JPH1032657A - Multi-function input/output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the multi-function input/output device in which a scanner issues a command to a personal computer so as to execute a function (application) of the personal computer. SOLUTION: A printer controller board 5 is provided with a system ASIC 51 to control a printer 1, a DRAM 53, a DRAM SIMM 55 storing print data to be sent to the printer 1, an HDD 7 storing a font and a program, and an HDD I/F 54 to conduct interface, and a scanner 2 is provided with an operation panel 21 to enter a preset function, a scanner controller 6 is provided with a scanner ASIC 61 to control the scanner 1 and a DUART 62 making communication with an operation panel 21 and a command entered by the operation panel 21 is issued for the personal computer and the personal computer executes the function according to the issued command.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an input / output device in a multi-function system in which functions can be expanded in a wide variety by connecting other function modules based on a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various devices have been improved in performance and function,
With the progress of miniaturization and networking (construction of LAN),
In digital copiers, multifunctional digital copiers having a facsimile function, an offline printer function, a network function, and the like in addition to a copy function are provided. Further, as an example of a digital copying machine, a digital copying machine in which a scanner unit and a printer unit are housed in separate housings to improve the degree of freedom in installation layout is also provided.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art, although the multifunctionality of the device is progressing, since each function is internally separated, a new function is obtained by combining each function. There was an inconvenience that it was difficult to realize it. Therefore, as a solution to this problem, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 7-197779.
No. "Method for constructing an extended multifunctional system based on a printer", comprising a printer module for controlling a printer engine to realize a printer function, and a PCI bus which is a general-purpose high-speed bus connected to the printer module. A scanner module, a network module, a facsimile module, a function module such as a personal computer module are connected to the PCI bus based on a printer, and a scanner function, a copy function, a network function,
There has been proposed a method of increasing the number of functions of a system and improving the expandability of functions by additionally expanding a facsimile function and a personal computer function.

Further, in a conventional system including a scanner, a printer, a controller thereof, and a personal computer, although each function is multifunctional, each function is internally separated. It was difficult to realize a new function by combining. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-function input / output device capable of extending the functions of a scanner and issuing commands from the scanner to a personal computer to use the functions of the personal computer.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, a first means is to control a printer engine of a printer to realize a printer function, and to control a scanner engine of a scanner to implement a scanner function. A multi-function input / output device including a scanner controller for realizing, connected to a personal computer via a bus, and capable of performing a plurality of external inputs / outputs with respect to the personal computer, the printer controller comprising: First storage means for storing print data to be transmitted to the printer;
A second storage main unit for storing fonts and programs, wherein the scanner is provided with an operation panel capable of inputting preset functions, the scanner controller comprises: scanner control means for controlling the scanner, Communication means for communicating with the operation panel; issuing commands from the operation panel to the personal computer via the scanner control means and the bus; and the personal computer executes functions according to the issued commands. It is characterized by doing.

A second means is that the printer control means in the first means comprises a system application supplied IC and a central control unit, and the first storage means comprises a DRAM and a DRAM SIMM. It is characterized by:

The third means is characterized in that the second storage means in the first means comprises a hard disk device.

The fourth means is characterized in that the command in the second means is constituted as a software development kit.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a multifunction input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a printer 1 serving as a base of a multi-function input / output device, and a scanner 2 for realizing a scanner function and a copy function. These printers 1 and 2 can operate independently as a printer or a scanner. These are a printer controller board 5 and a scanner board connected to an enhanced board 3 of a personal computer and a PCI bus 4.
Controlled by the controller board 6, the printer function and the scanner function are combined, and also function as a copying machine.

The printer controller board 5 includes:
A system ASIC (SYSTEM ASIC) 51 for sending data to a printer and a C for controlling the entire system
A PU 52, a DRAM 53 functioning as a printer memory and a scanner memory, and a hard disk interface (HDD I / F) 54 for controlling access to the hard disk device 7 having a function of storing printer fonts and scan data are mounted. , A DRAM SIMM 55 can be added.

The scanner controller board 6 includes:
A scanner ASIC (SCANNER ASIC) 61 for operating image data transmitted from the scanner 2 and a duart (DUART) 62 for communicating with the operation panel 21 provided in the scanner 2 are mounted. Each element 51, 52, 53, 54 on the board 5 and each element 61 on the scanner controller board 6;
Reference numerals 62 are respectively connected by a bus 8, and an enhanced computer of the personal computer is connected via the PCI bus 4.
Connected to board 3. That is, in the present system, an input / output system is constructed between a printer controller board 5 and a personal computer (not shown) by using three boards of the scanner controller board 6 and the enhanced board 3.

The operation panel (OPERATION PANEL) 21
Is provided on the upper surface of the scanner 2 as shown in FIG.
A CD (Liquid Crystal Display) 211 and a keypad 212 are provided. The keypad 212 is provided with function keys 2121 and numeric keys 2122.

