JPH08310086A - Information processing apparatus and printing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide an information processing device capable of promptly shifting to a suspend state during printing. A host computer having a power saving mode includes means for switching between a power saving mode and a normal mode,
A means for waiting for mode switching, means for storing print data in a print queue in response to a print instruction, and means for printing the print data stored in the print queue,
The power mode is determined for each print page, and the power saving mode is entered at an appropriate time. After the return, the print data stored in the unprinted print queue is searched and printing is restarted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a host computer as an information processing apparatus transmits print data to a printer via a parallel interface, and the printer is provided with a reception buffer to increase the transmission speed.

[0003]

However, the conventional host computer has the following problems. That is, since the printer normally does not have the suspend function, when the power of the printer is turned off, the print data in the reception buffer is lost and an erroneous print result is obtained.

In other words, even if the host computer was suspended, the printer could not be turned off. In particular, in a laptop computer with a built-in printer, the printer had to be energized at all times even when the host computer was suspended.

In order to avoid such a state, it is known to control so as not to enter the suspend mode during printing. With such a control method, once the printing is started, the user may use a low battery or the like. There was a problem that suspending could not be done even if I wanted to put it into the suspend state immediately.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of rapidly shifting to a suspend state during printing.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, in which the power saving mode and the normal mode are combined. An electric power mode switching unit for switching the electric power mode to any one, a standby unit for waiting for the switching of the electric power mode, a print queue generating unit for dividing the designated print data and generating a plurality of print queues, A printing unit that prints the generated print queue and a determination unit that determines whether or not the print queue is being printed, and immediately shifts to the power saving mode when it is determined that the printing queue is not printing However, when it is determined that the printing is in progress, the process waits until the end of printing in the print queue and then transitions to the power saving mode.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 2 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 1.
In the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the information processing apparatus includes a second determining unit that determines whether or not there is an unprinted print queue, When it is determined that there is a queue, the printing unit prints the unprinted print queue.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, a power mode switching means for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and the instructed printing. A print queue generating unit that divides the data to generate a print queue in which a plurality of print units are stored; a printing unit that prints the print units stored in the generated print queue; It is characterized in that it comprises a determining means for determining the switching of the power mode after the printing of one printing unit of the matrix is completed, and transitions to the power saving mode according to the determination result.

An information processing device according to claim 4 is the information processing device according to claim 3.
In the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the information processing apparatus includes a second determining unit that determines whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue. When it is determined that there is an unprinted print unit, the printing unit prints the unprinted print unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, a power mode switching unit for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and the instructed printing. Print queue generation means for dividing the data to generate a plurality of print queues storing a plurality of print units, and printing for printing the print units stored in any of the plurality of generated print queues And a determination unit that determines the switching of the power mode after the printing of one printing unit stored in any of the plurality of print queues is completed, and the power saving mode is set according to the determination result. It is characterized by transition.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 6 is the information processing apparatus according to claim 5.
In the information processing apparatus according to the second aspect, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the information processing apparatus includes a second determining unit that determines whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue. When it is determined that there is an unprinted print unit, the printing unit prints the unprinted print unit.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the print queue generating means generates the print queue in page units.

An information processing apparatus according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 5, the printing unit is a page.

An information processing apparatus according to a ninth aspect is characterized in that the printing means is integrally formed in the information processing apparatus according to the first, third or fifth aspect.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method of an information processing apparatus, wherein the designated print data is divided to generate a plurality of print queues, and the generation is performed. Prints the specified print queue,
It is determined whether or not the print queue is being printed. If it is determined that the print queue is not being printed, the power saving mode is immediately entered, and if it is determined that the print queue is being printed, the print queue The invention is characterized in that the mode is changed to the power saving mode after waiting until the end of printing.

[0017]

In the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, when the power mode switching means switches the power mode to either the power saving mode or the normal mode, and the standby means waits for the switching of the power mode. , The print data designated by the print queue generating unit is divided to generate a plurality of print queues, the print unit prints the generated print queues, and the determining unit prints the print queues. If it is determined that the printing is not in progress, the power saving mode is immediately entered, and if it is determined that the printing is in progress, after waiting until the end of printing in the print queue, Transition to power saving mode.

[0018]

EXAMPLE An example of the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. The information processing apparatus of the present embodiment is applied to a personal computer integrated with a printer. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a personal computer.

