JPH0811393A - Power apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shut off a power source promptly without stopping a printing movement on the way. CONSTITUTION:When a power source control part 4 receives a command to shut off a power source by a finish switch 1, an input control part 7 rejects data input from a host computer B after the completion of inputting data when the data is supplied from a host computer B, and rejects immediately when the data is not supplied from the host computer B. The shutoff of the power source is carried out when a command is received. When printing is not conducted or when the printing based on data supplied from external apparatus is completed, the power source of the output apparatus is shut off.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output device capable of rapidly shutting off power without interrupting a printing operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an output device of a shared printer such as a so-called network, when an operation such as turning off the main power source is performed, data is spooled or data is already spooled. However, there was a problem that the print job was aborted on the way. As a solution to this drawback, for example, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-58003. Even if the power switch of the printer is pressed to shut off the power, if the data remains inside the printer, or if the power of the host computer is on, this shutoff operation is performed. Is not accepted and the print job is guaranteed.

[0003]

However, in this technique, when data is spooled to the printer one after another,
As a matter of course, since data remains in the printer forever, there is a drawback that the user cannot turn off the power of the printer at a desired time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an output device capable of quickly turning off the power without interrupting the printing operation on the way. To do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a receiving means for receiving a power-off command in an output device for printing based on data supplied from an external device, In the case of receiving the command, when the data supply from the external device is received, after the input of the data is completed, in other cases, immediately, input control means for rejecting the data input from the external device, It is characterized by comprising a power supply control means for cutting off the power supply when a command is received and printing is not performed or when printing based on data supplied from an external device is completed. .

[0006]

According to the present invention, when data is supplied from an external device, after the input of the data is completed,
In other cases, immediately when the data input from the external device is rejected by the input control means, the power is cut off, when the printing is not performed, or when the printing based on the data supplied from the external device is completed. , By means of a power shutoff means.

[0007]

【Example】

<Structure of Embodiment> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the output device P according to this embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an end switch for instructing power-off. 2 is an external commercial power source (AC1
00 volt) as a power source for the output device P, and supplies power to each part of the output device P through the power line 3. Reference numeral 4 is a power supply control unit, and an end switch 1
The operating state is monitored, the detection signal is output, and the power supply of the power supply unit 2 is controlled. That is, in this embodiment, the power supply shutoff command is received by the power supply control unit 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a control unit including a CPU or the like, which controls each unit regarding the overall operation of the output device P.

On the other hand, 6 is an input unit for serial or
It consists of a plurality of interfaces for parallel, network, etc., and various host computers B, B, ... Are connected to each of these interfaces. Then, the data output from each of the host computers B, B, ... Is input. An input control unit 7 controls the input unit 6 under the control of the power supply control unit 4. Reference numeral 8 is a buffer that takes in the input data and temporarily stores the data until the print output is completed, 9 is an image processing unit that processes the input data, and 11 is an output control of the output data of the image processing unit 9. An output unit that actually prints / prints under the control of the unit 10.

<Operation of Embodiment> Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

The output device P operates in the same manner as the conventional device until a power-off command is issued. That is, the data supplied from the host computer B is temporarily stored in the buffer 8 via the input unit 6 and the input control unit 7, and then immediately read out and subjected to predetermined processing by the image processing unit 9. Then, the processed data is actually printed out by the output unit 11 under the control of the output control unit 10. When data is supplied from a plurality of host computers B, printout is performed in the order of arrival.

Next, the operation of this embodiment when the end switch 1 is operated and a power-off command is issued will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step Sa1, the operating state of the end switch 1 is monitored by the power supply controller 4. When the power-off command is issued by the end switch 1, the power control unit 4 determines whether data is being spooled in the next step Sa2, that is, the data is received by the input unit 6 and written in the buffer. Is determined.

