JPH05265666A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a printer system in which data on the printer side can be freely known on the main body side. A printer system including a printer and a main body device for supplying data to be printed to the printer, and a data transfer means capable of transferring data from the printer side to the main body device side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer system including a main body device and a printer coupled to the main body device by some data transfer means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer system having a main body device and a printer coupled to the main body device by some data transfer means, such as a word processor and a personal computer, the direction of data flow is from the main body device side to the printer side. Only direction.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional printer system, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing its interface section.

As shown in these figures, the main body device 10 and the printer 11 are strobe (STB) and busy (B).
Two signal lines for the (USY) signal and a data line DATA are connected. The STB line is a unidirectional signal line from the output buffer / latch 10b on the main body device 10 side to the input buffer 11b on the printer 11 side.
The line is the output buffer and latch 11c on the printer 11 side.
From one side to the input buffer 10c on the main device 10 side. The data line DATA is a unidirectional 8-bit data line from the output buffer / latch 10a on the main device 10 side to the input buffer 11a on the printer 11 side.

STB is a signal for notifying the printer that the main body has output data, and BUSY indicates that the main body side indicates that the printer is processing and cannot receive data, or that the printer has an error or error. It is a signal to inform the. The print data is controlled by the handshake method by the STB and BUSY signals, and the timing at which the main body passes the data to the printer is as shown in the time chart of FIG.

[0006]

According to the conventional printer system as described above, since data flows in one direction, when an error or abnormality is detected on the printer side, what kind of error or abnormality is on the main body side? I do not know what happened. For example, when the ribbon finishes in a thermal printer, the main body side can know that an error or abnormality has occurred in the printer, but it is possible to know whether the error or abnormality is due to the ribbon end or other error or abnormality. Can not. Furthermore, on the body side,
The printer model, specifications, fonts, and status of the printer cannot be known at all. For this reason, the operator has to set the model and specifications of the printer, and the print result on the main body side does not match the actual print result.

Therefore, the present invention provides a printer system in which data on the printer side can be freely known on the main body side.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a printer system comprising a printer and a main body device for supplying data to be printed to the printer, wherein the data is transferred from the printer side to the main body device side. There is provided a printer system including a data transfer unit capable of performing the above.

[0009]

Since the data can be transferred from the printer side to the main body side by the data transfer means, the data on the printer side can be freely known on the main body side. Therefore, it is possible to know the contents of the error or abnormality that occurred in the printer on the main body side and take appropriate action, and the model of the printer can be automatically set. In addition, beautiful fonts can be displayed by using the various fonts of the printer on the main body side, and any device can be connected as long as it has the same specifications.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall construction of a printer system which is an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 indicates a main unit such as a word processor or personal computer, and 21 indicates a printer. The main unit 20 and the printer 21 are STBs
And two signal lines for BUSY signal and data line DATA
Are joined by and. The STB line is a unidirectional signal line from the main body device 20 side to the printer 21 side.
The Y line is a unidirectional signal line from the printer 21 side to the main body device 20 side. On the other hand, the data line DATA is a bidirectional 8-bit data line that connects the main device 20 side and the printer 21 side.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the interface section of this embodiment.

On the main body side, a bidirectional data line DAT
An input buffer 20a and an output buffer / latch 20b are connected to A, and switching of these is performed by an input / output control circuit 20c. Input / output control circuit 20c
Generates control signals for input / output switching and data latching. Input / output switching is performed in a command format, and switching is performed when a switching command is issued. STB
The signal is sent out via the output buffer and latch 20d and the BUSY signal is received via the input buffer 20e.

On the printer side, the bidirectional data line D
An output buffer / latch 21a and an input buffer 21b are connected to the ATA, and switching of these is performed by an input / output control circuit 21c. I / O control circuit 2
1c generates a control signal for input / output switching and data latch. The STB signal is received via the input buffer 21d, and the BUSY signal is output buffer and latch 21.
sent via e.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for transferring data from the main body 20 to the printer 21.

In this case, the output buffer and latch 20b is used on the main body 20 side, and the input buffer 21b is used on the printer 21 side. That is, the state is the same as that of the conventional printer system. First, in step S1, data is output to the output buffer and latch 20b. Then
In step S2, it is determined whether the BUSY signal is active, and the process waits until it becomes active.
When the BUSY signal becomes active, time waiting is performed in step S3, the STB signal is activated in step S4, and time waiting is performed in step S5. During this time, the data is transferred to the printer 21 side, and the printer side receives this data in the input buffer 21b. When the data transfer is completed, the STB signal becomes inactive in step S6. The data output in step S1 and the BUSY signal active determination in step S2 may be interchanged in order. The time chart in the above operation is the same as that shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for transferring data from the printer 21 to the main body 20.

When a data transfer command is issued, ST
Both the B and BUSY signals become inactive. Body 2
On the 0 side, after sending the command, the buffer is input buffer 2
After switching to the 0a side, the STB signal is activated.

On the other hand, on the printer side, in step S11, the data is output to the output buffer and latch 21a. In the next step S12, it is determined whether the STB signal is active, and the process waits until it becomes active. When the STB signal becomes active, the input buffer 21b is switched to the output buffer and the latch 21a, a time wait is performed in step S13, and the BUSY signal is activated in step S14.
Wait for time at 5. During this time, the data is transferred to the main body 20 side, and the main body side receives this data in the input buffer 20a. When the data transmission is completed, the output buffer / latch 21a is switched to the input buffer 21b, and the BUSY signal becomes inactive in the next step S16.

On the main body side, after receiving the data, the BU
Wait until the SY signal becomes inactive, then switch the buffer to the output buffer and latch 20b. As a result, the original state of transferring from the main body side to the printer side is restored. The time chart of the above operation is shown in FIG.
Is shown in.

