JPH08238822A - Power source controlling circuit for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent power waste by a printer by preventing the printer from being energized constantly by applying power only when printing data are printed. CONSTITUTION: Printing data received from a host 5 by a printing data communication means 9 which sends the printing data to a printer on receiving the printing data from the host 5, a power application means 9 which controls the power source of the printer 13 to be turned on when the printing data are received from the host 5 by the communication means 9, and the communication means 9 are sent to the printer 13. In addition, a power source control means 9 is installed which starts the countdown of a prescribed time when the sending of the printing data is finished and turns off the power source of the printer 13 after the passage of the prescribed time to control the power.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between a host and the printer device, and in particular, the power is turned on only when printing print data. The present invention relates to a power supply control circuit for a printer device, which prevents the printer device from being constantly powered on and prevents the printer device from being wasted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, various printer devices such as a page printer are used for printing print data from a personal computer or a word processor. When using the above various printer devices, the user uses the printer device while turning on the power by manually controlling the power switch provided in the printer device to the ON state. Then, when the use of the printer device is completed, the user controls the power switch provided in the printer device to the off state. Therefore, once the power of the printer apparatus is turned on, the user uses the printer apparatus with the power turned on. Among the above-described printer devices, for example, in a laser printer, there is a printer in which the power is turned on only in the heater and the power is turned off in the other printers. However, in the laser printer, when the temperature sensor detects that the temperature has reached a certain temperature, the power of the heater is turned off, and the power consumption of the printer is not reduced. Further, in the system applied to the printer server in which the printer device is shared by a plurality of terminals, one of the plurality of terminals may be used, so the printer device is always in the power-on state. I had to keep it.

[0003]

By the way, conventionally, even when the print data is not printed, once the power is turned on, the power is kept on until the use of the printer device is finished. There was a problem that wasted money.

As a countermeasure for the above, it is conceivable to control the power on / off for each printing, but controlling the power on / off for each printing makes the user feel troublesome in operation.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object thereof is to always turn on the power by turning on the power supply only when printing print data.
An object of the present invention is to provide a power supply control circuit for a printer device, which prevents power from being turned on to the printer device to prevent power consumption of the printer device, and which does not make operation troublesome during use of the printer device.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a first invention according to claim 1 is a power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between a host and the printer device. A print data transmission / reception means for transmitting the print data to the printer device when the print data is received from the host; and a power source of the printer device is controlled to be turned on when the print data transmission / reception means receives the print data from the host. The print data received from the host by the power-on means and the print data transmitting / receiving means is transmitted to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed, a predetermined time is counted down, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, the power supply of the printer device is turned on. The gist of the present invention is to include a power supply control means for controlling the power supply to an off state.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between the host and the printer device, it is detected that print data is received by the host. A detection means, a print data transmission / reception means for transmitting the print data to the printer when the print data detected by the detection means is received from the host, and the print data is received by the host by the detection means. When the print data is detected, the power-on means for controlling the power supply of the printer device to the ON state and the print data received from the host by the print data transmitting / receiving means are transmitted to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed, a predetermined time is reached. The power control that counts down and controls the power of the printer device to the off state after the predetermined time has elapsed. And summarized in that and means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between the host and the printer device, when print data is received from the host, the print data is received by the host. A print data receiving means for returning a signal indicating that the print data is received, a power supply turning on means for controlling the power supply of the printer device to an ON state when the print data is received from the host by the print data receiving means, and a print data receiving means for receiving the print data from the printer device. Upon receiving the signal, the print data receiving means transmits the print data received by the print data receiving means to the printer device, and the print data transmitting means transmits the print data to the printer device, and the print data is transmitted. When there is no signal indicating that the printer is ready to receive, the specified time is counted. Count value in down to the gist that a power supply control means for controlling the off-state the power of the printer apparatus after the elapse of a predetermined time zero.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is summarized in that the predetermined time of the power source control means can be set according to the model of the printer device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the detection means connects a signal line to a memory for storing print data of the host, and the print data is received by the host via the signal line. The main point is to detect.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the print data transmitted from the terminal is received from the host by the print data transmitting / receiving means. Upon receiving the print data, the power-on means controls the power of the printer device to the on state. After the control of the ON state, the print data transmitting / receiving means transmits the print data received from the host to the printer device, and when the transmission of the received print data is completed, the predetermined time is counted down. Then, since the count value of the predetermined time is zero, that is, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer apparatus to the off state after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply is turned on only when the print data is printed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the printer device from being constantly powered on and prevent the printer device from being wasted.

