system for a specific emulation is understood and the command system is made to function by expanding the specific information output instruction, it is possible to evaluate the function of the emulation and design an application on the host computer side. It has a strong effect on the debug function. Further, if the information such as the printing format, the attribute, and the position of printing the specific information in the image forming apparatus can be changed by a specific command from the host computer or an operation from the panel, the specific information in the image forming apparatus to be output Information can be made flexible and easy to read according to the paper size and print format.

[0017]

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 showing the configuration of a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a printer controller 1, a printer engine 2 and an operation panel 3. The host computer 4 is a host device of this printer.

The printer controller 1 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as "CPU") 11, a ROM 12, and an RA.
M13, non-volatile memory 14, engine interface (hereinafter interface is abbreviated as I / F) 15, panel I / F 16, host I / F 17, option I / F
18 are connected to each other by a bus line 19 including an address bus, a control bus, a data bus, and the like.

The CPU 11 processes data from the host computer 4 in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 12, creates bitmap data (print image), exchanges information with the printer engine 2, displays information on the operation panel 3, and from the panel. Various processes such as a process for the key operation signal of are performed.

The ROM 12 is a read-on memory, and has a C
In addition to the control program for operating the PU 11, fixed data such as resident font data is stored. RAM1
3 is a large capacity random access memory, which is a CPU 1
1 is used as a work memory used for data processing, an input buffer for temporarily storing data from the host computer 4, a bit map memory for expanding bit map data output to the printer engine 2, and the like.

The non-volatile memory 14 is an EEPROM or a RAM for storing data by a battery, and is used for storing printer status information such as printer mode setting information, error information, and maintenance information.

The engine I / F 15 is an interface for connecting the printer controller 1 and the printer engine 2, and synchronizes the bit map data expanded on the bit map memory of the RAM 13 with a synchronizing signal from the printer engine 2. Transfer between the printer engine 2 and the printer controller 1, such as transferring to the printer engine 2 as a video signal, sending the information of the printer engine 2 to the printer controller 1, sending the information of the printer controller 1 to the printer engine 2, etc. Exchange information.

The panel I / F 16 is an interface for connecting the printer controller 1 and the operation panel 3, and sends display data from the printer controller 1 to the operation panel 3 and outputs operation signals from the operation panel 3 to the printer. Send it to the controller 1. The host interface 17 is an interface for connecting the printer controller 1 and the host computer 4, and various parallel interfaces (for example, Centronics I / F), serial interfaces (for example, RS232C, RS422), or according to the connected host computer. The SCSI interface is selected.

The option interface 18 is an interface for connecting the printer controller 1 and options such as the font cartridge 20 and the emulation card 21. The printer engine 2 is controlled by the video signal from the printer controller 1 and various other control signals or various control commands,
A latent image is formed on the photoconductor, the latent image is developed with toner, the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper fed from the paper feed unit, and then heat-fixed to print.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the operation panel 3. The operational panel 3 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “CPU”) 3
1, ROM 32, RAM 33, panel I / F 34, operation unit 35, VRAM 36, LCD driver controller 3
7 and an LCD display (hereinafter abbreviated as “LCD”) 38, which are connected to each other (excluding the LCD 38) by a bus line 39 similar to the bus line 19 of FIG.

The CPU 31 controls communication with the printer controller 1 according to the control program in the ROM 32, manages input signals by operating the operation keys of the operation unit 35, and LCD 38.
Display control. The ROM 32 stores fixed data such as a control program and display font data (which the operation panel 3 has independently).

The RAM 33 is used as a work memory used when the CPU 31 processes data, and is also used for storing font data downloaded from the printer controller 1. Panel I / F34
This operation panel 3 and printer controller 1
This is an interface for connecting and.

The operation section 35 is made up of various operation keys. When each operation key is operated, the operation is performed by the bus line 3
Notify CPU 31 via 9. VRAM 36 is L
This is a work memory for temporarily storing the image data of the characters to be output to the CD 38 for output to the LCD 38 through the LCD driver controller 37.