When the power control unit 4 executes this step Sa2 for the first time and determines that spooling is being performed, it supplies an input prohibition signal to an interface other than the interface that is receiving data, and again this step. While returning to Sa2, if it is determined that spooling is not in progress by executing step Sa2 for the first time, step S2 is executed.
At a3, the input prohibition signal is supplied to all the interfaces to prohibit the subsequent inputs. In addition, the power control unit 4
If step Sa2 is executed twice or more and it is determined that spooling is not in progress, then in step Sa3, an input prohibition signal is also supplied to the interface that has been receiving until then, and further input is prohibited. The steps Sa2 and Sa3 in FIG. 2 mean this.

Here, the input prohibition signal is, for example, "BUSY" if it is an interface of the Centronics specification.
Signal ”, and in the case of UNIX network specifications, there is a“ NACK signal ”.

Thus, steps Sa2 and Sa3
Then, if spooling is in progress, the input prohibition signal is first supplied to the interface that is not receiving, and when the spooling ends, the input prohibition signal is also supplied to the interface that has been receiving until now. On the other hand, if the spooling is not being performed, the input prohibition signal is immediately supplied to all the interfaces to prohibit the subsequent data input.

Next, in step Sa4, the power supply control section 4 determines whether or not the image processing section 9 and the output section 10 are performing output processing. If it is determined that output processing is being performed, the power control section 4 again executes this step Sa4. The process of is executed. That is, in step Sa4, the image processing unit 9 and the output unit 1
It circulates until the output operation of 0 is completed.

When the output process is completed, or if the output process is not executed, the power supply control unit 4 controls the power supply unit 3 to stop the supply of power to the entire output device in step Sa5. This completes the operation of the entire output device.

In this embodiment, even if a power-off command is issued during data input from the host computer B, the output device is powered off until the data input is completed and printing based on the data is completed. Since it is not performed, there is no inconvenience that the printing operation is terminated in the middle. Furthermore, when a power-off command is issued, the input of subsequent data (excluding the data currently being input) will be rejected.
If the printing operation is not performed, the power is cut off immediately, so that there is no inconvenience that data remains forever, and the power can be cut off quickly.

It should be noted that, in the above-described embodiment, for convenience of description, a state in which a plurality of host computers are connected to one output device as a shared printer has been described, but the present application is not limited to this. That is, the present application is
It can also be applied to an output device that is connected to the host computer on a one-to-one basis.

<Modification> By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the power of the output device is shut off by operating the end switch 1. However, the following modifications are also possible. That is, in this modified example, the power supply is cut off also by an end instruction from any of the host computers. In this case, the power-off command is received by the input control unit 7 via the input unit 6.

Since the structure of this modification is basically the same as that of FIG. 1, its description is omitted and the operation thereof is shown in FIG.
Shows the flowchart. In this modification, the input control unit 7 first monitors a power-off command from the host computer (step Sb1), and if there is a power-off command, informs the power control unit 4 to that effect. Notify (step Sb2). On the other hand, the power supply control unit 4 that has received this notification sets the end switch 1 to the off state (step Sb3). Since the processing of the following steps Sb4 to Sb7 is the same as the processing of steps Sa2 to Sa5 in FIG. 1, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0023]

According to the present invention described above, the data input from the external device is completed by the input control means after the data input is completed when the data is being supplied from the external device, and immediately after that in the other cases. In addition to being rejected, the power is cut off by the power cutoff means when the printing is not performed or when the printing based on the data supplied from the external device is completed. Therefore, it is possible to quickly shut off the power without interrupting the printing operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of a modified example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... End switch, 2 ... Power supply unit, 4 ... Power supply control unit, 5 ... Control unit, 11 ... Output unit, B ... Host computer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An output device for printing on the basis of data supplied from an external device, receiving means for receiving a power-off command, and receiving the data from the external device when the command is received. When the input of the data is completed, the input control means for rejecting the data input from the external device is immediately received in the other cases, and when the command is received and the printing is not performed, or An output device comprising: a power supply control unit that shuts off the power supply when printing based on data supplied from an external device is completed.