The personal computer is the main body 10 of the apparatus.
1, a keyboard 102, an upper cover 104 having a display unit 103, a suspend / resume key 105, a printer unit 2, and the like. The upper cover 104 is a hinge 1 provided at both ends of the rear of the apparatus body 101.
It is rotatably attached via 04a. When using this device, the upper cover 104 is rotated to display the display unit 103.
Open to a position where it is easy to see, and close it when not in use to form a cover.

A liquid crystal display element is used as a display element in the display section 103.

The suspend / resume key 105 is a toggle key. When the suspend / resume key 105 is pressed in the resume mode, it suspends, and when it is pressed in the suspend mode, it resumes.

The printer unit 2 employs an ink jet type recording head and is housed in the apparatus main body 101 in front of the display section 103. Further, the printer unit 2 has an opening (not shown) that can be opened and closed by the operator, and the recording head can be replaced.

The recording paper 3 is inserted from a paper feed port 101a provided in the lower part of the keyboard 102, is transported in a transport path penetrating the inside of the apparatus main body 101, and is discharged from a paper discharge port (not shown) at the rear of the device. To be done. The keyboard 102 is rotatably attached via hinges 102a provided on both sides of the apparatus main body 101. Thus, when a relatively short length of recording paper such as an envelope or a postcard is used, the keyboard 102 can be opened upward and the recording paper 3 can be inserted deep inside the transport path.

As described above, since the conveyance path for the recording paper 3 is provided below the keyboard 102, various operations using the keyboard 102 and the display unit 103 are possible even when the recording paper is set. In the present embodiment, a portion other than the printer unit 2, a so-called computer portion, will be referred to as a host computer 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the host computer 1. In the host computer 1, a central processing unit (CPU) controls the main control, and the basic control is performed by a BIOS ROM (Basic Input Output System RO).
M). From floppy disk (FDD) or hard disk (HDD) to floppy disk controller (FDC) or hard disk controller (H
The application program is read via the DC) and the program is executed using the system memory (RAM).

In this case, the screen display method is VGA
Characters and the like are displayed on a liquid crystal (LCD) using a (Video Graphic Array) controller (VGAC), and key input from the keyboard (KB) is performed via the keyboard controller (KBC). Here, the numerical arithmetic processor (FPU) supports arithmetic processing for the CPU.

The real-time clock (RTC) indicates the elapsed time at the present time, and operates with a dedicated battery even when the power of the entire system is turned off. The DMA controller (DMAC) transfers data at high speed between memory, between memory, between memory and I / O, and between I / O and I / O without CPU intervention.

The interrupt controller (IRQC) is
Accepts interrupts from / O and performs processing according to priority.

The timer (TIMER) has a free-running timer of several channels and manages various times.
In addition, a serial interface that connects to the outside (SI
O), an expansion port (PORT), and an LED for notifying the user of the operation status. The printer unit 2 is connected to the host computer via a general-purpose parallel interface, and transmits / receives data at the register level of the I / O port, and the image of the connection is the same as the case of exchanging data with an external printer. .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the printer unit 2 using the ink jet recording system. In the figure, 5001 is an ink tank, and 5012 is a recording head coupled thereto. Ink tank 500
1 and the recording head 5012 form an integral replaceable cartridge. Reference numeral 5014 is a carriage for mounting the cartridge on the printer body.
Reference numeral 03 is a guide for scanning the carriage 5014 in the sub-scanning direction.

Reference numeral 5000 denotes a platen roller for scanning the recording paper 3 in the main scanning direction. Reference numeral 5024 is a paper feed motor for rotating the platen roller.

The carriage 5014 has a recording head 5
A printed circuit board for printer control is provided to which a flexible cable (not shown) for supplying a signal pulse for driving 012 and a current for head temperature adjustment is connected.

The mechanical operation of the printer unit 2 will be described. The carriage 5014 that engages with the spiral groove 5005 of the lead screw 5004 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown), It reciprocates in the directions of arrows a and b. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the paper against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage 5014.

Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage 5014 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013.

Reference numeral 5016 is a member that supports a cap member 5022 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
Reference numeral 5 is a suction means for sucking the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head 5012 through the cap closing port 5023.

5017 is a cleaning blade,
A member 5019 is a member that allows the cleaning blade 5017 to move in the front-rear direction, and is supported by a support plate 5018.

