JPH0222440B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a transmission control device based on temperature information, and is particularly applicable to a device such as a gasoline POS system in a cold region where the main body is placed indoors and the external terminal is placed outdoors. The present invention relates to a transmission control device that controls data transmission between a main body and an external terminal according to the temperature of the external terminal.

Figure 1 shows the gasoline POS that is the background of this invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system. First, referring to FIG. 1, a main body 2 is placed inside a building 1, and a remote printer 3 and a weighing machine 4 as external terminals are placed outdoors. The remote printer 3 includes a card reader that reads a customer number from a customer card such as a magnetic card, a keyboard that inputs the amount of fuel to be supplied, a printer that prints data on fuel supply, and the like.

By the way, in cold regions, if the outside air drops below freezing, the remote printer 3 may not operate properly. In particular, input/output devices such as card readers and printers are sensitive to low temperatures, and unless the temperature of a printer is 0° C. or higher, the printed data becomes faint and difficult to read. On the other hand, electronic components such as ICs and transistors constituting the control circuit included in the remote printer 3 operate normally even at temperatures of -10° C., for example. For this reason, conventionally, the heater is controlled intermittently so that the internal temperature of the remote printer 3 becomes a temperature at which the printer and card reader can operate normally. Then, the power is turned on and the remote printer 3 is warmed up until the internal temperature reaches a certain temperature, after which the remote printer 3 is used. That is, the remote printer 3 is not operated for, for example, 10 minutes after the power is turned on. However, even if, for example, 10 minutes have passed since the power was turned on, it is not always known whether the remote printer 3 is operating normally or not, and the staff member has no choice but to make an intuitive judgment. Furthermore, even when data is actually printed on a slip or the like using a printer, it often ends up being too light to see.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide a transmission control device using temperature information that can eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and control data transmission between a main body and an external terminal based on the temperature of the external terminal. It is to be.

To summarize this invention, the external terminal is provided with temperature detection means for detecting the internal temperature,
When data is input, temperature data is transmitted to the main unit along with the input data, and the main unit processes the input data when it determines that the temperature of the external terminal is above a predetermined value and the input data is normal. The data is transmitted to an external terminal and printed by the printing means of the external terminal.

The present invention will be described in more detail below along with embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figure 2 shows a main body 2 included in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. In the configuration, main body 2
includes a CPU 5 as a second control means and a second
a transmission control circuit 6 as a transmitting/receiving means, an input/output control section 7, and a printer 8 as a second printing means.
, a display 9 as a display means, and a keyboard 1
Including 0. The CPU 5 transmits data to and from the remote printer 3 via the transmission control circuit 6, and processes data transmitted from the remote printer 3. Further, the CPU 5 controls the printer 8, display 9, and keyboard 10 via the input/output control section 7, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a remote printer 3 included in one embodiment of the present invention. In the configuration, the remote printer 3 includes a CPU 11 as a first control means, a transmission control circuit 12 as a first transmitting/receiving means, an input/output control circuit 13, and a first
A printer 14 as a printing means and a display 15
, a keyboard 16 as an input means, a card reader 17, a temperature detection circuit 18 as a temperature detection means, a temperature sensor 19, a power supply 20, a heater control circuit 21, and a heater 22. CPU
11 transmits data to and from the main body 2 via a transmission control circuit 12. Further, the CPU 11 connects the printer 14 and the display 1 via the input/output control circuit 13.
5, keyboard 16, and card reader 17, respectively. The temperature sensor 19 detects the temperature inside the remote printer 3, and this detection signal is given to the CPU 11 via the temperature detection circuit 18. The heater 22 heats the inside of the remote printer 3, and is connected to the heater control circuit 21.
controls the heater 22 based on the voltage supplied from the power supply 20 so that the temperature inside the remote printer 3 is constant.

Figure 4 shows the inside of remote printer 3 with heater 2.
2 is a diagram showing temperature characteristics when heated at No. 2. FIG. This figure 4 shows that the temperature inside the remote printer 3 is -
-10℃ when heater 22 is heated at 20℃
It shows that it takes 15 minutes for the temperature to reach 0°C, 30 minutes for it to reach 0°C, and over an hour for it to reach +20°C. In the temperature range a between -20°C and -10°C, the printer 14 and card reader 17 malfunction, and the CPU 11 itself also malfunctions, causing data transmission between the main body 2 and the remote printer 3 to become malfunctioning. I can't do it at all.

In temperature range b from -10℃ to 0℃
Although the CPU 11 and input/output control circuit 13 operate,
The printer 14 and card reader 17 become malfunctioning. Therefore, in this temperature range b, CPU1
1 can process data input from a keyboard 16, but cannot print the data with a printer 14, and furthermore, it determines that the data read by a card reader 17 is not normal and prohibits control of these devices.

Since the printer 14 and card reader 17 operate normally between 0°C and 20°C, normal control is performed. Furthermore, normal processing is performed in the temperature range d of 20° C., which is controlled to a constant temperature by the heater 22, as well as in the temperature range c.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the display device 9 included in the main body 2. The display 9 includes a numeric display 91 for displaying numbers and a pressure lamp 92. A lamp 92 indicates that data is printed by the printer 8 of the main body 2 without being printed by the printer 14 of the remote printer 3 in the temperature range b, and a lamp 93 indicates that data is printed by the printer 8 of the main body 2 in the temperature range a.
and a lamp 94 that indicates that the operation of the remote printer 3 is abnormal.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data transmission sequence, and FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for explaining the specific operation of an embodiment of the present invention.

