JPH09274545A - Printing controller, printing control method and storage medium storing control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accelerate data transfer by controlling a bidirectional interface so as to ignore a request from an external device when specified data are inputted from the external device. SOLUTION: The control system of a laser beam printer inputs printing data 211 sent from an external device 201 as the generation source of image information and composed of a character code, external characters, home information or macro register information and performs control so as to print document information for the unit of a page. An input means 202 (such as the bidirectional interface like bicentro, for example), inputs various kinds of information from an external device 201. As a judging means, a CPU 204 judges whether data for the data processing of an image are inputted or not. When the CPU 204 as the judging means judges the input of data for the data processing of the image, the bidirectional interface 202 as the input means is controlled so as to ignore the request from the external device 201.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention stores a print control device, a print control method, and a control program used in the print control device, which causes a printing section to print data input from an external device through an input means. It relates to a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when various information of a print control device is transferred to an external device 201, it should be transferred to the external device 201 inside the print control device by a command from the external device 201 or a setting in the print control device in advance. When various types of information are accumulated and a request is issued from the external device 201, the accumulated various types of information are transferred to the external device 201. When does the request from the external device 201 occur? Since it is unknown, the control method is such that the request can be accepted no matter what process the print control device is executing.

[0003]

In the prior art, the external state of the external device 201 is stable even if the state of the print control device is stable (a constant state continues) and there is no change in various information.
A request (information transfer request) from the external device 201 is periodically executed. For example, when a high-speed data transfer is required, a large amount of print data is received from the external device 201 and printed. Occurs periodically and hinders data transfer (transfer from the external device 201 to the print control device).

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus for controlling a bidirectional interface so that a request from an external device is ignored when a specific data is input from the external device. The present invention relates to a print control method and a storage medium that stores a control program for the above operation.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a print control apparatus of the present invention is a print control apparatus which causes a printing section to print data input from an external device through an input means. Judgment means for judging whether or not the specific data is inputted from the external device, and ignoring the request from the external device when the judgment means judges that the specific data is inputted. And a control means for controlling the input means.

In order to achieve the above object, the print control method of the present invention is a print control method in a print control device for causing a printing section to print data input from an external device through an input means. A determination step of determining whether or not the specific data is input from the external device, and a request from the external device is ignored when it is determined that the specific data is input in the determination step. And a control step for controlling the input means.

In order to achieve the above object, the storage medium of the present invention is a data input from an external device through an input means.
A storage medium storing a control program used in a print control device for printing data in a printing unit, the determination module of a determination step of determining whether or not specific data is input from the external device. And a control module of a control step for controlling the input means so as to ignore a request from the external device when it is determined that the specific data is input in the determination step. ing.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, a laser beam printer (hereinafter referred to as LBP) will be described as an example of the print control device.

Before describing the configuration of this embodiment, the configuration of an LBP to which this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores character information (character code) supplied from an externally connected host computer (from an external device 201), form information, or a macro command. At the same time, a corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created according to the information, and an image is formed on a recording sheet that is a storage medium.

Reference numeral 300 designates an operation panel on which switches for operation and LED indicators are arranged, and 101 designates LBP1.
This is a printer control unit that controls the entire system and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer.

The printer control unit 101 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs it to the laser driver 102.

The laser driver 102 is the semiconductor laser 10.
And a laser beam 10 emitted from the semiconductor laser 103 in accordance with an input video signal.
4 is switched on and off.

The laser beam 104 is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 105 to scan the electrostatic drum 106.

As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106.

This latent image is developed by the developing unit 107 around the electrostatic drum 106 and then transferred to the recording paper.

A cut sheet is used as the recording sheet, and the cut sheet recording sheet is stored in the sheet cassette 108 mounted on the LBP 100, and the sheet feeding roller 109 and the conveying roller 1 are used.
It is taken into the device by 10, 111 and supplied to the electrostatic drum 106.

FIG. 2 shows an LBP which is a print control device of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of FIG.

The control system of this LBP is print data 211 consisting of character codes sent from the host computer 201 (external device 201) which is the source of image information, external character font or form information or macro registration information. Is input and the document information is controlled to be printed in page units.

