JPH1178167A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer system which can perform a precise electricity saving operation in accordance with working condition of a printing apparatus. SOLUTION: By a receiving command from computors 2A-2C through a network, data on delayed time from a printing operation of a printer 1 to breaking of power supply to an engine part 10 of a power source 25 are transmitted to the printing apparatus 1 and are set and stored in a power source breaking information controlling part 22 and after printing operation of the printer 1 is finished, with the passage of the delayed time, a switch circuit 12 is made OFF by an power source controlling part 17 driven by controlling of a request controlling part 16 based on a command of a system controlling part 13 and power supply to the engine part 10 is broken and an operator judges condition of printing processing by the printer 1 and sets an appropriate delayed time for breaking the power source in the printer 1 to make it possible to use the printing apparatus by good operatability and under power saving condition preventing wasteful consumption of power from occurring.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer system in which a printer is connected to a computer via a network, and a printing operation is performed by the printer based on transmission data from a transmission source computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer system in which a printer is connected to a computer via a network and a printing operation is performed by the printer based on data received from a transmission source computer, a conventional mode and an energy saving mode have conventionally been used. A method in which selection setting is performed by an operator has been adopted. In this case, when the energy saving mode is selected, if the printer is not used for a certain period of time,
Switching of operation to reduce power consumption has been performed. However, in the conventional printer system, since the energy saving mode is selected by the operator, the mode may not always be selected appropriately.

To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
According to Japanese Patent No. 4324, when the host printer determines that print data does not remain, the printer sets the printer to the second mode with low power consumption, and when it determines that print data exists, the printer sets the printer to the first mode with high power consumption. Is disclosed.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-338327, when a paper discharge sensor detects paper discharge, it is confirmed that there is no data in a reception buffer and a drawing buffer, and the power supply is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed. A power control circuit is disclosed.

[0005]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the printer system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209, predetermined power is always supplied to the engine unit of the printer even if the second mode with low power consumption is set, and a complete power saving operation is not performed. .

In the printer power supply control circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-338327, when paper discharge is detected and it is confirmed that there is no data in the reception buffer and the drawing buffer, the power supply is turned off after a predetermined time. Although a complete power saving operation is performed, it may take a long time until the power is turned on and the printer operation is executed depending on the interval of use by the operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the current state of operation of such a printer system as described above.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer system capable of performing an appropriate power saving operation according to the operation state of a printing apparatus.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a printer is connected to a computer via a network, and the printer is connected to a computer based on data received from a source computer. In a printer system in which a printing operation is performed by a printer,
Communication control means for performing communication control with the computer, analysis means for analyzing data received from the computer, print data storage means for storing print data in the received data, and the analysis means Request control means for controlling the processing of the received data based on the analysis of the request data; printing means controlled by the request control means for performing a printing operation based on print data in the print data storage means; Means for controlling, based on the power cutoff information in the received data, after a predetermined delay time from the end of the printing operation, a power delay cutoff means for cutting off the power supply to the printing means, based on the power cutoff information, Time setting means for setting a delay time of power cutoff by the power delay cutoff means. It is an butterfly.

Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention is different from the first aspect of the present invention in that a power cutoff prohibiting means for prohibiting the operation of the power delay cutoff means is provided. It is characterized by the following.

[0010] Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 3 is provided with a power supply error shut-off means for detecting a printing continuation inability error and shutting off the power supply. It is characterized by being carried out.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing apparatus in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the command format of the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the exemplary embodiment.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 1 for performing a printing operation is connected to a computer 2A, a network 2 such as a LAN (local information communication network) or a WAN (wide area information network). 2B, 2C,
Via a Centronics standard interface, the LAN is connected to the LAN by an Ethernet method. The printing apparatus 1 includes, as shown in FIG.
A control unit 11 connected to a power supply 25 for controlling the operation; and an engine unit 10 connected to the power supply 25 via the switch circuit 12 for performing a printing operation on recording paper.
It is composed of

In the control unit 11 of the printing apparatus 1,
A LAN / WAN communication control unit 14 is connected to a system control unit 13 that controls the entire operation via a system bus B, and a network N is connected to the LAN / WAN communication control unit 14 to perform LAN / WAN communication. The control unit 14
Via a network N of LAN or WAN, the other computer and, in the case of LAN, Ethernet (Eth
(Ethernet) method, and has a function of controlling communication.

