KR940003635B1 - Printer control method - Google Patents

Abstract

By adding seperate printing mode for outputting a self diagnosis results about printer, this method improves a self diagnosis function and a function of Automatic Cut Sheet Feeder (ACSF). The method comprises: the 1st and 2nd on-line state judging steps (106),(111); the buffer value comparing judging step (112) for comparing a line feed (LF) value with the set value, and judging; the paper transportation steps (113,115); the carriage (CR) code and form feed (FF) code judging step (117) for judging CR mode only or FF code only; and the input buffer regulating step (118) for regulating a buffer pointer and processing the 2nd on-line state judging step.

Description

Printer control method

1 is a conventional printer hardware configuration diagram.

2 is a diagram showing the page length setting according to a typical sheet paper standard.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a printer control operation of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: CPU 11 ~ 13: Memory

15: host computer 16: input / output port

17 sensor 18 panel switch

19: LED 23: print head

25: platen

The present invention relates to a printer control method, which is a peripheral device of a computer system, and more particularly, to a printer control method for improving a self-diagnosis function of a printer and for improving a function of an automatic sheet feeder (ACSF).

In general, the hardware configuration of the dot matrix printer is as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, the central processing unit (CPU) 10 controls the overall operation of the printer system.

The control program for the operation control is stored in the program ROM 11. The memory RAM 12 stores temporary control programs and data.

The character generation ROM 13 generates the character in accordance with the character data received from the host computer 15.

The character data generated in the character generation ROM 13 is output to the printer sheet supplied to the platen 25 by the print head 23 through the input / output port 16.

The printer paper is supplied to the platen 25 by driving the paper feed motor 22. The carriage to which the print head 23 is fixed is operated by the carriage drive motor 21. The input / output port 16 receives data from the sensor 17 and the panel switch 18 that detect the general operation of the printer and transfers the data to the CPU 10.

At this time, the corresponding data is displayed in this section through the LED display device (19). In order to perform a normal printer function in such a printer system, the printer should accurately check the operation state during operation to designate an operation and a function appropriate to the condition.

Therefore, the existing printer checks the current operation state and executes an operation corresponding to the check result and simultaneously displays the check state on the display panel to inform the user.

Here, the check is performed using various sensors 17, and if there is an abnormality in the carriage home sensor among the sensors, an abnormal state is checked at the initialization of the printer to operate the warning display LED 19, and the printer stops the operation. Allows the user to detect the abnormality of the carriage.

On the other hand, in order to accurately implement the paper feed and discharge functions according to the paper used in the printer, it is necessary to check the state of the paper lever correctly. As a result of the check, if there is an error in the paper selection lever, the printer detects one lever selection state, and only the paper related driving corresponding thereto is executed, and the paper related function provided by the printer cannot be used.

In addition, if there is no paper on the platen 25 of the printer as a result of the check, the printer notifies the host computer that the state of the printer is OFF and at the same time, there is no paper.

If you use the printer in this way, the set will be abnormal and the user will be in trouble. At this time, the user can take appropriate measures by checking the status of the printer to inform the user to confirm the fixed state.

And when using the printer, if the pin of the print head is broken or the driving transistor inside the printer is broken, the pin will not work. In this case, if all of the head pins 1 ~ 24 pins of the printer are driven, some pins may not be driven, and the troubleshooting may be performed.

To do this, you can check the status by writing a pin drive program and sending it to the printer. The paper-related function for the automatic cut sheet feeder currently applied to the printer allocates a printing function area according to the printing sheet paper specification and ejects the paper if appropriate.

Therefore, the length of the printing page must be assigned in the print function area to obtain the print result that matches the form of each sheet. In the case of using the sheet by using the automatic sheet feeder, the limitation of the length of the paper page is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the page length M must be set within the allowable length L so that it can be printed to fit the form of a single page unit.

TOF is the abbreviation for Top Of Form.

Therefore, the printer compares the printable length (L) and the set page length (M) with the cumulative LF (Line FssD) counter value, and when the counter value reaches the printable length (L) or the set page length (M), FF ( Form Feed) Automatically ejects the paper even if the code (0CH) does not fly.

