JPH10260795A - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a printing apparatus capable of performing various controls from a remote place via a LAN. SOLUTION: A host device 10 including a data transmitting / receiving unit 11 for transmitting / receiving print data, and the data transmitting / receiving unit
When a printing apparatus 20 having a data transmission / reception unit 35 for transmitting and receiving print data to and from the printing apparatus 11 is connected via a network 40, the upper level apparatus 10 generates a command for controlling a print job and The printing apparatus 20 includes a command generation / transmission / reception unit 14 that transmits / receives a command, and the printing apparatus 20 includes a command transmission / reception / processing unit 38 that performs transmission / reception and processing of the command, and prints the generation, transmission / reception and processing of the command. It is configured to be performed in parallel with data transmission and reception.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus connected to a network, and more particularly to a printing apparatus which enables control processing such as job cancellation and page skip during printing processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, local area networks (L)
With the spread of networks such as AN), for example, a LAN is connected to a large-scale network, and higher-level devices (workstations, personal computers, etc.) connected to the same LAN connect to a printing device connected to the LAN. 2. Description of the Related Art Remote printing systems have become widespread.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional example. Hereinafter, the operation of the printing apparatus connected to the network 40, for example, the LAN will be described with reference to FIG. Figure
As shown in FIG. 10, the host device 10 is connected to a network 40, and the printing device 20 is also connected on the same network 40.

First, the configuration of the circuit will be briefly described. The upper device 10 includes a data transmitting / receiving unit 11 that performs data communication with another device connected to the network 40 including the printing device 20 that is a lower device, and a queue management unit 12 that performs queue management of a plurality of print jobs. And a plurality of queues 13 to be printed.

[0005] Communication between the host device 10 and the printing device 20 is performed via ports 41 and 42, which are communication ports for data formed one-to-one over the network 40.
When the printing apparatus 20 is started up, a program is started from a read-only memory (ROM) 26 and the disk apparatus 22 is started.
After the program stored in the RAM is loaded into a random access memory (RAM) 30, the operation is started and a controller 21 for controlling the printing apparatus 20, and a disk device for saving character fonts and system programs
22, an operation panel 23 for operating the printing apparatus 20, and an engine 24 for actually performing a printing operation.

The controller 21 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 25 for controlling the entire printing apparatus 20, a ROM 26 for performing a start-up process of the printing apparatus 20, and a RAM 30 for loading a system program on the disk apparatus 22 from the ROM 26.
Further, it comprises a CPU 25 and a data bus 27 which forms a path for data transmitted and received in each of the circuits 31 to 37 provided in the ROM 26 and the RAM 30.

Further, the RAM 30 has a disk device 22
, A panel control unit 32 for controlling the operation panel 23, a print control unit 33 for controlling the printing of bitmap data, and rendering of the analyzed data on a bitmap. Rendering unit 34 and a host device
10, a data transmitting / receiving unit 35 for communicating print data (hereinafter abbreviated as data) with other devices on the same network 40, and a receiving buffer for saving a certain amount of data received by the data transmitting / receiving unit 35 36 and the reception buffer 36
Data analysis unit 37 that sequentially retrieves and analyzes data
It has.

Next, the operation of each circuit according to the flow of data will be described. When printing data from the host device 10 to the printing device 20, the queue management unit 12 of the host device 10 connects the print job to the queue 13 and transmits data from the data transmission / reception unit 11.

[0009] The transmitted data flows out of the port 41 onto the network 40. Data transmission / reception unit 35 of printing device 20
Receives at port 42 the data flowing over network 40.

The data received at the port 42 is stored in the receiving buffer 36 by a certain fixed amount. When the data is full, the data analyzing unit 37 sequentially analyzes the data, and the drawing unit 34
After the completion of the development, the print control unit 33 is activated and the printing operation of the engine 24 is started.

During a series of printing operations, when the user wants to cancel printing, the host device 10 waits for the job 13 to be interrupted (when data is not transmitted to the printing device 20). Printing can be interrupted by deleting from the queue.