Reference numeral 202 designates an input means for inputting various information from the host computer 201 (for example, bi-directional interface such as Bicentro), and 203 designates an input means 202.
A reception buffer (RAM) for temporarily storing various information input via the RAM 214 outputs various information to an external storage unit 215 such as a bidirectional interface or a hard disk device for outputting various information from the LBP to the host computer 201. The output means 216 is a transmission buffer (RAM) capable of temporarily storing data to be output to the output means 214.

A character pattern generator 210 includes a ROM storing pattern information corresponding to a character code and a read control circuit for the ROM. When a character code is input, the address of the character pattern corresponding to the code is calculated. It also has a code conversion function.

Reference numeral 204 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire LBP control system, which temporarily stores in the RAM 217 the control program of the CPU 204 stored in the ROM 206 (the control program shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 7). The control of the entire device is performed by the stored control information.

Reference numeral 212 is an analysis unit for analyzing the data received according to the control program of the ROM 206.
Is a decompression unit that decompresses the information analyzed by the analysis unit into a bit pattern, and 205 is a page buffer that stores intermediate data analyzed and created by the analysis unit.

Reference numeral 207 denotes a frame buffer (RAM) which stores pattern information expanded into character patterns in correspondence with a print image.

An output interface unit 208 generates a video signal corresponding to the pattern information from the frame buffer 207 and prints a print mechanism unit (printer engine) 20.
Interface control with 9 is executed.

Reference numeral 209 denotes a printing mechanism section which inputs a video signal from the output interface section 208 and prints image information based on the video signal.

Reference numeral 300 denotes the operation panel described in FIG.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing a control program used in the first embodiment of the present invention.

The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

In the first embodiment, basically, the processing for storing the input data (hereinafter, data) input from the external device 201101 in the temporary storage means (hereinafter, reception buffer 203) and the data in the reception buffer 203 Since the process of processing and printing is performed asynchronously,
The flow charts of ~ 5 are not continuous.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control program for receiving processing of data input from the external device 201, which is executed by the CPU 204.

First, the CPU 204 receives data from the external device 201 via the input means 202 (S30
1) The received data is written to the reception buffer 203 as it is (S302), and after writing the data, it is judged whether the storage capacity of the reception buffer 203 is full (hereinafter referred to as buffer full) (S303). When the processing is completed and new data is received, the CPU 204 causes the processing shown in FIG.
The control program shown in the flowchart of FIG.

If it is determined in S303 that the buffer is full, the data in the receiving buffer 203 is processed and the part of the input means 202 is being processed so that the data from the external device 201 is not transferred until some free space is available ( For example, the busy signal is set to busy (High) (S3
04).

Here, the external device 201 is input means 202.
Since the data is transferred after monitoring the state of No., the data is not sent when the processing state (for example, the busy signal becomes high).

Next, FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a control program for data analysis processing, which is the CPU 204.
Performed by

The data analysis process and the print control process, which operate asynchronously with the above-described write process to the reception buffer 203, operate as follows.

In the analysis process, the CPU 204 determines whether or not there is data in the reception buffer 203 (S30
5) If it is determined that there is no data, wait until the data is stored.

If the data exists in the reception buffer 203, the CPU 204 reads the data (S306), analyzes the data (S307), and determines whether or not the data processing of the analyzed result image (hereinafter referred to as an image job). Yes (S308).

When the CPU 204 determines in S308 that the job is an image job, the CPU 204 sets the input unit 202 in a processing state and suspends data reception thereafter (S313).
Otherwise, intermediate data is created from the analyzed data and stored in the page buffer (S309).

Here, the intermediate data is printed from the data (page description language composed of control code, character code, or image data) input from an external device. This is data obtained by processing the input data so that the image data can be easily created.

When processing an image job, it is judged whether there is a page being processed (S314) in order to end the processing for the data received before starting the image job (S314). If there is a page inside, wait until the processing is completed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S308 that the job is not an image job, the input data (character code other than image data) is stored in the page buffer 205 (S
309), and then it is determined whether or not the reception buffer 203 is buffer full (S310).

If it is determined in S310 that the buffer is full, the data is read from the receiving buffer 203 and stored in the page buffer. Since the receiving buffer 203 is no longer buffer full, the state of the input means 202 is waiting ( For example, the busy signal is set to ready (Low) (S311).

If the external device 201 is waiting here, the external device 201 transfers data, so it is judged whether or not the intermediate data for one page is finally created in the page buffer (S3).
12) If one page has been created, the analysis process is temporarily terminated and the process shifts to the printing process. If one page has not been created, S306 and subsequent steps are executed to read the data in the reception buffer 203 again. Continue analysis.

