KR0159722B1 - Exhaustion warning method of printer consumption goods - Google Patents

Abstract

[Technical field to which the invention described in the claims belong]

The present invention relates to a consumption warning method of printer consumables.

[Technical Problem to Solve]

Displays the consumption warning of the printer's consumables on the host's monitor.

[Summary of the solution of the invention]

Searching the status of the consumables of the printer, if the consumables are consumed after searching the status of the consumables, and transmits the consumption warning data of the consumables from the printer to the host, and displays the consumption consumption alerts on the host.

[Important Uses of the Invention]

It can be used in printers capable of bidirectional communication with the host.

Description

Warning Consumption of Printer Consumables

1 shows a block diagram of a typical host.

2 shows a block diagram of a conventional laser beam printer.

Figure 3 shows the flow of the host of the consumption warning method of printer consumables according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows the flow of the printer of the consumption warning method of printer consumables according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: CPU 12: I / O Interface

14: input device 16: auxiliary storage device

18: printer 20: memory

22: display controller 24: monitor

26: video controller 28: computer interface

30: video control unit 32: engine interface

34: OPE 36: printer engine unit

38: video interface 40: engine control unit

42: I / O interface 44: sensor circuit

46: mechanical drive part 48: electrophotographic developing part

The present invention relates to a method for warning when a consumable of a printer is consumed, and more particularly, to a method for displaying a warning of consumption of a consumable in a printer at a host.

In a conventional printer, a method of informing the timing of replacement of a consumable is to display the status of the consumable in the OPE (Operating Panel Equipment) of the printer.

The state of the consumables can be known by generating a sensor signal indicating the state of the toner or the developer of the printer in the sensor circuit of the printer, and searching the sensor signal by the video controller.

For example, in the case of toner, the remaining amount of toner is retrieved. After the retrieval, the toner low is displayed on the display device of the OPE if the toner is low, and the toner amplifier is displayed on the display device of the OPE if the toner is low. At this time, the user can see the display and know the toner status.

In another example, when the life of the developer expires, a command to display the developer is displayed on the display device.

The display device typically uses a liquid crystal display device. Accordingly, when displaying the status of the consumables, certain contracted characters were displayed. Accordingly, the user could see the text displayed on the liquid crystal display device and refer to the manual to know the state of the consumables.

Also, in a printer shared by a plurality of hosts, the status of the consumables of the printer could not be known unless the user went directly to the place where the printer was installed and checked the status of the consumables of the printer shown in the OPE.

As described above, the conventional method for indicating the status of the consumables of the printer displays the contracted characters displayed on the liquid crystal display of the printer, so that a user who does not know the contracted characters may not know the state of the consumables. In addition, there was an inconvenience that the user can not know the status of the consumables of the printer without checking the OPE of the printer.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a consumption warning method of printer consumables for displaying a consumption state of a printer's consumables on a monitor of a host.

The present invention for achieving the above object is to search the status of the consumables of the printer, and if the consumables are consumed after searching the status of the consumables, by sending the consumption warning data of the consumables from the printer to the host, displaying the consumable warnings on the host. Characterized in that.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the annexed drawings, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. And a detailed description of known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

The present invention is possible between a printer and a host capable of bidirectional communication. However, in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, a laser beam printer will be described as an example.

1 shows a block diagram of a typical host. The host includes a CPU 10, an input / output interface 12, an input device 14, a laser beam printer 18, an auxiliary memory device 16, a memory 20, a display controller 22 and a monitor 24. It consists of. The CPU 10 controls the overall computer system by executing a set program.

The input / output interface 12 interfaces signals input and output between the CPU 10, the input device 14, the auxiliary storage device 18, and the laser beam printer 18.

The input device 14 is a device for inputting various information or commands to the CPU 10 and may be a keyboard or a mouse. As the auxiliary memory device 16, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, or the like is used. The laser beam printer 18 is an output device for outputting various types of information processed by the CPU 10, and other printers, plotters, etc. may be used in addition to the laser beam printer 18.

The display controller 22 displays various processing information of the CPU 10 on the monitor 24 under the control of the CPU 10. The memory 20 stores the execution program of the CPU 10 and temporarily stores processing data of the CPU 10. The memory 20 is composed of ROM, RAM, and cache.