In order to prevent malfunction when both the main body 20 and the printer 21 are in the input state or the output state, first, an open collector type output buffer is used for the data line DATA. In order to prevent the inconvenience when both are in the input state, the main body 20 side may be configured to determine that there is an abnormality when no input comes even after a certain amount of time has passed. In order to prevent the inconvenience caused when both are in the output state, it may be configured to determine that there is an abnormality when the BUSY signal is inactive and the STB signal is active at the time of output. To do this, the procedure shown in FIG. 6 may be added to the beginning of the procedure shown in FIGS.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the data transfer between the printer side and the main body apparatus side is bidirectional, the data on the printer side can be freely known on the main body side. Therefore, it is possible to know the contents of the error or abnormality that occurred in the printer on the main body side and take appropriate action, and the model of the printer can be automatically set. In addition, beautiful fonts can be displayed by using the various fonts of the printer on the main body side, and any device can be connected as long as it has the same specifications.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall construction of a printer system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 indicates a main unit such as a word processor or personal computer, and 31 indicates a printer. In addition to the transmission circuit or transmission / reception circuit 32 built in the body device 30 in the past, the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 3
3 is provided. The printer 31 includes a reception circuit 34, an interrupt circuit 35, a CPU 36, a printing expansion memory 37, a printing font memory 38, and a printer unit 39, which are existing in the past, as well as a bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 40 and an interrupt circuit 41. Is provided.

Transmitting circuit or transmitting / receiving circuit 3 of the main body device 30
2 is a parallel or serial transfer line (wired or wireless)
It is connected to the receiving circuit 34 of the printer 31 via 42. In addition, the bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 33 of the main device 30
Is a parallel or serial transfer line (wired or wireless) 4
3 is connected to the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 40 of the printer 31.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the processing procedure in this embodiment. The operation of transferring font data from the printer 31 side to the main device 30 side by bidirectional transfer will be described below with reference to this figure. The procedure for transferring data from the main body device 30 side to the printer 31 side is the same as the conventional one, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

First, in step S21, the main body 30
Makes an access request to the printer 31 side via the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 33 and the transfer line 43. The printer 31 receives this (step S31), determines whether communication is possible, and transmits the result to the main body 30 side in step S32. The main body 30 side receives this result (step S
22), it is determined in step S23 whether or not access is possible. This communication is also a bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 33.
And transfer line 43.

Only when the access permission is given from the printer 31 side, the command and data can be transferred by using the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 33 and the transfer line 43. First, in step S24, the main body 30 is connected to the printer 31.
And outputs the font data request and the font code to the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 33. As a result, the bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 33 transmits the command and data to the transfer line 4
3 to the bidirectional dedicated transmission / reception circuit 40 of the printer 31. When the bidirectional-dedicated transceiver circuit 40 receives a command and data (step S33), it interrupts the CPU 36 to notify that there is received data.
Notify 6.

When the CPU 36 receives and analyzes the received data and determines that it is a font data request command, the font data corresponding to the font data is read from the font memory 38 and the bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 40 together with the font data transmission command. Output to. As a result, the bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 40 transfers the font data to the main body 30 side through the transfer line 43 (step S).
34). The bidirectional dedicated transceiver circuit 33 receives this data (step S25) and passes it to the main body 30. Thereby, the main body 30 uses the data in its own application (step S26). For example, if the main body 30 side is enlarged and reduced by using the font of the printer and is output to the printer 31 by bit image transfer, this will be the same as the one output from the printer by the character code, and the print image There is no inconvenience such as different.

As described above, also in this embodiment, since the data transfer is bidirectional between the printer side and the main body side, the printer side data can be freely known on the main body side. Therefore, the main body side can know the content of the error or the abnormality that occurred in the printer and can take an appropriate response, which enables a detailed response. Also, the printer model can be set automatically. Moreover, beautiful display is possible by using various print fonts of the printer on the main body side. This also leads to the advantage that the main body device side does not need to have a print font. Further, in the present embodiment, since the conventional communication means is also provided, compatibility with the conventional machine can be maintained.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, there is provided a printer system including a printer and a main body device for supplying data to be printed to the printer, the printer side being the main body side. Since the data transfer means capable of transferring data is provided, the printer side can freely know the data on the printer side. Therefore, it is possible to know the contents of the error or abnormality that occurred in the printer on the main body side and take appropriate action, and the model of the printer can be automatically set. In addition, beautiful fonts can be displayed by using various fonts of the printer on the main body side, and any device can be connected as long as it has the same specifications.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an interface unit of a printer system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of the printer system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a processing procedure when transferring data from the main body to the printer in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for transferring data from the printer to the main body in the embodiment of FIG.

5 is a time chart of the printer system of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a part of a processing procedure for preventing an inconvenience when both are in an output state.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a printer system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart of a processing procedure in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional printer system.

10 is a block diagram showing an interface unit of the printer system of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a time chart of the printer system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

20, 30 Main unit 20a, 20e, 21b, 21d Input buffer 20b, 20d, 21a, 21e Output buffer and latch 20c, 21c Input / output control circuit 21, 31 Printer 32 Transmission circuit or transmission / reception circuit 33, 40 Bidirectional transmission / reception circuit 34 reception circuit 35, 41 interrupt circuit 36 CPU 37 expansion memory for printing 38 font memory for printing 39 printer unit 42, 43 transfer line DATA data line

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer system comprising a printer and a main body device for supplying data to be printed to the printer, comprising data transfer means capable of transferring data from the printer side to the main body device side. A printer system characterized by the above.