JPH10301735A - Printer device and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer device and a printer control method capable of efficiently using a memory small in capacity and rapidly dealing with the occurrence of failure in a control program. SOLUTION: At the time of the power supply of a printer device, an initial program stored in an ROM 1702 provided at the device and a communication program for operating communication with a host are executed, and the printer device is initialized. Also, communication with a host 1000 is operated, and the control program of the printer device is down-loaded from the host 1000 through an interface 1600, and recording control is operated based on the control program. On the other hand, a print instruction from a user is accepted, and a recording mode corresponding to the instruction is compared with a recording mode corresponding to the already down-loaded control program, and the re- down-load of the control program is controlled according to the compared result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer and a control method for the printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer, a control program and character fonts are stored in a non-volatile memory provided in a controller, and the programs and fonts are loaded into a work memory as needed and executed. I was

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, the control program and font data are stored in the non-volatile memory of the controller mounted on the printer device and supplied as a product. If a defect is found in the control program after shipment, there is a problem that it is difficult to immediately respond to this.

In the conventional apparatus configuration, all control programs are stored in a non-volatile memory, and thus are stored in the memory such as a program prepared for a recording mode that is used less frequently. For this reason, considering the frequency of accessing the memory, a memory space with a low frequency is still necessary for storing the program, and there is a problem in terms of memory use efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and a printer device and a printer device capable of efficiently using a small-capacity memory and promptly coping with a problem occurring in a control program. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a control method.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a printer according to the present invention has the following arrangement.

[0007] That is, a printer device having a recording means for performing recording on a recording medium, an interface means for exchanging information with a host, a communication program for communicating with the host, and A first storage unit for storing an initialization program, and when the power is turned on, the initialization program and the communication program are loaded to initialize the printer device, and the printer device is communicated with the host device to communicate with the host device. Initialization means for downloading a control program of the apparatus, and after initialization by the initialization means and downloading of the control program,
And a printing control means for performing printing control based on the control program.

Further, it is preferable that the recording means performs recording according to an ink jet system or an electrophotographic system.

[0009] Further, there may be provided a second storage means for storing a control program and recording data downloaded from the host. In this case, the first storage means is a ROM
The second storage means is preferably a RAM.

Here, the control program downloaded from the host is only the control program that matches the recording mode specified by the host.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a recording unit for transmitting / receiving information to / from a host via an interface and recording the information on a recording medium, a communication program for performing communication with the host, and an apparatus initialization process A control method for a printer device having a first storage medium for storing an initialization program for executing the initialization program and the communication program when the printer device is powered on.
An initialization step of initializing the printer apparatus; a download step of communicating with the host to download a control program of the printer apparatus from the host; and a recording control of performing recording control based on the downloaded control program. Step, a receiving step of receiving a print instruction from a user, a recording mode corresponding to the print instruction, a comparison step of comparing a recording mode corresponding to the control program already downloaded, and a comparison result in the comparison step, And a transfer control step of controlling re-downloading of the control program.

According to the present invention, when the power of a printer device is turned on, the present invention performs communication between the host and an initialization program for performing an initialization process of the device stored in a storage medium provided in the printer device. In addition to executing the communication program, the printer is initialized, the printer communicates with the host, downloads the control program of the printer from the host, performs recording control based on the control program, and performs a print instruction from the user. Is received, the recording mode corresponding to the instruction is compared with the recording mode corresponding to the already downloaded control program, and redownloading of the control program is controlled according to the comparison result.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Schematic Description of Apparatus Main Body> FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as a printer) IJRA as a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a spiral groove 50 of a lead screw 5005 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 5009 to 5011 in conjunction with forward / reverse rotation of a drive motor 5013.
The carriage HC that engages with the pin 04 is a pin (not shown).
And supported by the guide rail 5003 and arrows a and b
Reciprocate in the direction. On the carriage HC, an integrated type ink jet cartridge IJC containing a recording head IJH and an ink tank IT is mounted. 5002
Denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. 50
Reference numerals 07 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which confirm the presence of a carriage lever 5006 in this area, and
Is a home position detector for switching the rotation direction of the camera. A member 5016 supports a cap member 5022 for capping the front surface of the recording head IJH.
Reference numeral 15 denotes a suction device that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the opening 5023 in the cap. 5
Reference numeral 017 denotes a cleaning blade. Reference numeral 5019 denotes a member which allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction. These members are supported by a main body support plate 5018. It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction for recovery of suction. The lever 5021 moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the driving motor is controlled by a known transmission mechanism such as clutch switching. Is done.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired processing can be performed at the corresponding position by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. If a desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

