JPH0624099A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transfer printing data, etc., to another printing equipment when a printing equipment gets trouble during printing operation, and to prevent the stagnation of a printing job when the printing equipment gets trouble. CONSTITUTION:In a printing equipment 2, in which a sign pattern corresponding to input data from a host 1 is generated and printed and output, job data during execution indicated by the host 1 are transmitted over another printing equipment 9 connected to a network designated by an external information register 8 when a CPU 5 detects the generation of trouble having an effect on printing. The host 1 is informed of information at a time when a job execution objective is changed over.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, for example, a printing apparatus which can be connected to various networks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to the recent development of network technology,
Increasingly, more than one printing device is connected to the network.

[0003]

However, in the conventional printing apparatus of this type, when a trouble that affects printing, such as a paper jam or a paper shortage, occurs,
The printing operation remains stopped until the obstacle is manually removed. In that case, if the printing device is connected to the network, there may be no operator near the printing device, and the printing job may be delayed for a long time (or a large amount in some cases).

[0004]

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and has the following structure as one means for solving the above-mentioned problems. That is, in a printing device that generates and prints a symbol pattern corresponding to input data from an external device, a detection unit that detects the occurrence of a failure that affects printing, and input data from the outside to another printing device. The transmission means for transmitting, the storage means for storing the destination information in the transmission means, and the notifying means for notifying the connection control source device of the information when the destination is switched.

[0005]

With the above configuration, if a failure occurs in the printing device during the printing operation, the print data and the like can be transferred to another printing device, and the printing job is delayed even if the printing device fails. Can be prevented.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a host computer, which is connected to a printing apparatus directly or through a network. Then, the print information including at least the character code and the control code for editing or controlling the output of the character code is output to the printing device. Reference numeral 2 is a printer main body.

An interface unit 3 receives a character code and a control command transmitted from the host computer. Reference numeral 4 is an input buffer for temporarily storing the data input via the interface unit 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes a CPU including a general-purpose microprocessor that performs arithmetic control of the entire apparatus, and stores, for example, a flow chart program shown in FIG.

A page buffer 6 can store one page of the dot type image data sent from the CPU 5. A printing unit 7 records a signal sent from the output page buffer on a recording sheet. Reference numeral 8 denotes an external information register that stores information regarding a printing device existing outside that is a transfer destination when a failure occurs. At a minimum, the transfer destination printer name is required. The function of the printing apparatus can be expanded by increasing the information about the printing apparatus existing outside. For example, if a group ID is given, and the ID is added when data is sent from the host computer, it is compared with the ID of the printing device.
It is also possible to prevent output to the wrong printing device.
Reference numeral 9 is a printing device existing on the network.

A processing operation similar to that of the printing apparatus of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described below with reference to the flow chart of FIG. First, when the CPU 5 shown in FIG. 1 detects the occurrence of a failure, the processing shown in the flow chart of FIG. 2 is performed. First, in step S1, it is checked whether or not information about a printing device existing on the network for printing instead of the printing device is registered in the stamp information register 8 at the time of failure.
If it is not registered, the data cannot be transferred, so the process is terminated and waits until the failure of the printing device is removed.

On the other hand, when the information about the printing device existing on the network for printing instead of the printing device at the time of failure is registered, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2, and the information is printed from the stamp information register 8. Read out. After that, in step S3, it is checked whether the fault of the printing apparatus is removed and the fault is recovered. If restored, the process ends.

If not restored, the process proceeds from step S3 to steps S4 and below, and the following processes are repeated for each job. That is, first, in step S4, the host 1 is informed that a failure has occurred in the printing device, and the host 1 is informed of the changed printing device name of the output destination. Then, in the subsequent step S5, the job up to the end of the job executed is sent to the transfer destination printing apparatus. Then, the process returns to step S1.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a failure occurs in the printing apparatus, the printing job is transferred to another printing apparatus on the network, thereby preventing the printing job from being delayed. it can.

[0013]

[Other Embodiments] In the above description, the source of print data is the host 1 which is the host computer, but the present invention is not limited to the above example, and other floppy disks are also possible. The data generating source such as the device and the CDROM is not limited and may be any source.

Although the transfer destination is the printing device on the network, it may be a printing device connected to the host computer connected to the network. Also,
The data can be registered in the external information register 7 by using a scanning panel of the printing apparatus or online registration from the host computer. As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the printing apparatus existing on the network, the printing job being processed is transferred to another printing apparatus on the network when a failure occurs. It is possible to prevent the printing job from becoming stagnant.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a failure occurs in the printing device during the printing operation, the print data or the like can be transferred to another printing device, and the failure occurs in the printing device. Even if it does, the printing job can be prevented from being stuck.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a printing operation in the printing apparatus of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host Computer 2 Printer Main Unit 3 Input Interface 4 Input Buffer 5 CPU 6 Output Page Buffer 7 Printing Unit 8 External Information Register 9 Printing Device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a printing apparatus that generates and prints out a symbol pattern corresponding to input data from an external device, a detection means for detecting the occurrence of a fault affecting printing, and input data from the outside It is characterized by further comprising: a transmission unit for transmitting to the printing apparatus, a storage unit for storing destination information in the transmission unit, and an informing unit for informing the connection control source device of information when the destination is switched. Printing device.