JPH08115180A - Print controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve or change the function of a print device main body by expanding and arranging the control commands and execution programs in a storage means and carrying out an execution program corresponding to the relevant control command based on the result of discrimination of the received data. CONSTITUTION: The control commands and execution programs are received from a host computer via a 1st interface 301 and then expanded and arranged into a RAM 305 via a bus 306 and under the control of a CPU 303. Then it is decided whether the received data are equal to a stream of control commands and execution programs, the control commands or the print data. If the received data are equal to the control commands, an execution program is carried out in response to the corresponding one of those control commands arranged in the RAM 305. If the received data are equal to the print data, a print device main body performs a print operation based on the print conditions set by execution of the execution program. Thus the set utilities, etc., can be added or the function, etc., can be improved for the print device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control device,
For example, the present invention relates to a print control device that is interposed between a host computer and a printing apparatus main body and controls print processing in the printing apparatus main body and state setting of the printing apparatus main body.

[0002]

[Prior art]

[0003]

Conventionally, in a computer system provided with a printer device (printing device main body), the printer device receives data such as character codes and control codes from a host computer and performs print processing. In general, when a predetermined control command is received, control command processing for setting the state of the printer device and the like is performed.

However, the control command and its execution program are stored in advance in the program memory of the printer device, and it is possible to execute only the stored control command and the like, and the new control command and execution program can be executed later. It was impossible to add or change from.
Therefore, it is inconvenient because the setting utility of the printer device cannot be added or the functions thereof cannot be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a print control device capable of expanding or changing the function of the main body of the printing device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 receives a control command for controlling the setting of the print data and the print condition of the printing apparatus main body sent from the host computer, In a print control device for controlling the printing operation of the printing device main body in accordance with the print data and the control command, receiving means for receiving a control command sent from the host computer and an execution program according to the control command, Arrangement means for arranging the received control command and execution program in the storage means, discrimination means for discriminating whether the data received from the host computer is print data or a control command, and the discrimination result by the discrimination means are If it is a control command, the execution program in the storage means corresponding to the control command Execution program executing means for executing a program, and print processing execution for causing the printing apparatus main body to execute the print processing according to the print conditions set by executing the execution program when the result determined by the determining means is print data. And means.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, claim 2
According to another aspect of the present invention, a print command is output from a host computer and a control command for controlling the setting of printing conditions of the printing apparatus main body is received. In the control method, a receiving step of receiving a control command sent from the host computer and an execution program corresponding to the control command, an arranging step of arranging the received control command and execution program in a storage means, and the host computer A determination step for determining whether the data received from the print data is a print command or a control command, and when the result determined in the determination step is a control command, the execution program in the storage means corresponding to the control command Execution program execution step to execute A print process execution step of causing the printing apparatus body to execute a print process according to print conditions set by execution of the execution program, when the result of the determination in the determination step is print data. .

[0008]

In the print control apparatus and the print control method according to the first and second aspects, the receiving means or the receiving step receives the control command sent from the host computer and the execution program corresponding to the control command. The arranging means or the arranging step arranges the received control command and the corresponding execution program in the storage means. The determining means or the determining step determines whether the data received by the receiving means or the receiving step is print data or a control command. When the determination result is a control command, the execution program execution means or the execution program or the execution step executes the corresponding execution program according to the corresponding control command in the control commands arranged in the storage means. When the determination result is print data, the print processing execution means or the print processing execution program causes the printing apparatus body to execute the print processing according to the print conditions set by the execution of the execution program.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a print control device according to the present invention is shown in FIG.
It will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

In the following description, first, an outline of the overall configuration of a printing system to which the printing control device of the present invention is applied will be described.
Next, I will explain the details of each device that makes up the printing system,
Further, the operation of the printing system will be described.

(1) Overall Configuration of Printing System FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a printing system to which the print control device of the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system PS is
A host computer 201, a print control device 202,
The printer main body (printer device) 203 is provided.

The host computer 201 sends print data, a control command, and an execution program according to the control command.

The print control device 202 has an interface for inputting print data, a control command, and a control command execution program, a developing unit for expanding the input control command and execution program in a memory, and a command received from the host computer 201. And a control command processing unit that executes a control command execution program corresponding to.

The printer main body 203 is composed of, for example, a laser beam printer LP (see FIG. 5).

