JPH10232752A - Printing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a requested printing state coincident with the real printed result by preventing unwanted printing from being performed after the cancel of abnormality by forcedly stopping processing corresponding to a printing request after the detection of abnormality. SOLUTION: When the printing request is supplied, the printing request is supplied from a computer 3 to a printing request receiving part 12. A reception data managing part 13 discriminates whether the data of received data extension part 14 are under abandonment at present or not, instructs the extension of print data to the received data extension part 14 and instructs printing processing to a transfer device managing part 16. A transfer device 15 records an image on printing paper under the control of transfer device managing part 16. When a transfer device state detecting part 17 monitors the transfer device 15 and detects the exhaustion or clogging of paper, the reception data managing part 13 abandons the held print data. The print data received by the printing request receiving part 12 are successively abandoned by the reception data managing part 13. Even when a printer device 1 is recovered normal, since there is no print data, the received data extension part 14 automatically prevents processing from being continued.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, and more particularly to a print control apparatus for controlling a print apparatus that receives print data via a LAN (Local Area Network). In a conventional printing apparatus connected via a LAN or the like, its main function is limited to printing characters. This is due to the fact that the processing performance of the PC requesting printing, which sends data to the printing device, is low and a large amount of data cannot be processed at one time. And it is becoming possible to process large amounts of data.

As a result, not only characters but also figures and pictures can be printed. Furthermore, the use of multi-color media such as photos and moving image information has been shifted to handle more print data. For this reason, it has become necessary to supply a large amount of data to the corresponding printing apparatus. In order to supply a large amount of data from a personal computer or the like to a printing device, LAN technology nurtured on the Internet or the like has attracted attention.

A LAN is suitable for transmitting and receiving a large amount of data, but a means for reporting an abnormal operation or the like is not sufficient, and even if an abnormality occurs in the printing apparatus, printing is performed according to the state of the printing apparatus. The print data supplied from the request source to the printing apparatus is not controlled, and when the state of the printing apparatus returns, an abnormal printing result may appear.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, reference numeral 210 denotes a computer that issues a print request;
Reference numeral 20 denotes a printer for performing printing in accordance with print data from the computer 210, and reference numeral 230 denotes an L for supplying print data from the computer 210 to the printer 220.
Indicates AN.

Computer 210 and printer 220
Are connected via the LAN 230, and communication is performed by a predetermined communication protocol set in advance. When the user makes a print request to the print request unit 211 of the computer 210, the print request unit 21 of the computer 210
1 issues a print request to the printer device 220 via the LAN 230.

In the printer device 220, the print receiving unit 22
2 receives a print request from the print request unit 211 of the computer 210 and stores it in the buffer 221. The print requests stored in the buffer 221 are sequentially supplied to the transfer unit 223, and printing corresponding to the print data supplied from the computer 210 via the LAN 230 is performed.

Here, the operation of the printer 220 will be described. In the print receiving unit 222 of the printer device 220, L
When a print request is received from the computer 210 via the AN 230, print data supplied with the print request is sequentially stored in the internal buffer 221. Printer device 2
When receiving the print request from the computer 210, the print accepting unit 222 of the device 20 returns a reception response to the computer 210 via the LAN 230. Computer 210
Then, the transmission state of the print data is recognized based on the reception response from the printer or the device 220.

Next, the print data held in the internal buffer 221 is developed into bitmap data and transferred to the transfer device 2.
23, and prints on printing paper by the transfer device 223. At this time, in the conventional printer 220, the LA connecting the computer 210 and the printer 220 is used.
In the communication protocol of N230, there is no setting for notifying the computer 210 of the status of the printer device 220. Therefore, when an error occurs in the printer device 220, reception of print data is stopped, and the computer 210 is refused reception. The indicated signal is looped back. The computer 210 detects that the printer device 220 is in the reception rejection state,
Display on a display. The user, seeing this display, has recognized that the printer device 220 is currently in the reception rejection state.

