JPH0911585A - Printer and control method for automatically changing over plurality i/fs - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically execute the changeover of I/Fs without generating an idle state of an apparatus while simplifying processing by providing a means detecting the input start of data to respective I/Fs and a data input state recognition means recognizing the completion or interruption of data input. CONSTITUTION: The data inputted from the I/F part set to an operable state by an I/F control part 3 is stored in a receiving buffer 5 and processed in an image processing part 6 so as to be developed to a printing image to be outputted to a printing part 7. A parallel I/F part 1, a serial I/F part 2, an I/F control part 3, the receiving buffer 5, the image processing part 6 and the printing part 7 are controlled by a control part 8. The I/F control part 3 outputs a signal of an operable state to both I/F parts 1, 2 at first and, when data is inputted from one I/F part in this state, a signal of an operation impossible state is immediately outputted to the other I/F part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to automatic I / F switching of peripheral devices such as printers having a plurality of I / Fs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Peripheral devices such as printers having a plurality of I / Fs for the purpose of connecting to a plurality of host devices, or having a plurality of I / Fs of different standards and having I / Fs of any of the standards. A device that can be connected to a host device having a / F has been proposed.

When a plurality of I / Fs of the same type or different types are provided, the data from the respective I / Fs cannot be received in parallel, in other words, at the same time, so some sort of exclusive processing is required. .

JP-A-5-150914 and JP-A-5-150914
165587 discloses a printer device having two parallel I / Fs of the same type. JP-A-5-15091
In the example of No. 4, each I is selected by the selection operation from the panel switch.
/ F is operated exclusively. Further, in the example of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-165587, both I / Fs are normally set in a receivable state, and while data is input to one I / F, another I / F is set in a non-transferable state. It is configured.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-36254 discloses a printer device having two different types of I / Fs.
In the printer device, as a method of switching the I / F,
The method of using one of the changeover switch, the control signal from the outside, and the input code as the changeover code is illustrated.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following drawbacks. 1) In the case of using the panel switch or the changeover switch, the user has to perform a selection operation each time the I / F is changed.

2) Normally, both I / Fs are set to be receivable, and when data is input to one I / F,
In the example in which the other I / F is set to the transfer disabled state, the switching of the I / F is surely performed automatically, but the host device connected to the one I / F outputs the data and then prints the data. It is necessary to continuously output a series of data concerning the above. When the data output (data input for the printer device) is interrupted in the middle and the other I / F can be received even though the printing is not completed yet, the other I / F can be received. When the data output from the host device connected to the
The host device connected to F cannot send subsequent print data. Moreover, different data will be recorded from the middle of printing and recording, and the printing result will be useless.

[0008] Today, many information processing devices such as personal computers are capable of multitask operation. Therefore, the output of data to the printer device can be processed in the background. However, processing in the background means that the print data is not always output continuously without interruption. If you want to output the print data without interruption, the background process C
PU usage time must be continuous, and smooth multitasking cannot be executed. That is, the above example 2) has a remarkable drawback that it is difficult to use the output of data to the printer device in the background.

The simplest method for solving this problem is to set the other I / F in a non-transferable state only during a period in which data is input to the one I / F. Instead, it is to continue for a while (for example, several seconds to several tens of seconds) even after the data input is interrupted. However, this method has a drawback that an idle state occurs in the device because data cannot be input from another I / F for a while after the data input is actually completed.

3) In the case of using an external signal, an external signal different from the I / F is required separately. Moreover, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-36254 does not give any specific examples of external signals.

4) In the example in which one of the input codes is the switching code, the switching of the I / F is certainly performed automatically, but the switching code is output from the host device connected to one of the above I / Fs. Then, the host device is
Until the switching code is output from the host device connected to / F, data cannot be output. In the case of 4), when the data input from one of the I / Fs is to be handled on a first-come-first-served basis as in the case of 2), both host devices always operate even if there is no data to be output. The above switching code is output and I
It becomes necessary to prevent the / F from being fixed to either one, and the I / F must be driven even when the print data is not output. This not only increases the complexity of the processing of the print data output unit, but also has a serious drawback from the viewpoint of energy saving because the portion that is originally unused must be driven at all times.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The object of the present invention is to provide a simple processing when a plurality of I / Fs are provided and without causing an idle state of the device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device capable of automatically switching I / Fs and a control method for automatically switching a plurality of I / Fs.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a plurality of I / Fs for transferring information to / from another device and the plurality of I / Fs are individually in an operable state or the I / Fs concerned. Operation control means for controlling an inoperable state where some or all functions of F are inoperable, data input detecting means for detecting the start of data input to each I / F, and data input And a data input situation recognition means for recognizing the end or the break, and the operation control means, based on the detection result of the data input detection means, only one of the plurality of I / Fs. Is operated and other I / Fs are controlled to be inoperable, and the operation control means controls the plurality of I / Fs in the initial state of the apparatus or based on the recognition result of the data input status recognition means. All of / F It is obtained to perform a control to operable.

