KR20020034239A - Printer and method for controlling work thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A printer and method for controlling operation of the same is provided to prevent waste of paper by being capable of printing not only the whole of a file but also a part of the file. CONSTITUTION: A printer includes an interface part(10); a video processing part(20); a storage part; a key input part(40); a display part(50); a printing part(60); and a control part(70). The control part stores a work file provided by a computer in the storage part and forms a work information table including a work name, a user's name, total number of pages and address information for each of the pages to store in the storage part. The control part responds to selection of number of copies to be printed and range of pages to be printed of the work file made by the key input part and refers to the work information table to open the selected work file in the storage part and to output to the video processing part and the printing part according to work order set up. The control part output work processing status to the display part.

Description

Printer and its work control method {PRINTER AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING WORK THEREOF}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer and a method for controlling the job thereof, and more particularly to a printer including a storage unit such as a hard disk driver, which can print a part of a job file and display a job progress. It is about.

With the widespread use of computers, printers for printing and outputting computer work results on paper are also becoming widespread. In general, a printer has a main purpose of printing output, and the basic specification is to immediately process data provided from a computer and print it on paper.

However, as the performance of the computer has been increasing day by day, the speed of the printer is also required. However, since the printing speed of the printer is significantly slower than that of the computer, the printing operation using the computer has been limited to the printing speed of the printer.

In addition, in an office environment, a plurality of computers are commonly connected to one printer and shared, thereby further slowing down a print job.

Accordingly, a method of storing a work file including a storage means in a printer and retrieving a stored work file has emerged. Initially, the storage capacity was several pages, but recently, a printer has been introduced, in which a large amount of hard disk driver or RAM disk driver is installed in the printer to store a large number of job files in the printer and output the stored job files. Therefore, the operator can retrieve and print the job file stored in the printer without going through a computer, thereby improving convenience in use.

However, a printer having such a large storage function simply prints the entire selected job file, and thus, even when only a part of the job file is output, the entire printer is outputted. In addition, it was inconvenient to use because the work progress is unknown.

In order to solve the problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to output not only the entire output but also partial output in outputting a job file stored in a storage unit of a printer, and to prevent the waste of paper by displaying the work progress. The present invention provides a printer and a job control method which can improve convenience.

1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a printer including a general hard disk driver.

2 is a view for explaining a job control method of a printer including a conventional hard disk driver.

3 is a view for explaining a job control method of a printer including a hard disk driver according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of creating a job information table according to the present invention;

5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation progress status display operation according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: interface unit 20: video processing unit

30: storage unit 40: key input unit

50: display unit 60: printing unit

70: control unit

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, the method of the present invention stores a job file provided from a computer in a storage means, and includes a job name, a user name, a total number of pages, and respective page address information associated with the job file. Providing an information table, selecting a job file stored in the storage means, setting a number of prints and a print page range of the selected job file, and referring to the job information table according to the set job command And displaying the work progress while reading and printing the selected work file from the storage means.

The printer of the present invention includes an interface unit for inputting a job file from a computer, a video processing unit for processing data of the job file as print video data, and a storage for storing the input job file and the job information table associated with the job file. A storage unit for storing a unit, a key input unit for inputting a command key signal, a display unit for displaying a job progress, a printing unit for printing a selected job file on paper, and a job file provided from a computer in the storage unit. A job information table including a job name, a user name, a total number of pages, and each page address information associated with the job file is stored in the storage unit, and the number of prints and print pages of the job file selected through the key input unit; In response to the setting of the range, in accordance with the set work command with reference to the work information table. The bulreoda the job file is selected from the storage to the printing, the progress of work and output through the video processing unit and the printing unit characterized in that a control unit for display on the display unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail the present invention through an embodiment of the present invention.

1 shows a circuit configuration of a printer including a general hard disk driver. The printer of FIG. 1 includes an interface unit 10, a video processing unit 20, a storage unit 30, a key input unit 40, a display unit 50, a printing unit 60, and a control unit 70.

The interface unit 10 inputs a work file and control data in a parallel or serial manner with a personal computer. The video processor 20 converts the data of the work file into print video data and outputs the converted video data. The storage unit 30 includes a hard disk driver or a RAM disk driver, a job information table is stored in a first area, and job file data is stored in a second area. The key input unit 40 generates a key signal by a key operation provided on the operation panel of the printer. The display unit 50 includes a liquid crystal panel and displays display data on the liquid crystal panel. The printing unit 60 transfers and fixes the video data on the paper 62 fed in response to the printing video data provided from the video processing unit 20 to output the printed paper 64. The control unit 70 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the respective units by the CPU executing a control program stored in the ROM.

Referring to Figure 2 to help understand the present invention will be described a job control method of a printer including a conventional hard disk driver.