2 shows a block diagram of a conventional laser beam printer 18. As shown in FIG. The laser beam printer 18 is largely comprised of a video controller 26, a print engine unit 36, and an OPE 34. The video controller 26 includes a computer interface 28, a video controller 30, and an engine interface 32. The computer interface 28 is connected between the host computer and the video control unit 30 to interface the input and output signals. The video controller 30 includes a ROM having a control program and a font, a OPE 34 and a RAM for temporarily storing various data input from a host computer, and is received from the computer interface 28. The print data is emulated into image data that can be processed by the print engine, and transmitted to the print engine unit 36. The engine interface 32 interfaces an input / output signal with the print engine 36 under the control of the video controller 30. The OPE 34 is controlled by the video controller 30 and includes a plurality of keys for inputting various commands according to the present invention and a display device for displaying information according to the operation of the laser beam printer 18.

The print engine unit 36 includes a video interface 38, an engine control unit 40, an input / output (I / O) interface 42, a sensor circuit 44, an instrument driving unit 46, and an electrophotographic developing unit 48. Is connected to the video controller 26. The video interface 38 provides an interface for transmission and reception signals between the video controller 26 and the engine controller 40. The engine control unit 40 controls the mechanical drive unit 46 and the electrophotographic developing unit 48 under the control of the video controller 26 and prints an image according to the image data received from the video controller 26 on paper. In addition, the engine control unit 40 detects an operation state of each part of the print engine unit 36 through the sensor circuit 44. Examples of the operation state of each of the above portions are paper feeding and conveying states.

The I / O interface 42 is connected between the engine control unit 40, the sensor circuit 44, the mechanical drive unit 46, and the electrophotographic developing unit 48 to interface the input / output signals of the engine control unit 40. The sensor circuit 44 drives various sensors for sensing the operation state of each part of the print engine unit 36, the paper feeding and conveying state, the developer amount, and the like, and the detection signal of each sensor is transmitted to the engine control unit 40. to provide. The mechanism driving unit 46 drives various mechanisms for feeding, feeding and printing paper sheets under the control of the engine control unit 40, and the electrophotographic developing unit 48 controls the image data under the control of the engine control unit 40. Print the image on paper.

FIG. 3 shows a flow in a host of a method of warning of consumption of printer consumables in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a laser beam printer 18 of a method of warning of consumption of printer consumables in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Shows the flow in. Accordingly, the operation of the flows by the laser beam printer 18 and the host will be described in detail.

When the user finishes editing the image to be printed using the host and wants to perform printing, the user inputs a print command through the host's input device 14, and is transmitted to the data CPU 10 according to the input. At this time, the CPU 10 performs step (50). In step 50, the CPU 10 converts the edited image into encoded print data. After the conversion, the CPU 10 transmits the print data to the laser beam printer 18. When the transmission of the print data is finished, the CPU 10 performs step 52. In step 52, the CPU 10 searches whether the consumable status data is received from the laser beam printer 18. At this time, if consumable status data is received from the laser beam printer 18, step 54 is performed, and if consumable status data is not received, it is searched again whether consumable status data is received.

In step (54), the CPU 10 searches whether the consumable state data is consumable state data for a toner low. At this time, the CPU 10 performs step 56 if the consumable status data is consumable status data for the toner row, and performs step 58 if the consumable status data is not consumable status data for the toner row. In step 56, the CPU 10 reads data from the memory 20 to display the toner low. After the read, the data is transmitted to the display controller 22 to display the toner low on the monitor 24. At this time, the display of the toner low may be displayed using a phrase that the user can easily understand, or may be displayed graphically. When the display ends, the CPU 10 performs step 66.

On the other hand, in step 58, the CPU 10 searches whether the consumable state data is consumable state data for the toner amplifier. After the retrieval, the CPU 10 performs step (60) if the consumable state data is data for a toner amp, and performs step (72) if it is not data for a tort amp. In step 60, the CPU 10 reads data for displaying the toner amplifier from the memory 20. When the read is finished, the CPU 10 transmits the data to the display controller 22 to display the toner amplifier on the monitor 24. At this time, the display of the toner amplifier may be displayed using a phrase that the user can easily know, or may be displayed graphically. When the display ends, the CPU 10 performs step 66.

On the other hand, in step 62, the CPU 10 searches whether the consumable state data is data on the end of developer life. At this time, the CPU 10 performs step (64) if the data is data on the end of the developer life, and performs step (52) if the data is not data on the end of the developer life.

In step 64, the CPU 10 reads data from the memory 20 to display the developer replacement. When the read is finished, the CPU 10 sends the data to the display controller 22 to display the developer replacement on the monitor 24. At this time, the display of the developer replacement can be displayed using a phrase that can be easily understood by the user, or can be displayed graphically. When the display ends, the CPU 10 performs step 66.

