JPH1021177A - Computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify operation concerning processing to use peripheral equipment by instructing the execution of a program by the peripheral equipment to an arithmetic processing means. SOLUTION: A computer 20 accepts the input of information from an input dedicated device 14 and displays the result of information processing or the like on a display device 15. Besides, various kinds of peripheral equipments 4 and 6 can be connected and for the peripheral equipment 4, an operating button 5 is installed for instructing the execution of processing concerning the peripheral equipment 4. When a user operates the operating button 5, a processing program for the processor stored in the computer 20 is automatically started and a predetermined processing process is executed for the peripheral device 4. In this processing process, control to the other peripheral equipment 6 can be contained as well. Besides, when the operating button 5 is operated, the signal showing the operation of the operating button 5 and the kind contents of peripheral equipment as well is transmitted from a communication line 5-1 to an interface 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a computer system to which peripheral devices such as a printer and a scanner are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, to operate peripheral devices and functional modules in computer system operation,
The user launches the application software,
Further, a method has been used in which a command is input or a point on a screen is pointed by input means such as a keyboard or a pointing device.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Although it enables a variety of processes that are inherently characteristic of computer systems, for example, when a copy machine performs the same process as a process that takes a copy of a paper document, the user must copy the original. After setting, the copy execution key on the operation panel may be pressed. On the other hand, in the case of a computer system, the scanner driving software is activated. On the window screen of this application, the user operates a mouse or the like to instruct the scanner to read a document, and transfers the read image to the computer. Next, printing is instructed on the window screen, and the printer is caused to execute printing. For this reason, the user has to give at least three instructions: activation of the application, an instruction to start reading an image, and an instruction to execute printing.

As described above, in a conventional computer system, much more complicated and multi-step operations are required to execute a process using a peripheral device than in a dedicated computer.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system which simplifies operations related to processing using peripheral devices in view of the above points.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a computer system in which a peripheral device is connected to a computer, and the computer controls the peripheral device according to a processing program. The computer has storage means for storing a program for executing a processing process related to the peripheral device, and arithmetic processing means for executing the program, and the peripheral device And an instruction means for instructing execution of the program.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the first aspect, the peripheral device further includes an input unit for inputting information used in the processing process.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the second aspect, the peripheral device is a terminal adapter capable of faxing a graphic image, and the processing process is performed by the computer according to the first aspect. A fax process of transmitting the graphic image stored in the storage device in accordance with the destination information input by the input means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the third aspect, a peripheral device for supplying a graphic image is connected to the computer,
The processing includes receiving the graphic image from the peripheral device by the computer and setting the graphic image to be a fax-transmitted graphic image.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the fourth aspect, the peripheral device for supplying the graphic image is a scanner.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the first aspect, the computer is connectable to a plurality of peripheral devices including a peripheral device having an instruction means therein, It is characterized in that it includes a control process for the plurality of peripheral devices.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the sixth aspect, the peripheral device having the instruction means is a scanner, the other peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices is a printer, The process reads the graphic image from the manuscript by the scanner,
The graphic image is printed by the printer.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the computer system according to the sixth aspect, the peripheral device having the instruction means is an interface for receiving a video image, and the other peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices is a printer. The processing process is characterized in that a specific still image in a video image received by the interface is printed by the printer.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a computer 20 receives an input of information from an input-only device (mouse and keyboard) 14 and displays a result of information processing on a display device 15.
Also, various peripheral devices 4 and 6 can be connected. The peripheral device 4 according to the present invention is provided with an operation button 5 for instructing execution of a process relating to the peripheral device 4. When the user operates the operation button 5, the processing program for the processing device stored in the computer 20 automatically starts up and executes a predetermined processing process for the peripheral device 4. This processing can include control of other peripheral devices, in this case, the peripheral device 6.

In the computer 20, a central processing unit 1 for executing the processing program, a storage device 2 for storing the processing program, and an interface 3 for transferring information between the central processing unit 1 and peripheral devices
Is provided. The central processing unit 1 executes a system program called an operation system, and also executes system control such as data transfer and data read / write with respect to an internal memory. In addition, the computer 20 includes conventionally known components of the computer such as a memory, but the computer 20 has no relation to the present invention, and thus detailed description is omitted.

