JPS63200671A - Output interface device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain communication by converting and outputting print information according to an output format into image information at each one bit scanning corresponding thereto to a printer in the output information so as not to impose the load of a special output data format generation to the information processing unit. CONSTITUTION:The conversion output means 32, 33 are provided, which convert and output the print information according to the output format to the printer in the output information into the image information at corresponding bit scanning line according to the result of analysis of the control information in the output information received by a reception means 31. Thus, the output information to the conventional printer provided in general to the information processing unit is converted into the image information and outputted for one bit scanning line each used as it is by other output device such as a facsimile equipment. Thus, the load of generating a special output data format is jot imposed on the information processing unit and communication is attained by connecting other output device easily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Fields] The present invention converts print output information output from an information processing device to a printing device into a format that can be processed by another serial information output device, such as a facsimile device. The present invention relates to an output interface device for converting.

[Prior Art and its Problems] With the recent development of the electronics industry, the price of computers has come down, and computers are now being introduced to small-scale users.

For example, personal computers, office computers, etc.

At the same time, with the development of communication technology, facsimile machines have come to be widely used not only by these computer users but also by companies and individuals who do not have computers.

However, in the past, facsimile machines and computers were separate devices that were independent of each other, and when you wanted to transfer information processed by a computer to another facsimile machine, you first printed it out on a printer installed in the computer. Thereafter, the printed paper had to be placed in a facsimile machine and transferred to another facsimile machine via a telephone line.

Large computers can be equipped with an automatic call function to directly call a telephone line, or can be connected to each other using a dedicated line and can directly transfer information. However, communication control procedures and the like are unique to each computer manufacturer, and if the other party is not a computer of the same system, information text cannot be exchanged in reality.

On the other hand, communication standards for facsimile devices are unified internationally, and communication can be performed between any devices. Therefore, in order to directly send information output from a computer to any location, it is sufficient to connect a facsimile device directly to the computer or the like.

Many computer devices to which this facsimile device can be directly connected have also appeared.

However, with these devices, in order to connect the facsimile device to a computer, it is necessary to create a program to convert the output data into a special facsimile output data format and output it. Special interfaces for connecting devices also had to be provided.

For this reason, users who use small machines such as personal computers, users who cannot develop programs, and the like are unable to connect facsimile machines even if they wish to do so.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and the present embodiment has the following configuration as a means for achieving this purpose.

That is, receiving means receives output information including control information and print information according to an output format to the printing apparatus from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus, and the control information in the output information received by the receiving means is analyzed. and, according to the analysis result by the analysis means, print information according to the output format to the printing device in the output information, and the corresponding one.
and conversion output means for converting and outputting image information for each bit scanning row.

[Function] In the above configuration, output information for a normal printing device that is generally provided in an information processing device can be used as is in another output device, such as a facsimile device, by scanning one bit per line. can be converted into image information and output.

Therefore, it is possible to easily communicate with other output devices without placing a burden on the information processing device to create a special output data format.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, in which 10 is an information processing device that is a host computer that performs various information processing, and 20 is a parallel interface (for example, a parallel interface) connected to the information processing device 10. 30 is an output interface device that converts output information outputted from the information processing device 1o in a format for the printer (printing device) 20 into a format that can be directly used by a facsimile device, etc. and outputs it. , 33 is a facsimile control device;
The facsimile control device 33 includes an image reading device (reader) 34 that reads a transmitted document, a printer 35 that prints out received image information, a modem 36, and an NCU 37.
are connected, and a facsimile control device 33 controls them. That is, the output information sent from the output interface device 3o and converted into facsimile specifications is
You can output it to the attached printer 35, for example #fMI(,M
This is a facsimile control device that performs compression processing such as R and outputs data to the modem 36 according to a control procedure in accordance with CCITT T.30, which is an international standard for facsimile. The facsimile control device 33 of this embodiment is a G III standard machine with an automatic transmission speed fallback function.