It goes without saying that a well-known cleaning blade other than this form can be applied to the cleaning blade 5017. Reference numeral 5021 denotes a lever for starting suction, which moves in accordance with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage 5014, and is controlled by a driving force from a driving motor 5013 via a known transmission means such as clutch switching. To be done. That is, the drive motor 5013 is connected to the carriage 501.
By reversely rotating from the home position of No. 4, the power transmission gear 5011 is switched to the power transmission gear 5010. The driving force from the driving motor 5013 is the cam 5020.
By being transmitted to the lever 5021 via the recording head 5012, suction recovery such as capping and cleaning of the recording head 5012 can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical construction of the printer. The printer has a printer control CPU 21, a ROM 22 in which a printer control program, printer emulation and print fonts are stored, a non-volatile RAM 23 for storing development data for printing and received data from the host computer 1, and printing by the printer unit 2. A printer driver 25 that drives a head and a motor,
The controller 24 controls access to the memory, exchanges data with the host computer 1, and sends control signals to the printer driver 25.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer driver 25. The discharge unit has 64 discharge ports. In the figure, # 1 to # 64 are numbers corresponding to the positions of the ejection ports provided in the ejection unit. R1 to R64 are heating resistors as ejection energy generating elements provided corresponding to the ejection ports # 1 to # 64.

The heating resistors R1 to R64 are divided into blocks in units of eight, and the switching transistors Q1 to Q8 of the common side driver circuit C are shared by each block.
Is connected. The transistors Q1 to Q8 turn on / off the energization path in response to turning on / off of the control signals COM1 to COM8, respectively. In addition, D1 to D64 arranged in the energization paths to the heating resistors R1 to R64 are diodes for backflow prevention.

For the heating resistors located at corresponding positions between the blocks, the segment side driver circuit S is turned on / off.
The off transistors Q9 to Q16 are connected. Transistors Q9-Q16 have control signals SEG1-S, respectively.
The energization path for the heating resistor is turned on / off according to turning on / off of the EG8.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing signals for driving the head. At a certain position in the head scanning direction, the common side control signals COM8 to COM1 are sequentially turned on. When turned on, one block is selected to be able to be energized. Therefore, the segment-side control signals SEG8 to SEG8 ...
By turning SEG1 on or off respectively,
The heating resistor is selectively energized, ink is ejected according to the heat generation, and dot recording is performed.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing the configurations of the carriage motor 5013 and the motor driver. FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing drive signals for the carriage motor 5013. Coil φ1 as carriage motor 5013
Drive signal C using a stepping motor having
By appropriately turning on / off the switch transistors Tr1 to Tr4 connected to the coils by M1 to CM4, the two-phase excitation method is used. Feed motor 5024
Is driven by the drive signals FM1 to FM4 with the same configuration.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the controller 24 of the printer. The controller 24 is an I / O data register for exchanging data at the command level with the host computer 1, a reception buffer controller for directly writing the reception data from the register to the RAM 23, reading the recording data from the recording data buffer of the RAM 23, and a head driver. For COM1 to COM
8 / SEG1 to SEG8, and a print buffer controller for sending control signals, and a memory controller for controlling memory access to the RAM 23 from three directions (CPU 21, reception buffer controller and print buffer controller). ing.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a map of the printer I / O register. In the figure, the motor control port controls the port by directly rewriting the value of the register to drive each motor (CM1 to CM4,
FM1 to FM4).

The print buffer area is used to set a data area required for printing, and the start address (PB STAR
T) and the end address (PB END) are set, the print buffer controller sequentially reads the print data from the start address within the range, and the print data is read from the RAM 23 until the end address.
Sends a control signal to the head driver. At this time, the print data address pointer (PB POINT) indicates the data address of the data currently being sent.

The reception data buffer area is used to set a data area required for reception similarly, and has a start address (IB START) and an end address (IB END).
By setting, the reception buffer controller writes the reception data in order from the start address within the range, and the reception data is written to the RAM 23 up to the end address. At this time, the reception data address pointer (IB POINT) indicates the data address that has already received the data.