Next, FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the processing of the image job, which is executed by the CPU 204.

When an image job is processed, the CPU 204 first prints image data, so that the CPU 204 stores data in the memory (work area of the reception buffer 203 or RAM 217, page buffer 205, frame buffer 207, etc.).
Is initialized for image data (S40
1) Next, the data in the reception buffer 203 is analyzed (S
402), the part of the image data that is to be actually transferred to the printing mechanism unit 209 excluding the command part is extracted from the data and that part is copied to the frame buffer 207 (S403).

Next, even if there is a request from the external device 201, the port of the input means 202 is set to be invalid so that it is ignored (S404), and data reception from this is processed at high speed. , Image data directly into frame buffer 2
It is stored in 07 (S405).

The frame buffer 20 receives the data.
It is determined whether or not 7 is buffer full, and if it is determined that buffer is full, the input means 202 is being processed (busy signal is high) to prevent data from being received. .

Then, when data for several pages is accumulated, the buffer becomes full (S406). In that case, it is judged whether the printing is normally completed and the frame buffer 207 is empty (S407), When it is determined that the frame buffer 207 is empty, S405 and subsequent steps are executed again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S406 that the buffer is not full, the CPU 204 determines whether or not one page of image data has been received (S408), and if one page of image data has been received, that page. In order to print, the image data to be printed is transferred by issuing a command to the printing mechanism unit 209 (S409).

Although not shown, this printing mechanism 209
Since the process for receiving data is asynchronous with the process for receiving data, only the process is activated here. In that process, printing is performed page by page in synchronization with the print mechanism unit 209. The image data of the page is no longer needed when completed normally.
09, the CPU 204 checks the buffer full (S406) while detecting the contact.

Next, the CPU 204 determines whether or not there is data indicating the end of the image job (S410),
If it is determined that the data is present, the processing of the image job is ended, re-initialization is performed so that the processing can be shifted to the next processing (S411), and then the external device 201 which has been prohibited.
The port of the input means 202 set so as to ignore the request from the server is enabled and the request is permitted (S4).
12) End the process.

The effect of the present invention does not change even if the order of checking the buffer full and checking whether one page of data has been received is exchanged.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart simply showing the state transition of the first embodiment.

The state transition in the execution of the image job will be briefly described below with reference to FIG.

While the image job is being executed, the request from the external device 201 is set to be ignored in synchronism therewith (timing A to B in the figure).

Further, the requests (C and D in the drawing) from the external device 201 that occur during that time are ignored, and the print control device 10
The process of transferring various information of 0 (status etc.) to the external device 201 is not executed.

After the image job is completed, if there is a request from the external device 201 (E in the figure), it is accepted and various information of the print control device 100 is transferred to the external device.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, how a request from the external device 201 (a request to read the contents of the transmission buffer 203) is sent before the print data is transferred from the external device 201. Whether or not the request is ignored is determined according to the result of the check, and the same effect as that of the above-described first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a control program for processing for investigating the request generation state from the external device 201, which is executed by the CPU 206.

The second embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

If a request from the external device 201 occurs before the print data is transferred from the external device 201,
The CPU 204 determines whether or not the counter (not shown) is 0, and checks whether or not the request is generated for the first time (S501).

Here, a counter (not shown) is set to 0 when the power is turned on or reset.

When it is determined in S501 that the counter is 0 (first request), the current time (value of a timer (not shown)) and the state (status) of the print control device are displayed in the RAM2.
The data is saved in the work area 07 (S502), the counter is updated to 1 (S503), the process is terminated, and the request is awaited.

A timer (not shown) is always operated and the value can be used as the current time.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S501 that the counter is not 0, the CPU 204 reads R when the previous request is issued.
RAM20 after calculating how much time has passed from the current time saved in the work area of AM207
It is saved in the work area 7 (S504).

This is data indicating at what interval requests from the external device 201 occurred.

The latest current time and status are also R
It is stored in the work area of the AM 207 (S505) and the counter is also incremented by 1 (S506). The latest current time saved here will be used when the next request occurs.

Next, as a result of the addition, it is determined whether or not the counter has a certain value N (S507), and if not, the process ends. The constant value N may be determined in advance, or may be determined by an instruction from the external device 201, an operation from the operation panel 300, or the like.