If a printing operation is being performed (data is being transmitted to the printing apparatus 20), a cancel command is issued from the data transmission / reception unit 11 of the host apparatus 10. However, the printing device 20 receives the cancel command issued from the host device 10 only after the data reception is completed, and the cancellation is not immediately effective.

When a page is skipped, the host device 10 performs data processing such as adding a skip command to the data to be transmitted or deleting data of the page to be skipped, and then prints the data from the data transmitting / receiving unit 11. The data is transmitted to the device 20.

The printing apparatus 20 analyzes the skip command, skips pages, and prints out. Further, processes such as suspension / restart of printing, stop of buzzer sound, installation of the system, remaining amount of consumables, and the like are all performed by operation from the operation panel 23 provided in the printing apparatus 20.

Furthermore, debugging when a failure occurs is performed by connecting a terminal not described in the printing device 20 to refer to the memory or rewrite the memory contents.

[0016]

Accordingly, there are the following problems in the prior art. (1) If the user wants to cancel printing, the cancel instruction from the host device to the printing device will be issued after the data transmission is completed, and the printing will not be canceled immediately but will continue until the printing device receives the cancel instruction. It will be continued, wasting paper and time.

(2) The page skip operation can be performed if designation is made before starting printing, but is impossible if a page to be skipped is found after printing is started.

(3) Printing suspension / resumption, buzzer off, system installation, check of the remaining amount of consumables, and the like need to be performed by moving to the place where the printing apparatus is installed. (4) For debugging, a dedicated terminal and a cable connected to the printing apparatus are required, and since the connection is directly connected, for example, not on a LAN, operation at a remote place is impossible.

According to the present invention, in a printing apparatus connected to a network, data cancellation, page skipping, panel operation, and the like during printing can be performed remotely, and debugging can be performed from a remote place without requiring a dedicated terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network-connected printing device.

[0020]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host apparatus having a data transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting and receiving print data, as shown in FIG.
A printing apparatus 20 including a data transmission / reception unit 35 for transmitting / receiving print data to / from the data transmission / reception unit 11 connected via a network 40;
10 includes a command generation / transmission / reception unit 14 for generating a command for controlling a print job and transmitting / receiving the command, and the printing apparatus 20 includes a command transmission / reception / processing unit 38 for transmitting / receiving and processing the command. The command generation, transmission / reception, and processing are performed in parallel with the transmission / reception of print data.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an embodiment of the inventive circuit shown in FIG.

FIGS. 3 to 9 are diagrams (part 1) to (part 7) illustrating a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention for explaining the circuit operation of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 to 9
(S **, for example, S11) indicates a step of the process.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, a command generation / transmission / reception unit is provided in the conventional circuit shown in FIG.
14 and a port 43 serving as a communication port for commands are added, and the printing apparatus 20 has a configuration in which a command transmission / reception / processing unit 38 and a port 44 serving as a communication port for commands are added.

As shown in FIG. 2, the command generation / transmission / reception section 14 of the host device 10 is provided with a command generation section 50 and a command transmission / reception section 58. Then, the command generation unit 50
Includes a cancel command generator 51, a skip command generator 52, a suspend / resume command generator 53, a buzzer off command generator 54, and a system installation command generator.
55, a debug command generator 56, a consumables inquiry command generator 57, and a command generator (not shown) for generating other commands.

Further, the circuits 11 to 13, the circuits 22 to 27, and
The operation of each of the circuits 31 to 37 in the RAM 30 is as described in the related art described above, and will be briefly described below.

On the other hand, the command transmitting / receiving / processing section 38 is provided with a command processing section 60 and a command transmitting / receiving section 68. The command processing unit 60 includes a cancel command processing unit.
61, a skip command processing unit 62, a suspend / resume command processing unit 63, a buzzer off command processing unit 64, a system installation command processing unit 65, a debug command processing unit 66, a consumables inquiry command processing unit 67, and other commands. A command processing unit (not shown) for processing is provided.