According to a second aspect of the invention, for example, it is detected by the detection means that the print data transmitted from the terminal is received by the host. When the reception of the print data is detected, the power-on means controls the power supply of the printer device to the on state. After the control of the ON state, the print data transmission / reception means transmits the print data received from the host to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed, the power supply control means counts down the predetermined time. Then, when the count value of the predetermined time is zero, that is, after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer device to the off state. As a result, the reception of print data to the host is quickly detected and the power is controlled to the on state. For example, even for a printer device such as a laser beam printer that requires time to start up, It is possible to print the print data smoothly by eliminating the waiting time due to the start-up.

In the third invention, for example, when the print data transmitted from the terminal is received from the host, the print data receiving means returns the status to the host. Upon receiving the print data from the host, the power-on means controls the power supply of the printer device to the on state. On the other hand, when receiving the status indicating that the print data is receivable from the printer device, the print data transmitting means transmits the received print data to the printer device. The print data transmission means transmits print data to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed and the status from the printer device becomes null, the power supply control means counts down the predetermined time. Then, since the count value indicating the predetermined time is zero, that is, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer device to the off state after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply is turned on only when the print data is printed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the printer device from being constantly powered on and prevent the printer device from being wasted.

Since the predetermined time of the power source control means can be set according to the model of the printer device, the fourth invention can be applied to printer devices of different models.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the detection means connects the signal line to a memory for storing print data of the host, and the print data is received by the host through the signal line. Is detected, the reception of print data by the host can be detected quickly and reliably.

[0016]

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 a first embodiment in which the power supply control circuit of the printer device of the present invention is applied to, for example, a shared printer server system.

The plurality of terminals 1a to 1d are connected to the printer server 5 via the LAN 3 in order to share the printer device 13 described later. The printer server (hereinafter referred to as a host) 5 has a printer cable 7a.
Is connected to the control circuit 9 via. The control circuit 9 is connected to a printer device 13 described later via a printer cable 7b and a printer power cable 11. The print data transmitted from the terminals 1a to 1d is received by the host 5 via the LAN 3 and then transmitted from the host 5 to the printer device 13 via the printer cable 7a and the printer cable 7b to be printed.

FIG. 2 is a main part diagram of the host 5, the control circuit 9 and the printer device 13 described with reference to FIG.

The control circuit 9 is connected to the host 5 via the printer cable 7a, and is connected to the printer device 13 via the printer cable 7b and the printer power cable 11. The host 5 includes the terminals 1a to
When print data is transmitted from 1d (not shown) via the LAN 3 (not shown), it is stored in the spooler 29 described later. When print data is input from the host 5 through the printer cable 7a, the control circuit 9 controls the power of the printer device 13 to be in the ON state through the printer power cable 11 having a terminal fitted in the connector C. . Then, the control circuit 9 confirms whether or not the printer device 13 can receive the print data by the status described later transmitted via the printer cable 7b. After checking, the control circuit 9 transmits the print data received from the host 5 to the printer device 13. The printer cables 7a and 7b are composed of, for example, an 8-bit data line and a 1-bit status line, and are capable of bidirectional communication.

The control of the control circuit 9 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

The control circuit 9 includes the print data receiving section 1
5, a print data transmission unit 17, a power supply controller 19, and a timer 21. When the print data receiving unit 15 receives the print data from the host 5, the print data receiving unit 15 returns to the host 5 a status “0” indicating that the print data has been received. These operations are repeated until all the print data is transmitted from the host 5. When the print data receiving unit 15 receives the print data, the print data receiving unit 15 outputs the print data received via the data line A to the print data transmitting unit 17, and also receives the print data via the signal line B to the power supply controller 19. Notify to that effect.

The print data transmission unit 17 monitors the status from the printer device 13 when print data is input from the print data reception unit 15 via the data line A.
When the status “1” indicating that the data is receivable is input from the printer device 13, the print data transmission unit 17 transmits the print data to the printer device 13. After the transmission, when the status "0" is returned from the printer device 13, the print data transmission unit 17 resets the timer counter, confirms that the print data is received, and further transmits the print data. Here, the unit for transmitting the print data is 8 because the printer cables 7a and 7b are 8 bits as described above.
Transmitting in bit units, but printer cables 7a, 7b
When is 16 bits or 32 bits, print data is transmitted in units of 16 bits or 32 bits.