Next, when the printer device 220 is returned to the normal state by the user, the printer device 220 clears the internal buffer 221 and discards the print data held in the internal buffer when an error occurs. At this time,
Since the printer device 220 returns to the normal state, the print request from the computer 210 can be accepted, and the reception permission signal is returned to the computer 210.

The print request unit 211 of the computer 210
Restarts the supply of the print request when the reception permission signal is supplied from the printer device 220. The print receiving unit 222 of the printer device 220 receives a print request from the computer 210, stores the print request in the internal buffer 221, and starts printing again. At this time, when printing is resumed,
Printing is started from a print request that has been waiting after an error has occurred in the computer 210, and when the error occurs in the printer device 220, the print data for the print request held in the internal buffer 221 is lost, and printing is stopped. Not done.

[0011]

However, the conventional LA
In a printing apparatus having a configuration in which print data is supplied via N, the communication protocol with the print requesting computer does not include a step of supplying an abnormal state of the printing apparatus to the print requesting computer via the LAN. Even if an error occurs in the printing apparatus, the printing requesting computer cannot be notified of the abnormality, and the printing requesting computer assumes that the printing apparatus is normal and continues to transmit print data. Therefore, for example, if a paper jam has occurred as an abnormal state in the printing apparatus, after the user clears the paper jam, the print data held in the internal buffer at the time the paper jam occurs is discarded, and the printing apparatus Since printing is resumed from the print data supplied from the print requesting computer after the print request can be accepted, the print data held in the internal buffer of the printer will not be printed when a paper jam occurs. As a result, a deviation occurs between the print result that is to be printed and the print result that is actually printed.

At this time, the page not printed is
Since the page printed before the occurrence of the abnormality and the page printed after the return of the printer apparatus are buried, it is not easy to determine which page is printed and which page is not printed. In addition, when the communication protocol is changed to solve the above problem and an error occurs on the printer device side, the occurrence of an abnormal condition is reported to the print requesting computer, and the abnormal condition of the printer device is notified. A method has also been proposed in which a print request is issued from a print request for which an abnormality has been notified after the recovery from the print request. But,
In such a method, the communication protocol needs to be a new communication standard, and not only the printer device but also the application on the computer side needs to be changed, and it cannot be applied to existing computers.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a print control apparatus capable of matching a print state requested by a print request source computer with an actual print result without changing a communication protocol. The purpose is to:

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a printer is connected between a printing unit for executing printing and a printing request unit for supplying a printing request to the printing unit. A printing control device that controls the printing unit in response to the printing request, wherein an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality of the printing unit; and an abnormality detection unit that detects an abnormality of the printing unit when the abnormality detection unit detects the abnormality of the printing unit. In the following, there is provided a processing control unit for forcibly terminating a process corresponding to a print request supplied from the print request unit to the printing unit.

According to the first aspect, when the abnormality of the printing means is detected, the processing corresponding to the print request supplied from the print request means is forcibly terminated after the abnormality is detected, so that the abnormality is eliminated. Thereafter, when printing becomes possible again, printing is not performed continuously, and undesired printing is not performed. According to a second aspect of the present invention, the abnormality detecting unit detects a stagnation in the passage of the printing paper as an abnormality of the printing unit, and discards a print request supplied from the print request unit by the processing control unit. Features.

According to the second aspect, when the printing paper stagnates in the passage of the printing paper, it is determined that the printing unit is abnormal, and the print request is discarded. When the stagnation is released and the printing unit returns to a normal state, the print request is discarded, so that printing is not continuously performed, and it is possible to easily determine a printed page and a non-printed page from the print result. , Can be reprinted.

Preferably, the abnormality detecting means detects that the power of the printing means is turned off as an abnormality of the printing means,
The processing control unit may discard a print request supplied from the print request unit. According to the third aspect, it is determined that the power of the printing unit is turned off as an abnormality of the printing unit, and the printing request is discarded. Since the request is discarded, the printing is not performed continuously, the printed page and the non-printed page can be easily discriminated from the print result, and the reprint can be executed.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a printer directly connected to a LAN will be described. Printer 1 of the present embodiment
Is connected via a LAN 2 to a computer 3 such as a workstation used by a user.