However, according to the word processor currently used in Korea, despite the paper discharge function according to the printable length (L) of the printer and the LF counter value, there is an inefficiency of blowing the paper again by blowing the FF control code.

In addition, if the page length division function of the printer is executed, an error that blows the FF code or the CR code after setting the LF amount over the lower page is difficult to perform correctly.

As described above, in the conventional technology, the state of each sensor of the printer is checked and the user is notified of the printer's response according to the sensor. have.

In addition, by performing the ACSF function of the printer, there is a problem that it is difficult to properly perform a function required by a user due to an error on a general word processor.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to directly inform the user of the function diagnosis result output by a simple key operation in the printer, and when the word processor is used, the user separately By selecting and using other operation functions of the printer, the user can check the current status of the printer and also add a separate ACSF function for errors in the user and word processor. In providing.

Technical means for achieving the above object of the present invention, if the printer is equipped with an automatic sheet feeder (ACSF) after the completion of the initial operation and performing a separate paper-related function to determine the on-line state A second on-line for executing the paper feed and again determining the on-line state if there is data to be printed according to the first on-line state determination step and the first on-line state determination and the load / eject switch is on. In the state determination step, when the second on-line is in normal operation, a buffer value comparison decision is made to compare the accumulated LF amount storage buffer value with the current LF amount storage buffer value and the printable area and page length setting values. And a paper conveying step of transferring paper after the line buffer data factor or discharging the existing paper according to the buffer value comparison judgment, and input buffer after transferring the paper. CR code and FF code determination step of classifying and determining the case where only carriage (CR) code is carried out and case where only FF code is carried out by reading 2 bytes of data, and adjusting the pointer of the input buffer according to the CR code and FF code Characterizing the printer status by sequentially executing the input buffer adjustment step of processing the second on-line state determination step in a loop.

Here, the overall control of the printer is made by a microcomputer, the microcomputer is operated by checking the sensor state of the printer, and in order to check the abnormality of the printer sensor, regardless of the paper sensor in the paper feed state to check this It is desirable to have the arguments run.

When the LF amount exceeds one page for the error on the word processor, it is effective for the CPU to change the input buffer pointer up to the CR code or the FF code so as to perform the paper function in units of one page.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a flowchart of a control operation according to the printer control method of the present invention, which is an ACSF operation flowchart when applying an abnormal control function word of a printer.

The printer has a self-test feature that allows you to check its specifications and functions or the characters to be printed.

With this feature in mind, users can check this by adding a separate printing mode that can print out the printer's self-diagnosis results. In addition, there are a plurality of switches on the panel of the printer, and there are an on / off line switch, an FF switch, a line feed switch, and a load / eject switch.

And depending on the printer, all functions are applied on the channel, so there may be a separate function selection switch for this purpose.

For example, pressing the on-line switch and the load / eject switch at the same time during initialization of the printer can add a function to select and print the self-diagnostic print mode.

In this case, the current DLP (Dual In-Line Package) switch selection state and the current state of the sensor are grasped to print the above states.

At this time, it is determined whether the function is realized according to the type of the sensor and the condition of checking the value input to the internal input / output port.

For example, if the printing page detection sensor selects a type that is open when the paper is detected, it is detected without any problem when the paper sensor is open, but the self-diagnosis function cannot be performed when it is shorted.

In this case, in order to prevent this, the user can use the paper loaded in the printer in the self-diagnosis mode to print the checked sensor states regardless of the state of the paper sensor. In case of abnormality in the carriage home sensor, if the carriage does not touch the home sensor even when the counter is out of the inner size of the printer mechanism when the printer is initialized, it does not execute the operation. Can be.

After printing the checked state of the sensor as described above, in order to determine whether the 24-pin head is operating normally, the bit image 24-pin mode is applied so that only each pin prints by a certain dot.

For this purpose, control codes and related data are embedded in the printer itself. The result of the printout can confirm to the user which of the 24 pins of the print head is abnormal.

Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG. 3 which is a flowchart of a printer control operation of the present invention. When power is supplied to the printer and initialized (101), the paper remaining in the automatic sheet feeder (ACSF) of the current printer is discharged. Herein, all control operations from the initial operation of the printer to the following are performed by the CPU 10 which controls the printer as a whole.

