JPH0667826A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continue printing processing by outputting data obtained after detecting the generation of an error disabling the continuation of printing to another printer through an interface. CONSTITUTION:At the time of generating an error such as jam, toner shortage and a memory error which disables the continuation of processing during the execution of a series of printing processing, the error is informed to an operation panel 300 and a message indicating that the succeeding data are to be printed out on the succeeding printer (a printer connected to an output IF 7) is displayed. Data in processing are outputted to the succeeding printer through the IF 7 and all printing data to be received thereafter are outputted to the succeeding printer. Since a RAM 3 is utilized as a buffer memory, a host computer 200 is released from the output processing of printing data. Thereby even if an error disabling the continuation of processing is generated, printing processing can be continuously executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus for forming an image on a predetermined recording medium based on print data sent from an external device and outputting the image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a device of this type, particularly in a laser beam printer which has been particularly popular recently, when a jam, a toner shortage, a memory error or the like occurs in the printer, a signal to that effect is sent. In addition to outputting the status signal to the host computer, the operator is also notified of that fact by some means to stop the printing process.

[0003]

Therefore, when the printer becomes such a state, the printing process is not continued unless the cause is removed. In other words, since the printing is performed only after the error is removed, the final output result is obtained much later.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of continuing the printing processing by an alternative apparatus even if an error that the processing cannot be continued occurs. It is a thing.

To solve this problem, the printing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in a printing device that prints a visible image on a predetermined recording medium based on print data input from the outside, an interface for outputting data to another printing device is provided, and an occurrence of an error that cannot continue is detected. In this case, the subsequent data that cannot be printed due to the error is output to the other printing apparatus via the interface.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiment, an example in which the laser beam printer is adapted will be described.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP) according to the embodiment.
The BP can perform registration of character patterns and affiliated forms (form data) from a data source (not shown).

In the figure, 100 is the LBP body,
Input and store print information (character code, etc.) or form information or macro commands supplied from an externally connected host computer, and create the corresponding character pattern or form pattern according to the information. An image is formed on a recording paper which is a recording medium. Three
Reference numeral 00 is an operation panel on which switches for operation and LED displays are arranged, and 101 is a printer control unit for controlling the entire LBP 100 and analyzing character information supplied from the host computer. The printer control unit 101 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs it to the laser driver 102.

The laser driver 102 is a semiconductor laser 10.
3 is a circuit for driving the laser beam 3, and the laser beam 1 emitted from the semiconductor laser 103 according to the input video signal.
The laser beam 104 for switching ON / OFF of 04 is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 105 to scan and expose the electrostatic drum 106. As a result, an electrostatic latent image having a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 107 arranged around the electrostatic drum 106, and then transferred to a recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 108 mounted on the LBP 100, and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 109 and conveyance rollers 110 and 111, and the electrostatic drum 106 is used. Is supplied to. In the description below, the configuration that actually performs the printing process, such as the laser driver 102 and the electrostatic drum 106, excluding the printer control unit 101 is referred to as a printer engine unit.
Although not shown, a known sensor for detecting a recording paper jam (so-called jam), toner shortage, or the like is provided in the printer engine section.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the LBP of the embodiment. Reference numerals 1 to 5 and 7 are included in the printer control unit 101 described above.

In the figure, 1 is a CPU which controls the printer control unit 101 and the entire apparatus, and 2 is a ROM which stores an operation processing procedure of the CPU 1 (a program according to a flowchart of FIG. 3 described later). Is. R is used as a work area of the CPU 1 or as a buffer for temporarily storing the received print data.
AM. Reference numeral 4 is an input interface (input I / F) for receiving print data from the host computer 200 which is a print data generation source, and reference numeral 5 is a bit map capable of expanding bit map data (dot image data) for one page. The memory 6 is the printer engine unit described above. 7 is an output I for connecting another printing device.
/ F, the details of which will be described later.

In the above configuration, the LBP of the embodiment is
When a situation such as a jam in which the print processing cannot be continued as it is occurs, the print data is output to another subsequent printer connected to the output I / F 7. by this,
Even if the operator of the host computer 200 does not know that the printing process is interrupted due to an abnormal state of the apparatus,
At least the printing process will be continued by another device, and as a result, the printing result will be surely available.

The operation processing contents of this apparatus for realizing this will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Incidentally, in this type of apparatus, normally, when print data is received from the outside, an interrupt signal is generated in the CPU, and the data received by the interrupt process is stored in the reception buffer. This also applies to the present embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

When the apparatus is powered on, step S
At 1, it is determined whether print data is received in the reception buffer. When it is determined that the print data is received, it is determined in step S2 whether or not an error that processing cannot be continued has occurred. If it is determined that the error has not occurred, the process proceeds to step S3, and a known print process based on the print data stored in the reception buffer is performed.

Therefore, unless an error occurs that the apparatus cannot continue processing, steps S1 to S
The process of 3 is repeated.