The computer 3 includes a print request issuing unit 31 for issuing a print request in accordance with a user's instruction, a print request issued by the print request issuing unit 31, a print request managing unit 32 for managing print data, It is composed of a data communication unit 33 for transmitting commands and print data managed by the print request management unit 32 to the LAN 2. The print request issuing unit 31 issues a print request command to be supplied to the printer device 1 according to an instruction to the user. The print request command issued by the print request issuing unit 31 is held in the print request management unit 32.

The print request management unit 32 includes a print request issuing unit 3
The printer 1 manages whether or not the print request issued in step 1 has been transmitted to the printer 1, and recognizes that the print request has been completed based on the reception completion signal supplied from the printer 1. The print request held in the print request management unit 32 is
The data communication unit 33 gives the address of the printer device 1 and sends it out to the LAN 2 as packet data.

The printer device 1 includes a data communication unit 11 for connecting to the LAN 2 and a LAN
2, a print request receiving unit 12 that receives a print request by recognizing a command supplied to the data communication unit 11, a received data management unit 13 that manages received data received by the print request receiving unit 12, and a received data management unit The received data expansion unit 14 expands the received data managed by the storage unit 13 into print data, and stores the received data. The transfer device 15 prints the expanded data expanded by the received data expansion unit 14 on paper. The transfer device management unit 16 includes a transfer device state detection unit 17 that detects the state of the transfer device 16 and discards data developed by the received data development unit 14 when an abnormality occurs in the transfer device 16.

The data communication unit 11 reads a packet on the LAN 2, analyzes an address and the like, and
It is determined whether or not the packet is a packet to be transmitted. If the packet is addressed to the printer device 1 by the data communication unit 11, the received packet is supplied to the print request receiving unit 12. Print request receiving unit 1
2 recognizes the print request from the packet supplied from the data communication unit 11 and supplies it to the received data management unit 13. The reception data management unit 13 holds and manages the print request analyzed by the print request reception unit 12.

The print request held in the reception data management unit 13 is supplied to a reception data development unit 14, and the print data is developed into bitmap data according to a color or the like designated based on the print request. It is held in the buffer 18. The bitmap data stored in the internal buffer 18 is supplied to the transfer device management unit 16 via the data development unit 14. The transfer device management unit 16 controls the transfer device 15 based on the contents of the internal buffer 18.

The transfer device state detecting section 17 includes a transfer device 17
The state of the transfer device 17 in accordance with a signal detected by the sensor, for example, a state in which the paper tray needs to be replenished with printing paper, a state in which the printing paper stagnates on the passage of the printing paper. Detecting the state of being, etc. Here, the operation of the reception data management unit 13 during the printing process will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the reception management unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention at the time of print processing. The reception data management unit 13 clears the data discard mode for discarding the data in the buffer 18, and waits (step S1-1).
Here, when there is a print request from the computer 3 via the LAN 2, the print request receiving unit 12 recognizes this and receives the print request. When receiving the print request, the print request receiving unit 12 supplies the received print request to the received data management unit 13.

When the print request is supplied from the print request receiving unit 12, the received data management unit 13 then prints the print request supplied from the computer 3 to the print request receiving unit 12 via the LAN 2 following the print request. (Step S1)
-2, S1-2). Next, in the reception data management unit 13,
The transfer device state detection unit 17 determines whether the data of the received data development unit 14 is currently being discarded (step S1-
3).

If the data is being discarded, the reception data management unit 13 returns to step S1-2 and waits for the next data request. Further, the reception data management unit 13 supplies the supplied print data to the reception data expansion unit 14 and instructs the reception data expansion unit 14 to expand the print data.
It instructs the transfer device management unit 16 to perform a printing process.