The LCD driver controller 37 is a VR
It is a circuit that outputs image data of characters in the AM 36 so that it can be displayed on the LCD 38. The LCD 38 is, for example, a character display of 2 lines × 32 characters, and displays the image data of the characters transmitted. Although the LCD is used as the display in this embodiment, any display other than the LCD may be used as long as it can handle dot images.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic structure of a font management table and a font file. In the font management table shown in (a), the address where each font file shown in (b) is stored (in the case of the incident font, the font file is stored in R
Address in OM12, RAM downloaded soft font in case of downloaded soft font
13) is registered. In the font file, font names, attributes, and image data of each character are stored.

In FIG. 5, (a) Courier 10, (b) Prestige Elite 12, (c) Letter Gothic 1
5 and (d) are examples of four types of fonts of Century PS. These four fonts have different attributes (width, height, typeface, etc.).

Next, the processing according to the present invention by the CPU 11 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This routine is the operation unit 3 of the operation panel 3.
The process starts when the font select mode is entered by the key operation on the key 5, and first, the information (font file) is obtained by referring to the address of the font # 1 registered in the head address of the font management table.

Then, the data indicating the name of the font # 1 is output to the operation panel 3 through the panel I / Fs 16 and 34. Thereby, the CPU 31 in the operation panel 3 displays the name of the font # 1 on the first line of the LCD 38 using the font data in the ROM 32.

Next, the CPU 1 of the printer controller 1
1 indicates that the image data of the font # 1 having the name currently displayed on the LCD 38 of the operation panel 3 is output to the operation panel 3 by the CP of the panel 3.
In order to notify U31, the command and parameter indicating that the image data is sent (number of bytes of image data to be transferred, number of dots in vertical and horizontal directions of image data, etc.) are transferred to the operation panel.

After that, the image data (sample) of the font # 1 having the name currently displayed on the LCD 38 is transferred to the operation panel 3. As a result, the CPU 31 of the operation panel 3 writes the image data sent from the printer controller 1 in the VRAM 36, and the LCD driver controller 37 displays the image data on the LCD 38.

In this way, the printer controller 1
It is possible to display the characters of the font having the same shape as the characters of the font to be printed on the LCD 38 of the operation panel 3. In this embodiment, the printer controller 1 transfers the image data of the characters of the font sample string character by character to the operation panel 3 to display the font sample string.

Next, when the font select key on the operation unit 35 of the operation panel 3 is pressed, the LCD
After selecting the font # 1 having the name displayed in 38, the process in the font select mode ends. When the next font display key is pressed, it is determined whether or not the address of the next font is registered in the font management table, and if it is registered, the information of the next font # 2 is obtained.

Here, in this embodiment, the addresses of the respective fonts are controlled so as to be registered in order from the head address of the font management table, and the font addresses are not stored in the font management table in a random manner. .. In addition, a fixed value is included in the empty part of the font management table, so check this value and the maximum value of the font address that can be registered in the font management table to determine the last value registered in the font management table. You can know the font of.

In this way, it is judged whether there is a next font (whether it is the last font registered in the font management table), and if there is a next font, the next font registered in the font management table is determined. Information of the font is obtained by referring to the font address of the font (the font for which the font information is obtained becomes the currently accessed font). Then, as described above, the name of the currently accessed font and the image data (sample) of the font are displayed on the LCD 3 of the operation panel 3.
Display in 8.

If there is no next font (when there is a value indicating an empty area at the next address in the font management table or at the end of the font management table), the start address of the font management table is set. The above-described processing (displaying the font name and font image data on the LCD 38) is repeated for the font information indicated by the registered address.

FIG. 6 shows a display example of a font name and its image data. The font name is displayed on the upper part of the LCD 38 and the font image data is displayed on the lower part. As described above, according to this embodiment, when the font is selected by the operation unit 35 of the operation panel 3, the image data (shape / appearance) of the font is displayed on the LCD 38, so that the font of any design and size can be selected. You can know whether to select.