After the print data received from the host 5 is transmitted, the print data transmitting unit 17 notifies the timer counter reset circuit 25 of the timer 21 when the printer 13 does not return the status.
The power supply controller 19 is connected to the printer device 13 via a power supply cable 13 having a terminal fitted in the connector C. Further, when the print data receiving unit 15 notifies that the print data is received, the power supply controller 19 controls the power supply of the printer device 13 to the ON state via the printer power supply cable 11. On the other hand, when a power-off instruction is input from the power-off instruction section 27, which will be described later, the power controller 19 causes the printer power cable 1
The power of the printer device 13 is controlled to the OFF state via 3. In addition, the power supply controller 19 connects the connector C of the spooler 29 that stores the print data received by the host 5.
And a signal line 31.

Here, as a modification of the first embodiment, FIG. 4 shows a configuration in which the host 5 and the power supply controller 19 are connected using a signal line 31.

The host 5 and the control circuit 9 are connected by a signal line 31 in addition to the printer cable 7a.
The signal line 31 is the power supply controller 1 of the control circuit 9.
9 to the connector C of the spooler 29 of the host 5. The control circuit 9 and the printer device 13 are shown in FIG.
Similarly, the printer cable 7b and the printer power cable 11 are connected. When print data is stored in the spooler 29, the power supply controller 19 (not shown) of the control circuit 9 detects it from the signal line 31 and controls the power supply of the printer device 13 or the like to the ON state via the printer power supply cable 11. To do. The print data is detected through the signal line 31 by determining that the print data is received when the signal line 31 is at the high level and that the print data is not received when the signal line 31 is at the low level.

Therefore, as soon as the print data is received by the host 5, the power supply of the printer device 13 is controlled to the ON state by the power supply controller 19 (not shown) of the control circuit 9. As a result, for example, when print data is received even for the printer device 13 that requires a long time to start up such as a laser beam printer, it becomes ready to print immediately and waits for the power supply of the printer device 13 to start up. It is possible to eliminate it and print the print data smoothly.

Returning to FIG. 3, the timer 21 includes a time setting section 23, a timer counter reset circuit 25 and a power source OF.
It has an F instruction unit 27. The time setting unit 23 is a variable timer device, and can set an arbitrary set time according to the model of the printer device 13 to be connected. Also, the time setting unit 2
3, the user sets a time corresponding to the model of the printer device by a program or the like, for example. The timer counter reset circuit 25 resets the timer counter each time the print data receiving unit 17 returns a status “0” from the printer device 13. On the other hand, if the status is not returned after transmitting the print data, the timer counter reset circuit 25 starts counting down the count value of the set time set in the set time section 23, and the count value is zero, that is, After the lapse of a predetermined time, the power-off instruction unit 27 is instructed to turn off the power. Power OFF instruction unit 27
When the instruction to turn off the power is input from the timer counter reset circuit 25, the power is turned off to the power supply controller 19.
Is output.

When the printer device 13 receives print data from the control circuit 9, it returns a status "0" indicating that the print data has been received to the control circuit 9, and then prints the received print data. Further, when the print data can be received, the printer device 13 sends a status “1” indicating that the print data can be received to the print data transmission unit 17. Then, the printer device 13 confirms the end of the print data by, for example, attribute data or a format transmitted together with the print data. That is, the printer device counts the read length of print data based on the attribute data, and the printer device determines that the print data has ended when the count value reaches the length. When the transmission of the print data is completed, the printer device 13 displays the print data transmission unit 1
Do not send status to 7.

Next, on / off control of the power supply of the printer device 13 will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG.

First, the terminal 1 is connected to the spooler 29 of the host 5.
When print data is stored from a to 1d (not shown) via the LAN 3, the host 5 transmits the print data to the print data receiving unit 15 of the control circuit 9 (FIG. 10A). When the print data is received, the print data receiving unit 15 of the control circuit 9
Is notified to the power supply controller 19, and the power supply controller 19 controls the power supply of the printer device 13 to be in the ON state ((b) and (c) in the same figure).