The peripheral device according to the present invention can have substantially the same configuration as that of the related art. However, the peripheral device has a communication circuit 5-1 for receiving an operation control signal from the interface 3, and when the operation button 5 is operated, the communication circuit 5-1 is activated. This is different from the related art in that a signal (referred to as a processing start signal) indicating that the operation button 5 has been operated and the type of peripheral device is also transmitted from the communication circuit 5-1 to the interface 3.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a specific system configuration. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 2, a scanner 7 as a peripheral device, a terminal adapter for faxing an image (sometimes referred to as a modem without a document reading function) 9, and a video interface for converting a television image signal into a video signal that can be processed by a computer 20 ( A printer 13 is connected to the computer 20. The copy button 8 of the scanner 7 instructs execution of a process of reading a document by the scanner 7 and printing the read image on the printer 13.

The operation button 10 has a numeric keypad for inputting a dial number and a facsimile transmission button.
When the fax transmission button is operated, the document set on the scanner 7 is read, transferred to the terminal adapter 9 via the computer 20, and the document image is fax-transmitted to the party specified by the input dial number via the public line. Is executed.

When the user operates the video print button 12, a still image of a specific scene in the television image captured by the video interface 11 at that time is transferred to the computer 20 and the printer 13 prints the image. Is done.

An outline of such a computer system is shown for reference. FIG. 3 shows an example of the external appearance of an operation unit provided on each functional peripheral device. In addition, what is necessary is just to make a shape and attachment method of an operation part into what is desired.

FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure executed by the central processing unit 1 to execute the above-described processing. 4, the processing software of FIG. 4 stored in the storage device 2 is activated at the same time when the power is turned on (step S10).
1), interface 3 in central processing unit 1
The process waits for a process start signal from each peripheral device through (step S102). When the processing start signal is transmitted, the processing process to be executed is determined from the signal content, and the procedure is shifted to each processing process (step S10).
3).

When the copy button 8 of the scanner 7 is operated, the process shifts to a paper document (original) copy process (step S103 → S1).
04). The central processing unit 1 controls the scanner 7 in accordance with the program for the processing process, and converts the graphic image of the document on the platen into the computer 20.
It is read into the storage device 2 (step S104). The central processing unit 1 reads the graphic image from the storage device 2 in accordance with the processing program, transfers the graphic image to the printer 13, and causes the printer 13 to print the graphic image (step S105). The paper document copy processing is performed by the above processing.

When a dial input is performed with the operation button 10 of the terminal adapter 9 and the fax transmission button is pressed, a processing start signal and a dial number are sent to the computer 20. As a result, the central processing unit 1 shifts to a fax transmission processing process (step S103 → S106).

The central processing unit 1 controls the terminal adapter 9 in accordance with the corresponding processing program to perform dial connection through a telephone line (step S1).
06). Next, the scanner 7 is controlled to fetch the graphic image of the document on the document table into the storage device 2 (step S107). Next, this graphic image and the dial number of the transmission destination are transmitted to the terminal adapter 9 to be transmitted by facsimile (step S10).
8). Thus, the fax transmission processing is completed.

When the video print button 12 of the video interface 11 is pressed, a processing start signal is transmitted to the central processing unit 1, and the central processing unit 1 shifts to a video print processing process (step S103). → S109). The central processing unit 1 captures the still image of the television image received by the video interface 11 in accordance with the corresponding processing program (step S109), and causes the printer 13 to print the still image (step S110).

On the other hand, the peripheral device detects operation of the operation button (input of a dial number for the terminal adapter) according to the processing procedure of FIG. 5 (step S1).
11), a process start signal is transmitted to the computer 20 (step S112). When there is no operation of the operation button, the control of the central processing unit 1 of the computer 20 is accepted and the operation specific to the peripheral device is performed (step S11).
3).

The following example can be carried out in addition to this embodiment.

1) The present invention can be applied to peripheral devices other than those described in this embodiment. For example, a processing process for storing a graphic image read by the scanner 7 on a magneto-optical disk may be provided. Further, a process for storing the data in the hard disk storage device or the like inside the computer 20 may be prepared, or the storage process and the printing process by the printer 13 may be combined.

