JPH09220844A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set the emulation mode by a simple operation. SOLUTION: This printer is provided with a data editing section 3 with a plurality of emulators for editing printing data in compliance with the kind of printing data transmitted from a host device, a printing section 4 for print outputting the data edited by the data editing section 3, an operator panel 6 into which the operation commands for the editing section 3 is inputted, and a control section 1 for starting the monitoring of the operator panel 6 from the time of turning on a power source and controlling the operation of the editing section 3 and the like based on the setting inputted to the operator panel 6. The operator panel 6 is provided with setting buttons 6a, 6b... corresponding to the information of emulators 3a, 3b... set on the editing section 3, and the control section 1 is provided with the mode monitor function for sensing the state of pressing down the setting buttons 6a, 6b... at the time of turning on the power source and also with the emulator specifying function for specifying and controlling the emulators based on the state of pressing down the bottoms by the mode monitor function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device, and more particularly to a printer device having a plurality of emulation modes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Modern printers offer a plurality of emulation modes to meet a wide variety of needs. The user switched the mode by operating the operator panel and entering the menu mode (for example,
JP-A-2-80266).

[0003]

In this conventional printer device, it is necessary to learn how to use the menu to switch the emulation, so that the printer is not easy for anyone to use.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus which can improve the inconvenience of the conventional example and can set the emulation mode by a simple operation.

[0005]

Therefore, in the present invention, as a first means (claim 1), a plurality of emulators for editing the print data according to the type of the print data transmitted from the host device are provided. A data editing unit, a printing unit that prints out the data edited by the data editing unit, an operation panel to which an operation command is input to the editing unit, and monitoring and operation of the operation panel when the power is turned on. The control unit controls the operation of the editing unit and the like based on the settings input to the panel. Moreover, the operation panel has setting buttons according to the number of emulators equipped in the editing unit, and the control unit detects the pressed state of the setting buttons when the power is turned on and the mode monitoring function and the button by this mode monitoring function. And an emulator specifying function for performing control for specifying an emulator based on the pressed state of.

In the first means, the mode monitoring function is
When the power is turned on, it monitors whether the setting button corresponding to the emulator equipped in the editor is pushed down, and the emulator specific function identifies the emulator based on the pressed state of the button by the mode monitoring function. To do. For this reason, the number of key operations required for setting is compared with the conventional example in which the emulator selection mode is called using the menu mode, the emulator is specified, and then the operation to enable this selection is required. Is reduced.

Further, since the emulator specific function operates only when the power is turned on, the contents originally assigned to each switch are not affected.

In the second means (claim 2), in addition to the matter for specifying the first means, a control information section is provided with a correspondence information storage section for storing the correspondence information between the setting button of the panel and the emulator, A first control unit outputs, to the editing unit, an identification code of the emulator corresponding to the button pressed at power-on based on the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage unit.
It is equipped with the identification code output function of.

In the third means (claim 3), in addition to the matter for specifying the second means, the control section is provided with an identification code storage section for storing the identification code of the emulator set when the power was turned on last time. However, the control unit has a second identification code output function that outputs the identification code stored in the identification code storage unit to the editing unit when there is no button pressed down when the power is turned on. ing.

The present invention aims to achieve the above-mentioned object by each of these means.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer device according to the present invention. The printer device includes a data editing unit 3 having a plurality of emulators that edit the print data according to the type of print data transmitted from the host device.
A printing unit 4 for printing out the data edited by the data editing unit 3; an operation panel (operator panel) 6 for inputting an operation command to the editing unit 3; The editing unit 3 starts based on the settings input to the operator panel 6 at the same time.
And the like.

Moreover, the operator panel 6 includes an editing unit 3
, Equipped with setting buttons 6a, 6b, ... According to the number of emulators 3a, 3b, .. The control unit 1 has a mode monitoring function for detecting a pressed state of the setting buttons 6a, 6b ,. An emulator specifying function for controlling the emulator based on the pressed state of the button by the mode monitoring function was provided.

The mode monitoring function is realized by the mode monitoring unit 7 in the example shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, the mode monitoring unit 7 is described as a configuration independent of the control unit, but it is actually a part of the control unit 1. Further, the operator panel 6 is provided with an operator panel control section 5 for controlling the operator panel.

This will be described in detail.

First, the flow of normal printing will be described. Control unit 1
Controls the entire printer. The data receiving unit 2 receives print data from the host computer, and the received data is converted by the data editing unit 3 into a data format for printing. The print data is printed on the paper by the printing unit 4.