Similarly, a centro communication control section 15 for performing communication control according to the Centronics standard is connected to a system control section 13 for controlling the entire operation via a system bus B. The interface circuit 15a is connected, and the centro interface circuit 15a is connected to the network N.

Similarly, a LAN / WAN is transmitted to a system controller 13 for controlling the entire operation via a system bus B.
A reception buffer 18 in which data received by the communication control unit 14 and the centro communication control unit 15 are stored, a LAN / WAN
A reception data analysis unit 19 for analyzing data received by the communication control unit 14 and the centro communication control unit 15 to determine and extract print data and power-off information; and a reception data analysis unit 19
A request control unit 16 that controls storage of print data and ON / OFF control of the power supply based on the analysis result in is connected.

Similarly, a system controller 13 for controlling the entire operation is provided with a drawing buffer 21 for storing print data via a system bus B, and an engine unit 10 based on print data read from the drawing buffer 21. The engine control unit 20 that controls the printing operation of the printer is connected to the engine control unit 20, and the engine unit 10 is connected to the engine control unit 20.

The system control unit 13 for controlling the entire operation includes a power cutoff information management unit 22 in which power cutoff information is set via the system bus B;
A power control unit 17 for performing OFF control is connected, and the switch circuit 12 is connected to the power control unit 17. Further, in the present embodiment, the system control unit 13 is provided with a power-off timer for measuring a time-out period until power-off.

In this embodiment, among the computers 2A, 2B and 2C, the format of the command received together with the print data from the transmission source computer is a request indicator 5a as shown in FIG. And time data 5b until the power is turned off.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 1 based on the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1 of the flowchart of FIG. 4, when data received from the computer via the network N is received by the LAN / WAN communication control unit 14 and the centro communication control unit 15, the system control unit 13
The received data is stored in the reception buffer 18 by the command of (1), and in step S2, the received data
It is determined whether the reception data stored in the reception buffer 18 is print data.

Since the received data contains a command prior to the print data, it is first determined in step S2 that the received data is not a print data but a command. In response to the instruction 13, the received data analysis unit 19 acquires a power-off instruction upon detection of the request indicator 5a from the command 5, and further acquires time data 5b until the power-off.

When a request to set a power-off parameter is made to the request control unit 16 in step S3 by a report from the received data analysis unit 19 to the request control unit 16, the process proceeds to step S4, where the request control unit 1
According to 6, the data of the time until the power is cut off is set and stored in the power cut-off information management unit 22 based on the time data 5b until the power is cut off.

In this state, if it is determined in step S2 that print data has been received, the received print data is stored in the receive buffer 18, and the received data analysis unit 19 confirms that the received data is print data. Then, the request control unit 16 is notified of the print data reception. In this case, when it is determined that the power supply cutoff operation is being performed by the power supply control unit 17, the power supply control unit 17 driven by the request control unit 16 supplies power to the engine unit 10 in accordance with a command from the system control unit 13. Supply is resumed.

Then, in response to the report of the reception of the print data from the reception data analysis unit 19, the print data read from the reception buffer 18 is stored in the drawing buffer 21 by the request control unit 16 in step S5. The engine control unit 20 is controlled by a command from the control unit 13.
Is operated, the print data read from the drawing buffer 21 is transmitted to the engine unit 10, the engine unit 10 is driven, and the engine unit 10 performs a printing operation on recording paper based on the print data.

Next, in step S6, a power delay timer is set according to a command from the system control unit 13. In step S7, the reception data analysis unit 19 determines whether or not print data reception is being performed. If it is determined that the print data is being received, the timer operation is reset, and the process returns to step S1 to execute the same process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print data receiving operation is not being performed, the process proceeds to step S8, where the system control unit 13
In step S4, the power-off information management unit 2
The end of the timeout period set to 2 is determined.

