JP2907697B2 - Printer control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer control device to which a laser printer or the like having a power saving function for reducing or cutting off the power supply to a main drive unit is connected via a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been known a printer control apparatus of this type which is incorporated in, for example, a host computer for creating print data.

In such a printer control device,
When a plurality of printers are connected to a host computer via a communication line, a process as shown in FIG. 5 is performed when printing is performed with a desired printer.

That is, the process waits until a printer is designated as an output destination, and when a printer is designated, the process waits until setting of a print format and the like is completed.

[0005] When the setting of the print format and the like is completed, a print command is transmitted to the designated printer, and when there is a response indicating that the printer is ready for printing in response to the print command, the print data is transmitted to the printer. Was.

At this time, the designated printer is provided with a power consumption saving function for setting the power supply to the main drive unit to a reduced or cut off state when the printer is not used for a predetermined time, that is, a power saving state. When the printer is in the power saving state, the printer performs a warm-up control process as shown in FIG. 6 to return from the power saving state to a normal printable state.

[0007] That is, when the designated printer receives the first bit of the print data from the printer control device as shown in FIG.
The received print data is temporarily stored in a print buffer provided in the printer, and after the transmission of the print data is completed (time A), the warm-up control processing is completed (time B).
Then, printing is performed based on the print data received from the host computer.

In the case of a laser printer, for example, the warm-up starts power supply to a fixing heater as a main driving section provided inside the printer, and puts the printer in a printable state.

[0009]

However, in such a printer control device, the host computer transmits print data regardless of whether the designated printer is in the power saving state or not. When the receiving printer starts the warm-up control processing for the first time when the first bit of the print data is received, it takes time to return to the printable state, and the print data transmission is completed and the printer In some cases, the warm-up is not completed even though the print data is stored in the memory.

In such a case, printing cannot be performed until the warm-up is completed, that is, from time A to time B shown in FIG. 7, and there is a problem that the start of printing is delayed.

Therefore, the present invention can return the printer from the power saving state to the printable state before the transmission of the print data to the printer for printing is completed. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer control device capable of immediately performing printing.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a plurality of printers having a power consumption saving function for reducing or cutting off the power supply to a main drive unit to save power consumption are connected via a communication line and printed. In a printer control device that sends a print command to a printer designated as a data output destination and then sends print data, a printer designation determining unit that determines whether or not a printer has been designated, and the printer designation determining unit includes: Start command supply means for supplying, to the specified printer, a printer start command for starting a warm-up for returning the printer from the power saving state to the printable state when it is determined that the printer has been designated. That sends a print command to a designated printer after supplying a printer start command, and then sends print data. A.

[0013]

In the present invention having such a configuration, when printing is performed, first, the printer designation determining means determines whether or not a printer has been designated as a print data output destination. In this case, the printer designation determining means when it is determined that there was a specified printer, the printer start instruction is supplied to the specified printer. On the other hand, when the designated printer receives the printer start command from the printer control device, if it is in the power saving state, it starts warm-up for returning from the power saving state to the printable state. Thereafter, a print command is transmitted to the designated printer, and then the print data is transmitted. After the completion of the warm-up, when the reception of the print data is completed, the designated printer immediately performs printing based on the received print data.

Thereafter, a print command is transmitted to the designated printer, and then print data is transmitted. After the completion of the warm-up, when the reception of the print data is completed, the designated printer immediately performs printing based on the received print data.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the present embodiment. Reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer in which a printer control device is incorporated; 21, 22, 23,..., Interfaces provided in the host computer 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a printer connected via a communication line.

The host computer 1 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 4 which constitutes a control unit main body, a program data for designating the printers 21, 22, 23,... And a program for setting a print format and the like. ROM (read only memory) in which data is stored in advance
5. RAM (random access memory) in which a print buffer for temporarily storing print data is formed
6, a hard disk driver 8 for controlling access to the hard disk 7, and a keyboard controller 10 for controlling a keyboard 9 to receive a key signal corresponding to an input key.

The CPU 4, the ROM 5, the RAM 6, the hard disk driver 8, the interface 3, and the keyboard controller 10 include an address bus, a data bus,
They are interconnected via a bus line 11 such as a control bus.

When the printers 21, 22, 23,... Are not used for a certain period of time, for example, a laser printer, the power supply to a main drive unit such as a well-known heat fixing device is cut off or reduced to reduce the power consumption. Power saving function.

