JPH0897956A - Printer interface for video printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow the operator to discriminate a state of the video printer only with a display section of a computer by eliminating the need for a display section of the video printer and sending the state of the video printer to the computer without increasing number of signal lines of the printer interface. CONSTITUTION: A microcomputer 4 discriminates an operating state of a video printer A and data representing the operating state are sent to a serial conversion section 10. The serial conversion section 10 converts data so as to be outputted from a serial data output terminal 11a of the transmission section 11 to the computer B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when operating a video printer from an electronic device such as a computer,
The present invention relates to an interface that connects an electronic device and a video printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer interface of a conventional video printer,
In the figure, A is a video printer and B is a computer. On the video printer A side, 1 is a receiving unit, which is a data input unit 1a for receiving data sent from the computer B side, and a control signal for performing a handshake with the transmitting unit 5 on the computer B side. Busy signal output end 1b and strobe signal input end 1c
It has and. Reference numeral 2 denotes a transmitter, which outputs to the computer B a paper end signal for indicating a paper-out state of the video printer A, a select signal for indicating a non-selected state, and an error signal for indicating an abnormal state. 2b, 2c, and each signal line is changed to a high level or a low level according to a command from the microcomputer 4. A display unit 3 displays the operating state of the video printer A. A microcomputer 4 controls the reception unit 1, the transmission unit 2, and the display unit 3.

On the computer B side, reference numeral 5 is a transmission section, which is a data output section 5a for transmitting data from the microcomputer 9 to the video printer A side, and a control section for performing a handshake with the reception section 1 on the video printer A side. It has a busy signal input end 5b, which is a signal, and a strobe signal output end 5c. Reference numeral 6 denotes a receiver, which receives a paper end signal input terminal 6a for receiving a paper-out state, a non-selected state, or an abnormal state on the video printer A side.
A select signal input terminal 6b and an error signal input terminal 6c are provided, and the high level or low level state of each signal line is sent to the microcomputer 9. A display unit 7 displays the information of the computer B. An operation unit 8 is used when the operator operates the computer B and the video printer A. A microcomputer 9 controls the receiving unit 5, the transmitting unit 6, the display unit 7, and the operating unit 8.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the operator controls the video printer A from the computer B, the operator uses the operation unit 8 to the microcomputer 9
Give instructions to. The microcomputer 9 includes a receiver 6
The operating state of the video printer A is determined based on the high-level or low-level information of the paper end signal, the select signal, and the error signal from, and if the video printer A can receive the data, the transmitting unit 5 transmits the data.
The transmitted data is received by the receiving unit 1 and sent to the microcomputer 4. The microcomputer 4 determines the operation of the video printer A from the data and executes it.
The microcomputer 4 sends the operating state of the video printer A associated with the execution to the computer B side from the transmitting unit 2 and displays it on the display unit 3.

The signal sent from the transmitter 2 to the computer B indicates the paper end signal when the video printer A runs out of paper, the select signal when the printer is not selected, and the error signal when other abnormal conditions occur. There is a signal. The microcomputer 9 determines whether the video printer A is operating normally based on the data from the receiving unit 6. When the video printer A is operating normally, the computer B continues to accept the operation of the operator. When it is determined that the video printer A is not operating normally, the contents of the abnormal operation of the video printer A are displayed on the display unit 7.
To display. According to the display on the display unit 7, the operator supplies paper to the video printer A if there is no paper, and puts the video printer A in the selected state in the non-selected state. In the case of other abnormalities, the operator checks the display unit 3 on the video printer A side to obtain details of the abnormal state of the video printer A. The operator judges the abnormal condition, and the video printer A
To remove the anomaly.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional video printer, when an abnormality occurs on the video printer side, the operator may not be able to judge all the states of the video printer only by the display on the computer side. Therefore, the video printer side also needed a display unit for displaying the operating status of the video printer. In addition, the number of signal lines of the printer interface that is generally used is limited, and the number of signal lines must be increased when trying to send all the complicated operating states of the video printer to the computer side. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and eliminates the need for a display section on the video printer side, and the status of the video printer can be controlled by a computer without increasing the signal line of the printer interface. The purpose is to obtain a printer interface that allows the operator to judge the status of the video printer side only by the display section of the computer side.

[0008]

A printer interface of a video printer according to the present invention comprises a receiving means for receiving parallel data sent from a computer to a video printer side, and a computer for operating the video printer as serial data. And a control means for controlling the reception means and the transmission means, and a conversion means for converting the data indicating the operation state of the video printer from the control means to the transmission means into serial data. ing.

Further, in the above arrangement, a display means for displaying the operating state of the video printer is provided on the computer side.

In addition to the serial data output terminal, the transmission means is provided with an error determination signal output terminal for transmitting a signal for determining whether the operating state of the video printer is normal or abnormal to the computer side.

[0011]

Since the printer interface of the video printer according to the present invention transmits the operating state of the video printer side to the computer side by serial data, the number of operating states of the video printer side can be increased by a signal line. Can be communicated to the computer side without. Moreover, since the entire state of the video printer can be transmitted to the computer, the display unit on the video printer can be omitted.