If it is determined in step S8 that the time-out period has expired, the process proceeds to step S9, where the power supply control unit 1 is instructed by the system control unit 13.
By 7, the supply of power to the engine unit 10 is cut off by switching of the switch circuit 12.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, after the printing apparatus 1 stops the printing operation by the command 5 transmitted from the computers 2A to 2C via the network N, the engine unit 10 The data of the delay time until the power supply to the power supply is cut off is transmitted to the printing apparatus 1 and stored in the power cutoff information management unit 22. After the printing operation by the printing apparatus 1 is completed, the set delay time is set. After passing, the engine unit 1
The power supply to 0 is shut off. For this reason, the operator judges the status of the printing process by the printing apparatus 1, sets an optimal power-off delay time to the printing apparatus 1, and operates the printing apparatus 1 with good operability and prevents unnecessary power consumption. It can be used under power saving conditions.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the format of a command according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the computers 2A, 2A
As shown in FIG. 5, the format 6 of the command transmitted from the transmission source computer together with the print data in B and 2C includes a request indicator 6a, an ON / OFF signal 6c for power-off processing, and power-off. Of time data 6b. In the present embodiment, the reception data analysis unit 19 is newly provided with a function of detecting the ON / OFF signal 6c of the power cutoff process, and the request control unit 16 is notified by the notification from the reception data analysis unit 19
A function of prohibiting the power cutoff control of the power control unit 17 is newly provided.

The structure of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment already described, and will not be described again.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
A description will be given with reference to FIG.

In step S11 of the flowchart in FIG. 6, when the LAN / WAN communication control unit 14 and the centro communication control unit 15 receive the data received from the computer via the network N, the system control unit 1
In response to the command of No. 3, the received data is stored in the reception buffer 18, and in step S12, the reception data analysis unit 19 determines whether the reception data stored in the reception buffer 18 is print data.

Since the received data includes a command prior to the print data, first, in step S12,
If it is determined that the received data is not a print data but a command, the received data analysis unit 19 detects a request indicator 6a from the command 6 and acquires a power-off command according to a command from the system control unit 13. Then, the ON / OFF signal 6c of the power cutoff process and the time data 6b until the power cutoff are obtained.

When a request to set a power-off parameter is made to the request control unit 16 in step S13 in response to a report from the received data analysis unit 19 to the request control unit 16, the process proceeds to step S14. As a result, a flag indicating whether or not to shut off the power is set and stored in the power shutoff information management unit 22. When the power is shut off, the time until the power shutoff is determined based on the time data 5b until the power shutoff. The data is set and stored in the power cutoff information management unit 22 at the same time.

In this state, if it is determined in step S12 that print data has been received, the received print data is stored in the receive buffer 18, and the received data analysis unit 19 confirms that the received data is print data. Then, the request control unit 16 is notified of the print data reception. In this case, when it is determined that the power supply cutoff operation is being performed by the power supply control unit 17, the power supply control unit 17 driven by the request control unit 16 supplies power to the engine unit 10 in accordance with a command from the system control unit 13. Supply is resumed.

Then, in response to the report of the reception of the print data from the reception data analysis unit 19, in step S16,
The print data read from the reception buffer 18 is stored in the drawing buffer 21 by the request control unit 16,
In response to a command from the system control unit 13, the engine control unit 2
The print data read from the drawing buffer 21 is transmitted to the engine unit 10, and the engine unit 10 is driven, and the engine unit 10 performs a printing operation on recording paper based on the print data.

Next, proceeding to step S17, it is determined whether or not to execute the power-off process by detecting the ON / OFF signal of the power-off process of the received data analysis unit 19, and it is determined that the power-off process is to be performed. Then, in step S18, a power delay timer is set in accordance with a command from the system control unit 13.

In step S19, the received data analysis unit 19 determines whether or not print data is being received. If it is determined that print data is being received, the timer operation is reset. , Step S11
When the same processing is executed and it is determined that the print data receiving operation is not being performed, the process proceeds to step S20, where the timeout set in the power shutdown information management unit 22 in step S15 by the command of the system control unit 13 is performed. A determination of the end of time is made.