In the following, the circuit parts according to the present invention will be mainly described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. [1] Cancel command processing (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3)
The data transmitting / receiving unit 11 transmits data to be printed to the port 42 of the printing apparatus 20 via the port 41 and the network 40 (S11), and the data transmitting / receiving unit 35 transmits the data transmitted from the port 42. The data is received (S12).

On the other hand, the command generation / transmission / reception unit 14 sends the print cancel command generated by the cancellation command generation unit 51 to the command transmission / reception unit 58, and passes through the port 43 and the network 40 to the port 44 of the printing apparatus 20. The cancel command is transmitted to (S51).

The command transmitting / receiving section 68 receives the cancel command transmitted from the port 44 (S52).
After confirming that the command is a cancel command, the confirmation result is sent to the cancel command processing unit 61.

In the cancel command processing section 61, a cancel notification generated based on the confirmation result is sent to the data analysis section 37.
(S53). The data analysis unit 37 determines whether or not the cancellation is received by checking the contents of the cancellation notification (S1).
3) If NO, proceed to normal processing, analyze the received data (S14), print (S15), and end a series of processing (SE).

If the determination in the process (S13) is YES, the process proceeds to a cancel operation (S16), and the page is currently being completed (1).
After suspending printing during the bitmap development operation for the page), clearing the reception buffer 36, and invalidating the received data until the completion of the job data being processed, a series of processes is terminated. (SE).

In the following description, descriptions of S11 and S12 and S14 and S15, and other overlapping matters will be omitted. [2] Skip command processing (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4) The skip command generation unit 52 sends the generated print skip command to the command transmission / reception unit 58, and transmits the port 44 via the port 43 and the network 40. The skip command is transmitted to (S51).

The command transmitting / receiving section 68 receives the skip command transmitted from the port 44 (S52).
After confirming that the command is a skip command, the confirmation result is sent to the skip command processing unit 62.

The skip command processing section 62 generates a skip notification and page information to be skipped based on the confirmation result, and sends it to the data analysis section 37 (S54). Data analysis unit
At 37, it is determined whether skip reception has been performed by checking the content of the skip notification (S17). If NO, the process proceeds to normal processing, analyzes the data of the received data (S14), performs printing (S15), and performs a series of operations. The process ends (SE).

If YES, since the page count of the job currently being printed is awaited, the skip operation of the page in which the page information given from the skip command processing unit 62 matches the page count being printed, ie, the print operation, is performed. Reading is skipped (S18). [3] Suspend / resume command processing (FIGS. 1, 2 and 5)
The interruption / resumption command generation unit 53 sends the generated print interruption / resumption command to the command transmission / reception unit 58,
Interruption of printing to port 44 via
A restart command is transmitted (S51).

The command transmitting / receiving section 68 receives the suspend / resume command transmitted from the port 44 (S5).
2) After confirming that the command is a suspend / resume command, the confirmation result is sent to the suspend / resume command processing unit 63.

The interruption / resumption command processing unit 63 requests the interruption or resumption of printing based on the result of the confirmation. In the case of print interruption processing, the interruption / resumption command processing section
From 63, a command for a print interruption notification is sent to the data analysis unit 37 (S55).

The data analysis unit 37 determines whether or not the interruption is received by seeing the interruption notification command (S19). If YES, the data analysis currently being executed is interrupted (S20), and the waiting for resumption reception (S21) is performed. Move to the state.

However, if the determination in the process (S19) is NO, the normal process (S14, 15) is continued, and the process ends (SE). End of waiting for resumption of reception (S21) ends (NO)
Is performed by monitoring the restart instruction from the command transmission / reception unit 68 by polling the suspend / resume command.

At this time, a notification of a stop display is issued to the panel control unit 32, and the panel control unit 32 performs a stop display on the operation panel 23 which has received the notification. On the other hand, in the case of the printing resumption processing, the interruption / resumption command processing unit 63 sends the data analysis unit 37.
Is sent to the printer (S56).

If the suspended state is being monitored, the data analysis unit 37 determines whether or not the data is to be resumed by referring to the contents of the resume notification (S56) from the suspend / resume command processing unit 63 (S21).
If YES, after restoring the data pointer at the time of printing interruption, the subsequent data is analyzed (S14), printing is performed (S15), and a series of processing is terminated (SE). If NO, the wait state for the restart reception is continued (S21).