After controlling the power supply of the printer device 13 to the ON state, the print data transmission unit 17 transmits the print data received from the host 5 to the printer device 13, for example, in byte units, and the printer device 13 transmits the print data. Monitor the status of. When the print data is transmitted and the status is received, the print data transmitting unit 17 resets the timer counter reset circuit 25 by the timer. Then, when the status is not returned from the printer device 13 after the transmission of the print data is completed, the print data transmission unit 17 notifies the timer counter reset circuit 25 of that fact. By the notification, the timer counter reset circuit 25 counts down the set time of the time setting unit 23 and notifies the power OFF instruction unit 27 when the count value becomes zero ((d) in the figure). After the notification, when the power-off instructing unit 27 instructs the power-supply controller 19 to turn off the power, the power-supply controller 19 controls the power supply of the printer device 13 to the off-state ((c) in the figure).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, from the terminals 1a to 1d (not shown), LA
The print data transmitted via N3 is stored in the spooler 29 of the host 5. When stored, the host 5 transmits 1-byte print data to the print data receiving section 15 of the control circuit 9. Print data receiving unit 1 of the control circuit 9
5 receives the print data, sets a status "0" and returns it to the host 5, and if the print data is not received, it waits for the print data (steps 100 to 12).
0).

After sending the status, the print data receiving section 15 of the control circuit 9 notifies the power supply controller 19 of the receipt. When notified of the reception, the power supply controller 19 turns on the power supply of the printer device 13 (steps 130 to 140).

When the power of the printer 13 is turned on, the print data transmitter 17 monitors the status indicating that the printer 13 can receive the data. Printer device 1
The print data transmission unit 17 transmits the print data to the printer device 13 in 1-byte units, for example, after confirming the status sent from the printer 3. After the transmission, the print data transmission unit 17 monitors the status indicating that the print data from the printer device 13 is received (steps 150 to 1).
70).

When the status is returned from the printer device 13, the print data transmitter 17 resets the timer counter of the timer counter reset circuit 25 of the timer 21, and if the status is not returned, the process proceeds to step 200. When reset, the print data transmission unit 17 again monitors the status from the printer device 13 (step 1).
80-190).

When the process proceeds to step 200, the print data transmission unit 17 notifies the timer counter reset circuit 25 that the status is not returned from the printer device 13, and the timer counter reset circuit 25 notifies the timer counter reset circuit 25 of the set time. A count value indicating is set. When set, the timer counter reset circuit 25 counts down the count value indicating the set time. After the countdown, the timer counter reset circuit 25 determines that the count value is zero, that is, the printing of the print data is completed, and notifies the power-off instruction unit 27 that the power is off, and the count value is zero. If not, the process returns to step 180.
Upon receiving the notification indicating that the power is off, the power instructing unit 27 instructs the power controller 19 to turn off the power from the printer power cable 11 and the printer 13 to turn off ( Step 200-
230).

Thus, as in the conventional case, once the power of the printer is turned on, the power is always prevented from being turned on, and the power of the printer is turned on only while the print data is printed. The power supply to the printer device is prevented from being constantly turned on to prevent power consumption of the printer device. Also, since the printer power is turned on only during printing without manual operation by the user,
By omitting the operation of turning on the power supply during printing, the user does not feel any troublesome operation in using the printer device.

Further, FIG. 7 shows a block diagram including a printer switching device 33 as a modification of the first embodiment.

The printer switching device 33 includes a printer switching section 35, a print data receiving section 37, and a power supply controller 3.
9 and the print data transmission unit 41, and is connected between the host 5 and the plurality of printer devices 13a, 13b.

From the terminal (not shown), the user sets a printer device among a plurality of connected printer devices. The set value is transmitted to the print data receiving unit 37 via the LAN (not shown) and the host 5. As the set value, for example, a value indicating a printer device used in a 3-bit configuration is set. When the value set in the print data receiving section 37 is transmitted, the printer switching section 35
Decodes the set value and switches to the printer device 13a if the value is, for example, "001", and switches to the printer device 13b if the value is "010". Then, the printer switching unit 35
The switched printer device is, for example, the printer device 1.
In the case of 3a, the power supply controller 39 and the print data transmission unit 41 are switched to the printer device 13a so that the control is valid only for the printer device 13a.

As a result, even in the system of the printer server connected to a plurality of printer devices, the printer devices can be used by the user's selection.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, for example, when the print data transmitting / receiving means receives the print data transmitted from the terminal from the host, the power of the printer device is controlled to the on state. After the control of the ON state, the print data transmitting / receiving means transmits the print data received from the host to the printer device, and when the transmission of the received print data is completed, the predetermined time is counted down. Then, since the count value of the predetermined time is zero, that is, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer apparatus to the off state after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply is turned on only when the print data is printed. Thus, it is possible to prevent the printer device from being constantly powered on, prevent the printer device from wasting power, and prevent the user from feeling annoyed when operating the printer device.