With this configuration, when one of the keys 2121 and 1222 of the keypad 212 shown in FIG. 2 is pressed, the state change information due to the pressing is processed by the DUART 62, and the enhanced board is connected via the previous PCI bus 4. The application (if the application is running) on the third side is notified as an asynchronous event (command). Since this command has a function key 2121 in addition to the numeric keypad 2122, the application can know a change in the input state from these keys. Therefore, when the application side receives information indicating that the function key has been pressed, for example, it performs a series of processes such as scanning, saving a data file, printing, and reading data in the multifunctional input / output device. Can be performed without intervention.

That is, the application on the personal computer side assigns a series of processing such as scan → display display → print to one function key, so that the user does not have to perform any troublesome operation on the personal computer side. Operation panel 21 on scanner 2
Thus, the application on the personal computer side can be operated.

Further, if a command for operating the scanner device and a command for operating the printer device can be input using a software development kit (SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT), an external third party can be used. The third vendor (THIRD VENDOR) can realize all the functions of this device by using the above kit. In this case, the command sent from the application is converted by the CPU 52 into a command for the printer 1 and / or the scanner 2, and the printer 1 or the scanner 2 is controlled according to the command. Therefore, by adopting such a configuration, the present apparatus is opened to a third party on software, and the possibility of expanding the apparatus is greatly expanded.

Further, the applications include the enhanced board 3, the PCI bus 4, the bus 8, and the HDD I / O.
Scan data can be stored in the hard disk device 7 attached to the printer controller board 5 via F54, print data can be transmitted, or the stored scan data can be read. Therefore, the present apparatus causes the scanner 2 to execute a scan by a scan command output from the application, the image data read by the scanner 2 is processed by the scanner ASIC 61, and the data scanned by the scan command is stored in the DRAM 53.
Alternatively, after storing in the DRAM SIMM 55, the HDD
7 is saved in an existing file format, for example, TIFF FILE, BMPFILE. The application automatically reads or prints by issuing a read command when reading the file and issuing a print command when printing or copying.

[0018]

As apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The printer controller includes printer control means for controlling the printer, first storage means for storing print data to be transmitted to the printer, and second storage main means for storing fonts and programs. An operation panel capable of inputting functions is provided, and the scanner controller includes: scanner control means for controlling the scanner; and communication means for performing communication between the operation panel, and a scanner control means and a bus via the operation panel from the operation panel. A command is issued to the personal computer, and the personal computer executes a function according to the issued command. Therefore, a series of operation commands are issued from the personal computer in accordance with the command input by the user from the operation panel. Is output, automatically in the personal computer side application in accordance with the operation command is executed. At that time, it is easy to combine the operations of the scanner as the input device and the printer as the output device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the printer control means includes a system application supplied IC.
And a central controller, wherein the first storage means is a DRA.
Since the M and the DRAM SIMM are used, the printer can be controlled in response to the instruction output of the application from the personal computer.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the second storage means comprises a hard disk device, a large amount of print data and scan data can be stored,
It can sufficiently cope with applications on the personal computer side.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the command is configured as a software development kit, it is possible for a third party as a third party to realize all the functions of the apparatus. Can be further expanded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an extended multifunction input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of a scanner and a keypad of the system of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Scanner 21 Operation panel (operation panel) 211 LCD (liquid crystal display) 212 Keypad 2121 Function key 2122 Numeric keypad 3 Enhanced board 4 PCI bus 5 Printer controller board 51 System ASIC 52 CPU 53 DRAM 54 HDDI / F 55 DRAM SIMM 6 Scanner controller board 61 Scanner ASIC 62 DUART 7 HDD 8 Bus

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer controller for controlling a printer engine of a printer to realize a printer function, and a scanner controller for controlling a scanner engine of a scanner to realize a scanner function. The printer controller is connected to a personal computer via a bus. A multi-function input / output device capable of inputting / outputting a plurality of inputs / outputs from / to a personal computer from outside, the printer controller comprising: a printer control unit for controlling a printer; And a second storage main unit for storing fonts and programs. The scanner is provided with an operation panel capable of inputting a preset function, and the scanner controller is a scanner control unit for controlling the scanner. And before Communication means for communicating with an operation panel; issuing a command from the operation panel to the personal computer via the scanner control means and the bus; and the personal computer executes a function according to the issued command. Multifunctional input / output device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The printer control means includes a system application supplied IC and a central control device, and the first storage means includes a DRAM and a DRAM.
2. The multi-function input / output device according to claim 1, comprising a SIMM. 3. The multi-function input / output device according to claim 1, wherein said second storage means comprises a hard disk device. 4. The multi-function input / output device according to claim 2, wherein said command is configured as a software development kit.