Although not shown in FIG. 5, a start instruction is issued to the panel control unit 32 and a start display is displayed on the operation panel 23. Thus, the same operation as the operation of the stop / start key on the operation panel 23 can be realized by an instruction from the host device 10. [4] Buzzer off command processing (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6)
If a paper jam occurs in the printing device 20 during printing of data from the data transmission / reception unit 11 (S15) (S22), the operation panel 23 sounds a buzzer (S23) and informs the user. do.

At this time, when it is desired to stop the buzzer sound remotely, a buzzer off command is sent from the buzzer off command generation unit 54 to the command transmission / reception unit 58, and a buzzer off command is sent from the port 43 to the printing apparatus 20 (S51). ).

The command transmitting / receiving section 68 receives the buzzer command from the port 44 (S52), confirms that the command is a buzzer off command, and sends the confirmation result to the buzzer off command processing section 64.

The buzzer-off command processing section 64 generates a buzzer-off notification based on the confirmation result,
It is sent to 37 (S57). The data analysis unit 37 determines whether or not the buzzer off has been received by checking the content of the buzzer off notification (S57) (S24).
It is displayed on the operation panel 23 via 32 and stops the buzzer (S25). [5] System installation command processing (FIGS. 1 and 2)
When the system program operating the controller 21 is to be updated for some reason (for example, failure correction), a system installation command is transmitted from the system installation command generation unit 55 to the command transmission / reception unit 58,
The system installation command is transmitted to the port 44 via the port 43 and the network 40 (S51).

Following the system installation command, the command transmission / reception unit 58 transmits binary data of the system program. In the command transmitting / receiving unit 68,
The system installation command is received from the port 44 (S52), and a notification of the system installation command is sent to the system installation command processing unit 65.

The system installation command processing section 65 sends a print interruption notice to the data analysis section 37 (S55). The data analysis unit 37 receives the interruption notification (S55), and if the print data is not being received, the system installation command processing unit 65 immediately performs the installation process.

In this case, an installation notice is issued to the disk control unit 31, and the disk control unit 31 processes the binary data received from the system installation command processing unit 65, and performs an installation process on the disk device 22, that is, a system to the hard disk (HD). The installation command is written (S58).

After the system installation is completed, a message indicating that the power is turned on is displayed on the panel control section 32 on the operation panel 23, and the process is terminated (SE). On the other hand, if the interruption notification is not the immediate system installation and the data to be printed is received by the data transmission / reception unit 35 and printing is in progress, the system installation command processing unit 65 sends a data cancellation process to the data analysis unit 37 to install the data. Judgment is received (S2
6).

If the determination (S26) is YES, the printing end cancel processing is performed in accordance with the instruction of the data analysis unit 37 (S2).
7), end (SE). If the judgment (S26) is NO
If so, the data to be printed is analyzed (S14) and printed (S1).
5) A series of processes are performed, and the process ends (SE).

After the cancellation processing (S27) is completed, the system installation command processing section 65 executes the installation processing, that is, the writing to the hard disk (HD). (S58). [6] Debug Command Processing (See FIGS. 1, 2 and 8) When debugging the operation of the controller 21, it is necessary to be able to refer to the contents of the RAM 30 and rewrite the contents of the RAM 30.

In this case, the debug command generator 56 sends the generated debug command to the command transmitter / receiver 58,
The debug command is transmitted to the port 44 via the port 43 and the network 40 (S51). The port 44 receives the debug command (S52).

The contents of the debug command are stored in the RAM 30
And a memory write command. When a memory reference command is issued, the address and the number of bytes to be referenced are added to the memory reference command and sent to the command transmitting / receiving unit 58.

Also in the case of a memory write command, an address to be changed and write data are added to the memory reference command and sent to the command transmitting / receiving unit 58. The command transmission / reception unit 68 receives the memory reference command and the memory write command following the debug command transmitted from the port 44, and sends them to the data analysis unit 37 to determine whether the command is a memory reference command (S59).