<Description of Control Structure> Next, a control structure for executing the recording control of the above-described apparatus will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the printer IJRA. In FIG. 1, a host computer (hereinafter, referred to as a host) 1000 downloads a control program of the printer to the printer IJRA, instructs a recording mode of the printer, and transfers print data.
0, CPU 1002 is a printer driver or printer I
A hard disk (HD) 1600 for storing a control program and the like to be downloaded to the JRA 1600 is a host 1000
An interface 1700 for inputting a control program, a print mode, and print data from the printer 1700 is a controller that controls the printer IJRA to execute a print operation.

Reference numeral 1701 denotes an MPU, and 1702 denotes an MPU.
A ROM for storing a printer initialization program executed by U1701 and a communication program for communicating with the host 1000;
A RAM 703 temporarily stores print data from the host 1000, print signals supplied to the print head IJH, and the like, or is used as a work fishing period for the MPU 1701 to execute an initialization program. Further, reference numeral 1710 denotes a carrier motor for transporting the recording head IJH, and reference numeral 1709 denotes a transport motor for transporting the recording paper. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a head driver for driving the recording head IJH, and reference numerals 1706 and 1707 denote motor drivers for driving the transport motor 1709 and the carrier motor 1710, respectively.

In the circuit having the above configuration, when print data from the host 1000 is received by the interface 1600, the MPU 1701 converts the received print data into a print recording signal. Then, while driving the motor drivers 1706 and 1707, the printhead IJ is operated in accordance with the print signal sent to the head driver 1705.
H is driven, and recording is performed.

Next, an initialization process and a recording operation in the printer having the above configuration will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. The host 1000 and the printer IJRA can exchange information by bidirectional communication.

(1) Initialization process (FIG. 3) This process is a process for enabling the printer to perform a printing operation when the printer is powered on. Here, it is assumed that the host 1000 has already been started to execute this processing, and the CPU 1001 has executed a printer driver that communicates with the printer IJRA and performs various controls.

First, in step S100, the printer IJR
When power is supplied to A, in step S105, the ROM 1
The printer initialization program stored in the RAM 702 is loaded into the work area of the RAM 1703, and
The PU 1701 executes a printer initialization process. Thereby, the RAM 1703 and the interface 16
00 is initialized.

Next, in step S 110, after the initialization processing is completed, the MPU 1701 notifies the printer driver installed in the host 1000 of the completion of the initialization processing to the printer driver running on the CPU 1001. In response to this, in step S115, the host 1000 transfers the default control program preset in the printer driver, that is, the control program for the most frequently used print mode to the printer IJRA.

In step S 120, the control program thus received is received via interface 1600 and stored in RAM 1703. On the other hand, in step S125, a flag indicating the recording mode of the control program transferred by the printer driver of the host 1000 is set in a predetermined register of the host, and the recording mode is stored. As a result, the host 1000 determines that the control program corresponding to what print mode is currently
It is possible to know whether or not it has been loaded into the AM 1703.

Finally, the process proceeds to step S130,
The printer IJRA waits for an instruction from the host 1000.

The above is the initialization processing at the time of starting the printer.

As described above, in this embodiment, the printer I
When power is turned on, the RAM of the JRA
A program (initialization program) that initializes the H.03 and the interface 1600 to enable communication with the host 1000 is stored. Then, an actual printing operation is performed by downloading a control program required for a printing operation in a specific printing mode from the host 1000.