As described above, when the host transmits data on the state of the consumables from the laser beam printer 18, the host displays the state of the laser beam printer 18 on the monitor 24 of the host correspondingly.

The operation of the laser beam printer 18 according to the flow of the present invention will now be described.

When power is applied to the laser beam printer 18, the video controller 30 of the laser beam printer 18 performs initialization and performs step 66. In step (66), the video controller 30 searches whether the print data is transmitted from the host. In this case, if the print data is transmitted, the video controller 30 performs step 68, and if the print data is not transmitted, the video controller 30 searches whether the print data is transmitted again. In step 68, the video controller 30 searches whether the consumable state data is data on the toner low. At this time, if the consumable state data is data indicating toner low, the video controller 30 performs step (70). If the consumable state data does not indicate toner low, step (74) is performed.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the consumable state data is provided from the engine controller 40 to the video controller 30. The engine control unit 40 generates the consumable state data by retrieving a sensor signal from the sensor circuit 44. At this time, the consumable state data indicates three states, a toner low state, a toner amplicity state, and a cartridge end of life state.

On the other hand, in step 70, the video controller 30 transmits consumable status data indicating toner low to the host. When the transmission ends, the video controller 30 performs step 82.

On the other hand, in step 74, the video controller 30 searches whether the consumable state data is data representing a toner amplifier. At this time, the video controller 30 performs step (76) if the data is data representing the toner amplifier, and performs step (78) if the data is not data representing the toner amplifier. In step 76, the video controller 30 transmits the consumable status data indicating the toner amplifier to the host. When the transmission ends, the video controller 30 performs step 82.

On the other hand, in step (78), the video control unit 30 searches whether the consumable state data is data indicating that the developer life has ended. In this case, the video controller 30 performs step 80 if the data indicates the end of the developer life, and performs step 82 if the data does not indicate the end of the developer life. In step 80, the video controller 30 transmits the consumable state data indicating the end of the developer life to the host. When the transmission ends, the video controller 30 performs step 82.

In step 82, the video controller 30 converts the received print data into image data. When the conversion is completed, the video controller 30 performs step 84. In operation 84, the video controller 30 transmits the image data to the engine controller 40. At this time, the engine control unit 40 drives the mechanism driving unit 46 and the electrophotographic developing unit 48 to print an image according to the image data.

In this way, the laser beam printer 18 transmits data according to the state of the consumables to the host, and the host receives data according to the state of the consumables so that the user can know when the data indicates that the consumables are falling. Indicates that the consumable has run out.

As described above, when the consumables of the printer run out, the present invention displays them on the monitor of the host so that the user does not have to check the status of the consumables directly on the printer. Since the display is a character that can be seen easily, there is an advantage that you can conveniently know the status of the consumables.

Claims (5)

In the consumption warning method of the printer consumables, the printer retrieves the status of the consumables of the printer, and if the consumables are consumed, transmits the consumption warning data of the consumables from the printer to the host, and the host displays the consumable warnings according to the data. A consumption warning method for printer consumables. A consumable warning method of using consumables in a printer, comprising: a consumable status search step of searching for a status of consumables of a printer; and a consumable warning step of transmitting consumable warning data of consumables from a printer to a host if consumables are consumed after retrieving the status of the consumables; And a display step of receiving the consumption warning data and displaying the same on a host. The method of claim 2, wherein the consumption consumption method of the printer consumables comprises: a print data transmission step of performing a consumable state search step when the print data is received from a host and the transmission of the print data is completed; And a printing step of performing printing when the consumable is not consumed after searching for the consumable. A consumption consumption method for printer consumables, comprising: a print data receiving step of receiving print data from a host, a toner amount retrieving step of detecting a toner amount after receiving the print data, and a toner low state of a predetermined toner low state or less; A toner low data transfer step of transmitting data on the toner low to a host, a printing step of printing an image according to the print data after the toner low data is transmitted, and receiving the toner low data from a printer And a toner-low display step of displaying. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the consumption warning method of the printer consumable includes, in the toner amount retrieving step, transmitting a toner amplifier data to a host if the toner amount is equal to or less than a preset toner amplifier state, and performing the printing step. And a toner amplifier display step of receiving the toner amount amplifier data and receiving the data from the host and displaying the toner amplifier on a monitor of the host.