FIG. 11 shows the print buffer (P
B) and an address area of the reception buffer (IB) are shown respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, each address is printer I /
It is indicated in the O register. The interface area is an area for exchanging data with the host computer 1, and corresponds to a parallel interface board in the host computer 1.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the interface area between the host computer and the printer. I / O data on the host computer 1 side, I / O status, and I / O register are
The address (n, n + 1, n + 2) viewed from the host computer 1 side indicates the same address as the O data, I / O status, and I / O control registers, and the address (m, m + 1, m + 2) viewed from the printer side. ) Has been set up so that the address map can be taken. That is, the address of this portion is a register that can read and write in both directions.

The host computer side is also equipped with an I / O register for controlling peripheral devices.
The register is used for I / O control in the host computer 1. That is, the I / O area of each block shown in FIG. 2 is provided, and only the interface control area therein is common with the interface area of the I / O register on the printer side.

Next, the processing after the power of the host computer 1 is turned on will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the power is turned on. This processing is executed at the time of soft reset by the keyboard or when the power is turned on.

First, a POST (Power On Self-Test) process is executed (step S10). The POST process is a test and initialization of each hardware. Continuing,
The boot program is loaded to activate the system program (step S11). The boot program is stored in a floppy disk (FD) or hard disk (HD), for example, track 0,
It is arranged in the selector 1. The boot program is loaded by reading track 0 and selector 1 in the memory. Steps S10 and S11 are ROM B
It is executed by a program in IOS.

The loaded boot program is executed (step S12). The boot program loads the OS load program for loading the OS program from the FD or HD (step S13).

The loaded OS load program is executed (step S14). OS load program is OS
This is a program for loading the program into the memory, and first loads the I / O driver (step S1.
5). The I / O driver is a program for controlling I / O and exchanges data with various I / O.

I / O testing and initialization is performed (step S16). The OS program is loaded into the memory (step S17). With the steps so far, the OS program is ready to be executed, and the OS program is executed. OS
The program processes input from the keyboard 102, displays various messages on the display 103, and interacts with the operator. The OS program executes various command processes according to the input of various commands by the operator.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the procedure of POST processing. First, the CPU and FPU (numerical operation processor, coprocessor) are tested (step S2).
0). Next, the ROM test is performed (step S2
1) Check the battery (step S2)
2). Further, the LCD and the LCD abapter are tested and initialized (step S23). RA for LCD adapter
M and ROM are included and they are checked.

The interrupt controller is tested and initialized (step S24). The timer is tested (step S25). The DMA controller is tested (step S26). The keyboard and keyboard controller are tested (step S27). The serial parallel port is tested and initialized (step S28). It is checked whether it is a soft reset (step S
29). When it is a soft reset, the RAM is not tested and the initialization process is not performed. R when not soft reset
The AM is tested and initialized (step S30).

The FD test is performed (step S31).
Further, the HD test is performed (step S32). The real time clock is tested (step S33).
The printer is tested (step S34). The printer test checks various printer ports and printer connections. Finally, the LED test is performed (step S35), and the process ends.

When the POST processing is performed and there is an error in each device, they are notified.

Next, the keyboard interrupt processing and the key code acquisition processing will be described. In the keyboard interrupt process, an interrupt is generated from the keyboard controller according to the key press of the keyboard 102, is processed by the interrupt controller, and the keyboard interrupt process is executed.

In the key code acquisition process, the key code saved by the keyboard interrupt is taken out from the key buffer, and the key code is returned to the required process.

The key buffer is provided in the BIOS common area on the RAM. The keyboard interrupt process is assigned to a hardware interrupt entry on an interrupt map (not shown) of each I / O, and the key code acquisition process is assigned to a software interrupt entry. Interrupt from the keyboard,
Moved to execution by calling software interrupt.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure when a keyboard interrupt occurs. First, when a keyboard interrupt occurs, the key scan code is read from the I / O port assigned to the keyboard 102 (step S40).

It is determined whether the read code is a code corresponding to a soft reset (step S4).
1). When the code is equivalent to the soft reset, the print buffer clear command is transmitted (step S
42) Then, after execution, the actual soft reset operation is started.

If the read code is not a soft reset, it is confirmed whether the keyboard buffer is full (step S43). When the keyboard buffer is full, a beep sound is generated for warning (step S44), and the process ends. When the keyboard buffer is not full, the key scan code is converted into a key code corresponding to the character code (step S45), the converted key code is set in the key buffer (step S46), and the process is ended.