If it is determined in step S20 that the time-out period has expired, the process proceeds to step S21, where the power supply control unit 17 switches the switch circuit 12 according to a command from the system control unit 13. The supply of power to the engine unit 10 is interrupted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the command 6 transmitted from the computers 2A to 2C via the network N causes the printing apparatus 1 to stop the printing operation, and then, An ON / OFF signal indicating whether or not to interrupt the power supply to the printer 1 and data of a delay time from when the printing operation of the printing apparatus 1 is stopped until the power is shut off when the power is shut off are transmitted to the printing apparatus 1 and the power is transmitted to the printing apparatus 1. After the printing operation by the printing apparatus 1 is completed, the power supply is turned ON / OFF.
When the OFF signal is ON, the power supply to the engine unit 10 is cut off after the elapse of the set delay time. For this purpose, the operator judges the status of the printing process by the printing apparatus 1 and determines whether or not to turn off the power after the printing operation of the printing apparatus 1 is stopped. An optimal delay time is set in the printing apparatus 1, and in a situation where the printing apparatus 1 is used continuously, power cutoff is prohibited, and the printing apparatus 1 is efficiently operated with good operability and a power saving state in which useless power consumption is prevented. It can be used below.

Third Embodiment A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the system control unit 13 detects an error such as a paper jam in the printing apparatus 1, running out of toner, disconnecting the line, etc., and issues an alarm to the request control unit 16. A function is newly provided, and the request control unit 16 is newly provided with a function for causing the power supply control unit 17 to perform a power-off operation based on an alarm from the system control unit 13.

The structure of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment already described, and will not be described again.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
A description will be given with reference to FIG.

In step S31 of the flowchart in FIG. 7, when the LAN / WAN communication control unit 14 and the centro communication control unit 15 receive the data received from the computer via the network N, the system control unit 1
According to the instruction of No. 3, the received data is stored in the receiving buffer 18, and in step S32, the received data analyzing unit 19 determines whether the received data stored in the receiving buffer 18 is print data.

Since the received data contains a command prior to the print data, first in step S32,
If it is determined that the received data is not a print data but a command, the received data analysis unit 19 detects a request indicator 6a from the command 6 and acquires a power-off command according to a command from the system control unit 13. Then, the ON / OFF signal 6c of the power cutoff process and the time data 6b until the power cutoff are obtained.

When a request to set the power cut-off parameter is made to the request control unit 16 in step S33 by the report from the reception data analysis unit 19 to the request control unit 16, the process proceeds to step S34. As a result, a flag indicating whether or not to shut off the power is set and stored in the power shutoff information management unit 22. When the power is shut off, the time until the power shutoff is determined based on the time data 5b until the power shutoff. The data is set and stored in the power cutoff information management unit 22 at the same time.

In this state, if it is determined in step S32 that print data has been received, the received print data is stored in the receive buffer 18, and the received data analysis unit 19 confirms that the received data is print data. Then, the request control unit 16 is notified of the print data reception. In this case, when it is determined that the power supply cutoff operation is being performed by the power supply control unit 17, the power supply control unit 17 driven by the request control unit 16 supplies power to the engine unit 10 in accordance with a command from the system control unit 13. Supply is resumed.

Then, in response to the report of the print data reception from the reception data analysis unit 19, in step S36,
The print data read from the reception buffer 18 is stored in the drawing buffer 21 by the request control unit 16,
In response to a command from the system control unit 13, the engine control unit 2
The print data read from the drawing buffer 21 is transmitted to the engine unit 10, and the engine unit 10 is driven, and the engine unit 10 performs a printing operation on recording paper based on the print data.