The received data expanding section 14 expands the print data supplied from the received data managing section 13 into bitmap data and supplies the bitmap data to the transfer apparatus managing section 16. The transfer device management unit 16 controls the transfer device 15 according to the bitmap data supplied from the received data development unit 14. If the transfer device 15 is a laser printer, the transfer device management unit 16 controls the capture of printing paper, the writing of an electrostatic latent image on the transfer drum, and the like, and records an image corresponding to the print data on the printing paper ( Steps S1-5, S1-
6).

At this time, the transfer device 15 is monitored by the transfer device state detection unit 17 for the state of taking in the printing paper by the sensor, and when the printing paper is not in the paper tray, the paper runs out. A paper jam that is jammed in the middle of the passing path is detected. The reception data management unit 13 uses the transfer device state detection unit 114 to
When the paper jam is detected, the print data held in the received data developing unit 14 is discarded, and the process returns to step S1-2 (steps S1-7, S1-8).

At this time, the print request receiving unit 12 receives a print request from the computer 3, but the received print data is sequentially discarded by the received data management unit 13. When the transmission of the print request issued by the print request issuing unit 31 ends, the computer 3 displays a display indicating the end of printing on the display. The user recognizes the end of printing on the display and goes to the place where the printer device 1 is installed to get the print result. Here, the user recognizes a paper jam by looking at the state of the printer device 1. The user removes the paper stuck in the printer device 1 and returns the printer device 1 to a normal state.

At this time, the received data developing unit 14 discards the print data after the paper jam has occurred and does not exist the print data. Therefore, even if the printer device 1 is returned to the normal state, the subsequent print is automatically executed. I can't. Therefore, after the printer 1 returns to the normal state, the printing is not performed again by the print data remaining in the received data developing unit 14 from the next print sheet.

For this reason, the user removes the paper jam,
After returning the printer 1 to the normal state, the computer 3 is instructed to print again from the page where the paper jam has occurred, and the remaining pages are printed. As mentioned above,
According to the present embodiment, if a paper jam occurs in the printer 1, printing is not automatically performed after the printer 1 returns, so the print result specified by the computer 3 after the printer 1 returns. Means that the print result is not output, and waste of printing paper can be eliminated.

When the received data management unit 13 detects a paper break in step S1-9, the print request reception unit 12
Is instructed to stop the reception request from the computer 3 (steps S1-9, S1-10). The print request receiving unit 12 stops receiving a print request from the computer 3 when receiving an instruction to stop the print request from the received data management unit 13. When the print request receiving unit 12 rejects the reception request, a signal indicating rejection of the reception is returned from the print request reception unit 12 to the computer 3 as in the related art.

When the computer 3 returns a signal indicating rejection of reception from the printer 1 in response to the print request, the computer 3
The fact that the print request has been rejected is displayed on a display or the like to the user. The user can recognize that the print request has been rejected by looking at the display on the computer 3,
An abnormality in the printer device 1 can be recognized. When the user recognizes the abnormality of the printer 1 by the display on the display of the computer 3, the user goes to the installation location of the printer 1 and recognizes the state of the printer 1. The user recognizes a paper break by actually recognizing the state of the printer device 1 and replenishes the paper tray with printing paper.

During this time, the reception data management unit 13 monitors the state of the transfer device 15. The transfer device state detection unit 17
The status of the paper tray of the transfer device 15 is monitored, and when the paper tray is replenished with print paper, information indicating that the print paper has been replenished in the paper tray is received data management via the received data development unit 16. To the unit 13. When the reception data management unit 13 recognizes the information indicating that the printing paper has been replenished from the transfer device state detection unit 17, the process proceeds to step S1-2.
Then, the print request receiving unit 12 is again instructed to receive the supply of the print data from the computer 3.