As described above, when the soft reset is executed in the keyboard interrupt process, the buffer clear command is transmitted to the printer and the buffer clear process of the printer is performed.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the key code acquisition process. When the key code is acquired, it is first checked whether or not there is a key code in the keyboard buffer (step S50), and when there is no key code, the process waits for entry into the key code buffer. When the key code exists, it is checked whether or not the key code needs to be converted (step S51), and if necessary, the key code is converted (step S52). Key code conversion mainly occurs when the keyboard is different for each country.

On the other hand, when the key code conversion is not necessary, or after the key code conversion is performed in step S52, the key code is set in the register (step S53) and the process ends.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing the procedure of command analysis processing by the host computer. First,
A key code acquisition process is executed (step S100).
Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired key code matches the suspend / resume key code (step S101).

If the key code does not match the suspend / resume key code, the key process for the key code is executed (step S102). On the other hand, if they match, the power management program is notified that the suspend / resume key has been pressed (step S103).

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the print processing procedure. When performing printing, the application program 201 passes a print command to the drawing control program 202. The drawing control program 202 converts the print command from the application program 201 into a printer driver command and passes it to the printer driver 203 corresponding to the printer to be printed.

The printer driver 203 creates command data for the printer 204 according to the printer driver command. The printer driver 203 passes the created command data for the printer to the drawing control program 202. The parent spooler 205 immediately sends the data passed from the drawing control program 202 to the printer 204.
It is put in the print queue 206 once without being output to.

The print queue 206 is stored in units of a set of print data called a print job 207. For example, print data such as an entire document of a word processor or a specific page that the operator has instructed to print at once becomes one print job 207.
The configuration of the print job 207 will be described later.

The parent spooler 205 distributes the print job 207 to the child spooler 208 page by page. There are one or more child spoolers 208 in the system. The child spooler 208 outputs one page to the printer 204. When the output of one page ends, another page is allocated from the parent spooler 205. The child spooler 208 independently executes the printing process. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the parent spooler 205. The print queue generation unit 231
Create a print queue 206. The print queue registration unit 233 registers the print job 207 in the print queue 206. The print queue extracting unit 234 uses the print job 2
07 is taken from the print queue 206. The print queue changing means 235 changes the order of the print jobs 207 in the print queue 206. Print queue reporting means 2
32 reports the number, order, contents, etc. of the print jobs 207 in the print queue 206 to other means.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the print job 207. The print job 207 is command data 211 for each page for the printer 204, and is composed of a plurality of pages. The command data is output to the printer 204 in page units. Here, the page is a unit of output to the printer 204 and does not necessarily correspond to a physical page.

Even if the printer setting command is output every time a page is output and pages for one print job are not continuously printed from the first page to the last page,
The page can be printed normally. That is, no matter how the page output order is changed in one print job, the same result as when printing from the first page can be obtained by rearranging the page order after printing. Further, no matter how the order of printing pages is changed between jobs in a plurality of print jobs, the pages can still be printed normally. Further, after printing the page, even if another page is printed after the power of the printer is turned off and on, the page can be printed normally as well.

When a plurality of spoolers exist, if the command data is output to the printer 204 at the same time, printing cannot be performed correctly.
Exclusive control is performed page by page for output to 04.

The power management program 209 controls the transition of the apparatus to the suspend state and the control of the resume and other power saving functions. FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the power management program 209. The power mode switching unit 221 switches between suspend (power saving mode) and resume (normal mode). The standby means 222 waits for switching between the two modes. The printing flag 223 manages whether printing is currently being performed.

The power management program 209 turns on the printing flag 223 in the normal mode. In this case, when there is an inquiry from the child spooler 208 as to whether to enter the waiting state, the printing flag 223 is set.
Is checked, and when it is ON, the standby means 222 enters the standby state. When the printing flag 223 is OFF, the suspend mode is immediately entered.

The relationship with the child spooler 208 will be described below. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the procedure of printing processing by the child spooler 208. The child spooler 208 determines whether the print page is passed from the parent spooler 205 (step S301). When there is no print page, after waiting for a certain period of time (step S302), it is determined again whether or not the print page is passed from the parent spooler 205.

When there is a print page, the child spooler 208
Requests the drawing control program 202 to use the printer (step S303).