Next, the process proceeds to step S37, in which the system control unit 13 determines whether or not an error such as a paper jam in the printing apparatus 1, a toner exhaustion, or a disconnection of the line has occurred. If it is determined that the alarm has occurred, the process proceeds to step S42, where an alarm signal is input from the system control unit 13 to the request control unit 16, and the power control unit 17 is driven by the control of the request control unit 16 based on the alarm signal. And switch circuit 1
The power supply to the engine unit 10 is cut off by the OFF switching operation of No. 2.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S37 that no printing continuation inability error has occurred, step S38 is performed.
To turn on the power cutoff process of the reception data analysis unit 19
By detecting the / OFF signal, it is determined whether or not to perform the power-off processing. If it is determined that the power-off processing is to be performed, the power-supply delay timer is set by a command from the system control unit 13 in step S39. Done.

Next, proceeding to step S40, the received data analysis unit 19 determines whether or not print data is being received. If it is determined that print data is being received, the timer operation of the timer is reset. , Step S31
When the same processing is performed and it is determined that the print data receiving operation is not being performed, the process proceeds to step S41, and the timeout set in the power cutoff information management unit 22 in step S35 by the command of the system control unit 13 in step S35. A determination of the end of time is made.

If it is determined in step S41 that the timeout period has expired, the flow advances to step S42, where the power supply control unit 17 switches the switch circuit 12 according to a command from the system control unit 13. The supply of power to the engine unit 10 is interrupted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained by the second aspect of the present invention, the system controller 13 causes the printing apparatus 1 to jam the paper, use up the toner, and remove the line. It is determined whether or not a print continuation failure error such as connection disconnection has occurred. If it is determined that a print continuation failure error has occurred, a warning signal is input from the system control unit 13 to the request control unit 16, and request control based on the warning signal is performed. The power supply control unit 17 is driven by the control of the unit 16, and the power supply to the engine unit 10 is cut off by the OFF switching operation of the switch circuit 12. Is prevented, and the power saving effect can be further improved.

[0055]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printer is connected to the computer via the network, the communication control means controls the communication with the computer, and the communication from the computer as the transmission source is performed. The received data is analyzed by the analyzing means, the print data in the received data is stored in the print data storing means, the printing means is controlled by the request control means which operates based on the analysis of the analyzing means, and the printing operation is performed based on the print data. Is performed. In this case, the power setting delay time is set by the time setting means based on the power cut information in the data received from the computer. After a predetermined delay time, the power supply to the printing means is cut off. Therefore, the operator judges the status of the printing process by the printer, sets the optimum power cut-off delay time in the printer, and operates the printer with good operability. ,
It can be used in a power saving state in which useless power consumption is prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect obtained by the first aspect of the present invention, since the power cutoff prohibiting means for prohibiting the operation of the power delay cutoff means is provided, the operator can continuously operate. In a situation where the printer is used in a typical manner, the delay cutoff of the power supply after the end of the printer operation is prohibited, and the printer can be used more efficiently and efficiently.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect obtained by the first aspect of the present invention, when a printing continuation inability error is detected, the power supply is shut off by the power supply error shutoff means. Useless power consumption at the time of occurrence of a non-continuation error is prevented, and the power saving effect can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printing apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a command format according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a command format according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 printing device 2A to 2C computer 3 printer system 5, 6 command 10 engine unit 11 control unit 12 switch circuit 13 system control unit 16 request control unit 17 power supply control unit 18 reception buffer 19 reception data analysis unit 20 engine control unit 22 power off Information Management Department

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer system in which a printer is connected to a computer via a network and a printing operation is performed by the printer based on data received from a computer serving as a transmission source. Communication control means for performing the following; analysis means for analyzing data received from the computer; print data storage means for storing print data in the received data; and the received data based on the analysis by the analysis means. Request control means for controlling the processing of the following; printing means controlled by the request control means to perform a printing operation based on print data in the print data storage means; controlled by the request control means; Print operation is completed based on the power shutdown information After a predetermined delay time, a power delay cutoff means for cutting off the power supply to the printing means, and a time setting means for setting a delay time of power cutoff by the power delay cutoff means based on the power cutoff information. A printer system, characterized in that: 2. The printer system according to claim 1, further comprising a power cutoff prohibiting unit for prohibiting the operation of the power delay cutoff unit. 3. A printer system according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply error shut-off unit for detecting an error in which printing cannot be continued and shutting down the power.