JPH05233166A - Printer provided with magnetic storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] By the magnetic storage device built in the printer,
The data required for printing is taken out directly from the magnetic medium and printing is performed without inputting data from the outside. [Configuration] When a mode for reading print data from the magnetic medium 7 and printing is selected by the operation panel 3 or a control command, the print data control unit 5
By sending a control signal to the floppy disk drive control unit 6, reading the file name from the magnetic medium 7 and displaying it on the display unit 8, the file name is specified, and the printer data is read from the magnetic medium 7 without connecting to the host computer. Read out and print.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to printer control data and print data input to a data processing unit of a printer from a magnetic medium by a magnetic storage device incorporated in the printer or print data input from the outside. The present invention relates to a mechanism for storing in the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Control data and print data for a printer are input from a host computer through a parallel or serial interface.

Therefore, the printer always requires a host computer for printing.

By the way, the time required for printing is such that the host computer does not need to perform any mechanical operation, whereas the printer performs data processing for actually printing the data received from the host computer. Most of it is consumed by the printer because the printing is performed by the mechanical operation.

On the currently widely used single-task OS, most of the application software is inefficient because the host computer cannot perform other processing when sending data to the printer.

As a remedy for this, a printer spooler is provided on the host computer side to temporarily store print data and reduce the time, but the printer spooler
It depends on the hardware configuration on the host side, and the printer cannot do anything. On the other hand, the print data sent from these host computers disappears after printing is completed, and the same print data must be sent again from the host computer in order to print the same again.

[0007]

The problem to be solved is that the print data required for the printer to print must be input from the outside by the host computer, and once the external data is input. The point is that the print data disappears when printing is completed.

[0008]

The present invention incorporates a magnetic storage device inside a printer in order to solve such a problem.

[0009]

The print data is read from the magnetic storage device built in the printer and printed by performing the setting on the operation panel or sending the control command from the host computer. The source of print data is selected by selecting whether to write the data sent through the interface for the floppy disk drive to the magnetic medium.

If no particular setting is made, the printer operates in the same manner as a normal printer and prints with the data sent from the host computer, but the data sent from the host computer at this time is not saved.

When the print data is taken out from the magnetic medium and printed, the file name displayed on the display unit is selected on the operation panel or a control command is sent from the host computer to write the same in the same medium. You can select any file from the existing data files.

On the other hand, when storing print data in a magnetic medium, the printer recognizes the file name and the end of a series of print data by sending a control command from the host computer, and the print data is written and stored in the medium.

[0013]

1 is a perspective sectional view of the device of the present invention.

Since the magnetic storage device 2 is built in the printer 1 as described above, in addition to the conventional data input from the host computer, a mode is selected by the operation panel 3 or a control command is sent from the host computer. This allows the printer to read the data from the magnetic medium and print independently.

FIG. 2 is an internal block diagram showing the operation panel 3
Thus, when the print data is read from the magnetic medium 7 and the mode for printing is selected, a control signal is output to the data bus 3a, the print data control unit 5 enables the data bus 5a, and the floppy disk drive control unit 6 Then, a control signal for requesting the reading of the file name stored in the magnetic medium 7 is output to the data bus 5b.

The floppy disk drive control unit 6
The data of the file name read from the magnetic medium 7 is sent to the print data control unit 5 through the data bus 5a and displayed on the display unit 8.

After that, the above processing is repeated until the target file name is displayed, and the file name is displayed.

When the desired file name is displayed and printing is selected on the operation panel 3, the print data control section 5 sends a control signal requesting print data to the data bus.
Output to 5b.

The floppy disk drive controller 6
When the print data request signal is received, the print data is read from the magnetic medium 7 through the data bus 6a, and the data is sent to the print data control unit 5 through the data bus 5a.

The print data received by the print data control unit 5 is sent to the printing unit 9 through the data bus 5c, and thereafter, the same processing as that of a normal printer is performed and printing is performed.