Next, the concrete operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. In step (hereinafter referred to as SP) 1, the CPU of main unit 2
5 is a remote printer 3 via a transmission control circuit 6
Identification code ID and signal requesting data transmission
Transmit ENQ to remote printer 3. The remote printer 3 receives the ID and ENQ via the transmission control circuit 12 and provides them to the CPU 11. CPU
When 11 determines that the ID and ENQ have been received normally, it transmits the ID and ACK to the main body 2. Main body 2
The CPU 5 determines whether or not the ID and ACK have been received normally in SP2. At this time, as shown in Figure 4 above, the CPU 11 of the remote printer 3 does not operate normally in the temperature range a, so the ID and
ACK is not transmitted normally. Therefore, the CPU 5 of the main body 2 turns on the lamp 94 included in the installation lamp 92, which indicates that the terminal is abnormal, at SP5. And in SP6
Sends EOT signal and starts next polling.

When it is determined in SP2 that the ID signal and ACK signal have been received normally, in SP3
Sends an ACK signal to the remote printer 3. When the remote printer 3 receives the ACK signal,
Data input from the keyboard 16 and data read by the card reader 17 are transmitted to the main body 2. At this time, temperature data inside the remote printer 3 detected by the temperature sensor 19 is also transmitted. At SP4, the main body 2 determines whether or not the data sent from the remote printer 3 has been properly received. If it is not normal, the lamp 94 is turned on at SP5. If the reception is normal, an ACK signal is sent to the remote printer 3 in SP7. Further, in SP8, it is determined whether the temperature inside the remote printer 3 has reached a temperature corresponding to temperature range c or d. If the temperature is within temperature range b, SP9
At SP10, only the data input from the keyboard 16 is processed, and at SP10, the lamp 94 is turned on. If the temperature is within temperature ranges c and d,
The SP 11 processes data input from the keyboard 16 and data read by the card reader 17, and stores that the remote printer 3 is operating normally.

EOT from remote printer 3 in SP12
Determine whether the signal was transmitted normally. If the transmission is not normal, the remote printer 3 is notified in SP14 to send the ACK signal again. If the EOT signal is received normally, the SP
At step 13, it is determined whether there is data to be output to the remote printer 3. If there is such data, it is determined in SP15 whether or not it is remembered that the remote printer 3 is operating normally. If the printer is operating normally, the output data is transmitted to the remote printer 3 in SP17. The remote printer 3 gives the data to the printer 14 to print it on a slip. Then, when the remote printer 3 receives the output data from the main unit 2,
Sends EOT signal. In the main body 2, SP18 determines whether the EOT signal has been received normally, and if the EOT signal has not been received normally, the output data is sent out again at SP19. If it is remembered at SP15 that the remote printer 3 is not operating normally, the output data is printed on the slip by the printer 8 of the main body 2 at SP16. That is,
If the temperature inside the remote printer 3 has not risen above a predetermined temperature, even if the data is printed by the printer 14, it will be thin and difficult to see, so in this case,
The printer 8 of the main body 2 prints.

As described above, according to this embodiment, data transmission between the main body 2 and the remote printer 3 is prohibited in the temperature range a, and the keyboard 1 is prohibited in the temperature range b.
The data input from the keyboard 16 and the data read by the card reader 17 are processed by the main body 2 in temperature ranges c and d, and then printed by the printer 8 of the main body 2. The printer 14 of the printer 3 can print on the slip. In that case, the replacement lamp 92 can be used to notify the staff of this fact.

As described above, according to the present invention, only when the temperature inside the external terminal is higher than a predetermined temperature and the input data is transmitted normally, the data is processed, transmitted to the external terminal, and printed. Can be done.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous data from being processed and transmitted to the external terminal when the temperature inside the external terminal is extremely low, thereby preventing confusion among staff and customers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows the gasoline POS that is the background of this invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the system. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a main body included in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is also a schematic block diagram of the remote printer. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the temperature characteristics when the inside of the remote printer is heated with a heater.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display included in the main body. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data transmission sequence. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for explaining the specific operation of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is the main body, 3 is a remote printer, 5 and 11 are CPUs, 6 and 12 are transmission control circuits,
8, 14 are printers, 9, 15 are display units, 10,
16 is a keyboard, 19 is a temperature sensor, and 22 is a heater.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A transmission control device that includes a main body and an external terminal, and controls data transmission between the main body and the external terminal based on temperature information of the external terminal, The external terminal includes an input means for inputting data, a first printing means, a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature inside the external terminal, and a first means for mutually transmitting data with the main body. a transmitting/receiving means; and a first control means for transmitting data input from the input means and temperature data detected by the temperature detecting means to the main body via the first transmitting/receiving means; , a second transmitting/receiving means for mutually transmitting data with the external terminal, and temperature data transmitted via the second transmitting/receiving means is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature and the input data when determining that the input data is normal, a second control means processes the input data, transmits it to the external terminal via the second transmitting/receiving means, and causes the first printing means to print it. Transmission control device based on temperature information, including 2. The main body includes a display means, and when the second control means determines that the temperature data is below the predetermined temperature and the input data is abnormal, the second control means displays a message to that effect on the display means. A transmission control device based on temperature information according to claim 1. 3. The main body includes a second printing means, and when the second control means determines that the temperature data is below the predetermined temperature and that the input data is normal, the second control means processes the input data. 2. A transmission control device using temperature information according to claim 1, wherein the second printing means prints the temperature information.