When it is determined in S507 that the counter has a constant value N, the CPU 204 compares the interval at which the request from the external device 201 has been stored in the RAM 207 until now with the status at that time ( S50
8) It is determined whether the intervals at which the request from the external device 201 is generated are average and whether or not there is a change in the status at the time of the request (S509).

If it is determined in S509 that the intervals at which the requests have been issued are average and there is no change in the status at the time of the request, the external device 201 makes requests at regular intervals regardless of changes in the status of the print control device. Since it has occurred, in the case of image data printing processing that requires high-speed data reception, a flag is set (S510) in order to perform processing that ignores the request from the external device 201, and the processing is performed. finish.

With this flag, the process shifts to the process of the first embodiment in the print process. After it is determined that the image data is processed in the process of step S308 of FIG. 4 described above, the flag is checked, and if the flag is 1, the process proceeds to step S313.

(Third Embodiment) In the third embodiment, after the image job is being processed (a process requiring high-speed data reception) and the request from the external device 201 is not accepted, no paper is present. Only when some trouble such as a paper jam or the like that cannot continue printing occurs, a request from the external device 201 is accepted and various information (status etc.) of the print control device is transferred to the external device 201. ,
The same effects as those of the first and second embodiments described above can be obtained.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a control program for processing when a failure occurs, which is executed by the CPU 204.

The third embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The image job is being processed and the external device 2
If a failure occurs after the setting that does not accept the request from 01, the pre-processing is performed so that the data up to the time immediately before the failure will not be lost and that the failure can be restored to normal. (S601).

Next, the CPU 204 checks the type of failure and stores the data indicating the failure and its content in the transmission buffer 216 in order to transmit the content of the failure to the external device 201 (S602).

Then, the reception of the print data is interrupted (S60
3) After that, it is set again to accept the request from the external device 201, and if there is a request, the transmission buffer 21
The data of No. 6 is transferred to the external device 201 (S604), and it is determined whether or not the failure is released in that state (S605).

When it is determined in S605 that the fault has been cleared, in order to notify the external device 201 that the fault has been removed, data indicating this is stored in the transmission buffer 216 (S606), and at the same time, the failure is recorded. The timer shown is activated (S607).

After a certain period of time, the external device 201 causes the data of the print control device (the transmission buffer 216
This is because the external device 201 may be ignored and printing may be restarted if there is no request from the external device 201 even after a certain period of time since there is a possibility that the external device 201 will not be read.

Next, it is determined whether or not the transmission buffer 216 has become empty (S608). If it is determined that the transmission buffer 216 has not become empty, then the contents of the transmission buffer 216 have decreased from the last check (read by the external device 201). Whether or not) is determined (S609), and if it has decreased, steps S607 and thereafter are executed to restart the timer.

If it is determined in S609 that the transmission data has not decreased, it is determined whether or not a fixed time has elapsed (S
610), if it is determined that the time has passed, step S611 is executed, and if it is determined that the time has not passed, step S611 is performed.
608 and subsequent steps are executed.

Here, the fact that the transmission buffer 216 has become empty means that the latest information of the print control apparatus is the external apparatus 2
01 indicates that the request has been read, and the request from the external device 201 may not be accepted again, so printing can be resumed.

However, immediately after the obstacle is removed, there may be another obstacle, so it is judged (S
611), if there is no failure, S612 and subsequent steps are executed, and if it is determined that the failure has occurred again, S602 and subsequent steps are executed and the same processing as when the failure occurred is performed.

If it is determined in S611 that the fault has been completely removed, the request from the external device 201 is set again to be ignored (S612), and print data (image data in this embodiment) is received. Is restarted to return to normal processing (S613), and the processing ends.

It is to be noted that a control program for automatically switching to determine whether to execute these processes according to a command from the external device 201, according to the input information from the operation panel 300, or unconditionally is executed. The same effect can be obtained even if the user has it and executes it accordingly.

Next, a storage medium such as the ROM 206 used in the print control apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the memory map of FIG.

A storage medium for storing a control program for controlling the bidirectional interface so as to ignore the request from the external device when specific data is input from the external device is as shown in FIG. At least
It suffices to store the program code of each module of "module" and "control module" in the storage medium.

Here, the "judgment module" is a program module for judging whether or not specific data is input from the external device.