Next, an outline of the operation of the printing system PS will be described.

First, the host computer 201 uses a control command execution program in which a control command execution program to be executed by the printing apparatus main body 203 and a control command serving as a key for executing the program are made into one stream (see FIG. 4). To the print control device 202.

Upon receiving the control command execution program, the print control apparatus 202 sends the control command execution program
Separate the key control command and the execution program,
Key table and program table (Fig. 3)
(See below, later) and place them in relation to each other.

Next, the host computer 201 sends the control command to be executed to the print control device 202. Upon receiving the control command, the print control apparatus 202 searches whether this control command exists in the key table, and if it exists, reads the execution program on the program table corresponding to the control command and executes it. To do. With this execution program, it is possible to define the settings of various printing conditions related to printing processing, such as the state of the printing apparatus main body.

Next, the host computer 201 sends the print data to the print control device 202.

The print control device 202 that received the print data
Processes the received data or sends it directly to the printing apparatus main body 203 according to various setting conditions executed by the execution program.

The printer main body 203 prints the received data.

(2) Detailed Description of Printing System Next, details of the above-mentioned printing control device, various tables, control command execution program stream, laser beam printer and the like will be described.

[Print Control Device] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the print control device 202.

As shown in FIG. 2, the host computer 2
01 (FIG. 1), the print data, the control command, and the control command execution program are received via the first interface 301 which is a receiving unit.

The received print data and the like are input to a central processing unit (CPU) 303 via a bus 306, and the central processing unit 303 has a ROM (read only memory) described later.
Based on the control information from 304, the control program is expanded and the control command execution program is executed.

Here, the central processing unit 303 is composed of a microprocessor, and is configured in the form of a sequential circuit having a clock pulse generating circuit, a delay circuit, a gate circuit, other logic circuits and the like. The ROM 304 has a group of microinstructions necessary for sequentially informing the central processing unit 303 of the control procedure shown in FIG. 6 (described later) when the central processing unit 303 supplies control signals to each unit, and data conversion processing. Various necessary information is stored. In the RAM 305, an area for storing the operation state of each device (mainly the printing apparatus main body) and an area for expanding and arranging a control command key table and an execution program table described below are secured.

Then, the central processing unit 303 and the ROM 30
4 and the RAM 305 constitute an arrangement means, a discrimination means, an execution program execution means, and a print processing execution means. The RAM 305 also constitutes storage means.

The second interface 302 stores data processed by the central processing unit 303 and the like in the printer main body 20.
3 (FIG. 1).

[Control Command Key Table and Execution Program Table] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control command key table 501 and an execution program table 503.

The key table 501 has one or more key information areas 502, and the key information areas 502 are
It is composed of a key command that is a key for executing the execution program and an execution program address indicating an expanded address of the execution program. The execution program table 503 is a table for expanding and arranging an execution program corresponding to each key.

[Stream of Control Command Execution Program] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a stream of the control command execution program received by the print control apparatus from the host computer.

As shown in FIG. 4, the stream 400 is
Control command program identification data 401 for identifying the control command execution program, a key command 402 that serves as a key when executing the execution program, length data 403 indicating the length of the execution program, and actual control processing. And an execution program 404 for executing

[Printing Apparatus Main Body] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the internal structure of the printing apparatus main body (laser beam printer).

The laser beam printer LP receives and stores character information (character code) supplied from an external device (not shown), form information, macro command, etc., and stores corresponding character according to the information. A pattern, a form pattern, etc. are created, and an image is formed on a recording sheet which is a recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 5, on the upper right surface of the laser beam printer main body 101 of the laser beam printer LP, there are provided switches for operation and an LED display or LCD display for displaying the status of the printer. A panel 102 is arranged. A printer control unit 103 for controlling the entire laser beam printer and analyzing character information supplied from an external device is arranged below the operation panel 101. The printer control unit 103 mainly corresponds to character information. The character pattern is converted into a video signal and output to the laser driver 106.

The laser driver 106 is the semiconductor laser 1
This is a circuit for driving 07, and switches on / off the laser beam 105 emitted from the semiconductor laser 107 according to the input video signal. This laser light 105
Is horizontally swung by the rotary polygon mirror 104 to scan and expose the surface of the electrostatic drum 108. By this scanning exposure, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 108.