The drawing control program 202 checks whether or not the child spooler is currently in a state in which the printer cannot be used (step S30).
4) If it is acceptable to use the printer, give permission to use the printer 204. If the child spooler 208 cannot use the printer 204, after waiting for a certain period of time (step S305),
Again, the permission to use the printer 204 is requested. Printer 2
If 04 is available, the child spooler 208 immediately calls the power management program 209 without outputting a printer command to the printer 204 (step S306).

The power management program 209 instructs the child spooler 208 to enter the waiting state when it is in the state where the suspend state should be entered, and otherwise does nothing.
When the child spooler 208 is instructed by the power management program 209 to enter the waiting state (step S307), the child spooler 208 enters the waiting state (step S308).

The waiting state is released by an instruction from the power management program 209 to the child spooler 208 when the cause of the waiting state is released when the device enters the resume state. If no instruction is given from the power management program 209, the child spooler 208 outputs a printer command for one page to the printer 204 (step S309), notifies the drawing control program 202 of the end of printing, and notifies the printer 2
04 is released (step S310), it is again checked whether or not the print page is passed from the parent spooler 205, and the process is repeated.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a printer-integrated personal computer according to a second embodiment will be described. Compared with the first embodiment, the configuration is the same except that there is only one spooler. FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a print processing procedure in the personal computer of the second embodiment.

There is only one spooler 241, and this spooler 241 has the functions of the parent spooler and child spooler of the first embodiment. The configuration of the spooler 241 is basically the same as that shown in FIG.

Command data for the printer 204 created by the printer driver 203 from the print instruction from the application program 201 is sent to the spooler 24.
The processing up to 1 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

The spooler 241 is the drawing control program 20.
Instead of immediately outputting the data passed from No. 2 to the printer 204, the data is temporarily put in the print queue 206. And
The print jobs 207 are taken out from the print queue 206 one by one and printed. The configuration of the print job 207 is configured on a page-by-page basis as in the case of the first embodiment, and even if any of the pages is printed separately, the pages are normally printed.

The operation of the power management program 209 is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing the print processing procedure by the spooler 241. The spooler 241 determines whether or not there is a print job 207 in the print queue 206 (step S311), and when there is no print job 207, after waiting for a certain period of time (step S31).
2) It is again determined whether or not there is a print job 207 in the print queue 206. When there is a print job 207 in the print queue 206, one print job 207 is taken out (step S313).

Here, the spooler 241 does not immediately output the printer command to the printer 204 but calls the power management program 209 (step S314). The power management program 209 instructs the spooler 241 to enter the waiting state when it is in the state where it should shift to the suspend state, and does not instruct anything otherwise.

The spooler 241 is the power management program 20.
When instructed to enter the waiting state from 9 (step S3
15) and enters a waiting state (step S316). The waiting state is released by an instruction from the power management program 209 to the spooler 241 when the device enters the resume state and the cause of the waiting is removed. Power management program 2
When no instruction is given from 09, the spooler 241 outputs a printer command for one page to the printer 204 (step S317).

Here, the spooler 241 determines whether or not the processing of all pages has been completed (step S318). When the processing has been completed, the print job 2 is again stored in the print queue 206.
It is determined whether there is 07.

When there is an unprocessed page, the power management program 209 is called again to determine whether or not to enter the waiting state, and the printer command is sent to the printer 204.
And repeat the process.

[Third Embodiment] A printer-integrated personal computer according to the third embodiment will now be described. FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a print processing procedure in the personal computer of the third embodiment.

The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that a plurality of spoolers 251 having the functions of the parent spooler and the child spooler are provided. The structure of the spooler 251 is basically the same as that of the second embodiment.

Command data for the printer 204 created by the printer driver 203 from the print instruction from the application program 201 is spooler 25.
The processing up to 1 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

The spooler 251 is the drawing control program 20.
Instead of immediately outputting the data passed from No. 2 to the printer 204, the data is temporarily put in the print queue 206. And
The print jobs 207 are taken out from the print queue 206 one by one and printed. The configuration of the print job 207 is configured on a page-by-page basis as in the case of the first embodiment, and even if any of the pages is printed separately, the pages are normally printed.

The operation of the power management program 209 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing the print processing procedure by the spooler 251. The spooler 251 determines whether the print job is in the print queue 206 (step S321). When there is no print job, after waiting for a certain period of time (step S322), it is determined again whether or not the print job is in the print queue 206.