In the second aspect of the invention, for example, it is detected by the detection means that the print data transmitted from the terminal is received by the host. When the reception of the print data is detected, the power-on means controls the power supply of the printer device to the on state. After the control of the ON state, the print data transmission / reception means transmits the print data received from the host to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed, the power supply control means counts down the predetermined time. Then, when the count value of the predetermined time is zero, that is, after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer device to the off state. As a result, the reception of print data to the host is quickly detected and the power is turned on.
Even for a printer device such as a laser beam printer which requires a long time to start up, it is possible to eliminate the waiting time due to the start-up of the power source of the printer device and print the print data smoothly.

In the third invention, for example, when the print data transmitted from the terminal is received from the host, the print data receiving means returns the status to the host. Upon receiving the print data from the host, the power-on means controls the power supply of the printer device to the on state. On the other hand, when receiving the status from the printer device, the print data transmitting means transmits the received print data to the printer device. The print data transmission means transmits print data to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed and the status from the printer device becomes null, the power supply control means counts down the predetermined time. Then, since the count value indicating the predetermined time is zero, that is, the power supply control means controls the power supply of the printer device to the off state after the lapse of the predetermined time, the power supply is turned on only when the print data is printed. Thus, it is possible to prevent the printer device from being constantly powered on, prevent the printer device from wasting power, and prevent the user from feeling annoyed when operating the printer device.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the predetermined time of the power source control means can be variably set, so that it is possible to apply printer apparatuses of different models.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, the detection means connects a signal line to the memory of the host to detect the reception of print data by the host, so that it takes time to start up a laser beam printer, for example. Printing data can be printed smoothly even with a printer device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment in which a power supply control circuit of a printer device of the present invention is applied to, for example, a shared printer server system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing control of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing ON / OFF control of the power supply of the printer device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modification of the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Host 7a, 7b Printer cable 9 Control circuit 11 Power cable 13 Printer device 15 Print data receiving unit 17 Print data transmitting unit 19 Power controller 21 Timer 23 Time setting unit 25 Timer counter reset circuit 27 Power OFF instruction unit 29 Spooler 31 Signal line

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling a power supply of the printer device between a host and the printer device, wherein when print data is received from the host, the print data is transmitted to the printer device. Means, power-on means for controlling the power of the printer device to an on state when print data is received from the host by the print data transmission / reception device, and print data received from the host by the print data transmission / reception device to the printer device. And a power supply control unit that counts down a predetermined time when the transmission of the print data is completed and controls the power supply of the printer device to an off state after the predetermined time has elapsed. Power control circuit. 2. A power supply control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between the host and the printer device, and detecting means for detecting that print data has been received by the host, and this detecting means. When the detected print data is received from the host, the print data transmission / reception means for transmitting the print data to the printer device, and when the detection means detects that the print data is received by the host, the power supply of the printer device is turned on. The power-on means for controlling to the ON state and the print data received from the host by the print data transmission / reception means are transmitted to the printer device, and when the transmission of the print data is completed, a predetermined time is counted down and after the predetermined time has elapsed. A power supply control means for controlling the power supply of the printer device to an off state; Power supply control circuit of the printer apparatus according to symptoms. 3. In a power control circuit of a printer device for controlling the power supply of the printer device between the host and the printer device, when print data is received from the host, print data that returns a signal indicating the reception to the host Receiving means, power-on means for controlling the power supply of the printer device to an on state when the print data is received from the host by the print data receiving device, and the print data reception when the signal indicating receivability is received from the printer device. A print data transmission means for transmitting the print data received by the means to the printer device, and a print data transmission means for transmitting the print data to the printer device, and reception of the print data after the transmission of the print data is completed. When the signal indicating the possibility disappears, the predetermined time is counted down and the count value becomes zero. Power supply control circuit of the printer apparatus characterized by comprising a power supply control means for controlling the off-state the power of the printer apparatus after the elapse of the predetermined time. 4. The power supply control circuit for a printer device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time of the power supply control means can be set according to the model of the printer device. 5. The detection means connects a signal line to a memory for storing print data of the host, and detects that the print data is received by the host via the signal line. Item 2. A power supply control circuit of the printer device according to item 2.