The print request accepting unit 12 resumes accepting a reception request from the computer 3 upon receiving a print request acceptance from the reception data management unit 13. Print request receiving unit 1
2 receives the reception request, the reception data management unit 13
Returns to step S1-2, and executes the printing process according to the reception request again. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the present invention is realized by using a printer device 100 connectable to a printer port of the computer 3. The printer device 110 is connected to the LAN 2 via a LAN mediation device 120 that is a print control device. The printer device 110 is connected to a printer port of the computer, and transmits and receives data to and from the computer. The data communication unit 111 expands print data supplied from the data communication unit 111 into bitmap data.
Received data expanding unit 112 to hold, data expanding unit 112
A transfer device 113 that records the bitmap data developed by the printing device on print paper, a transfer device state detection unit 114 that detects the state of the transfer device 113, and supplies the state to the data communication unit 111
It is composed of a buffer 115 that holds the bitmap data expanded by the data expansion unit 112.

The data communication unit 111 receives the data supplied to the printer port, and
To supply. The received data expanding unit 112 expands the data received by the data communication unit 111 into bitmap data corresponding to a color instruction or the like in the received data, and stores the bitmap data in the buffer 115. When the bitmap data for one page is stored in the buffer 115, the reception data developing unit 112 activates the transfer device 113 to take in the printing paper from a printing paper tray (not shown) and store the printing paper in the buffer 115. The image is recorded on the printing paper according to the bitmap data.

The transfer device state detecting section 114 is provided for the transfer device 1
13 detects the necessity of replenishment of the printing paper, stagnation on the passage of the printing paper, and the like by various sensors attached to 13,
The data is output via the data communication unit 111. The LAN mediation device 120 is a data communication unit 12 that communicates with the LAN 2
1. A print request to the printing device 110 from the data obtained by the data communication unit 121, a print request receiving unit 122 for recognizing print data, a print request to the printer device 110 recognized by the print request receiving unit 122, print data A reception data management unit which holds and manages the data in accordance with the status of the transfer device 114 detected by the transfer device status detection unit 114 of the printer device 110, converts the format into a format receivable by the printer device 110, and supplies the format to the printer device 110 123.

The data communication unit 121 receives the packet supplied to the LAN 2, determines whether the received packet is a packet addressed to the printer 110, and if the received packet is a packet addressed to the printer 110, accepts a print request. To the unit 122. The print request receiving unit 122 is the data communication unit 12
The print request is recognized by analyzing the packet supplied from # 1.

The print request recognized by the print request receiving unit 122 is supplied to the received data management unit 123. The received data management unit 123 stores the supplied print request in the buffer 12
4 and the print data is stored in the printer device 11.
The data is converted into data corresponding to a printer port of 0 and supplied to the printer device 110. Next, the LAN mediation device 120
The operation of the received data management unit 123 during the printing process will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the received data management unit of the LAN intermediary apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention at the time of print processing. The reception data management unit 123 includes the reception data development unit 1
The data discard mode for discarding the data of No. 12 is cleared and the process waits (step S2-1). Here, when there is a print request from the computer 3 via the LAN 2, the print request receiving unit 122 recognizes this and receives the print request. When receiving the print request, the print request receiving unit 122 supplies the received print request to the reception data management unit 123.

When a print request is supplied from the print request receiving unit 122, the received data management unit 123
To hold. (Steps S2-2 and S2-3). next,
The reception data management unit 13 determines whether or not the print data stored therein is currently being discarded (step S2-
4). The reception data management unit 123 includes the reception data development unit 1
If data No. 12 is being discarded, the process returns to step S2-2, and waits for the next data request.

In step S2-4, if the data of the received data development unit 112 is not being discarded, the received data management unit 123 converts the print processing request held in the buffer 124 into printer port data. The print data is converted and supplied to the printer 110, and the print data supplied following the print request is converted into data for the printer port and transmitted to the printer 110 (step S2-
5).

The printer 110 is a LAN mediation device 120
When a print processing command and print data are received from the received data management unit 123, the data communication unit 111 receives them and supplies them to the received data development unit 112. The received data expanding unit 112 expands the print data into bitmap data according to the print processing command, and stores the bitmap data in the buffer 115.