Similarly, when the mode for printing the print data input from the host computer and storing it in the magnetic medium is selected by the operation panel 3, a control signal is output to the data bus 3a. Upon receiving the signal, the print data control unit 5 requests the floppy disk drive control unit 6 to prepare for writing on the magnetic medium 7, and when the floppy disk drive control unit 6 completes the preparation, the data bus 6c is ready. When the print data control unit 5 receives the signal indicating the completion, the print data control unit 5 outputs the control signal to the parallel interface 10 or the serial interface 11 selected at that time through the data bus 5d.

When print data is sent from the host computer, the print data is received by the parallel interface 10 or the serial interface 11 and output to the data bus 10a or the data bus 11a, respectively, and the print data control unit 5 sends control commands and files. The name or print data is determined, and if it is a file name, it is sent to the floppy disk drive controller 6 through the data bus 5a and written on the magnetic medium 7.

Next, in the case of print data, when the print data is received by the print data control unit 5, it is first sent to the floppy disk drive control unit 6 and written to the magnetic medium 7 for each processing unit. 6c
A control signal notifying that the writing has been completed is output to the print unit 9 and print data is sent to the printing unit 9 through the data bus 5c and printed.

When each of the above processing modes is selected by sending a control command from the host computer,
When the print data control unit 5 receives the control command received by the parallel interface 10 or the serial interface 11, the command is interpreted, and thereafter, the same processing as when each processing mode is selected by the operation panel is performed.

However, regarding which file in the magnetic medium 7 is to be used for printing, the print data control unit 5 interprets the control command sent from the host computer, and the floppy disk drive control unit 6 receives the data. The floppy disk drive control unit 6 retrieves the corresponding file from the magnetic medium 7 by sending a control signal through the bus 5b and then sending a file name through the data bus 5a.

The subsequent processing is the same as the processing by the operation panel 3.

When used as an external magnetic storage device of the host computer, by selecting the mode with the operation panel 3, the floppy disk drive interface 12 receives and controls the control signals and data sent from the host computer. In the case of a signal, the data bus 6d and data are sent to the floppy disk drive controller 6 through the data bus 6e, and the data bus is written to or read from the magnetic medium 7.
Through 6b.

[0028]

The printer with the magnetic storage device of the present invention is
By inserting a magnetic medium into the built-in magnetic storage device of the printer and calling the data required for the printer to print from the magnetic medium, it is not necessary to input data from the host computer and only the internal processing of the printer is required. The desired printing result can be obtained.

Therefore, the waiting time for the host computer to transmit the print data is eliminated, and the operating efficiency of the host computer can be expected to improve.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to activate the host computer only to cause the printer to print.

When printing the input data via the parallel and serial interfaces from the outside and storing the print data in the magnetic medium at the same time to print the same one again, the data from the outside can be used. It is possible to obtain the desired print result by performing all the processes inside the printer without requiring the input of.

Once the print data is stored in the magnetic medium, no processing by the host computer is required, so the host computer can perform other processing while the printer is printing. Becomes

When the printing is not performed, the magnetic storage device in the printer can be used as an external magnetic storage device of the host computer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an internal block diagram of the printer of the present invention.

[Explanation of reference symbols] 1 printer housing 2 magnetic storage device 3 operation panel 5 print data control unit 6 floppy disk drive control unit 7 magnetic medium 8 display unit 9 printing unit 10 parallel interface 11 serial interface 12 floppy disk drive interface

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic storage device in which a magnetic storage device is built in a printer, and data input required by the printer for printing can be built in from a magnetic medium. With printer. 2. The printer with a magnetic storage device according to claim 1, wherein the printer control data and the print data sent from the host computer can be stored in a magnetic medium by the magnetic storage device. 3. A magnetic storage device for storing print data sent from a host computer on a magnetic medium by an operation panel attached to a housing, or
2. The printer with a magnetic storage device according to claim 1, wherein the externally input magnetic storage device of the host computer is capable of storing selectively input data in a magnetic medium.