The "control module" controls the input means so as to ignore the request from the external device when it is judged by the judgment module that the specific data has been inputted. It is a program module for doing.

As the storage medium, the RO of this embodiment is used.
In addition to M206, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, which can be attached to and detached from the print control device,
A CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, etc. can be used.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
When data must be received at high speed, for example, when image data having a very large amount of received data is printed, the request from the external device 201 is intentionally ignored to allow the print control device or the external device to ignore the request. Device 201
The processing amount (processing time) of a portion unrelated to printing is reduced as much as possible, and higher-speed printing processing becomes possible.

Further, when some kind of failure occurs, various information of the print control device can be transferred to the external device 201, so that the external device 201 can know the detailed information of the print control device.

[0095]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a specific data is input from an external device, the bidirectional interface is controlled so as to ignore the request from the external device. The speed of data transfer can be increased.

Further, when a specific data is input from the external device, a control program for controlling the bidirectional interface is supplied to the print control device so as to ignore the request from the external device. You can improve your sex.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a laser beam printer given as an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the print control apparatus used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control program for data reception processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control program for data analysis processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control program for image job processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control program for investigation processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control program for processing when a failure occurs in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing state transitions according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a memory map of a storage medium storing a control program in each embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for causing a printing unit to print data input from an external device through an input means, and determining whether or not specific data is input from the external device. And a control means for controlling the input means so as to ignore a request from the external device when the determination means determines that the specific data has been input. Print control device. 2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific data is image data. 3. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request from the external apparatus requests the status of the print control apparatus. 4. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit invalidates the port of the input unit. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input unit is a bidirectional interface. 6. The print control device has a monitoring unit that monitors how a request for returning various information from the external device is executed, and the request for returning does not have a specific condition. The method according to claim 1, wherein a request from an external device is ignored and various pieces of information of the print control device are not transferred to the external device in the case of a certain specific print processing, such as when being executed by the external device. Print control device. 7. The print control apparatus receives an error message from an external device even if it is a specific print process, if the print process cannot be continued due to some trouble during the execution of the print process. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein various information of the print control device is transferred to an external device in response to a request. 8. The printing control apparatus, after a failure occurs, the printing cannot be continued and the request from the external apparatus is met, the failure is removed, and the printing is ready to continue. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer of various information of the print control device to the external device is continued in response to a request from the external device until the information shown is returned to the external device. 9. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is executed by switching the control means automatically or by setting by a command from the external apparatus or other input information. Print controller. 10. A print control method in a print control device for causing a printing unit to print data input from an external device through an input means, wherein whether or not specific data is input from the external device. And a control step of controlling the input means so as to ignore a request from the external device when it is determined that the specific data is input in the determination step. And a print control method. 11. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein the specific data is image data. 12. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein the request from the external device requests the status of the print control device. 13. The control step includes the step of inputting the input means.
11. The printing control method according to claim 10, wherein the printing is invalidated. 14. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein the input unit is a bidirectional interface. 15. The printing control method has a monitoring step of monitoring how a request for returning various information from the external device is executed, and the request for returning does not have a specific condition and is regular. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a request from an external device is ignored and various pieces of information of the print control device are not transferred to the external device in the case of a certain specific print processing in the case where the print control device is executed. Print control method. 16. The printing control method according to claim 1, wherein even if a specific printing process is performed, if some trouble occurs during execution of the printing process and the printing process cannot be continued,
11. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein various information of the print control device is transferred to the external device in response to a request from the external device. 17. The printing control method according to claim 1, wherein after a failure occurs and printing cannot be continued and a request from an external device is met, the failure is removed and printing is continued. 11. The print control method according to claim 10, wherein the transfer of various information of the print control device to the external device is continued in response to a request from the external device until the information shown is returned to the external device. 18. The printing control method according to claim 10, wherein the control step is executed automatically or by being switched by a setting from a command from the external device or other input information. Print control method. 19. A storage medium for storing a control program used by a print control device for causing a printing section to print data input from an external device through an input means, the specific data from the external device. Determination module for determining whether or not data has been input, and to ignore a request from the external device when it is determined that the specific data has been input in the determination step. A storage medium storing a control module of a control process for controlling the input means. 20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the specific data is image data. 21. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the request from the external device requests the status of the print control device. 22. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the program module of the control step invalidates the port of the input means. 23. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the input unit is a bidirectional interface.