[0014]

【Example】

Example 1 An example of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer device embodying the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a Centronics I / F which is a parallel I / F section,
Further, 2 is an RS-232C I / F which is a serial I / F unit.
Thus, it functions as a DCE device. 3 is I / F
In the control unit, the parallel I / F unit 1 and serial I / F unit
The F section 2 can be individually controlled to be in an operable state or an inoperable state. Reference numeral 4 denotes an end code identification section for identifying an end code from the data input from each I / F. The data input from the I / F unit that is made operable by the I / F control unit 3 is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 5. The data stored in the reception buffer is subjected to processing such as expansion into a print image by the image processing unit 6 and then output to the printing unit 7. Reference numeral 8 denotes a control unit including a microprocessor, etc., which controls the parallel I / F unit 1, serial I / F unit 2, I / F control unit 3, reception buffer 5, image processing unit 6, and printing unit 7. To do.

As shown in FIG. 2, the format of the input data to the printer in this embodiment is header, data length, first page print data, 2 in order from the beginning.
The page print data, the page feed code, and so on (hereinafter, the same applies to the nth page, that is, the last page), and finally the end code. Page break code and end code are 1
It is several bytes of code data. 1 for data length
Length (data length) information from the page print data to the end code is shown. The print data for each page includes
In addition to character data and image data, control codes that specify the print mode, print color, print range, etc. are included. Note that the above format is merely an example, and other formats may be used as long as they match the gist of the present invention. Further, in this embodiment, the header and the data length information are not always necessary.

Returning to FIG. 1, when the end code identifying section 4 identifies the end code in the input data, it outputs a notification signal to the I / F control section 3 to notify the identification. There is.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the parallel I / F unit 1,
A more detailed relationship between the serial I / F unit 2 and the I / F control unit 3 will be described. Inside the parallel I / F unit 1 and the serial I / F unit 2, a latch circuit of at least 1 byte or more is provided. When data is input to each I / F unit from an external device such as a host device, the data is latched by the latch circuit. At this time, a latch signal indicating that the latched data exists is output to the I / F control unit 3. Further, the I / F control unit 3 outputs an enable signal (operation enable signal) to each I / F unit.
When the enable signal is inoperable, each I / F unit outputs a signal for suppressing data transfer to the connected external device. Specifically, the parallel I / F unit 1
Then, assert the BUSY signal and set the serial I / F unit 2
Then, the CTS signal is negated. In addition, when the signal of the operational state is output to each I / F unit, the BUS
The Y signal and the CTS signal can be arbitrarily asserted / negated based on an instruction from the control unit 8. Therefore, when the reception buffer is full, or when an offline instruction is given from the operation panel (not shown in FIG. 1), it is appropriately output.

Now, the I / F control section 3 first outputs an operable signal to both I / F sections. When data is input from one I / F section in this state, the other I
Outputs an inoperable signal to the / F section. That is, the I / F unit for which the input data arrives first continues to be in the operable state and the other I / F units are disabled. Afterwards I
The / F control unit 3 reads the input data from the latch circuit of the I / F unit in the operable state and sequentially stores it in the reception buffer 5.

The enable signal to each I / F unit does not change whether the data input to the I / F unit in the operable state is continuous or intermittent. However, when the notification signal from the end code identifying unit 4 is output to the I / F unit 3, it is reset and the operable signal is output again to both I / F units.

As described above, in the printer apparatus according to the present embodiment, the I / F section of the two I / F sections having the first input data is valid until the end code is input to the I / F section. Exclusive control is performed so that Therefore, immediately after the data input to one I / F section is completed, the data input to the other I / F section becomes possible.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a printer device according to a second embodiment. 1, 3, 5,
Reference numerals 6, 7, and 8 are the same as those described in FIG. Reference numeral 11 denotes a second parallel I / F section, which is structurally the same as the parallel I / F section 1. The difference from FIG. 1 is that instead of the end code identifying unit 4, a data length identifying unit 14 and an input data number counter 15 are provided.
It is to have.

The data length identifying section 14 identifies the data length information in the input data, fetches the information, and sets the value in the input data number counter 15. After the data length value is set, the input data number counter 15 subtracts the value each time 1-byte data is input, and notifies the I / F control unit 3 when the count value becomes 0. Output a signal.

That is, in the printer device of this embodiment, the completion of data input is recognized not by the end code but by the number of input data. Even in the case of this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be realized. Regarding the format of the input data, the end code is not always necessary in this embodiment.