Moreover, the modem 36 is CCITT, V27/V2
It is a modem that satisfies the 9 standards and has a maximum of 416 (IOBP).
Modulation and demodulation are performed at a speed of s. NCU37 is an AA equipped with an automatic dialing function that controls the interface with the telephone line.
It is a type line control device. Further, 38 is a telephone line, 39 is a keyboard for inputting telephone number signals and instructions for operating the facsimile machine, 40 is a telephone line network, 41.42
is another facsimile machine, and 45 is a telephone.

In the output interface device 30, 31 is originally a switching circuit for inserting this device in the middle of an interface cable that connects the information processing device 10 and the printer 20, and the switching circuit 31 is a switch input (not shown). Depending on whether the interface signal from the information processing device 10 is directly connected to the printer 20 or
This is used to switch whether or not to connect to the device of this embodiment.

32 is the information processing device 10 via the switching circuit 31
The emulator circuit unit 32 is an emulator circuit unit that converts print information for the printer 10 sent from the printer 10 into facsimile specifications according to control information sent at the same time under control described later. In addition to the specification print information, print information sent via the serial interface from the information processing device 10 according to the R3232C standard is also input.

The reason for directly inputting print information from the serial interface without going through the switching circuit 31 is that no matter what kind of personal computer or office computer it is, the R3
This is because a plurality of interface connectors of the 232C standard are often provided. If only one interface connector is provided, a switching circuit may be provided in the same manner.

The detailed configuration of the emulator circuit section 32 and facsimile control device 33 described above is shown in FIG. Note that the same components as in FIG. 1 are given the same numbers, and their explanations will be omitted.

Emulator circuit section 32 of output interface device 30
, 51 is an E which controls the entire emulator circuit section 32 according to the control procedure stored in the PROM 56.
The CPU 52 is a parallel interface for receiving printer control information and print information from the information processing device 10 sent in parallel from the switching circuit 31;
53 is a serial interface for receiving printer control information and print information sent serially from the information processing device; 54 is a serial interface for receiving JIS character printing code information sent from the information processing device 10 and a corresponding character font pattern; 55 is a custom character registration memory that stores a custom character pattern unique to the information processing device 10 in association with a custom character code, and 56 is a various parameters used in the circuit section 32 in addition to the above-mentioned control procedure. An image memory 57 stores output information imaged in each output page in each main scanning direction using an X-Y conversion circuit according to facsimile specifications until it is output to the facsimile control device 33. A column that converts print information sent from the information processing device in various forms such as ANK/kanji character data, character pattern data, column image data, etc. into image information for each main scanning direction according to facsimile specifications and outputs it to the image memory 57. - an X-Y conversion circuit that performs row conversion; 59 is an FI interface that controls the interface with the facsimile control device 33;
60 is a RAM.

Further, in the facsimile control device 33, 61 is a PR
The FCPU 62, which controls the entire facsimile control device 33 according to the control procedure stored in the OM 65, executes communication control with other facsimile devices according to a predetermined communication control procedure between the modem 36 and the NCU 37. A communication control unit 63 is a compression/expansion unit that performs compression processing such as known MH and MR on communication information, 64 is a timer, and 65 is an FC.
In addition to the control procedure of the PU 61, a PROM stores various parameters required by the facsimile control device; 66 is a reader interface for controlling the reader 34; 67;
is a printer interface for controlling the printer 35; 68 is a storage memory that temporarily stores output information sent via the reader 35 or the FIZE interface 59 until it is output; the storage memory 68 also includes a compression/expansion section; It also temporarily stores the information received from the communication control unit 62 that has been decompressed in step 63. A keyboard interface 69 controls the keyboard 39.

Emulator circuit section 32 of this embodiment having the above configuration
A configuration for converting output information from the information processing apparatus 10 into facsimile specifications will be described below with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. 3 and the control command analysis flowchart of FIG. 4.