If the determination (S59) of the data analysis unit 37 is YES, that is, if the memory of the RAM 30 is referred to, the debug command processing unit 66 reads the memory at the specified address (information on the specified number of bytes from the specified address), and the command transmission / reception unit 68
Is transmitted as uplink data to the host device 10 via the port 44 (S60).

If the determination (S59) is NO, that is, if the memory is to be written, the debug command processing unit 66
The memory writing of M30 (writing the specified value to the memory at the specified address) is performed (S61).

At the end of the memory writing command, the panel control unit 32 is notified of the power-on display (S
62), display on the operation panel 23 and end (SE). [7] Consumables Inquiry Command Processing (See FIGS. 1, 2 and 9) When it is desired to know the status of the consumables of the printing apparatus 20, the consumables inquiry command generating unit 57 transmits the generated consumables inquiry command to the command transmitting / receiving unit. The consumables inquiry command is sent to the port 44 via the port 43 and the network 40 (S51), and the consumables inquiry command is received at the port 44 (S52).

The command transmitting / receiving section 68 receives the consumables inquiry command from the port 44 (S52), recognizes that the command is a consumables inquiry command, and notifies the consumables inquiry command processing section 67 of the consumables inquiry processing. I do.

In the consumables inquiry command processing section 67,
It inquires of the print controller 33 about information on consumables (toner, developer, etc.) and the engine 24 about the status of the consumables (use amount, replacement time, etc.).

Then, the inquiry status is transmitted as information from the engine 24 to the print control unit 33, and the consumables status is transmitted as uplink data to the command transmission / reception unit 68 of the host device 10 according to the instruction of the consumables inquiry command processing unit 67. (S6
2).

The data transmission / reception from the host device 10 includes the operation of transmitting print data and the operation of receiving information on errors (hard errors, paper jams, etc.) on the printing device side 20 from the printing device 20. For command transmission / reception, the above-described command processing operation is performed.

Furthermore, as a command transmission / reception protocol for realizing the above command generation and processing functions, an LPD (line printer database) of a command for starting printing is used.
n) and FTP (file tr
An implementation is possible using protocols such as ansfer program).

[0063]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, various commands are transmitted from a host device in parallel with transmission and reception of print data, so that canceling, page skipping, and printing during remote printing can be performed. Suspend / resume,
It is possible to arbitrarily stop the buzzer, install the system, debug, and inquire about the status of consumables.

Therefore, when printing is performed in a network environment, a particularly effective effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an embodiment of the invention circuit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention (part 1);

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention (part 2);

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention (part 3);

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention (part 4);

FIG. 7 is a view showing a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention (part 5);

FIG. 8 is a view showing a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention (part 6);

FIG. 9 is a view showing a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention (part 7);

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Host device 11 Data transmission / reception unit 14 Command generation / transmission / reception unit 20 Printing device 35 Data transmission / reception unit 38 Command transmission / reception / processing unit 40 Network 41 to 44 Port 51 Cancel command generation unit 52 Skip command generation unit 53 Interruption / resumption command generation unit 54 Buzzer off command generator 55 System install command generator 56 Debug command generator 57 Consumables inquiry command generator 58 Command transceiver 61 Cancel command processor 62 Skip command processor 63 Interruption / restart command processor 64 Buzzer off command processor 65 System installation command processing section 66 Debug command processing section 67 Consumables inquiry command processing section 68 Command transmission / reception section

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mamoru Mochizuki 4-1-1, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Hideyuki Miyake 35, Saho, Shatocho, Kato-gun, Hyogo None) Inside of Fujitsu Peripheral Machine Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising: a host device having a data transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving print data; and a printing device having a data transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving print data to / from the data transmitting / receiving unit. Wherein the host device includes a command generation / transmission / reception unit that generates a command for controlling a print job and transmits / receives the command, and the printing device transmits / receives the command and executes a command for processing. A printing apparatus, comprising: a transmission / reception / processing unit, wherein the generation, transmission / reception, and processing of the command are performed in parallel with transmission / reception of print data.