JPH1178168A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a printing condition from being changed to an printing condition which a user does not desire even when a printing condition setting command is transferred from a host computor. SOLUTION: A laser printer discriminates printing data when the printing data are received from a host computor 4 and if the printing data are not a printing condition setting command, an ordinary processing is performed and if they are the printing condition setting command, information in a column of 'disregarding the command' corresponding to a pertinent item of the printing condition set at present time (in a printing condition registering table) (the information on whether the printing condition setting command is disregarded) is referred and if the information is NO (information which does not disregard the printing condition setting command), an ordinary processing (processing of the printing condition setting command) is performed and if it is YES (information which disregards the printing condition setting command), the printing condition setting command is disregarded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various image forming apparatuses such as printers, digital copiers, and facsimile machines connected to a host computer, and more particularly to a technique for setting printing conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a printer is generally provided with two means for setting printing conditions. One is a means for setting the contents of each item of the printing condition by an operation signal (user key operation) from the operation unit of the image forming apparatus, and the other is a means for setting the printing condition by a printing condition setting command from the host computer. This is a means for setting the contents of each item. In a normal image forming apparatus,
Those settings are effective later.

[0003]

However, in the image forming apparatus having the above-described two means, the contents of each item of the printing condition set by the key operation on the operation unit are determined by the printing condition from the host computer. In some cases, the print result may be changed by the setting command and the print result desired by the user may not be obtained.

When the image forming apparatus executes printing, a user operates a key on an operation unit of the image forming apparatus to set the contents of each item of printing conditions, and then creates the contents on a host computer such as a word processor. Generally, a procedure for sending print data such as document data to an image forming apparatus is described.

When printing the print data sent from the host computer, the image forming apparatus analyzes a command included in the print data. The command is a reset command or a command for changing printing conditions. Then, the content of each item of the printing condition set by the user's key operation on the operation unit is reset or changed, so that the printing result desired by the user cannot be obtained.

When the printing conditions are set by an operation signal from the operation unit, each item of the printing conditions (character pitch, character pitch,
It is necessary to input the contents of font type, resolution, scaling ratio, etc.) by key operation on the operation unit. However, since the number of items is large, key operation for inputting the contents of each item is very This is an annoying task.

Therefore, in order to reduce the work of setting printing conditions, the contents of all commonly used printing conditions are stored and registered as a data table in a nonvolatile memory as a data table, and printing is started when printing is started. An image forming apparatus has been commercialized in which any one of the data tables can be selectively called to set the contents of all items of the printing conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. Even in a case where a printing condition setting command is sent from a host computer in an image forming apparatus, the present invention provides
An object of the present invention is to prevent a user from changing to a printing condition that the user does not desire.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a first condition for setting the contents of each item of the printing condition by a printing condition setting command from a host computer is provided.
Print condition setting means, print condition registration means for registering a plurality of contents of all items of the print conditions as a data table in accordance with an operation signal from the operation section, and a plurality of print conditions registered in accordance with the operation signal from the operation section. And a second print condition setting means for selecting any one of the data tables and setting the contents of all items of the print condition.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, each data table has information on whether or not to ignore a print condition setting command from a host computer for each item of print conditions.
When a print condition setting command is received from the host computer after the contents of all items of the print conditions are set by the print condition setting means, the information corresponding to the corresponding item of the print conditions set by the second print condition setting means If the information is information that does not ignore the print condition setting command, it processes the print condition setting command from the host computer, and if the information is information that ignores the print condition setting command, And a data processing unit for ignoring the print condition setting command.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when a command for canceling a mode for ignoring a print condition setting command is received from a host computer, a canceling unit for canceling the mode is provided. It is. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, there is provided a release unit that releases a mode in which a print condition setting command from a host computer is ignored when print data is not received for a predetermined time.

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the plurality of data tables registered by the printing condition registration means have information on whether or not to ignore the printing condition setting command from the host computer for each item of the printing condition. When a print condition setting command (print condition change command) is received from the host computer after the contents of all items of the print condition are set by the second print condition setting means, the print condition set by the second print condition setting means is set. Is referred to, and if the information does not ignore the print condition setting command, the print condition setting command from the host computer is processed (second
The processing for changing the setting contents of the item corresponding to the printing conditions set by the printing condition setting means to the contents instructed by the printing condition setting command is performed.) If the information ignores the printing condition setting command, Since the printing condition setting command from the host computer is ignored, even if the printing condition setting command is sent from the host computer, the printing condition is not changed to a printing condition that is not desired by the user. Therefore, the user can reliably obtain a desired print result by a simple operation.

Further, when a command (for example, put at the end of a print job) for canceling a mode for ignoring a print condition setting command is received from the host computer, the mode is canceled so that printing of a previous print job can be performed. The condition can be prevented from affecting a later print job. Alternatively, even if the mode in which the print condition setting command from the host computer is ignored is canceled when print data is not received for a certain period of time, it is possible to prevent the print conditions of the previous print job from affecting the subsequent print jobs. Can be prevented.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a laser printer embodying the present invention.
It comprises a printer control board (controller) 1, an operation panel (operation unit) 2, and a printer engine 3.

The printer control board 1 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as “CPU”) 11 and a program ROM.
12, NVRAM (non-volatile memory) 13, RAM14
And an operation panel interface (hereinafter, “interface” is abbreviated as “I / F”) 15 and an engine I / F 1
6, a host I / F 17.

The CPU 11 performs overall control of the entire printer control board 1, such as processing print data (print data, control codes, etc.) from the host computer 4 according to a control program stored in the program ROM 12. The program ROM 12 stores fixed data including a control program executed by the CPU 11. NV
The RAM 13 is used to hold data that needs to be held even when the power is turned off.

The RAM 14 is a work memory used when the CPU 11 performs data processing, a receiving buffer (input buffer) for temporarily managing print data from the host computer 4 in page units and temporarily storing the data in the receiving buffer. The print data in the print data is converted to the actual print pattern, and the video data (video signal)
It is used for a bit map memory or the like for storing as. The operation panel I / F 15 transmits display control data and receives each key information with the operation panel 2.

The engine I / F 16 transmits commands and video signals to the printer engine 3, and receives status signals from the printer engine 3. Host I /
F17 is for receiving various commands (control signals) and data sent from the host computer 4 and transmitting a status signal indicating the status of the printer to the host computer 4, and a host device to be connected. Various serial I / F or parallel I
Select / F.

The printer engine 3 is a laser writing unit that optically scans a photosensitive member (not shown) with a laser beam modulated in accordance with a video signal, and forms an image formed of the photosensitive member and process devices around the photosensitive member. The image forming apparatus includes a unit and a mechanical unit including a paper transport unit including rollers such as a pair of registration rollers, and an engine driver serving as a control unit. The engine driver forms an image according to a command and a video signal from the printer control board 1. The printing process is executed by controlling the sequence operation of the unit and the paper transport unit and the video modulation signal to the laser writing unit.

The operation panel 2 has a display section for displaying various information such as the status of the printer, and an operation section for setting the operation mode, fonts and the like of the printer. The host computer 4 is a host device such as an office computer, a personal computer, a word processor, a data processing device, or an image processing device. The host computer 4 prints out print data such as document data created here. The print data is sent to the printer.

Here, print data from the host computer 4 is stored in a reception buffer in the RAM 14 through the host I / F 17 and is sequentially processed. The print data in the print data is developed as video data (bitmap data) on a bitmap memory of the RAM 14 in page units. When the development of one page is completed, the video data is converted into a video signal through the engine I / F 16. The data is sent to the printer engine 3 and printing is performed.

Each section of the printer control board 1 functions as first and second printing condition setting means, printing condition registration means, and data processing means according to claims 1 to 3. Further, it also functions as the releasing means of claim 2 or 3.

Next, a part of the laser printer of this embodiment which is directly related to the present invention will be described. In the laser printer of this embodiment, a plurality of data tables (hereinafter, referred to as “print condition registration tables”) as shown in FIG. 3 can be registered in the NVRAM 13.

In each of the printing condition registration tables,
The column of “item” shows each item of the printing condition, and the “setting contents”
Indicates the user's settings for that item. The “command ignore” column is information for determining whether to ignore a command (print condition setting command) for changing the setting content of an item having a print condition from the host computer 4. (Information on whether to ignore the print condition setting command).

In this embodiment, “character pitch”, “line pitch”, “font”, and “magnification” are given as examples of items. However, in practice, all items of printing conditions that can be set by the printer are included. Put in this table. Further, the number of printing condition registration tables is set to three, but the number may be more or less.

When registering frequently used printing conditions, the user performs a corresponding key operation on the operation panel 2.
As a result, an operation signal corresponding to the key operation is output from the operation panel 2, so that the CPU 11 of the printer control board 1 stores the contents of all items of the printing condition in the NVRAM 13 as a printing condition registration table by the operation signal. Register (save). The contents of the printing condition registration table can be changed by operating the keys on the operation panel 2.

When outputting print data created on the host computer 4 to a laser printer for printing, the user operates in the following order. (1) Each key on the operation panel 2 is operated to select any of the printing condition registration tables used for printing. (2) The keyboard of the host computer 4 is operated to print the print data created on the host computer 4.

When the operation (1) is performed, an operation signal corresponding to the operation is output from the operation panel 2, so that
The CPU 11 of the printer control board 1 selects the corresponding printing condition registration table from the printing condition registration tables registered in advance by the operation signal, and sets the contents of all the printing condition items (setting contents of each item). To the internal parameters).

When the operation (2) is performed, the host computer 4 sends the created print data to the laser printer. In a laser printer, the host computer 4
When print data is received from the printer control board 1, the CPU 11 of the printer control board 1 processes the print data. Hereinafter, the processing will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an example of print data processing according to the first aspect of the present invention in the laser printer of FIG. In this laser printer, when print data is received from the host computer 4, the CPU 11 of the printer control board 1 determines the print data. If the print data is not a print condition setting command, normal processing, that is, print data is converted to video data And the like.

If the print data received from the host computer 4 is a print condition setting command, the information in the “ignore command” column corresponding to the corresponding item of the currently set print condition (print condition registration table) (Information on whether to ignore the print condition setting command)
If the information is “no” (information that does not ignore the print condition setting command), normal processing (processing of the print condition setting command) is performed.

That is, a process of changing the setting content of the item corresponding to the currently set printing condition to the content specified by the printing condition setting command is performed. If the information in the “ignore command” column corresponding to the corresponding item of the currently set print condition (print condition registration table) is “Yes” (information that ignores the print condition setting command), the print condition Ignore setting commands.

In the above-described processing, when a print condition setting command is sent from the host computer 4, whether or not the command is ignored by referring to the print condition registration table (whether or not the print condition is currently set). (Whether or not to change the setting content of the item to be performed to the content instructed by the printing condition setting command). It will not be changed. Therefore, the user can reliably obtain a desired print result by a simple operation.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of print data processing in the laser printer of FIG. 2 according to the second and third aspects of the present invention. Here, a mode in which the laser printer ignores a printing condition setting command from the host computer 4 (a printing condition setting command ignoring mode).
Is provided with a flag as to whether or not to validate.

Therefore, the operation (1) is normally performed, and when an operation signal corresponding to the operation is output from the operation panel 2, the CPU 11 of the printer control board 1
Selects the corresponding printing condition registration table among the printing condition registration tables registered in advance by the operation signal, and sets the contents of all items of the printing condition (reflects the setting contents of each item to the internal parameters) ), The flag is turned ON.

Thereafter, when a command for canceling the print condition setting command ignore mode (print condition change ignore mode reset command) is received from the host computer 4 or when print data is not received for a certain period of time, the flag is turned off. Cancel the print condition change ignore mode.

In this laser printer, when print data is received from the host computer 4, as shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 11 of the printer control board 1 determines the print data, and if the print data is not a print condition setting command, Normal processing (processing such as converting print data into video data) is performed. If the command is a print condition setting command, the above flag is checked. If it is not ON, normal processing (processing of the print condition setting command) is performed.

When the flag is ON, information in the “command ignore” column corresponding to the corresponding item of the currently set print condition (print condition registration table) (whether the print condition setting command is ignored or not) If the information is “no” (information that does not ignore the print condition setting command), normal processing (processing of the print condition setting command) is performed, and “yes” (the print condition setting command is If it is information to be ignored), the print condition setting command is ignored.

In the above-described processing, when a command for canceling the mode for ignoring the print condition setting command (for example, at the end of a print job) is received from the host computer 4 or when print data is not received for a predetermined time, Since the mode is canceled, it is possible to prevent the printing conditions of the previous print job from affecting the subsequent print job.

The embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a laser printer has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to other printers such as an LED printer and a liquid crystal shutter printer, as well as a digital copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, and the like. Is applicable to various image forming apparatuses.

[0041]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, even when a printing condition setting command is sent from the host computer, the printing condition is not changed to the one not desired by the user. Therefore, the user can reliably obtain a desired print result by a simple operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of print data processing in the laser printer of FIG. 2 according to the invention of claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a laser printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a printing condition registration table on the NVRAM 13 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of print data processing according to the second and third aspects of the present invention in the laser printer of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Printer control board 2: Operation panel 3: Printer engine 4: Host computer 11: CPU 12: Program ROM 13: NVRAM 14: RAM 15: Operation panel I / F 16: Engine I / F 17: Host I / F

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first method for setting the contents of each item of a printing condition by a printing condition setting command from a host computer.
Print condition setting means, print condition registration means for registering a plurality of contents of all items of the print conditions as a data table in accordance with an operation signal from the operation section, and printing condition registration means in accordance with the operation signal from the operation section. A second print condition setting means for selecting any one of the plurality of data tables and setting the contents of all items of the print condition, wherein each data table is provided for each item of the print condition. When a print condition setting command is received from the host computer after the second print condition setting unit has set the contents of all items of the print condition, the information having information on whether to ignore the print condition setting command from the host computer. Referring to the information corresponding to the item corresponding to the printing condition set by the second printing condition setting means, If the information does not ignore the print condition setting command, the print condition setting command from the host computer is processed, and if the information does not ignore the print condition setting command, the print condition setting from the host computer is performed. An image forming apparatus comprising a data processing unit for ignoring a command. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
An image forming apparatus comprising: a release unit that releases a mode for canceling a mode for ignoring a print condition setting command when the command is received from the host computer. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
An image forming apparatus comprising: a release unit that releases a mode in which a print condition setting command from the host computer is ignored when print data is not received for a predetermined time.