The CPU 4 comprises the printers 21 and 22.
, 23 ...
The control processing shown in FIG. 2 is performed. That is, first, the CPU 4 determines whether or not a printer has been designated (printer designation determining means).

When the designation of the printer is made, for example, based on a program stored in the ROM 5 in advance, the operator inputs the printer 21,.
This is when a printer selector command is created by selecting a desired printer from among 22, 22, ....

At this time, if it is determined that the printer has been designated, for example, if the printer 21 has been designated,
A printer start command is supplied to the printer 21 (start command supply means).

Next, it is determined whether the setting of the print format and the like has been completed. The setting of the print format and the like is performed by, for example, the RO
The operator performs keyboard input based on a program stored in advance in M5.

When it is determined that the setting of the print format and the like has been completed, a print command is supplied to the designated printer 21. Then, when a response indicating that printing is possible is received from the printer 21 in response to the print command, transmission of print data to the printer 21 is started.

When the transmission of the print data is completed,
The control processing ends.

The printer 21 performs a warm-up control process as shown in FIG. That is, it is determined whether a printer activation command has been received from the host computer.

When it is determined that the printer start command has been received, as shown in FIG. 4, warm-up for returning from the power saving state to the normal printable state is started. Thereafter, a print command from the host computer 1 is received. At this time, if printing is possible, a response indicating that printing is possible is performed, and subsequently, print data from the host computer 1 is received, and this is temporarily stored in the print buffer.

Thereafter, the warm-up is completed (time C).
Then, the warm-up control processing ends. And
After the completion of the warm-up, when the transmission of the print data is completed (time D), printing is performed based on the print data.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, when printing is performed by a desired printer, a desired printer 2 is input by a keyboard input of a host computer by an operator.
When the designation of 1 is performed, a printer start command is supplied to the printer 21 as shown in FIG.

When the printer 21 receives the printer start command, if it is in the power saving state, it starts warm-up for returning from the power saving state to the printable state.

Thereafter, when the setting of the printing format and the like by the keyboard input of the host computer 1 by the operator is completed, a printing command is supplied to the printer 21.

When the host computer 1 receives a printable response from the printer 21, the host computer 1 starts transmitting print data to the printer 21.

After the completion of the warm-up of the printer 21 and the completion of the reception of the print data from the host computer 1, printing is immediately performed based on the print data.

As described above, when a printer is designated, a designated printer is supplied with a printer start command to start warm-up, then a print command is transmitted, and subsequently, the designated print data is transmitted. If the printer is in the power consumption saving state, the warm-up of the printer can be completed before the print data transmission is completed, and the printer can return from the power consumption saving state to the printable state.
As a result, the printing can be immediately performed by the designated printer after the printing data transmission is completed (time D).

In the above embodiment, if the amount of print data to be transmitted is small, the transmission of the print data may be completed before the completion of the warm-up of the printer.
However, even in this case, since the warm-up start timing is longer than before, the waiting time until the start of printing can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the printer is specified by keyboard input based on the program data stored in the ROM 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A hardware configuration having a selector is provided, which monitors the selection of the printer by the printer selector, and supplies a printer start signal to the selected printer when the printer is selected by the printer selector. You may.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of printers 21, 22, 23,... Are connected to the interface 3 of the host computer 1 via a communication line. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, an electronic device other than the printer, for example, a second host computer, a facsimile, or a data display device may be connected. In this case, the printer activation signal may be supplied only when the printer is designated as the output destination of the print data.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, before the transmission of the print data to the printer for printing is completed,
The printer can be returned from the power saving state to the printable state, and therefore, after the transmission of the print data is completed,
It is possible to provide a printer control device capable of performing printing immediately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing printer control processing performed by a CPU shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a warm-up control process performed by the printer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing the timing of each processing of the printer and the host computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing control processing of a conventional printer control device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a conventional warm-up control process of the printer controlled by the printer control device shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing timings of respective processes of a conventional printer control device and a printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Host computer 21, 22, 23 ... Printer 4: CPU

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 29/38 G06F 1/26 G06F 3/12

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A double with power saving function that reduces or blocks the power supply to the main drive unit to conserve power
Number of printers are connected via a communication line, send a print command to the printer specified as the print data output destination, and then determine whether or not the printer has been specified in the printer controller that sends the print data And a printer start instruction for starting a warm-up for returning the printer from the power saving state to the printable state when the printer specification determining section determines that the printer has been specified. And a start command supply unit for supplying a start command to the designated printer, transmitting a print command to the designated printer after supplying the start command to the designated printer, and subsequently transmitting print data.