In the device of this embodiment, the command analysis unit 70 analyzes control commands of the print information output by the information processing device 10 to a normal printer, and according to the analysis results, the print information sent thereafter is As necessary, the information is distributed to an appropriate processing function unit and processed sequentially. Note that the information sent via the serial interface 53 is
It is converted into a predetermined amount of parallel information (every 8 bits in this embodiment) by the O buffer 53a, matched with the parallel interface, and sent to the command analysis section 70. The command analysis unit 70 selects "Esc-v" (starts printing,
After printing, single sheet ejection command), °″ESU・%・U
For special commands such as "/B" (unidirectional/bidirectional printing designation command), the function instructions are ignored, but for other commands, the corresponding functional processing is converted for facsimile use.

In addition to these printer control commands, various commands shown in the table below are prepared as FID extension commands unique to this embodiment.

By using these extended commands, you can have precise control.

In FIG. 4, when the power is turned on to the output interface device 30, the facsimile control device 33
The power of the facsimile machines is also turned on at the same time, and the initial automatic check routine of step S1 is executed, in which it is checked whether the entire operation of the apparatus of this embodiment is normal. At this time, the control signal from the facsimile control device 33 is also checked at the same time. Here, if something is not normal and some kind of abnormality is detected, that fact is notified and no further control is executed.

! 5. Extended Command Table When normal operation is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S2, where initialization processing is executed, and in subsequent step S3, it is checked whether 1 byte worth of data has been output from the information processing device 10. This data exchange is controlled by an ACK return/busy signal for a known data strobe in the case of a parallel interface, or by X-0 when the FIFO buffer 53a is full in the case of a serial interface.
FF (CD3): Control by returning the ff-code to the information processing device 10 or turning off the ER signal, or by returning the X-0N (CD I) code or turning on the ER signal when the FIFO buffer 53a is ready for reception. , prepare to receive the next data.

Here, if one byte of data has not been input, it waits for input, and when it is input manually, this data is taken in and analyzed by the command analysis section 70. A command from the information processing device 10 is analyzed by a character type specification command analysis unit 71, a print mode specification command analysis unit 72, a horizontal command analysis unit 73, a vertical command analysis unit 74, and the like. As a result, in the case of manually specifying characters such as biroku and elite, specifying character types such as kanji mode, katakana, and hiragana mode, specifying half-width and full-width size, etc., the process advances from step S6 to step Sll. Setting of various attribute flags, etc. corresponding to the process is executed, and the process returns to step s3.

As a result, various data specified by the specified command will be sent successively. That is, when one byte of image data has been input, the process advances from step S4 to step S12, and the column buffer 82 in the RAM 60 is
manually in 8-bit parallel. Note that when attributes are specified such as double-width image transfer, the ECPU5
After each process (image modification) is performed in step 1, the image is stored in the column buffer 82.

On the other hand, if a character code such as an ANK code that is a JIS6220 code, a JIS6226 code, or a shift JIS code (2-byte code) is sent, the process advances from step S5 to step S13, and the received code data is stored in the font memory 54. For example, 24×24 character pattern data is generated and developed (stored) in the column buffer 82 whose position is specified. Note that when attributes such as double-width, vertical writing, compression, and double-height are specified, the data is stored in the column buffer 82 after each process (modification) is performed by the ECPU 51. Then, the process returns to step S3. When the external character code is sent here, it is supplied to the external character registration memo 55 instead of the font memory 54, and corresponding external character pattern data is generated and developed in the column buffer 82.

In the case of receiving the registration command to the private character registration memory 55, the process advances from step S9 to step S14, and the subsequently sent private character pattern is stored in the corresponding area of the private character registration memory 55 specified by the designated private character code. accumulate.

Then, the process returns to step S3.

In the case of inputting a horizontal command, such as a CR command or an HT command, which is a carriage movement command in a serial printer, the process advances from step S7 to step S15, and the column address pointer is updated according to the corresponding code. If this command is a rightward movement command, the contents of the column buffer 82 during that time are cleared.