The received data developing unit 112 is provided for the transfer device 11
After activating 3, the developed bitmap data is supplied to the transfer device 113. The transfer device 113 controls the transfer device 113 according to the bitmap data supplied from the received data developing unit 14. The transfer device 113 is controlled by a start command from the received data developing unit 112 to take in printing paper, write an electrostatic latent image on a transfer drum, and the like, and records an image corresponding to print data on printing paper.

At this time, in the transfer device 113, the transfer device state detecting unit 114 monitors the state of taking in the printing paper by the sensor, and the printing paper is out of the paper tray, and the printing paper passes through the passage of the printing paper. A paper jam that is jammed in the middle is detected. Received data management unit 123
Monitors the printer port after instructing the printing process in step S2-6, and monitors the status of the printer device 110 (steps S2-7, S2-9, S2-11).

When the transfer device state detection unit 114 detects a paper jam in the transfer device 113, the printer device 110 sends information indicating the paper jam to the printer port via the data communication unit 111. Received data management unit 123
When detecting information indicating a paper jam transmitted from the data communication unit 111 to the printer port, the print data stored in the reception data management unit 123 is discarded, and the process proceeds to step S2.
The process returns to -2, and waits for the next print request from the computer 3 (steps S2-7, S2-8).

At this time, the print request receiving unit 122 receives a print request from the computer 3, but the received print data is sequentially discarded by the received data management unit 123. When the transmission of the print request issued by the print request issuing unit 31 ends, the computer 3 displays a display indicating the end of printing on the display. The user recognizes the end of printing on the display and goes to the place where the printer device 110 is installed to get the print result. Here, the user sees the state of the printer device 110 and recognizes a paper jam. The user removes the paper stuck in the printer device 110 and returns the printer device 110 to a normal state.

At this time, the printer intermediation device 120 discards all print requests after a paper jam has occurred.
Even if the printer device 110 is returned to a normal state, printing is not performed subsequently. For this reason, the user removes the paper jam and returns the printer device 110 to a normal state, and then instructs the computer 3 to print again from the page where the paper jam has occurred.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a paper jam occurs in the printer 110, printing is not performed after the printer 110 returns, so that after the printer 110 returns, the computer 3 The print result specified in the step (1) does not output the print result, and waste of printing paper can be eliminated. Also, the printer device 110
When the transfer device state detection unit 114 detects a paper break in the transfer device 113, information indicating the paper break is transmitted to the printer port via the data communication unit 111. When detecting the information indicating the paper break transmitted from the data communication unit 111 to the printer port, the reception data management unit 123 instructs the print request reception unit 122 to stop the reception request from the computer 3 ( Step S2-9, S2-1
0).

The print request receiving unit 122 stops receiving a print request from the computer 3 when receiving an instruction to stop the print request from the received data management unit 123.
When the print request receiving unit 122 rejects the reception request, a signal indicating rejection of the reception is returned from the print request reception unit 122 to the computer 3 as in the related art. Computer 3
When a signal indicating rejection of reception is returned from the LAN intermediary device 120 in response to the print request, the user is notified of the rejection of the print request on a display or the like. By viewing the display on the computer 3, the user can recognize that the print request has been rejected, and can recognize an abnormality of the printer device 110. When the user recognizes the abnormality of the printer 110 by the display on the display of the computer 3, the user goes to the set position of the printer 110 and recognizes the state of the printer 110. The user
By actually recognizing the state of the printer 110, a paper break can be recognized, and printing paper is replenished to the paper tray.

During this time, the reception data monitoring unit 123 monitors the status of the printer port. The transfer device state detection unit 114 of the printer device 110 monitors the state of the paper tray of the transfer device 113. When the paper tray is replenished with print paper, the print paper is replenished via the data communication unit 111. To the printer port. When recognizing the information indicating that the printing paper has been replenished from the printer port, the reception data management unit 123 recognizes the information in step S2-.
2 and instructs the print request receiving unit 122 to accept the supply of print data from the computer 3 again.