In the conventional printer, as shown in Fig. 2A, the job information table is stored in the first area 32 of the hard disk 30, and the job file is stored in the second area 34. Figs. The job information table includes job information such as a job name, a user name, the number of prints, and an initial address of the job file. The job information created in this job information table displays job information of the selected job file on the display unit 50 as shown in FIG. 2B when the user selects a job file. When the user selects the work file 1, the work information is displayed on the liquid crystal panel of the display unit 50. When the user sees the screen and inputs a print command through the key input unit 40, for example, an enter key, the user may store the second area 34 of the hard disk 30 in response to the initial address of the job file 1 of the job information table. The job file 1 is called and printing starts through the video processing unit 20 and the printing unit 60. As shown in FIG. 2C, the liquid crystal panel displays the job name, user name, number of copies, and printing of the job file currently being worked on.

Therefore, in the conventional printer, when a job command is input, the total number of data of the selected job file is output and the total number of job files is printed.

Therefore, the user could not output only part of the job file because the entire job file was always output by one print command.

In addition, since only the information that the selected job file is being printed is displayed, it is not possible to know how many sheets are currently printed and how many of the total pages have been printed.

Referring to Figure 3 describes a job control method of a printer including a hard disk driver according to the present invention.

In the printer of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 3A, the job information table is stored in the first area 32 of the hard disk 30, and the job file is stored in the second area 34.

The job information table 36 of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 3B, contains job information such as a job name, a user name, a total number of pages, and an initial address of each page.

Therefore, the user selects the job file 1, and sets the work command via the key input unit 40 as shown in Fig. 3C. That is, the number of prints and the print page are set. When the user sees the screen and inputs a print command through the key input unit 40, for example, an enter key, the initial address of the first page of the set print page range is referred to the job information table in the second area 34 of the hard disk 30. The corresponding page of the stored job file 1 is called and printing starts through the video processing unit 20 and the printing unit 60. As shown in FIG. 3D, the liquid crystal panel displays the current number of prints for the set number of prints of the currently working job file and the number of printed pages for the set total number of pages.

That is, in the present invention, when the job information table is created, the initial address information for each page of the job file is created, so that printing of a specific page can be performed.

Therefore, in the present invention, the control unit 70 adds the job control contents of FIGS. 4 and 5 to be described below in the job control program.

4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of creating a job information table according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, when a work file is input from the computer, the work file data is rendered page by page (100) and it is checked whether it is the last page (102). If it is not the last page in step 102, the page count is incremented, and the initial address of the rendered page is stored in the job information table (104), and step 100 is performed. By repeating this process for each page, an initial address for each page is created in the job information table.

In step 102, the total page count is stored in the job information table and the initial address of the last page is stored in the job information table (106).

5 is a flowchart for explaining a work progress status display operation according to the present invention. The job file is selected through the key input unit 40 (200), and the number of prints is input (202). A query is made whether to print a part of the selected job file or the whole (204), and in the case of some prints, a page range is entered (206). In step 204, the entire output is input (208).

If a printing command is input in step 206 or 208, printing is performed according to the set job command (210).

Although described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the initial address and the total number of pages of each page of the job file stored in the printer including a mass storage unit such as a hard disk driver are created as job information, printing is possible for each page, so that the user wants a page. Only ranges can be printed. Therefore, it is not necessary to print the whole, and waste of paper can be reduced.

In addition, it is possible to control for each page, it is very convenient in use because it is possible to display the progress of the current number of printed, printed pages, and the like.

Claims (6)

Storing a work file provided from a computer in a storage means, and preparing a work information table including a work name, a user name, a total number of pages, and respective page address information associated with the work file; Selecting a work file stored in the storage means; Setting the number of prints and the print page range of the selected job file; And And displaying a job progress while reading and outputting a selected job file from the storage means in accordance with the set job command with reference to the job information table. The method of claim 1, wherein the job progress includes a currently printed number of prints and a page. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage means is a hard disk driver or a RAM disk driver. An interface unit for inputting a work file from a computer; A video processing unit for processing data of a work file into print video data; A storage unit for storing an input work file and a work information table associated with the work file; A key input unit for inputting a command key signal; Display unit for displaying the work progress; A printing unit for printing the selected job file on paper; A job file provided from a computer is stored in the storage unit, a job information table including a job name, a user name, a total number of pages, and respective page address information associated with the job file is created and stored in the storage unit; and the key In response to setting the print number and print page range of the selected job file through the input unit, the selected job file is retrieved from the storage unit according to the set job command by referring to the job information table, and then the printing output is performed through the video processing unit and the printing unit. And a control unit for displaying the operation progress state on the display unit. 5. The printer as claimed in claim 4, wherein the work progress includes a currently printed number of prints and a page. The printer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage unit is a hard disk driver or a RAM disk driver.