(Embodiment 3) In the above embodiment, the exclusive control of the control unit 3 is reset upon recognizing that a series of data input has been completed. However, in the printer device using the cassette paper as the recording paper, it is only necessary that the print data does not exist in one page.
The exclusive control may be reset page by page.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a printer apparatus which realizes this. In the figure, reference numerals 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 are the same as those described in FIG. A difference from FIG. 1 is that a page break code identifying section 24 is provided instead of the end code identifying section 4. When the page-break code identifying section 24 identifies the page-break code described in connection with FIG. 2 in the input data, it outputs a notification signal for notifying the I / F control section 3 of the identification. It is like this.

In other words, in this embodiment, the page break code, which is a data input break, is recognized and the exclusive control of the I / F control unit 3 is reset. Although not shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of discharge units are provided in the print unit so that it is not necessary to separate which I / F unit input data is printed on the discharge tray after printing is completed. The recording paper may be sorted and discharged according to the I / F unit to which the data is input. Regarding the format of the input data, in this embodiment, the header, the data length,
The exit code is not always necessary. Therefore, the conventional format can be used as it is for print output processing in an external device such as a host device.

(Embodiment 4) In the above embodiments, the end or break of data input is recognized based on the input data. However, an I / F that can transfer data information and command information separately, for example, I / F
In the parallel I / F capable of communicating in the ECP mode defined by EEE P1284, the command information can be used to recognize the end of data input or the separation.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a printer apparatus which realizes this. In the figure, 1, 3 to 8 are respectively shown in FIG.
This is the same as that described above. The difference from FIG. 1 is that a bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 is provided instead of the serial I / F unit 2, and a command determination unit 24 and a reverse data transmission unit 25 are newly provided. The bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 complies with the IEEE P1284 standard and supports the ECP mode as a communication mode. In the ECP mode, a method for distinguishing and transferring data information and command information is specified, but the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 transfers the data information to the I / F control unit 3 when the data information is input. When the command information is input, the command information is output to the command information determination unit 24. The command information determination unit 24 determines the type of the input command information, and when it is the command information for notifying the end of the data input, outputs a notification signal to the I / F control unit 3, In other cases (for example, command information for initialization instruction, command information for inquiring the cause of an error, etc.), the control unit 8 is notified. The control unit 8 performs a predetermined process based on the notified command information, but when reply information is required, the reply information is transferred to the external device via the reverse data transmission unit 25.

Next, a more detailed operation will be described with reference to FIG. The I / F control unit 3 outputs an enable signal (operation enable signal) to each I / F unit. Similarly to the case described with reference to FIG. 3, when the enable signal is in the inoperable state, the parallel I / F unit 1 outputs a signal for suppressing data transfer to the connected external device. However, the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21
The reaction of is different from this. In the first place, since there is no signal corresponding to the BUSY signal in the ECP mode, it is impossible to suppress data transfer to an external device. Therefore, the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 does not cause the event 36 specified in IEEE EEP 1284 when the enable signal is in the inoperable state, and rejects the reception of the data information. However, even in the inoperable state, the reception of command information and the transmission of reverse data operate in the same manner as in the operable state.

Returning to FIG. 6, the I / F control unit 3 resets the exclusive control of the I / F unit regardless of whether the notification signal from the end code identification unit 4 or the notification signal from the command determination unit 24 is output. To do. However, since the command information can be received regardless of the enable signal for the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21, the I / F unit 1 can receive the data even when data is being input to the parallel I / F unit 1. There is a risk that the exclusive control of will be reset. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the AND gate 26 gates the notification signal from the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 with the enable signal. That is, bidirectional parallel I / F
The notification signal from the unit 21 is valid only when the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21 is controlled to the operable state.

By the way, it has already been mentioned that there is no signal for suppressing the data transfer to the external device in the ECP mode. On the other hand, in the ECP mode, it is possible to check the remaining capacity of the reception buffer in advance by bidirectional communication.
The amount of data to be transferred can be adjusted to avoid the reception buffer full state and data can be transferred. Generally, the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer is confirmed by outputting command information for inquiring the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer from the external device to the printer device, and the printer device returning response information to the command.

In this embodiment, paying attention to this point, when the bidirectional parallel I / F section 21 is in the inoperable state, the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer is always 0 regardless of the actual remaining capacity of the receiving buffer. In response, we decided to suppress the transfer of data from external devices. Using the flowchart of FIG.
The operation regarding the inquiry about the remaining capacity of the reception buffer will be described. In step 80, the command information is received, and in step 81, the type of the received command information is investigated. If it is a command for inquiring the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer, the process goes to step 82 to check the current operating state of the bidirectional parallel I / F unit 21. If it is inoperable, the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer is set to 0 in step 83 regardless of the actual remaining capacity of the receiving buffer.
Reply as. Returning to step 82, when the operating state of the bidirectional parallel I / F section 21 is operable, the current remaining capacity of the receiving buffer is returned in step 84. Returning to step 81, if the type of the received command information is other than the reception buffer remaining capacity inquiry, in step 85, the operation corresponding to the command information is performed.