In the case of particle commands such as LF, FF, and VT, it is a print start command in a serial printer,
The process advances from step S8 to step 316, and when this command is received, the image data stored in the column buffer 82 in, for example, 24 dot rows is read out sequentially row by row, and the X-Y conversion circuit 58 converts the image data from column to row. It is converted and stored in the image memory 57. Then, in step S17, the vapor feed table in the RAM 60 is updated by the amount specified by the vertical command, and the image memory address at which the next converted data is to be stored is updated. For example, in the case of ruling, underlining, etc., after one normal line of pattern information is developed into the image memory 57, the next pattern is not necessarily developed following this developed part. It is also conceivable to overlap some or all of them and perform the next development. In such a case, the image memory address update process becomes effective.

Subsequently, in step 318, it is determined whether the received particle command is a page break command. Here, in the case of a page break command, from step 518 to step S1
Proceeding to step 9, one page's worth of row-converted image data is complete and preparations for facsimile transmission are completed, so the data in the image memory 57 is output to the facsimile control device 33 via the EI interface 59. In the facsimile control device 33, this data is compressed by a compression/expansion section 63, and then output to the telephone line 36 under the control of the communication control section 62.

Note that if an optional expansion memory (not shown) is provided, the transmission information will be stored in this expansion memory once, and after all the transmission information has been stored, the necessary line call processing will be performed. It is also possible to control the transmission to the other party's facsimile machine.

Note that when receiving a printer control command such as CAM, corresponding processing such as updating the column address pointer of the column buffer 82 to the left margin position is executed.

The X-Y conversion circuit 58 is composed of eight 8-bit shift register groups, and the column-row conversion process by the X-Y conversion circuit 58 in step S16 is performed using the column buffer 8.
This is performed in units of 2 8-bit strings. That is, a total of 8 bytes of data is read out in parallel from the column buffer 82 and sequentially input to the shift register group of the XY conversion circuit 58.

When reading data from the X-Y conversion circuit 58, the data is subjected to X-Y conversion in bit units by a shift register group, converted into serial data, and read out. Then, each dot row is sequentially stored in the image memory 57 in units of 8 bits. Note that this image memory 57 basically has a read-modify-write structure, and can perform the above-mentioned overwriting (OR writing). Only when this overwriting is not performed, the read data may be controlled not to be ORed.

To write to the image memory 57 at this time, first, 8-bit data in the first column of the shift register group is written, and then 8-bit data in the second column of the shift register group is written to the image memory 57. , in the row below (next in the sub-scanning direction) the previously written 8-bit data. Then, in the same way, each 8 in the 3rd column, 4th column to 8th column
Each bit of data is written in each column of the image memory 57 with a new line. When these writes are completed, the next 8-byte data is read from the column buffer 82, set in the shift register group, and written in the same column following the 8 bits of the first column written earlier in the image memory 57. Write in the same manner for the second to eighth columns. In this way, writing is performed in about 8 trains.

Note that overwriting is an absolutely necessary function to emulate a serial printer.

That is, in a serial printer, if the print head has a 24-dot parallel configuration, for example, 24
After the printing process for the dot row is completed, there may be a line break of 24 dots or less, and in this case, some of the dot rows are physically overwritten. In the case of a Rask type printer or facsimile, this operation must be performed on the print image memory, and overwriting (OR writing) of the above-mentioned read-modify-write structure is required.

Through the above processing, the printer specification print information is converted into facsimile specification output information and output to the facsimile control device 33.

The facsimile control device 33 that received this output information,
In the case of facsimile transmission control, this information is compressed by the compression/expansion section 63 under known control and then transferred to another facsimile device via the telephone line 36. In this case, it is possible to manually call the desired facsimile device before the transfer, and then control the above-mentioned information processing device 10 to output after the connection is completed, or by using the above-mentioned extended command. , control may be performed using the automatic dialing function of the NCU 37.