The latent image is developed by the developing unit 109 arranged around the electrostatic drum 108 and then transferred to the recording paper 114. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper 114, and the recording paper 114 is loaded in the paper cassette 112. The recording paper 114 is fed by the paper feed roller 11
1 and the conveyance roller 110 take the sheet cassette 112 into the apparatus and convey it to the electrostatic drum 108.

The recording paper 114 to which the electrostatic latent image has been transferred is ejected outside the apparatus by the paper ejection roller 115, and the tray 1
13 are sequentially placed.

(3) Operation of Printing System FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system PS.

The control process of the print control apparatus will be described based on this flowchart.

First, in step S601, the data from the host computer 201 is the print control device 202.
To be received. The central processing unit 303 controls whether this received data is a stream of a control command execution program, a control command, or print data (step S602).

The central processing unit 303 shifts the processing to step S603 when the determination result is the stream of the control command execution program, shifts to the step S606 when it is the control command, and shifts to the step S606 when it is the print data. The process moves to S608.

The central processing unit 303, in the case of the stream of the control command execution program, carries out step S603.
In the stream, the key command 402 is extracted from the stream, and the empty key information area 50 of the key table 501
Place the key command in 2. Next, the execution program in the stream is expanded / placed in an empty position of the execution program table 503 (step S604).

Next, the address of the execution program table 503 in which the execution program is arranged is arranged in the key information area in the key table in which the key command is arranged in advance (step S605).

If the data determined in step S602 is a control command, the key table 501 is searched in step S606 to determine whether or not there is a key command matching the control command. If the matching key command exists in the key table 501, the execution program in the execution program table 503 indicated by the key information is executed in step S608. If there is no matching key command in the key table 501, the command is ignored.

When the data determined in step S602 is print data, the printing apparatus main body 203 performs print processing according to various setting conditions such as the printing conditions set by executing the execution program in step S609.

In this embodiment, the case where the key table and the execution program table are expanded and arranged in the RAM has been described. However, instead of RAM, flash RO
A non-volatile memory such as M and its writing / erasing means may be mounted in the print control device and used as a key table and an execution program table. By using the non-volatile memory or the like as described above, it is possible to retain the stored contents even when the power supply of the print control device is turned off.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, the control command for controlling the setting of the printing conditions of the printing apparatus main body sent from the host computer and the control command for executing the corresponding execution program are received. The data received from the host computer is discriminated whether it is print data or a control command, and if it is a control command, the corresponding execution program is executed. Therefore, the functions of the printing apparatus main body can be expanded or changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system to which a print control device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a print control device that constitutes the printing system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a key table and an execution program table for developing and arranging control commands and execution programs in the print control apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a stream of a control command execution program sent from a host computer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a laser beam printer which constitutes the printing system.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the printing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 LP laser beam printer (printing apparatus main body) PS printing system 201 host computer 202 print control apparatus 203 printing apparatus main body 400 control command execution program stream 501 key table 503 execution program table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Printing for receiving print data sent from a host computer and a control command for controlling the setting of printing conditions of the printing apparatus main body, and controlling the printing operation of the printing apparatus main body in accordance with the print data and the control command. In the control device, a receiving unit that receives a control command sent from the host computer and an execution program corresponding to the control command, an arranging unit that arranges the received control command and the execution program in a storage unit, and the host computer Discriminating means for discriminating whether the data received from the device is print data or a control command, and when the result discriminated by the discriminating means is a control command, the execution program in the storage means corresponding to the control command The execution program executing means for executing Print control apparatus the result in the case of print data, characterized by comprising a print process execution means for executing a printing process by the printing condition set by the execution of the execution program in the printing apparatus main body. 2. Printing for receiving print data sent from a host computer and a control command for controlling the setting of printing conditions of the printing apparatus main body, and controlling the printing operation of the printing apparatus main body in accordance with the print data and the control command. In the control method, a receiving step of receiving a control command sent from the host computer and an execution program corresponding to the control command, an arranging step of arranging the received control command and the execution program in a storage means, and the host computer A determination step of determining whether the data received from the control data is print data or a control command; and when the result determined in the determination step is a control command, the execution program in the storage means corresponding to the control command Execution program execution step to execute A print processing execution step for causing the printing apparatus main body to execute print processing according to print conditions set by execution of the execution program when the result of the determination in the determination step is print data. Print control method.