FIG. 9 shows the operation of an external device such as a host device in response to this. First, in step 90, the external device determines the reception buffer remaining capacity to the printer device of the present embodiment.
The command information is output and inquired, and the response information is received in step 91. Then, in step 92,
When the received remaining capacity information (response information) is 0, the process returns to step 90 and the inquiry is continued. If it is not 0, in step 93, the amount of data that is less than or equal to the remaining capacity is output to the printer device. And step 94
At, it is determined whether or not all of the series of output data has been sent, and if the output is not completed, the processing from step 90 is repeated. When the output is completed, command information for notifying the end is output in step 95.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the ECP mode bidirectional parallel I / F is adopted for the I / F section, the end of data input is recognized by the command information in the ECP mode. did. Further, when the bidirectional parallel I / F unit is in the inoperable state, 0 is returned in response to the inquiry of the remaining capacity of the receiving buffer, so that the transfer of data from the external device is suppressed.

In the above description, the case of notifying the end by the command information has been described as an example. However, the page break information is input using the command information, and the I / F unit is recognized by recognizing the break information. Of course, the exclusive control may be reset. Regarding the format of input data,
In this embodiment, there is no control and it is completely free.

In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the case where two I / F sections are provided has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and two or more sections are provided. The same can be realized when the I / F unit is included.
The respective I / F parts may be of the same type or of different types, and there is no limitation on the combination thereof.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a plurality of I / Fs are provided, the disadvantages of the prior art can be overcome and the I / Fs can be automatically switched. It has an excellent effect that a printer device can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a format of input data.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a portion of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a printer device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a printer device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a printer device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a detailed view of a portion of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart regarding inquiry about the remaining amount of the reception buffer.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of an external device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 parallel I / F unit 2 serial I / F unit 3 I / F control unit 4 end code identification unit 5 reception buffer 6 image processing unit 7 printing unit 8 control unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Uemura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Tsukada 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside the corporation

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of I / Fs for transferring information to and from another device, and a plurality of the I / Fs in an individually operable state or a part or all of the functions of the I / Fs. Operation control means for controlling the inoperable state, which is an inoperable state,
A printer device, comprising: a data input detection means for detecting the start of data input to each I / F; and a data input status recognition means for recognizing the end or break of data input. 2. The operation control means, based on the detection result of the data input detection means, enables only one of the plurality of I / Fs to operate, and the other I / F.
F is inoperable, and the operation control means makes all of the plurality of I / Fs in an operable state at the initial state of the apparatus or based on the recognition result of the data input situation recognition means. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The I / F according to claim 1, wherein each I / F outputs a signal for suppressing data transfer to the other device when the I / F is disabled. Printer device. 4. An end code identifying means for identifying an end code input at the end of a series of input data is provided, and the end of the data input is recognized based on a detection result of the end code identifying means. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the printer device is a printer device. 5. A data length information identifying means for identifying data length information input at the head of a series of input data, and a data number counting means for counting the number of input data are provided, and the recognition of the end of the data input is performed. 4. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the printing is performed on the basis that the count information in the counting means matches the data length information. 6. An identification means for identifying specific data in the input data is provided, and the recognition of the delimiter of the data input is performed based on the identification result of the identification means. The printer device according to any one of claims. 7. The printer device according to claim 6, wherein the specific data is page break data. 8. At least a part of the plurality of I / Fs,
I / F that can transfer data information and command information separately
The printer device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the end of the data input or the recognition of the break is performed based on the command information. 9. The printer device according to claim 8, wherein the I / F is controlled so that the data information cannot be received when the I / F is controlled to be inoperable. 10. The I / F is capable of returning reply information to the command information by bidirectional communication, and when the I / F is controlled in an inoperable state. 10. The printer device according to claim 8, wherein the printer device replies that the remaining capacity is 0 in response to an inquiry about the remaining capacity of the reception buffer by the command information. 11. A plurality of I / Fs for transferring information to and from another device, and a plurality of I / Fs that are individually in an operable state or a part or all of the functions of the I / Fs are operated. An operation control means for controlling an inoperable state which is an inoperable state,
In a control method for controlling a printer device having a data input detection means for detecting the start of data input to each I / F and a data input status recognition means for recognizing the end or break of data input, the operation control means comprises: Based on the detection result of the data input detection means, control is performed such that only one of the plurality of I / Fs is in an operable state and the other I / Fs are in an inoperable state. Of the plurality of I / Fs, the operation control means performs control for setting all of the plurality of I / Fs in an operable state in the initial state of the above or based on the recognition result of the data input situation recognition means. A control method for automatically switching F.