After completion of the initialization (101) operation, the CPU 10 determines whether the ACSF is mounted in the printer (102), and if it is not mounted, executes a paper related routine when a sheet or a computer is selected (103). If it is determined that the ACSF is installed, it is determined whether a separate paper related function is performed.

If it is determined that the paper 104 function is not performed as a result of the determination 104, a routine for performing a normal ACSF function is performed 105, and if the paper 104 function is performed as a result of the determination 104, it is determined whether it is on-line. )do.

If the result of the on-line determination 106 is on-line, it is determined whether printing data exists (107) to execute paper feeding only when there is printing data, and if the result of the on-line determination 106 is off-line, Only when the load / eject switch is turned on, the paper feeding is executed 110 and the on-line is determined again 111.

The buffer value is compared 112 only when the second on-line determination 111 results on-line. Here, the F buffer is a buffer in which the set FF (Form Feed) amount is stored, and the L ₁ buffer is a buffer in which the currently set LF (Line Feed) amount is stored, and the L ₂ buffer is a buffer in which the accumulated LF amount is stored.

If the result of the buffer comparison comparison 112 is F> L ₁ + L _2, after printing the data stored in the line buffer, the paper is fed (113), and the line buffer value is calculated (114) again. Iterates over the loop and loops through it.

Result of the buffer value comparison decision 112 If L ₁ + L _{2, the} existing paper is discharged (115), the contents of the input buffer are scanned (116), and the classification judgment is performed (117) when only the CR (carriage) code is carried and when the FF code is taken. If either code has been taken, the pointer of the input buffer is incremented 118 and jumped to step 111 to loop through the loop.

Thus by comparing the auto sheet feeder (ACSF) set with respect to the paper A ₄ standard in order to deal with the media-specific error data from the word processor when mounted cold-printable area value or or the page length setting value and the cumulative LF counter value By calculating the paper feed data, it performs the operation and function of the printer itself.

The paper is discharged according to the accumulated LF counter value plus the current LF amount, and the printable area and page length setting value are discharged accordingly. And when using a word processor that does not have errors related to paper, a separate setting method should be devised to designate the corresponding function to distinguish it. For example, pressing the load / eject switch during printer initialization can perform this function.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can directly check the operation state of the printer as a print result, and in particular, it is possible to clearly know whether the headpin of the printer is damaged, and thus, appropriate measures can be promptly prepared. This has the benefit of being able to pinpoint the state.

In addition, by appropriately coping with a word processor that transmits abnormal paper-related data when the printer's automatic sheet feeder is mounted, the printing of the sheet unit can be efficiently executed.

Claims (3)

A first on-line state determination step 106 of determining an on-line state if the printer is equipped with an automatic sheet feeder (ACSF) after the initial operation is completed and performs a separate paper-related function; A second on-line state determination step 111 of executing paper feeding and determining the on-line state again when data to be printed is present and the load / eject switch is turned on according to the on-line state determination; In the normal operation of the on-line, a buffer value comparison step 112 of comparing the accumulated LF amount storage buffer value with the current LF amount storage buffer value and the printable area and page length setting value is performed. According to the value comparison, paper conveying steps 113 and 115 for conveying paper after the line buffer data argument or discharging the existing paper, and reading two-byte data of the input buffer after conveying the paper, CR) CR code and FF code determination step (117) for classifying the case when the demaneuhan and FF code only flying, and the second on-line state determination by adjusting the pointer of the input buffer according to the CR code and FF code determination Printer control method, characterized in that to inform the user of the printer status by sequentially executing the input buffer adjustment step 118 to process the step in a loop. According to claim 1, wherein the overall control of the printer is made by a microcomputer, the microcomputer is operated by checking the sensor state of the printer, the paper sensor in the paper feed state in order to check the abnormality of the printer sensor A printer control method characterized in that the printing is executed regardless of the printing factor. The method of claim 1, wherein when the LF amount exceeds one page for an error in a word processor, the CPU changes the input buffer pointer up to the CR code or the FF code to perform a paper function in units of one page. Printer control method.