(2) Recording Operation (FIG. 4) First, in step S200, the user
When an instruction for print processing including an instruction for a print mode is issued from an application program (not shown) executed in 00, the printer driver receiving the instruction transfers the print mode specified by the user to the printer in step S205. It is checked whether or not it matches the recording mode of the specified control program. Since the printer driver stores and manages the flag indicating the recording mode of the control program transferred in the predetermined register as described above, whether the control program corresponding to the recording mode specified by the user already exists in the printer. You can know whether. This prevents the same control program from being downloaded twice in this embodiment.

Here, if it is determined that the control program corresponding to the recording mode designated by the user has already been transferred to the printer IJRA, the process proceeds to step S220.
Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S210.

In step S210, the host 1000 transfers a control program corresponding to the print mode specified by the user to the printer IJRA. In response, the printer IJRA receives the control program via the interface 1600 and stores it in the RAM 1703. In step S215, the printer driver of the host 1000 sets a flag indicating the recording mode of the transferred control program in a predetermined register of the host,
The recording mode is stored. Then, the process proceeds to step S
Proceed to 220.

Now, the process proceeds to step S220.
The MPU 1701 addresses the start address of the program storage area of the RAM 1703 in which the transferred control program is stored, and simply shifts from the state where the program is stored to the state where the program can be executed. On the other hand, the printer driver of the host 1000 executes image processing according to the recording mode specified by the user,
Generate print data. That is, in this embodiment, the controller 1700 of the printer IJRA does not perform any processing for generating print data, for example, interpreting PDL data and converting it to bitmap data. The receiving operation is performed.

Further, in step S225, the host 1
000 printer driver transfers the generated print data to the printer IJRA.
A, in step S230, the interface 16
00 and is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 1703.

In step S230, the controller 1700 of the printer IJRA transfers the print data temporarily stored in the RAM 1703 to the recording head IJH via the head driver 1705 and, for example, transfers the image to a recording medium such as recording paper. Record. According to such a recording operation, the recording medium is conveyed by a predetermined amount, and the recording head I
JH is moved to a position required for the recording. Finally,
In step S235, when the printing operation is completed, the printer shifts to a standby state and waits for an instruction from the host 1000.

The above is the recording operation according to this embodiment.

Therefore, according to the embodiment described above,
When the power of the printer is turned on, an initialization program stored in the ROM of the printer is started, communicates with the host, downloads a control program necessary for the recording operation, and executes the downloaded program. Since recording is performed, it is not necessary to store many control programs in the ROM of the printer, and the capacity of the ROM can be reduced.

Further, since the control program is downloaded from the host as needed, for example, when a problem or an upgrade occurs in the control program, it can be dealt with by downloading from the host. Thus, even if a control program that was available at the time of manufacturing has a problem or a version upgrade, it is not necessary to replace the ROM or the like, and quick action can be taken by downloading from the host.

The configuration of the controller of the printer IJRA is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, but may be, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1704 denotes a gate array (GA) serving as a custom control circuit incorporating a ROM 1702. According to such a configuration, when the power is turned on, the initialization processing program stored in the built-in ROM 1702 of the gate array (GA) 1704 and the communication program with the host 1000 are loaded into the RAM 1703, and the MPU 17
01 performs an initialization process.

In the above embodiment, the printer is an ink jet printer according to the ink jet system, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a printer device according to the electrophotographic system as shown in FIG. But it is good.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer which performs recording by adopting the electrophotographic system.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 740 denotes a laser beam printer (LBP) which forms an image on a recording paper as a recording medium based on a supplied character pattern or the like. Reference numeral 700 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation and an LED display are arranged. Reference numeral 701 denotes a printer control unit for controlling the entire LBP 740 and controlling the printing operation. FIG.
In the block diagram showing the control circuit of the printer IJRA,
The interface 1600 and the controller 1700 are included in the printer control unit 701.