In this embodiment, the font name and its image data are displayed in two lines, but it is not necessary to pay particular attention to the format of the number of lines or the number of characters per line. Further, the display format is not limited to the combination of the font name and its image data, and it is sufficient if the item for selecting the font and the image data of the font can be displayed at the same time, such as the font attribute and its image data.

Further, in this embodiment, the image data of the font sent by the printer controller 1 is temporarily stored in the VRAM 36 of the operation panel 3 and is displayed on the LCD 38 through the LCD driver controller 37. However, the image of the font sent by the printer controller is displayed. Other methods may be used as long as the data can be displayed on the display unit as dot image data.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a laser printer according to another embodiment of the present invention, which comprises a printer controller 41, an engine 42, and a panel device (operation panel) 43. A host device (host computer) 44 is a host device of this printer.

The printer controller 41 is the CPU 4
6, program ROM 47, font ROM 48, RA
M49, NVRAM 50, IC card 51, real-time clock 52, engine interface (hereinafter interface is abbreviated as I / F) 53, panel I / F 5
4, a host I / F 55 and each I / F, which are connected to each other by a bus line 56 including an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus.

The CPU 46 is a central processing unit for controlling the entire printer controller 41 by the program of the program ROM 47, the mode instruction from the panel device 43, and the command from the host device 44. The program ROM 47 is a read-only memory that stores the control program for the printer controller 41, and the font ROM 48 is a read-only memory that stores font pattern data and the like.

The RAM 49 is a work memory for the CPU 46, an input buffer for storing input data,
A page buffer for storing page data, a bitmap buffer for storing bitmap data,
It is a random access memory used for font files for storing downloaded fonts. NV
The RAM 50 is a non-volatile memory for storing the contents of the mode instruction from the panel device 43, the IC card 51 is a removable memory card used when supplying font data and programs from the outside, and the real-time clock 52 is the current one. It is a circuit that manages the date and time.

The engine I / F 53 is an interface for communicating commands, status, and print data with the engine 42 that actually prints, and a panel I / F 54.
Is an interface for communicating commands and statuses with a panel device 43 for notifying the user of the current printer status and for giving a mode instruction. Host I
The / F 55 is an interface that communicates with the host device 44, and is typically a Centro I / F or RS232C.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram functionally showing a portion related to the present invention in this embodiment. The data received by the host data input means 61 from the host device 44 is R
The printer information print command recognition unit 62 stores the data in the input buffer allocated in the AM 49, takes out the data in the order sent, and traces the command sequence. From the data, for example, the printer information print command (shown below) When the specific information output command) is recognized, the type of the printer internal information (specific information in the image forming apparatus) requested by the printer internal information selection unit 63 is known from the parameter: m included therein, and a plurality of pieces of information corresponding thereto are obtained. The printer internal information detection means 64 selects from among the plurality of printer internal information.

Command sequence: <ESC> <SUB> $ <m>; Hexadecimal code: 1b 1a 24 [m] 3b Parameter: m Format :: Multi-digit decimal ASCII Meaning :: As shown in Table 1

[0051]

[Table 1]

Then, the code character string converting means 65 is shown in Table 2.
The code character string conversion processing suitable for the type of selected information is performed as in the output example for the command. The information detected here is one parameter on software, and is generally an address pointer or a coded scalar value.

[0053]

[Table 2]

Thereafter, the in-page arranging means 66 performs character arranging processing on each character of the code character string in the page buffer in order from the cursor position at that time. Then, the result is printed by the printing means 67, triggered by the reception of a page break execution command such as a form feed code or the page crossing of the cursor, as in the normal processing. In addition,
The code character string conversion means 65 in FIG. 8 may be a graphic image conversion means having a visual effect such as a bar graph.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the internal printer information (in the image forming apparatus) corresponding to the printer information print command (specific information output command) is triggered by the detection of the specific command received from the host device 44. Specific information) is converted into image information that can be understood by deciphering characters or figures, and then printed, so that data such as printer mode setting status can be easily recorded and stored, similar to normal print data. Similar settings can be reproduced easily.

