JPH10207646A - Output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an output device by which the first copy can be exactly printed even when the overflow of a storing means for storing print data is generated, and to provide an output device by which an operator can easily confirm the generation of the overflow of the storing means when the overflow is generated. SOLUTION: Print data transmitted from a host device 40 by each page are stored in a page buffer 18, compressed, and stored in a secondary storage device 20, and the first copy is printed by each page by using the print data stored in the page buffer 18. In this case, when the overflow of the secondary storage device 20 is not generated until the print data for all the pages are stored in the secondary storage device 20, the second copy and more are printed by using the print data stored in the secondary storage device 20, and when the overflow of the secondary storage device 20 is generated, at least one copy is printed by each page by using the print data stored in the page buffer 18 without operating the storage of the print data received since then in the secondary storage device 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output device, and more particularly, to an output device for temporarily storing print data received from a host device in a storage unit and then performing a printing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, print data received from a host device such as a host computer is temporarily stored in a storage means such as a memory, and a printing process is performed based on the number of print copies designated by the host device. Output devices, such as printers and copiers, which print a specified number of copies and perform sorting such as collation for each print unit, are known.

In the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-40121, first, the number of print copies is received, print data for all pages of a print document is received and stored in a storage unit, and then the print data received earlier is received. By repeating the operation of printing each page one by one based on the number of copies, the printing process for the designated number of prints is performed.

On the other hand, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-96638, a large-capacity storage device is provided in a printer (output device), and all print data received from a host computer is temporarily stored in the large-capacity storage device. And then the first
Printing each page one by one from the page to the last page is repeated a number of times, so that the printing process for the number of prints is performed.

[0005]

However, according to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-40121, sorting cannot be performed unless print data for all pages is stored in a storage means. Is executed, an overflow is likely to occur, and if an overflow occurs, the input halfway page must be discarded or the printing process must be interrupted.

In the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-96638, the above problem is solved by providing a large-capacity storage device. However, providing a large-capacity storage device requires a great deal of cost. , There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and discards the print data stored in the storage means even if an overflow of the storage means for storing the print data occurs. A first object is to provide an output device capable of reliably printing the first copy by making it possible to print without printing and to receive print data of the remaining pages from a higher-level device. If the storage means overflows,
It is a second object of the present invention to provide an output device that allows an operator to easily confirm occurrence of overflow.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an output apparatus comprising: first storage means for storing one page of print data received from a host apparatus; A second storage unit that stores the print data stored in the first storage unit for a plurality of pages, an output unit that prints the print data on a sheet, and a predetermined amount of the print data stored in the second storage unit. When the value is less than the value, control is performed so that the print data stored in the second storage means is printed by the output means, and the amount of the print data stored in the second storage means is equal to or more than a predetermined value. If it becomes
Control for stopping the storage of the print data received thereafter in the second storage means and thereafter performing print processing by the output means using the print data stored in the first storage means Means.

According to the first aspect, the print data of one page received from the host device is stored in the first storage means, and the print data stored in the first storage means is stored in the first storage means for a plurality of pages. 2 is stored in the storage means.

Further, in the output device according to the first aspect, when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is less than a predetermined value, printing by the output means of the print data stored in the second storage means is performed. The control is performed by the control means so that when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value, the print data received thereafter is stored in the second storage means. Is stopped, and thereafter the control unit controls the printing by the output unit using the print data stored in the first storage unit.

As described above, according to the output device of the first aspect, when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is less than a predetermined value, that is, an overflow of the second storage means occurs. Otherwise, printing using the print data stored in the second storage means is performed, and when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value, If the overflow of the storage means occurs, the print data received thereafter is not stored in the second storage means, and the print processing using the print data stored in the first storage means is continued. Therefore, even if an overflow occurs in the second storage means, the print processing using the print data stored in the second storage means and the print data received thereafter is performed. Nau it becomes possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the output device according to the first aspect further comprises an input unit for inputting a distribution pattern for designating the number of pages to be printed for each print unit.
The control means controls printing of print data by the output means based on the distribution pattern.

According to the output device of the second aspect, the printing by the output unit of the print data in the output device of the first aspect is performed when a plurality of copies inputted by the input unit are printed. Since the printing is performed based on the distribution pattern that specifies the number of prints, each page of each print unit can be printed as many as the number of prints specified by the distribution pattern.