The laser driver 702 is a semiconductor laser 70
And a laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser 703 in response to an input video signal.
04 is turned on / off. The laser beam 704 is swung right and left by a rotary polygon mirror 705 to scan on an electrostatic drum 706. Thus, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 706. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 707 around the electrostatic drum 706,
Transferred to recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 708 mounted on the LBP 740, is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 709 and transport rollers 710 and 711, and is supplied to the electrostatic drum 706. Is done.

Thus, the given print data is recorded and output on the paper.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), a device including one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine). Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or the apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the power of a printer is turned on, an initialization program for performing an initialization process of an apparatus stored in a storage medium provided in the apparatus, a host, and While executing a communication program for performing communication, initializes the printer device, communicates with the host to download a control program for the printer device from the host, and performs recording control based on the control program. A print instruction from a user is received, a recording mode corresponding to the instruction is compared with a recording mode corresponding to the already downloaded control program, and re-downloading of the control program is controlled according to the comparison result. The number of programs to be stored at all times can be reduced, and no unnecessary memory is used. An advantageous effect of reducing the device cost.

Further, since the control program is downloaded from the host, even if a defect is found after shipping the control program, quick response is possible.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an outline of a configuration of an ink jet printer IJRA which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control circuit of the printer IJRA.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an initialization process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a recording operation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another configuration of the control circuit of the printer IJRA.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a laser boom printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 700 Operation panel 701 Printer control unit 702 Laser driver 703 Semiconductor laser 704 Laser beam 705 Rotating polygon mirror 706 Electrostatic drum 707 Development unit 708 Paper cassette 709 Paper feed roller 710, 711 Transport roller 740 Laser beam printer (LBP) 1000 Host 1001 CPU 1002 Hard disk (HD) 1600 Interface 1700 Controller 1701 MPU 1702 ROM 1703 RAM 1704 Gate array (GA) 1705 Head driver 1706, 1707 Motor driver 1709 Carrier motor 1710 Carrier motor HC Carriage IJC Inkjet cartridge IJH Recording head IJRA Inkjet printer Ink tank

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printer having recording means for performing recording on a recording medium, comprising: an interface means for exchanging information with a host; a communication program for communicating with the host; First storage means for storing an initialization program, and when the power is turned on, the initialization program and the communication program are loaded to initialize the printer device, and the printer device communicates with the host device to communicate with the host device. A printer device, comprising: an initialization unit that downloads a control program of the apparatus; and a recording control unit that performs printing control based on the control program after initialization by the initialization unit and downloading of the control program. . 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit performs recording according to an ink jet system. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit performs recording according to an electrophotographic method. 4. The printer device according to claim 1, further comprising a second storage unit that stores a control program and print data downloaded from the host. 5. The printer according to claim 4, wherein said first storage means is a ROM, and said second storage means is a RAM. 6. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the control program downloaded from the host is only a control program that matches a printing mode specified by the host. 7. A recording unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from a host via an interface and recording the information on a recording medium, a communication program for communicating with the host, and an initialization for performing an apparatus initialization process. A control method for a printer device having a first storage medium for storing a program and a program, wherein when the printer device is powered on, the initialization program and the communication program are executed to initialize the printer device. An initialization step; a download step of communicating with the host to download a control program of the printer device from the host; a print control step of performing print control based on the downloaded control program; and a print instruction from a user. A recording mode corresponding to the print instruction; A comparison step of comparing the recording mode corresponding to the control program, according to the comparison result in the comparison step, the control method of the printer apparatus characterized by comprising a transfer control step of controlling the re-downloading the control program. 8. A computer-readable memory which is installed and executed in a host computer and stores a program code of a printer driver for controlling a printer device via an interface, wherein the reception process code receives a request from the printer device. A read processing code for reading a control program of the printer device from a storage medium; a transfer process code for downloading the read control program to the printer device; a reception process code for receiving a print instruction from a user; A comparison processing code for comparing the recording mode corresponding to the print instruction with the recording mode corresponding to the already downloaded control program; and a control processing code for controlling re-downloading of the control program according to the comparison result in the comparison processing. And a computer readable memory.