[0012]

【Example】

Example 1. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer interface of a video printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, A, B, 1, 1a to 1c, 4,
Since 5, 5a to 5c, 7, 8, and 9 are the same as the conventional device shown in FIG. 4, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted. A serial conversion unit 10 on the video printer A side sends a command to the transmission unit 11 so that the transmission unit 11 can output the operating state data of the video printer A created by the microcomputer 4 as serial data. Reference numeral 11 denotes a transmitter, which sends the operating state of the video printer A to the receiver 12 on the computer B side.
b, each signal line is changed to a high level or a low level according to a command from the serial conversion unit 10. Reference numeral 12 denotes a receiving unit provided on the computer B side, which has a serial data input end 12a and an error determination signal input end 12b for receiving the operation state from the video printer A, and recognizes a high level or a low level of the signal line. And informs the microcomputer 9.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the operator controls the video printer A from the computer B, the operator uses the operation unit 8 to the microcomputer 9
Give instructions to. The microcomputer 9 includes the receiving unit 1
After confirming that the error determination signal from 2 is at a high level (the video printer A is normal), it is determined that the video printer A can receive the data, and the transmitter 5 transmits the data. The transmitted data is received by the receiving unit 1 on the video printer A side and sent to the microcomputer 4. The microcomputer 4 determines the operation of the video printer A from the data and executes it. The microcomputer 4 determines whether the operating state of the video printer A accompanying the execution is normal or abnormal, and outputs the result to the serial conversion unit 10
Send to The serial conversion unit 10 commands the transmission unit 11 to set the error determination signal from the received data to a high level if normal and a low level if abnormal.
The transmission unit 11 sets an error determination signal according to a command from the serial conversion unit 10.

On the other hand, when the microcomputer 9 on the computer B side tries to transmit data and confirms the low level of the error determination signal (the video printer is abnormal), the microcomputer 9 determines the operating state on the video printer A side. In order to transmit the data of the operating state to the computer B side, the microcomputer 4 on the video printer A side via the transmitting unit 5 and the receiving unit 1
To request. Microcomputer 4 that received the request
Sends the operating status of the video printer A to the serial converter 10. The serial conversion unit 10 converts the received operating state data into serial data, issues a command to the transmission unit 11, and controls the signal line to a high level or a low level according to the serial data.

Next, a method of transmitting a serial signal will be described with reference to FIG. When the operating state data output from the microcomputer 4 is 8 bits, all 10 bits including the start bit and the stop bit are sent as the serial signal. The serial data signal line is set to a high level in advance, and the serial conversion unit 10 sets all 10 bits to a high level when the bit is 1 and a low level when the bit is 0 according to the bit contents at a constant interval T. A command for setting to the transmitter 11 is issued. However, the start bit is always 0 and the stop bit is always 1.

Next, a method of receiving a serial signal will be described with reference to FIG. Microcomputer 9 on the computer B side
Is always in the receiving unit 12 after transmitting the data transmission request of the operating state.
1) of the time T set in FIG. 3 after the serial data signal line changes from the high level to the low level.
After the lapse of time 2, the signal level of the serial data is read from the receiving unit 12 at a constant interval T, and the high level is set to 1 and the low level is set to 0, and all 10 bits are read. After confirming that the start bit is 0 and the stop bit is 1 in the read data, 8 bits without the start bit and the stop bit are removed from the video printer A.
It is assumed to be the data of the operating state of the side.

The microcomputer 9, which has received the data on the operating state of the video printer A side, judges the data and displays the contents on the display section 7. The operator views the display on the display unit 7 and performs processing for canceling the abnormality on the video printer A side corresponding to the display. The microcomputer 4 on the side of the video printer A detects that the video printer A has no abnormality and informs the computer B of normality by sending an error determination signal to the transmission unit 11 via the serial conversion unit 10. Command to set to high level. The computer B can determine that the video printer A can be operated again because the error determination signal is at the high level, and can send the data. After that, the video printer A is operated from the computer B by repeating the above operation. If the operating speed of the computer B is fast and the normality or abnormality of the video printer A can be directly discriminated from the serial signal, the error discrimination signal output terminal is not necessary.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, by converting the operation and status of the printer into serial data, the complicated printer status is transmitted to the computer without increasing the signal line of the printer interface. can do. In addition, since the entire status of the video printer can be displayed on the computer side, the display unit on the printer side is unnecessary and the operation is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer interface of a video printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of transmitting a serial signal according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a serial signal receiving method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer interface of a conventional video printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

A video printer, B computer, 1 reception unit, 2 microcomputer, 5 transmission unit, 7 display unit, 8 operation unit, 9 microcomputer, 10 serial conversion unit, 11 transmission unit, 12 reception unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving parallel data sent from a computer to a video printer, a transmitting means for transmitting an operating state of the video printer as serial data to the computer, the receiving means and the transmitting means. A printer interface for a video printer, comprising: control means for controlling; and converting means from the control means to the transmitting means for converting data indicating an operating state of the video printer into serial data. 2. A printer interface for a video printer according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying an operating state of the video printer on the computer side. 3. The transmission means is provided with an error discrimination signal output terminal for transmitting to the computer side a signal for discriminating whether the operating state of the video printer is normal or abnormal, in addition to the serial data output terminal. The printer interface of the video printer according to claim 1 or 2.