When a print job is in the print queue, the spooler 251 removes one from the print queue. Subsequently, the drawing control program 202 is requested to use the printer (step S324).

The drawing control program 202 checks whether or not the printer is currently unavailable because another spooler 252 is using the printer (step S32).
6) If it is acceptable to use the printer, give permission to use the printer 204. If the spooler 251 cannot use the printer 204, the spooler 251 waits for a certain period of time (step S325), and again requests permission to use the printer 204. Printer 20
4 is available, the spooler 251 does not immediately output the printer command to the printer 204 but calls the power management program 209 (step S327).

The power management program 209 instructs the spooler 251 to enter the waiting state when it should enter the suspend state, and does nothing otherwise. When the spooler 251 is instructed by the power management program 209 to enter the waiting state (step S327), the spooler 251 enters the waiting state (step S329).

The wait state is released by an instruction from the power management program 209 to the spooler 251 when the device enters the resume state and the cause of the wait is released.
If nothing is instructed from the power management program 209,
The spooler 251 outputs a printer command for one page to the printer 204 (step S330). It is determined whether printing of all pages has been completed (step S33).
1) If not completed, the process returns to step S324, and if completed, the drawing control program 202 is notified of the completion of printing and the printer 204 is opened (step S324).
332) Then, it is again checked whether or not the print job is in the print queue 206, and the process is repeated.

[0105]

According to the information processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the power mode switching means switches the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and the standby means switches the power mode. When waiting, the print data designated by the print queue generating means is divided to generate a plurality of print queues, the printing means prints the generated print queues, and the determining means prints the print queues. It is determined whether or not the queue is being printed. If it is determined that the queue is not being printed, the mode immediately shifts to the power saving mode. If it is determined that the queue is being printed, until the end of printing of the print queue. Since it shifts to the power saving mode after waiting, it is possible to quickly shift to the power saving mode after printing the print queue, and until printing of print data is completed during the printing process as in the past. You can solve the problem that could not be a transition to power mode. Therefore, it is possible to quickly switch to the power saving mode, such as when the battery becomes low during the printing process.

According to the information processing apparatus of the second aspect, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, the second determining unit determines whether or not there is an unprinted print queue. When it is determined that there is an unprinted print queue, the printing unit prints the unprinted print queue, so that the printing of the print queue can be resumed.

According to the information processing apparatus of the third aspect, in the information processing apparatus having the power saving mode, the power mode switching means for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode is instructed. A print queue generating unit that divides the print data into a print queue that stores a plurality of print units; a print unit that prints the print units stored in the generated print queue; And a determination unit that determines the switching of the power mode after the printing of one print unit of the print queue is completed,
Since the mode changes to the power saving mode according to the determination result, it can be switched to the power saving mode every time printing of a print unit is completed, and the mode is switched to the power saving mode until printing of print data is completed as in the conventional case. Can solve problems that could not be done.

According to the information processing apparatus of the fourth aspect, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, it is determined whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue. When it is determined that there is the unprinted printing unit, the printing unit prints the unprinted printing unit, and thus printing of the printing unit can be resumed.

According to the information processing apparatus of the fifth aspect, in the information processing apparatus having the power saving mode, the power mode switching means for switching the power mode to either the power saving mode or the normal mode is instructed. Print queue generating means for generating a plurality of print queues for storing a plurality of print units by dividing the print data, and printing the print units stored in any of the plurality of generated print queues. And a discriminating means for discriminating the switching of the power mode after the printing of one printing unit stored in any of the plurality of print queues is completed, and the power saving is performed according to the discrimination result. Since the mode is switched to the mode, it is possible to switch to the power saving mode every time the printing of the print unit stored in any of the plurality of print queues is completed. You can solve the problem that other printing has failed to be switched to the power-saving mode until it is completed.

According to the sixth aspect of the information processing apparatus, when the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, it is determined whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue. When it is determined that there is the unprinted printing unit, the printing unit prints the unprinted printing unit, and thus printing of the printing unit can be resumed.

According to the information processing apparatus of the seventh aspect, since the print queue generating means generates the print queue in page units, it is possible to switch to the power saving mode each time printing is completed in page units. it can.