The above distribution pattern can be input by transmitting it from an upper device to an output device.
The input can also be made by the operator operating the output device.

In the case where the output device according to claim 2 is applied to a digital multi-function peripheral having an output function and a copying function, the second and subsequent copies can be obtained by using the first copy of the original obtained by the printing process. When performing the copying using the above-mentioned copying function, the above distribution pattern can be used, so that it is not necessary for the operator to input the number of prints of each page for each printing section, and the efficiency of the operator's work can be improved. Can be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the output device according to the first aspect, the control means prints the first copy to one of the first storage means and the second storage means. The control is performed so as to use the stored print data.

According to the output device of the third aspect, the control unit controls the first copy to be printed using the print data stored in one of the first storage unit and the second storage unit. When the first copy is printed using the print data stored in the first storage means, that is, when the print data stored in the first storage means is stored in the second storage means, When printing the first copy, and when printing from the first copy using the print data stored in the second storage means after storing the print data for a plurality of pages in the second storage means, The output device according to claim 1 can be applied.

In the output device according to the third aspect,
In order to obtain print sheets of all received pages, it is necessary to print at least one sheet of print data of all pages. Therefore, in the output device according to the third aspect, when the amount of the print data stored in the second storage unit has become equal to or more than the predetermined value, the following print processing can be selected. Printing of the print data of the page in which the designation of the number of copies of the first copy in the distribution pattern is 0 out of the print data stored in the second storage means up to that time. Print all the print data stored in the second storage means up to that time. From among the print data received thereafter, the print data of the page in which the number of prints of the first copy in the distribution pattern is 0 is replaced with the print of the first copy and printed. -Print all the print data received after that one by one.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the above-mentioned second object is achieved.
The output device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit determines that an amount of print data stored in the second storage unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this case, the fact is displayed on the display means.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is equal to or more than a predetermined value, that is, when the second storage means overflows, Is displayed on the display means, and the operator can easily determine whether or not an overflow has occurred in the second storage means by referring to the display means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the output device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the control means controls the amount of print data stored in the second storage means. When the value becomes equal to or more than the predetermined value, the fact is notified to the higher-level device.

According to the output device of the present invention, when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is equal to or more than a predetermined value, that is, when the second storage means overflows, Is notified to the higher-level device. Therefore, when the higher-level device is notified that an overflow has occurred, an operation of notifying the operator that an overflow has occurred in the second storage means, for example, sounding a buzzer By performing the operation, the operator can easily determine whether or not an overflow has occurred in the second storage means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the output device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the control means controls the amount of print data stored in the second storage means. When the value is equal to or more than a predetermined value, control is performed so as to output a sheet on which information indicating the fact is printed.

According to the output device of the present invention, when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, that is, when the second storage means overflows, The sheet on which the information indicating that the overflow has occurred is output. Therefore, the operator can easily determine whether or not the overflow has occurred in the second storage unit by referring to the sheet on which the information indicating that the overflow has occurred is printed. Can be determined.

[0025]

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

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral 10 as an output device according to the present invention having both the functions of a printer and the function of a copier, and the peripheral connection state.

As shown in FIG. 1, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 communicates with an upper-level device 40 such as a host computer by SCSI (Sma).
ll Computer System Interf
ace) SCSI-connected by cable 32.

The digital multifunction peripheral 10 is connected to the host device 4.
The host device interface unit (hereinafter, referred to as a host device I / F unit) 12 for performing input / output control with respect to 0, an internal memory 16 used as a work area when executing a control program described later, and temporarily stores print data. A page buffer 18 for storing, a secondary storage device 20 for compressing print data stored in the page buffer 18 and storing them for a plurality of pages, a font memory 22 for storing font data of various characters, and various information by an operator. , An operation unit 24 for inputting image data, a scanner 26 for collecting image data of a document to be copied when used as a copier, and a display unit 2 for displaying an operation state, an operation procedure, etc. of the digital multifunction peripheral 10.
8, an output unit 29 for performing printing based on the decompressed print data, and a control unit 14 for controlling the entire digital multifunction peripheral 10. The above units are interconnected by a bus 30. Further, a tray (not shown) on which the printed paper is placed is provided at a position where the output paper 29 discharges the printed paper.

The control unit 14 is the control unit of the present invention, the page buffer 18 is the first storage unit of the present invention, the secondary storage device 20 is the second storage unit of the present invention, and the display unit 28 is the control unit of the present invention. The display unit and the output unit 29 correspond to the output unit of the present invention.

The control unit 14 includes a CPU (not shown) and an RO
M, a RAM, and the like. A control program for performing various controls of the digital multifunction peripheral 10 is stored in the ROM in advance, and the CPU stores the various control programs stored in the ROM in the host device. It is executed in response to an instruction from 40, an instruction from an operator using the operation unit 24, or the like.

The secondary storage device 20 is not limited to a semiconductor memory, but may be a hard disk, a floppy disk or the like capable of input / output.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment when collating is performed as sorting will be described with reference to FIG.
The control program shown in the flowchart in FIG.
It is executed by a CPU (not shown) of the control unit 14 each time a command for instructing collated printing is received from the host device 40. In addition, the host device 40 transmits the print mode and the number of copies after transmitting the command for collating printing,
Thereafter, a distribution pattern and print data are transmitted for each page, and a transmission end signal is transmitted when transmission of the distribution pattern and print data for all pages is completed. In the print mode, when the print data is stored in the secondary storage device 20 and the first copy is printed at the same time, 1 is set by the host device 40, and all the print data is stored in the secondary storage device 2.
In the case of the mode in which printing from the first copy is performed after the value is stored in 0, 2 is set by the host device 40.
It should be noted that the print mode is set by the operator
May be set by operating. The distribution pattern indicates the number of prints for each print section of the page, and specifically corresponds to the numerical data of each column of the print data management table 70 shown in FIG.

Steps 200 and 202 in FIG.
Then, the print mode and the number of print copies transmitted after the command for instructing collation printing from the host device 40 are received and stored in a predetermined area of the internal memory 16.

In the next step 204, the distribution pattern for each page of the print original transmitted from the host device 40 in accordance with the number of copies is received and stored in a predetermined area of the internal memory 16.

In the next step 206, the print data transmitted for each print data amount of one page of the print manuscript is received following the distribution pattern from the higher-level device 40 and sequentially stored in the page buffer 18, and the next step 208 Then
Page buffer 18 of print data for one page of a printed document
It is determined whether or not the storage of the print data has been completed. If the storage has not been completed, the process returns to step 206 to continue receiving the print data and storing the print data in the page buffer 18, and if completed, the process proceeds to step 210.

When the reception of the print data for one page of the print document and the storage in the page buffer 18 are completed, in the next step 210, the print data for one page of the print document stored in the page buffer 18 is compressed by a predetermined compression method. The data is compressed and stored in the secondary storage device 20. The predetermined compression method at this time is a run length (Run Length) method, L
A known technique such as the ZW method can be applied.

When the compression of the print data for one page of the print document and the storage in the secondary storage device 20 are completed, in the next step 212, the print mode value stored in the predetermined area of the internal memory 16 in step 200 becomes 1 It is determined whether or not there is, and if it is 1, the process proceeds to step 214,
In step 204, referring to the distribution pattern stored in the predetermined area of the internal memory 16, the printing of the first copy for the number of prints designated by the higher-level device 40 is performed using the print data stored in the page buffer 18. After performing, the process proceeds to step 216.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 212 that the value of the print mode is not 1, the process proceeds to step 216 without printing the first copy here. In addition,
The printing of the first copy in step 214 is performed in step 21
0 may be performed in parallel with the process of compressing the print data and storing it in the secondary storage device 20. Further, when printing the first copy in step 214, printing may not be performed on pages for which the designated number of prints in the distribution pattern is 0, and the 0 prints are replaced with the 1 prints. May be printed.

In the next step 216, the secondary storage device 2
It is determined whether an overflow of 0 has occurred. If no overflow has occurred, the process proceeds to step 218 to determine whether storage of the print data up to the last page of the print document in the secondary storage device 20 has been completed. The process returns to step 204 if not completed, and proceeds to step 220 if completed. Therefore, until the storage of all the print data of the print manuscript in the secondary storage device 20 is completed, the processing of the above steps 204 to 216, that is, the storage of the distribution pattern for each page in the internal memory 16 and the processing of one page of the print manuscript Of the print data stored in the page buffer 18, compression of the print data stored in the page buffer 18 by a predetermined method, storage in the secondary storage device 20, and printing of the first copy when the value of the print mode is 1. After the determination of whether or not an overflow has occurred in the secondary storage device 20 is repeatedly performed, the process proceeds to step 220.

At this time, since the processing of steps 204 to 216 is repeatedly performed, step 20
Since the process of storing the distribution pattern for each of the four pages in the internal memory 16 is repeatedly performed, a print data management table 70 as shown in FIG. In the print data management table 70 shown in the drawing, the first page of the first copy outputs three sheets, the second page outputs three sheets, the third page outputs one sheet (omitted in the middle), and the last page outputs two sheets. It represents that.

The overflow of the secondary storage device 20 does not occur, and the secondary storage device 20 of the print data up to the last page does not occur.
When the storage of the print mode is completed, in step 220, it is determined whether or not the value of the print mode is 1, and if not, the process proceeds to step 222 to execute a print processing 1 routine based on the secondary storage device described later. After the execution, the control program is terminated. If the value is 1, the process proceeds to step 224, and after executing a print processing 2 routine based on a secondary storage device described later, the control program is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 216 that an overflow of the secondary storage device 20 has occurred, the process proceeds to step 226, and a message indicating that an overflow of the secondary storage device 20 has occurred is displayed on the display unit 28.
Then, the process proceeds to step 228, and a signal indicating that an overflow has occurred in the secondary storage device 20 is transmitted to the host device 40. The higher-level device 40 includes the secondary storage device 20
When a signal indicating that an overflow has occurred is received, an operation of notifying the operator that an overflow has occurred in the secondary storage device 20, for example, an operation of sounding a buzzer is performed.

In the next step 230, whether or not to execute the printing process is determined based on the contents set in advance (the contents are set by the operator using the operation unit 24), and the printing process is not executed. In this case, the process proceeds to step 238, and continues to only receive the distribution pattern and print data transmitted from the higher-level device 40, and then proceeds to step 240 to print the message sheet and execute this control program. finish. FIG. 7 shows an example of the message sheet 50 printed in step 240. As shown in the figure, a message 50A indicating that an overflow of the secondary storage device 20 has occurred is printed on the message sheet 50, for example, on the 25th page. At this time, each character of the message 50A can be generated using the font data stored in the font memory 22.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 230 that the execution of the printing process is set, the process proceeds to step 232, where the distribution pattern (print data It is determined whether or not there is a page in which the designated number of copies of the first copy in the management table is 0, and if there is, the process proceeds to step 234 to execute a printing process 3 based on a secondary storage device described later. After executing the routine, the process proceeds to step 236. If there is no page having the designated number of printed sheets of the first copy of 0, the process proceeds to step 236 without executing the process of step 234.

In the next step 236, a print processing routine based on a page buffer, which will be described later, is executed, and the process proceeds to step 240. After printing the message sheet, the present control program ends.

Next, a printing process 1 routine based on the secondary storage device will be described with reference to FIG.

In step 250, of the compressed print data stored in the secondary storage device 20, the print data corresponding to the first page of the print document is read, and the print data is decompressed by the decompression method corresponding to the compression method. The print data is expanded and temporarily stored in the page buffer 18, and the stored print data is stored in the first copy of the first copy stored in the print data management table 70.
The output is repeated to the output unit 29 by the number of output pages. Upon receiving the print data, the output unit 29 performs printing on print paper using the print data.

In the next step 252, it is determined whether or not the output up to the last page has been completed. If the output has not been completed, the process returns to step 250, and the first and second pages after the second page are repeated.
The output of the copy is performed, and when the output up to the last page is completed, an affirmative determination is made and the process proceeds to step 254.

In step 254, referring to the number of copies stored in the predetermined area of the internal memory 16 in step 202 in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not printing for the number of prints has been completed. The routine returns to step 250, and if terminated, terminates this routine.

That is, based on the print data management table 70 created by using the distribution pattern received from the host device 40 by the processing of this routine, the host device 4
The print processing from the first copy to the last copy corresponding to the number of print copies received from 0 is executed based on the compressed data stored in the secondary storage device 20.

Next, a printing process 2 routine based on the secondary storage device will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, in FIG. 4, portions performing the same processing as the processing in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals and described.

In step 251, of the compressed print data stored in the secondary storage device 20, the print data corresponding to the first page of the print document is read, and the print data is expanded by the decompression method corresponding to the compression method. The print data is expanded and temporarily stored in the page buffer 18, and the stored print data is stored in the first copy of the second copy stored in the print data management table 70.
The output is repeated to the output unit 29 by the number of output pages. Upon receiving the print data, the output unit 29 performs printing on print paper using the print data.

Thereafter, steps 252 and 2
At 54, the same processing as the steps of the same reference numerals in the print processing 1 routine based on the secondary storage device shown in FIG. 3 is performed.

That is, this routine is executed when the value of the print mode is 1, and in this case, the printing of the first copy has been completed by the processing of the above-mentioned step 214. The printing process from the second copy to the last copy is performed.

Next, a printing process 3 routine based on the secondary storage device will be described with reference to FIG.

In step 260, it is determined in advance whether or not to print all the pages stored in the secondary storage device 20 based on the setting of the operator using the operation unit 24. Then, the process proceeds to 262, and after printing each page one by one using the print data corresponding to all pages, the present routine is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is not determined in step 260 that all pages are to be printed, step 2
64, and the 1 in the print data management table 70
After reading out only the print data corresponding to the page where the designated number of copies of the copy is 0 from the secondary storage device 20 and printing it, this routine ends.

That is, when the processing of step 214 in FIG. 2 is executed,
Since the printing of the copy has already been completed, in this case, step 264 of this routine is executed to execute step 214-1.
By printing only the pages that have not been printed at the time of printing a copy, at least one print data of all pages stored in the secondary storage device 20 can be printed.

If the processing in step 214 has not been executed, step 262 is executed to obtain
The print data stored in the secondary storage device 20 can be printed one by one.

Even when the processing of step 214 is executed, by executing step 262, the print data stored in the secondary storage device 20 is re-printed by one.
The pages can be printed one by one. In this case, unnecessary pages are also printed, but the operator does not need to sort the pages printed in step 264.

Next, a print processing routine based on the page buffer will be described with reference to FIG.

The processing in steps 270 to 274 is the same as the processing in steps 204 to 208 in FIG. 2, that is, the storage of the distribution pattern for each page in the internal memory 16 and the transfer of one page of print data to the page buffer 18. Remember.

In the next step 276, it is determined whether to print the print data stored in the page buffer 18 one by one based on the setting of the operator using the operation unit 24.
When printing one sheet at a time, proceed to step 278,
After printing one piece of print data stored in the page buffer 18, the process proceeds to step 282. Step 2
If it is not determined in step 76 that printing is performed one by one, the process proceeds to step 280. Referring to the print data management table 70, if the designated number of printed copies of the first copy is 0, 1 is set.
After the print processing is performed with the number of sheets changed, the process proceeds to step 282.

In the next step 282, it is determined whether or not the printing process up to the last page has been completed. If not, the process returns to step 270, and steps 270 to 270 are performed until the printing process up to the last page is completed. After repeating the process of step 280, this routine ends.

That is, even when the secondary storage device 20 overflows, the distribution pattern and the print data are continuously received by this routine, and the printing process of the print data received after the occurrence of the overflow is performed. When step 278 is executed, one page is printed for each page. When step 280 is executed, at least one page is printed for each page.

As described above in detail, in the output device according to the present embodiment, when the overflow of the secondary storage device occurs, the storage of the print data in the secondary storage device is stopped, and If the print processing is performed based on the print data stored in the secondary storage device and the print data received thereafter and stored in the page buffer,
Printing can be performed reliably for the set of copies. Therefore, as for the printing of the second copy and thereafter, the necessary number of copies can be printed by the operator using the printing paper of the first copy. In this case, since it is possible to print using the distribution pattern (print data management table) stored in the internal memory by the control program, the operator determines the number of prints per page of each printing unit corresponding to the distribution pattern. Since there is no need to specify, the work efficiency of the operator can be improved.

In the output device according to the present embodiment,
When an overflow occurs in the secondary storage device, a message indicating that an overflow has occurred is displayed on the display unit, and an operation such as sounding a buzzer is performed by a higher-level device. Is printed, the operator can easily refer to the display state of the display unit, the operation state of the upper-level device, and the message sheet output from the digital multi-function peripheral, so that the overflow of the secondary storage device can be easily performed. It can be recognized that the output is the output of only the first copy.

In the present embodiment, in the print processing 3 routine based on the secondary storage device shown in FIG. 5, the process of printing all the print data stored in the secondary storage device 20 one by one and the first copy Has been described, it is possible to select the process of printing one page at a time only for pages for which the designated number of printed pages is 0. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A process for printing all the stored print data according to the designated number of prints, a process for printing all the print data stored in the secondary storage device 20 as the designated number of prints, but 1 for a page where the designated number of prints is 0 It is also possible to adopt a form in which selection is possible, including processing for printing by replacing with sheet designation.

In the present embodiment, in the print processing routine based on the page buffer shown in FIG. 6, all the print data stored in the page buffer 18 are printed one by one, and all the print data stored in the page buffer 18 are printed. A case has been described where print data is printed as specified in the designated number of prints, and it is possible to select a process in which printing is performed by replacing pages designated as “0” in the designated number of prints by designating one. Instead, for example, all the print data stored in the page buffer 18 may be selected, including the process of printing the specified number of prints.

In the present embodiment, the determination in step 230 in FIG. 2, step 260 in FIG. 5, and step 276 in FIG. 6 is performed based on the settings made by the operator using the operation unit 24 of the digital MFP 10. Although the case has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a mode in which a determination is made based on a notification from the higher-level device 40, or a mode in which any one is automatically selected.

Further, in the present embodiment, the secondary storage device 2
Although a case has been described where print data is compressed using a predetermined compression method when storing the print data to 0, it goes without saying that the print data may be directly stored in the secondary storage device 20 without being compressed.

[0072]

As described above, according to the output device of the first to third aspects, when no overflow occurs in the second storage means, the data is stored in the second storage means. When the printing using the print data is performed and the overflow of the second storage unit occurs, the print data received thereafter is not stored in the second storage unit, but the first storage unit is not stored. Since the printing process using the print data stored in the second storage unit is continuously performed, even if the second storage unit overflows,
This has the effect that it is possible to perform print processing using the print data stored in the second storage means and the print data received thereafter.

According to the output device of the fourth aspect, when an overflow of the second storage means occurs,
Since the occurrence of the overflow is displayed on the display means, the operator refers to the display means to display the second information.
Has the effect that it is possible to easily determine whether or not overflow has occurred in the storage means.

According to the output device of the present invention, when an overflow of the second storage means occurs,
Since the upper device is notified of the occurrence of the overflow, when the upper device is notified of the occurrence of the overflow, an operation of notifying the operator of the occurrence of the overflow of the second storage means, for example, a buzzer is sounded. By performing such an operation, the operator can easily determine whether or not an overflow has occurred in the second storage means.

Further, according to the output device of the sixth aspect, when an overflow of the second storage means occurs,
Since the sheet on which the information indicating that the overflow has occurred is output, the operator refers to the sheet on which the information indicating that the overflow has occurred is printed to determine whether or not the overflow has occurred in the second storage means. This has the effect that it can be easily determined.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention and a connection state around the multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a control program executed by a control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a print processing 1 routine based on a secondary storage device executed by a control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a print processing 2 routine based on a secondary storage device executed in the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a print processing 3 routine based on a secondary storage device executed by the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a print processing routine based on a page buffer executed by the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a print content of a message sheet according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a print data management table created in the control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 digital multifunction peripheral (output device) 14 control unit (control unit) 18 page buffer (first storage unit) 20 secondary storage device (second storage unit) 28 display unit (display unit) 29 output unit (output unit) ) 40 Host device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Shiozaki 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office

Claims (6)

[Claims] A first storage unit for storing one page of print data received from a higher-level device; a second storage unit for storing a plurality of pages of print data stored in the first storage unit; Output means for printing print data on paper; and printing of the print data stored in the second storage means when the amount of print data stored in the second storage means is less than a predetermined value. And when the amount of print data stored in the second storage unit has become equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the storage of the print data received thereafter in the second storage unit is stopped. And control means for controlling the output means to perform print processing using print data stored in the first storage means thereafter. 2. An input unit for inputting a distribution pattern for designating the number of prints of each page for each printing unit, wherein the control unit performs printing of print data by the output unit based on the distribution pattern. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the output device is controlled as follows. 3. The control unit controls the first copy to be printed using print data stored in one of the first storage unit and the second storage unit. Output device as described. 4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the amount of print data stored in the second storage device is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, the control unit displays the fact on a display unit.
The output device according to claim 1. 5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the amount of print data stored in the second storage device has reached a predetermined value or more, the control unit notifies the host device of the fact. The output device according to claim 1. 6. When the amount of print data stored in the second storage unit is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the control unit controls to output a sheet on which information indicating that is printed. The output device according to claim 1.