When a plurality of emulation modes are provided, since the data format differs depending on the emulation, the data editing section 3 has an editing section (emulator) corresponding to each emulation and is selected at that time. Converts data according to the emulation format.

Conventionally, the user selects the emulation using the operator panel 6 and the menu mode. Since there are various settings to be made in the menu mode, you can enter multiple emulation mode setting items by pressing multiple buttons in sequence, select an emulation with another button, and then press the OK button to switch. I was going.

The operator panel control unit 5 monitors the operator panel 6 and notifies the mode monitoring unit 7 when the setting contents are changed. The mode monitoring unit 7 notifies the data editing unit 3 of the set contents. .

Here, the function of the mode monitoring unit 7, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described. The mode monitoring unit 7 waits for the operator panel 6 to be pressed by the operator panel control unit 5 when the printer is powered on. When there is a button that is pressed when the power is turned on, the mode monitoring unit 7 determines to operate the printer by emulation corresponding to the button.

The mode monitoring section 7 is provided with a correspondence information storage section 7B for storing correspondence information between the setting buttons on the panel and the emulator. Further, the mode monitoring section 7 is stored in the correspondence information storage section 7B. Since the first identification code output function for outputting the identification code of the emulator corresponding to the button pressed at the time of power-on to the editing unit based on the corresponding information, the setting button of the operator panel 6 can be pressed. Identify the emulator based on

Then, the mode monitoring section 7 notifies the data editing section 3 of the identification code of the emulator. The data editing unit 3 initializes the inside so that the data can be edited in the notified emulation mode.

If the button is not pressed when the power is turned on, the mode monitoring section 7 has default emulation information and notifies the data editing section 3 of the emulation.

Further, instead of the default emulator, the following may be performed.

In this example, the mode monitoring section 7 is provided with an identification code storage section 7C for storing the identification code of the emulator set when the power was last turned on.
However, it has a second identification code output function for outputting the identification code stored in the identification code storage section to the editing section when there is no button depressed when the power is turned on.

Therefore, if the button is not pressed when the power is turned on, the emulation set in the previous time is used.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
If the button is pressed when starting the printer,
Since it operates in the emulation mode according to the button press status, it is possible to easily set the emulation mode. Further, since the emulator specific function operates only when the power is turned on, the contents originally assigned to each switch are not affected. Further, by using this method, the printer device can be provided with other functions (for example, a self-diagnosis function, a copy function, a specific form printing function) and the like, and can be used for a specific purpose.

[0028]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to this, when the power is turned on, the setting button corresponding to the emulator equipped in the editing unit is pressed down. The emulator specifying function specifies the emulator based on the pressed state of the button by the mode monitoring function, so that the user presses the setting button corresponding to the emulator to be started at power-on. It is possible to select the emulator only by comparing with the conventional example that uses the menu mode. This makes it unnecessary to call the emulator selection mode, specify the emulator, and then enable this selection. Moreover, the number of key operations required for the necessary settings is reduced. As described above, it is possible to provide an excellent printer device which has not been available in the related art and which can set the emulation mode by a simple operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 control unit 2 receiving unit 3 editing unit 3a, 3b emulator 4 printing unit 5 operator panel control unit 6 operation panel (operator panel) 6a, 6b setting button 7 mode monitoring unit (mode monitoring function of control unit)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A data editing unit having a plurality of emulators for editing the print data according to the type of print data transmitted from a host device, and a printing unit for printing out the data edited by the data editing unit. An operation panel to which an operation command is input to the editing section, and control for starting the monitoring of the operation panel when the power is turned on and controlling the operation of the editing section or the like based on the setting input to the operation panel And a setting button according to the number of emulators equipped in the editing section, and the control section detects a pressed state of the setting button when the power is turned on. A mode monitoring function, and an emulator specifying function for performing control for specifying the emulator based on the pressed state of the button by the mode monitoring function, Printer apparatus characterized by comprising. 2. The control unit is provided with a correspondence information storage unit that stores correspondence information between the setting buttons of the panel and the emulator, and the control unit sets the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage unit. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, further comprising a first identification code output function for outputting the identification code of the emulator corresponding to the button pressed when the power is turned on to the editing unit based on the above. 3. The control section is provided with an identification code storage section for storing the identification code of the emulator set when the power was last turned on, and when the control section has no button pushed down when the power is turned on. 3. The printer apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a second identification code output function for outputting the identification code stored in the identification code storage unit to the editing unit.