According to the information processing apparatus of the eighth aspect, since the printing unit is a page, it is possible to switch to the power saving mode each time printing is completed page by page.

According to the information processing apparatus of the ninth aspect, since the printing means is integrally formed, for example, in a laptop personal computer, when the battery becomes low during the printing process, the power can be saved immediately. You can switch to mode.

According to the printing method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 10, in the printing method of the information processing apparatus having the power saving mode, the designated print data is divided to generate a plurality of print queues, The generated print queue is printed, and it is determined whether or not the print queue is printing. If it is determined that the print queue is not printing, the power saving mode is immediately entered, and the printing is in progress. If it is determined that the power saving mode is entered after waiting until the printing of the print queue is completed, the power saving mode can be immediately entered after the print queue is printed, and the printing process can be performed during the printing process as in the past. Can solve the problem that the power saving mode cannot be entered until the printing of the print data is completed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host computer 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a printer unit 2 using an inkjet recording method.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printer.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing an electrical configuration of a printer driver 25.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing signals for driving a head.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing configurations of a carriage motor 5013 and a motor driver.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing drive signals for a carriage motor 5013.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a controller 24 of the printer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a map of a printer I / O register.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing address areas of a print buffer (PB) and a receive buffer (IB) of the RAM 23, respectively.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an interface area between a host computer and a printer.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the power is turned on.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a POST processing procedure.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a keyboard interrupt occurs.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a key code acquisition processing procedure.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a command analysis processing procedure by the host computer.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a print processing procedure.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a parent spooler 205.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of a print job 207.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a power management program 209.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a printing process by the child spooler 208.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a print processing procedure in the personal computer according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a print processing procedure by the spooler 241.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a print processing procedure in the personal computer according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a print processing procedure by the spooler 251.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host Computer 2 Printer Unit 21 CPU 105 Suspend / Resume Key 202 Drawing Control Program 204 Printer 205 Parent Spooler 206 Print Queue 208 Child Spooler 209 Power Management Program 241, 251 Spooler

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, a power mode switching unit for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and a standby unit for waiting for the switching of the power mode. Print queue generation means for dividing the designated print data to generate a plurality of print queues, printing means for printing the generated print queues, and whether or not the print queue is being printed A determination unit that determines whether the printing is in progress, immediately transits to the power saving mode when it is determined that the printing is not in progress, and waits until the end of printing in the print queue when it is determined that the printing is in progress. An information processing device, characterized in that the device shifts to a power saving mode. 2. When the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, a second determination unit that determines whether or not there is an unprinted print queue is provided, and the unprinted print queue. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that there is a print queue, the printing unit prints the unprinted print queue. 3. An information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, wherein a power mode switching unit for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and a plurality of prints by dividing the instructed print data. A print queue generating unit that generates a print queue in which units are stored; a printing unit that prints the print unit stored in the generated print queue; and a print unit that prints one print unit in the print queue. After finishing,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines switching of the power mode, and transitions to a power saving mode according to the determination result. 4. When the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, a second determining unit for determining whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue is provided. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when it is determined that there is a print unit for printing, the printing unit prints the unprinted print unit. 5. An information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, wherein a power mode switching unit for switching the power mode between the power saving mode and the normal mode, and a plurality of prints by dividing the instructed print data. A print queue generating unit that generates a plurality of print queues in which units are stored; a printing unit that prints the print unit stored in any of the plurality of generated print queues; Information that is characterized by comprising a determining unit that determines the switching of the power mode after the printing of one printing unit stored in any of the matrixes is completed, and transitions to the power saving mode according to the determination result. Processing equipment. 6. When the power mode switching unit returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode, a second determining unit is provided for determining whether or not there is an unprinted print unit in the print queue. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined that there is a print unit for printing, the printing unit prints the unprinted print unit. 7. The print queue generation means generates a print queue on a page-by-page basis.
The information processing device described. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing unit is a page. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit is integrally formed. 10. A printing method for an information processing apparatus having a power saving mode, wherein designated print data is divided to generate a plurality of print queues, the generated print queues are printed, and the print It is determined whether or not the queue is being printed. If it is determined that the printing is not in progress, the power saving mode is immediately entered, and if it is determined that the printing is in progress, the printing of the printing queue is completed. The printing method of the information processing apparatus, comprising: transitioning to the power saving mode after waiting up to.