The print request accepting unit 122 resumes accepting a receive request from the computer 3 with a print request accepting permission from the received data managing unit 123. When the print request receiving unit 122 receives the reception request, the reception data management unit 123 returns to step S2-2, and executes the printing process according to the reception request again. Also, the printer device 110
When the power of the device is suddenly turned off, the reception data management unit 123
Loses all the signals from the printer port of the printer device 110. The reception data management unit 123 is a printer
It is recognized that the power of the printer apparatus 110 has been cut off by the loss of the signal from the printer port 10 (step S2-1).
1).

The reception data management unit 123 determines in step S2
When the power of the printer device 110 is recognized to be turned off at -11, a data discard mode for discarding the print data held therein is executed, and the process returns to step S2-2 to wait for the supply of the print request from the computer 3. (Step S2
-12). In the computer 3, when the transmission of the print request issued by the print request issuing unit 31 to the LAN intermediary device 120 is completed, the print request management unit 32 recognizes this and displays on the display that the printing is completed. The user recognizes this and goes to the place where the printer device 110 is installed to get a print result.

At this time, the power of the printer device 110 is turned off, and printing is stopped halfway. The user looks at the state of the printer device 110, recognizes that the power is turned off, turns on the power to the printer device 110, and returns the printer device 110. At this time, the received data management unit 123 of the LAN intermediation device 120 discards all print requests after the printer device 110 returns,
Printing is not resumed even if the power is turned on to the printer device 110. After returning to the printer device 110, the user returns to the installation location of the computer 3, specifies a print page after the print page currently output by the computer 3, and instructs a print request again.

As described above, the user can accurately recognize the printed page by looking at the print result that has been actually printed.
Can be printed by designating a page after the page is printed.

[0058]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when an abnormality in the printing means is detected, the processing according to the print request supplied from the print request means is forcibly performed after the abnormality is detected. Since the printing is terminated, when the printing can be performed again after the abnormality is resolved, the printing is not performed continuously, and the unwanted printing is not performed.

According to the second aspect, when the printing paper stagnates in the passage of the printing paper, it is determined that the printing means is abnormal, and the print request is discarded, so that the printing request is discarded. When the stagnation is released and the printing unit returns to a normal state, the print request is discarded, so that printing is not continuously performed, and it is possible to easily determine a printed page and a non-printed page from the print result. , And can perform reprinting.

According to the third aspect, it is determined that the power of the printing unit is turned off as an abnormality of the printing unit, and the print request is discarded, whereby the power of the printing unit is turned on again and the printing unit returns to the normal state. At this time, since the print request is discarded, printing is not performed continuously, and the printed page and the non-printed page can be easily determined from the print result, and reprinting can be executed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart at the time of print processing of a reception data management unit of the printer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart at the time of print processing of a reception data management unit of the LAN mediation apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 110 Printer device 2 LAN 3 Computer 11, 33, 111, 121 Data communication unit 12, 122 Print request receiving unit 13, 123 Received data management unit 14, 112 Received data development unit 15, 113 Transfer device 16 Transfer device management unit 17, 114 Transfer device state detection unit 18, 115, 124 Buffer 31 Print request issuing unit 32 Print request management unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing unit for executing printing and a printing request unit for supplying a printing request to the printing unit, and controlling the printing unit in response to the printing request from the printing request unit. An abnormality detecting unit that detects an abnormality of the printing unit; and when the abnormality detecting unit detects an abnormality of the printing unit, supplies the printing request unit to the printing unit after the abnormality is detected. A print control device comprising a process control unit for forcibly terminating a process according to a print request to be made. 2. The abnormality detection unit detects a stagnation in a passage of a print sheet as an abnormality of the printing unit, and the processing control unit discards a print request supplied from the print request unit. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The abnormality detecting unit detects a power-off of the printing unit as an abnormality of the printing unit, and the processing control unit cancels a printing request supplied from the printing request unit. The print control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein