JPS6052384A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate operations from the detection of the absence of a printing paper to the restart of printing, by a method wherein when the absence of a printing paper is detected during printing, the printing condition is stored by a printer-controlling part, and after a new printing paper is supplied, printing is restarted by clearing of operation of a line feed key and a paper presence signal. CONSTITUTION:A printer-controlling part 10 receives data from a host computer 11, sequentially stores printing data into a one-line buffer 12, and printing is started when the buffer 12 is filled up with the data or when a printing starting command is inputted. When printing proceeds and a finishing end part 6 of the paper reaches a paper absence sensor 4, the part 10 is informed of the absence of the paper, then the printing condition, printing parameters or the like at that moment are stored as they are, and the line feed key (LF key input part) 2 and the sensor 4 are operated. When a new printing paper is supplied, the sensor 4 detects the presence of the paper, the computer 11 is informed of the one-line condition, and printing is started sequentially from the data stored when the absence of the paper has been detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a printer, and particularly to a printer equipped with a line feed key that feeds print paper by a predetermined line and a sensor that detects the presence or absence of print paper.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, in this type of printer, when a paper end or near end is reached during printer operation according to a signal from a sensor that detects the presence or absence of printing paper, the operator is notified of the state by a lamp or a buzzer, and the printer is stopped. In order to continue, the operator first places the printer in an offline state (a state in which printing is not possible).

This operation is performed by operating keys such as an online/offline key or a select/deselect key on the printer. After that, if there is any remaining paper, eject the printed paper by using the line feed key (LF key), the four hand feed key, or the die operation. After that, set new paper and use the line feed key etc. to advance the printing paper to the printing start position. Thereafter, various key operations are required from the time when the printer is placed on-line (ready for printing) and printing is interrupted until a new sheet of paper is fed and printing is resumed, which makes the printer operation complicated.

Purpose C] Therefore, the present invention aims to eliminate such conventional drawbacks, and provides a printer that can simplify the operation from the time when no print paper is detected until the time when new print paper is supplied and printing is resumed. The purpose is to provide.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below according to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a printing state in a printer according to the present invention. In the figure, what is indicated by the symbol " is a print head, and as will be explained below, when this print head 1 moves left and right via the printer control unit to print one line on the print paper 5, Paper 5 is 1 upwards
The line is advanced and printing continues. The printer is provided with a paper out sensor 4 that detects the presence or absence of printing paper 5, and a lamp 3 is normally lit to indicate that it is in an online state (printable state). The printer is also provided with a line feed key (LF key), which allows printing paper to be fed by a predetermined number of lines in the printing direction.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a control system for controlling such a printer as a block diagram, and a paper out sensor section 4 is connected to the printer control section IO in FIG. In addition to controlling the printer accordingly, a line feed key manual section 2 is connected to control paper feeding. Similarly, the lamp unit 3 is connected to display the online status. Furthermore, the printer control unit IO receives data from the host computer and sequentially stores the print data in the one-line buffer 12. l When the line buffer 12 is full or when a print start command is received, the print section I
3 to start printing via the print head 1.

The lamp unit 3 lights up/flashes to inform the operator of the printable/unprintable status, that is, the online/offline status. The printer control unit IO also notifies the host computer If of this status at the same time.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which printing progresses in such a configuration, the paper is fed upward, and the printing paper runs out. That is, in FIG.
The special grade non-sensor section 4 that has reached the limit notifies the printer control section 10 that there is no paper left. The printer control unit 10 notifies the host computer 11 that printing has become impossible, and also causes the lamp unit 3 to blink to notify the operator.

Further, the printer control unit 10 stores the printing state, printing parameters, etc. at that time as they are, and senses the line feed key 2 and the paper out sensor 4. The operator continues to press the line feed key 2 to eject the remaining paper, and continues to press the line feed key 2 until the paper end 6 passes through the head 1 and the paper can be removed, and then takes out the paper.

FIG. 4 shows the state when printing is resumed, and the operator first sets new printing paper. Thereafter, the line feed key 2 is continued to be pressed until the leading edge 7 of the paper passes through the paper empty sensor '4 and passes through the primary print head to reach the position desired for printing, and then the line feed key 2 is released. After confirming that the line feed key 2 has been released and the paper out sensor 4 has been turned off, the printer control unit 10 turns on the lamp 3 and indicates to the operator that the printer is in a printable state (online state). At the same time, the host computer is also notified that it is online. Thereafter, the printer control section returns the printing parameters and the like to the state immediately before the paper ran out, making it possible to resume printing.

FIG. 5 shows this series of states as a flowchart. That is, in FIG. 5, the l line buffer 3 is initialized in step S1, and then in step S1.
At step 2, print data is sent from the host computer to the one-line buffer 12 via the printer control section. This state continues until the line buffer is full.
In step S3, it is determined whether the one line buffer is full, and if it is full, printing for one line is performed in step S4. In this way, printing is performed line by line sequentially. In step S5, it is determined whether there is paper or not, and if paper is detected to be out of paper, in step S6, the host computer II is notified that it is offline, and is notified via the lamp unit 3 that printing will not be possible ( Step S7). Continuation ('1) It is determined in step S8 whether or not the line feed key is operated, and if it is operated, the process proceeds to step S9.
Line feeding is carried out line by line in step SIO, and if the one-way valve is not activated, the presence or absence of paper is determined in step SIO. When new printing paper is supplied here, the paper out sensor detects the presence of paper, lights up a lamp in step Sll, and notifies the host computer 11 that it is ready to print.512) Then, the process returns to step S2 and printing is started sequentially from the data when paper out was detected.

In the embodiments described above, the printing paper is roll paper (
The printing paper is not limited to this, and can also be used as a cut sheet.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when it is detected that there is no printed paper during printing, the printer control unit memorizes the printing state at that time, and then after new printed paper is supplied, the operation of the line feed key is released. It is possible to resume printing from the state of the printing parameters when paper out was detected based on the print paper presence signal, so you can easily operate the line feed key and paper out sensor without having to perform complicated key operations. With this synergistic effect, printing can be completely resumed, resulting in a printer with good operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram explaining seven states of printing according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which printing progresses and no paper is detected, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which new paper is fed, and Figure 5 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operation flow of the printer according to the present invention. 1...Print head 2...Line feed key 3.
...Lamp 4...Paper out sensor 5...Print paper 1
0...Printer control unit 11...Host computer 12...L line buffer 13...Printing unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a printer that prints via the printer control unit in response to signals from the line feed key and a sensor that detects the presence or absence of print paper, when no print paper is detected during printing, the printer control unit sets the print parameters for the current state. , and resumes printing from the above state based on a release of a line feed key operation and a print paper presence signal after supplying a new print paper.