Note that since the facsimile control device 33 sends the results of transfer processing with other facsimile devices as an indication to the emulator circuit section 32, the information processing device 1o can check the transfer results as necessary. can. Therefore, if the transmission is not successful, retransmission processing can be performed.

This indication includes "Call Lost Indication" which indicates that the other party's facsimile machine was successfully called but could not be connected, and "Call Lost Indication" which indicates that the line was connected but training or DIS detection was not carried out normally. "
``Procedure failure indication'', ``Transmission loss indication'' indicating failure status during data transmission, ``Validity indication'' indicating normal completion status, ``Invalidity indication'' indicating invalidity of command, and There are "incoming call indication" indicating a call (incoming call), and "list output" notifying a list output of destination ID, dialed number, abbreviated number, group number, etc. set in the facsimile control device 33.

On the other hand, if it is not a facsimile transmission process, the printer 3
In the case of the output mode to 5 (when there is no line call processing), the received information is printed out from the printer 35 via the printer interface 67.

Furthermore, the facsimile control device 33 of this embodiment not only receives output information from the emulator circuit section 32, but also outputs information from the reader 3.
4, the read image information is compressed and expanded by the compression/expansion section 63 as is well known, and then sent to the other party's facsimile device under the control of the communication control section 62. Instead, a so-called copy mode process may be executed in which the data is output from the printer 35 as is.

In the above description, an example has been described in which the facsimile control device 33 is connected to the output interface device 30, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a CRT display device of the Rusk scan method or the like may be connected to the output interface device 30.
Output information for each serial 1-bit scanning line from the water device,
By directly converting to a video format and outputting it, you can create a new C format without creating a special data format.
RT can be connected.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, the information processing device 1
0 has general Centronics specifications or R32
Can be connected to a 32C specification interface,
Moreover, using these commonly available data processing programs, it is possible to connect a facsimile machine without the need for any special program such as complicated data conversion, and it is possible to connect a facsimile machine using a telephone line network. Output information from an information processing device can be sent to any location.

Therefore, by using this embodiment, even general office automation users can easily connect a computer and a facsimile machine without requiring any special programming ability, and can transfer various data processed by a computer directly to a telephone line. The output can be transferred to other places via.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, output information from a normal printing device generally provided in an information processing device can be used as is in another output device, for example, a facsimile device. It can be converted into image information for each 1-bit scanning line and output. Therefore, it is possible to easily communicate with other output devices without placing a burden on the information processing device to create a special output data format.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of this embodiment, Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of this embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a command analysis of this embodiment. , and a flowchart showing data conversion control. In the figure, 10... Information processing device, 20. 35... Printer, 30... Output interface device, 31... Switching circuit, 32... Emulator circuit section, 33
...Facsimile control device, 34...Reader, 36
...Modem, 37...NCU, 39...Keyboard, 41.42...Other facsimile devices, 45...
・Telephone, 51. 61...CPU, 52...Parallel interface, 53...Serial interface, 54 Font memory, 55...External character registration memory, 5
6.65...FROM, 57...image memory,
58...
...Compression/expansion section, 66...Reader interface, 6
7... Printer interface, 68... Storage memory, 69... Keyboard interface, 70...
Command analysis unit 82: Column buffer.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Receiving means for receiving output information including print information and control information according to the output format to the printing apparatus from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus, and analyzing the control information in the output information received by the receiving means. and a conversion output means that converts print information according to an output format to the printing device in the output information into corresponding image information for each 1-bit scanning line according to the analysis result by the analysis means and outputs the image information. An output interface device comprising: (2) The conversion output means converts the character code in the received print information into a corresponding pattern, develops the image information into a pattern as it is, and outputs it for each horizontal dot line according to the control command. Range 1
Output interface device as described in section. (3) The output interface device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the output information is sent as parallel information every predetermined number of times.