2) Although one operation button is provided for one peripheral device of the present embodiment, a plurality of operation buttons may be provided depending on the application. For example, an operation button having the same function as the copy button 8 of the scanner 7 is provided on the terminal adapter 9. The user can print an image to be transmitted before sending a fax, and can send a fax after confirming a print result. At this time, two different processing processes can be instructed by the same peripheral device, in this case, the terminal adapter 9.

3) In this embodiment, the processing process using a plurality of peripheral devices has been described. However, a graphic process which is simply displayed on the display device 15 of the computer 20 and also stored in the storage device 2 of the computer 20 is described. An image, for example, a single peripheral device may be controlled such that a letter created by word processing software is faxed by operating the operation button of the terminal adapter 9.
In this case, it is necessary to read an image from the scanner 7 according to a user's instruction. Instead, various images created by word processing software, image processing software, and drawing software can be targeted for faxing.

4) The processing program for executing each processing process may be incorporated in the processing program of FIG. 4, but if the processing program is called from the processing program of FIG. It will be easier.

4) The connection destination of the video interface 11 may be any of a television, a video camera, a video deck, and the like. In the present embodiment, a specific still image in a video image (moving image) that has received a still image at the time when the video print button 12 of the video interface 11 is operated may be captured by the central processing unit 1.

5) Although the processing process described in this embodiment is only for controlling peripheral devices, the processing process includes processes for processing, editing, and displaying data taken in from peripheral devices. A process of receiving information input such as an operation instruction from the input only device 14 may be included.

[0034]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation of the user can be simplified by starting the processing process on the peripheral device side. In a processing process for performing a plurality of processes, a new function can be provided for use of a peripheral device by preparing various programs.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, by inputting information on the peripheral device side as well, the peripheral device such as a terminal adapter can be handled as if it were a dedicated facsimile transceiver without being conscious of the computer.

According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, the computer
The system can be handled as a fax machine with a document reading function, and the operation can be performed on the terminal adapter side of the peripheral device, so operability is improved compared to conventional computer systems of this type. Is done.

According to the sixth to eighth aspects of the present invention, by including a plurality of peripheral devices in the processing process, the original image read by the scanner is transmitted by facsimile, or the still image in the video image is printed. Conventionally complicated operations such as processing can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a specific system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the system shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a computer 20.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a peripheral device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Central processing unit 2 Storage device 3 Interface 4 Peripheral device 5 Operation button 6 Peripheral device 7 Scanner 8 Copy button 9 Terminal adapter 10 Operation button 11 Video interface 12 Video print button 13 Printer 14 Input-only device 15 Display device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A computer system in which a peripheral device is connected to a computer, and the computer controls the peripheral device according to a processing program, wherein the computer stores a program for executing a processing process related to the peripheral device. A computer system comprising: storage means; and arithmetic processing means for executing the program, wherein the peripheral device includes instruction means for instructing the arithmetic processing means to execute the program. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said peripheral device further comprises input means for inputting information used in said processing process. 3. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said peripheral device is a terminal adapter capable of faxing a graphic image, and wherein said processing process is performed by said computer. A computer system, which is a processing process for transmitting an image by facsimile in accordance with destination information input by the input means; 4. The computer system according to claim 3, wherein a peripheral device that supplies a graphic image is connected to the computer, and the computer receives the graphic image from the peripheral device and receives the graphic image from the peripheral device. A computer system, characterized in that the processing includes graphic image processing. 5. The computer system according to claim 4, wherein the peripheral device that supplies the graphic image is a scanner. 6. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said computer is connectable to a plurality of peripheral devices including a peripheral device having instruction means therein, and said computer includes a plurality of said peripheral devices. A computer system including a control process for a peripheral device. 7. The computer system according to claim 6, wherein the peripheral device having the indicating means is a scanner, the other peripheral device of the plurality of peripheral devices is a printer, and the processing process is performed by the scanner. Read a graphic image from a manuscript and
A computer system, which is a process for printing an image by the printer. 8. The computer system according to claim 6, wherein said peripheral device having said instruction means is an interface for receiving a video image, said other peripheral device being a printer, and said processing process. A computer system for printing a specific still image in a video image received by the interface by the printer.