The internal information of the printer is displayed on the panel device 43.
May be displayed on the display unit of. In addition, you can set the print attributes such as font type, size, and pitch during the character arrangement processing to fixed, but in general, you can change them with the initial settings using operation switches or DIP switches, or you can use commands other than the printer information print command. If the ones set in the above are valid as they are, it is possible to output flexible and easy-to-read printer internal information according to the paper size and print format.

Further, in this laser printer,
IC card 5 that stores the emulation program
1 can be inserted and the emulation function that imitates the printing operation as it is can be exhibited by the command system of another machine (command system for specific emulation), but it functions by expanding the printer information print command to that command system. By doing so, it is possible to exert a strong effect on the function evaluation of emulation and the debugging function when designing the application on the host side.

Furthermore, up to this point, 1 is given for 1 instruction.
I have given an example of outputting information to any position on the page,
It is possible to print the mode setting information, error information, font information, etc. at a time by giving the same effect as pressing the test key when offline with one command such as a test print execution command. In that case, the functional configuration is simpler, and the existing test print function is subordinate to the test print command recognition function.

Although the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the laser printer has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other printers such as an LED printer and a liquid crystal shutter printer, as well as a digital copying machine, a facsimile machine and the like. Can be applied to various image forming apparatuses.

[0060]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, even if the font to be selected is not printed and confirmed, the design and size of the font have an operation panel. It is convenient because you can see it by selecting the font with. That is, workability when selecting a font is improved.

Further, according to the image forming apparatus of the second and subsequent aspects, since the internal state of the image forming apparatus can be appropriately output by remote control from the host computer, the normal print data and the data such as the printer setting status can be easily obtained. It can be recorded and stored, making it easy to reproduce the same settings. Further, according to the image forming apparatus of claim 3, it is possible to clearly know whether or not various printer information output commands sent from the host functioned as intended, thereby creating a print program functioning on the host. It is also possible to provide an effective debugging function when the firmware of the printer controller is created. Furthermore, according to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect, the internal information to be output can be made flexible and easy to see according to the paper size and print format.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a process according to the present invention by a CPU 11 of FIG.

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

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an operation panel 3 of the same.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a font management table and a font file in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a sample example of image data of four types of fonts.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a name of a font to be selected and its image data (sample) according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a laser printer which is another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram functionally showing a portion related to the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,41 Printer controller 3 Operation panel 4 Host computer 11, 31, 46
CPU 12, 32 ROM 13, 33, 49
RAM 14 Non-volatile memory 35 Operation part 36 VRAM 37 LCD driver controller 38 LCD display 42 Engine 43 Panel device 44 Host device 47 Program ROM 48 Font RO
M 50 NVRAM 52 Real time clock 61 Host data input means 62 Printer information print command recognition means 63 Printer internal information selection means 64 Plural printer internal information detection means 65 Code character string conversion means 66 In-page arrangement means 67 Printing means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having means for selecting a font to be used for printing by means of an operating section, and means for displaying the shape and appearance of a font to be selected on the display section when selecting the font by means of the operating section. An image forming apparatus characterized by being provided. 2. Triggered by detection of a specific command received from a host computer, the specific information in the image forming apparatus corresponding to the specific information output command is decoded into characters or figures and converted into understandable image information. An image forming apparatus comprising a means for outputting the output. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a means for understanding a specific emulation command system and providing a function for expanding the specific information output command in the command system. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein information such as a format, an attribute, or a position for printing the specific information in the image forming apparatus is provided by a specific command from a host computer or an operation from a panel. An image forming apparatus comprising a changing unit.