Incidentally, the error that the processing cannot be continued, which is referred to here, includes a jam, a toner shortage, a memory error and the like, and does not include the case where the paper cassette 108 is removed to supplement the recording paper. However, paper cassette 1
If 08 is set and the recording paper is not replenished even after the lapse of a predetermined time, it may be an error that the process cannot be continued.

When an error indicating that the process cannot be continued occurs during the series of printing processes, the process proceeds to step S4 to notify the operation panel 300 of the error and thereafter Multi-stage printer (output I
/ F7) to display a message to print out.

Then, in the next step S5, the data being processed is output to the printer of the next stage via the output I / F 7, and all the print data received thereafter are output to the printer of the next stage in steps S6 and S7. Output. At this time, the RAM installed in this device is used as a buffer memory.
As a result, the host computer 200 is released from the print data output process at an early stage.

Now, once the processing moves to steps S6 and S7, it is not possible to get out of the loop, but for example, by the action of opening the cover of this apparatus to repair a jam or replenish toner, etc. Since the reset is supplied, there is no particular problem.

Further, although the description is mixed, the LBP of the embodiment is
As long as the printer connected to the output I / F 7 is operating normally, even if an error such as a jam occurs in this device, the status signal to the host computer 200 does not output a signal to that effect. . In other words, as long as the lower printer is operating normally, it does not output a signal indicating that it is making an error to the upper device. However, if another printer is not connected to the lower level, it means that the printer itself is located at the end, and if an error occurs, a signal to that effect is output to the upper level apparatus.

Therefore, by connecting a plurality of LBPs in this embodiment, even if some of the upper LBPs are in an error state (for example, lack of toner) at a time, the printing process can be continued by the lower-level device. From a safety point of view, there is no problem.

The data to be output to the next printer in step S5 is the data that has not been output when the error occurs. That is, it means the data that has been already stored in the reception buffer and has been received from the top data of the page to be printed out to the present. Therefore, the receiving buffer of the embodiment has a capacity for storing at least one page of received data. As a result, for example, even if some error occurs in the state where printing has been completed up to two sheets in this apparatus, it is possible to print the third and subsequent pages by the printer in the next stage.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the output I / F 7
Although the printer connected to the printer has been described on the assumption that it is the printer described in the embodiment, the printer located at the end does not need to be the printer described in this embodiment.

Although the laser beam printer has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus is not limited to the laser beam printer and can be applied to an ink jet printer described below.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an ink jet recording apparatus IJRA to which the present invention can be applied. In the figure, the carriage HC that engages with the spiral groove 5005 of the lead screw 5004 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has pins (not shown). Then, it is reciprocated along the guide 5003 in the directions of arrows a and b. This carriage HC
Inkjet cartridge IJC is mounted on. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage. 5
Reference numerals 007 and 5008 denote photocouplers for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area, and checking the motor 501.
3 is a home position detecting means for switching the rotation direction of the motor 3. Reference numeral 5016 denotes a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, which performs suction recovery of the recording head via the opening 5023 in the cap. 5
Reference numeral 017 is a cleaning blade, and 5019 is a member that allows this blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these are supported by a main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by known transmission means such as clutch switching. To be done. The inkjet cartridge IJC is
An ink container IT and a head IJ for ejecting ink
An image is formed by holding H and ejecting ink onto the paper P.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that the desired processing can be performed at their corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5004 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. As long as the desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the above can be applied to this example.

Also in the above configuration, the above-mentioned embodiment is implemented by providing an I / F which outputs data to the printing apparatus connected to the lower order and receives a status signal from the printing apparatus, and by performing the processing as shown in FIG. The same effect as the example can be expected. Therefore, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited by the printing method itself.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if an error that the processing cannot be continued occurs, it is possible to continue the printing processing by the alternative device.

[0029]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional structure diagram of a laser beam printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing operation processing contents in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of an inkjet printer to which an embodiment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 Input I / F 5 Bitmap memory 6 Printer engine 7 Output I / F 100 LBP main body 200 Host computer 300 Operation panel 101 Printer control unit 102 Laser driver 103 Semiconductor laser 104 Laser light 105 Rotating polygon mirror 106 Electrostatic Drum 107 Developing Unit 108 Paper Cassette 109 Paper Feed Roller 110 Conveyor Roller 111 Conveyor Roller IJRA Inkjet Recording Device HC Carriage IJC Inkjet Cartridge IT Ink Tank IJH Inkjet Head P Paper 5000 Platen 5002 Paper Press Plate 5003 Guide 5004 Lead Screw 5005 Spiral Groove 5006 Lever 5007 Photocoupler 5008 Photocoupler 5009 Driving force transmission Ya 5011 driving force transmission gears 5013 drive motor 5015 sucking means 5017 a cleaning blade 5018 main body support plate 5020 cam 5021 lever 5022 the cap member 5023 capping the opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus that prints a visible image on a predetermined recording medium based on print data input from the outside, has an interface for outputting data to another printing apparatus, and an error that cannot continue is generated. When the error is detected, the data subsequent to the printing that cannot be performed due to the error is output to the other printing device via the interface.