JPS6246012B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a serial printer control system, and in particular, when a plurality of serial printers are connected to a host control unit, manual control is performed for each printer by a message from the host control unit. The present invention relates to a serial printer control method that allows the operation of a changeover switch to be inhibited, and also allows the inhibited state to be canceled without waiting for the host controller to complete the printing operation of the printer.

For example, as shown in Fig. 1, when multiple printers A, B, and C are connected to the host controller HC, the host controller HC connects printer A.
, then sends a message to printer B, then sends a message to printer C, and then sends a message to printer A again. In this way, each printer A
Messages are sequentially sent to C to C. For example, when a one-line print message is sent to printer A, a print command CR is sent to printer A to cause it to perform a printing operation.

This will be explained in detail based on FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2A, a message LT for one line is sent from the host control unit HC to the printer A together with a strobe signal ST. At this time, the host control unit prints the print command CR.
is sent after this message LT. Printer A performs a printing operation based on this print command CR. At this time, it outputs a busy signal BUSY, and after printing is completed, it outputs a reception signal ACK indicating completion of message reception and printing and waiting for the next message to be sent.

However, printers A to C are equipped with a select switch that can be operated manually by the operator at any time, and when this select switch is operated, the printer goes offline and cannot print the transmission message from the host controller HC. First, it performs an operation such as printing data input from its own keyboard, for example. When this select switch is operated, the printer outputs a deselect signal DSELCT, reports the status to the host controller HC, and outputs a busy signal BUSY. This deselect signal DSELCT also means that even if a message partially transmitted from the host control unit HC is held in its buffer, it will be invalidated.
When the HC sees this deselect signal DSELCT, it recognizes that even if there is a message that has been partially sent to the printer, it has been invalidated, and when this deselect signal DSELCT falls, it starts the message from the beginning. Will have to send it again.

However, as shown in FIG.
When DSELCT was sent, the host control unit HC could not identify whether the print command CR was executed or whether it was not executed and the previously transmitted message was invalidated. That is, it takes a certain amount of time for the print command CR to be executed by the printer, and even if the select switch is operated in the printer, it also takes a certain amount of time for the deselect signal DSELCT to be sent out. print command
There is a problem in that it is not possible to distinguish whether CR was executed first or whether the select switch was operated first.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, as shown in Fig. 3, an operation prohibition command INH that prohibits the operation of the select switch in the printer is added to the message LT just before printing, and
Release command to release this prohibited state later
In the case where INHOFF is sent, the problem of whether the message has been printed or not, as described above, is eliminated, but the following new problem arises.

That is, in FIG. 3, a message LT with an operation inhibiting command INH is sent out at time T ₀ , then a print command CR is output at time T ₁ , and a printing operation is performed from time T ₂ . Since the release control by the release command INHOFF will be performed after the beege signal output period _T3 for this printing operation, the beege signal period _T3 - _T2 for that printing will start from time _T1 at the earliest. Since this release command INHOFF is output at the considered time T', the host control unit HC is connected to the printer from the time the print command CR is sent until the release command INHOFF is output. , the exclusive state becomes longer by this period, that is, the beege signal period, and the information processing efficiency of the printer as a whole is thus reduced.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to transmit an operation prohibition signal together with a message that prohibits the operator from manually operating the select switch, in order to improve the problem as shown in FIG. The present invention provides a serial printer control method that can solve this problem without keeping the printer in an exclusive state for a long time. For this purpose, in the serial printer control method of the present invention, a host device (host) that is connected to a plurality of printers and sends messages to these printers.
a decoding means for decoding information transmitted to the printer; a manual operation prohibition instructing means for setting and operating in response to a manual operation prohibition command for prohibiting manual switch operation in the printer;
It has a message holding means for temporarily holding a message transmitted from the host, and a printer control means, and sets the manual operation inhibiting means in response to a manual operation inhibiting command transmitted from the host. and when a release command for canceling the manual operation prohibition command is transmitted or when a required message is printed in the printer, the manual operation prohibition instruction means is reset by the printer control means. shall be.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 4 to 6.

Fig. 4 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, which is provided in the printer, Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of information sent to the printer, and Fig. 6 is a flowchart explaining the operating state. be.

In the figure, 1 is a decoder, 2 is a line buffer memory, 3 is a line buffer control circuit, 4 is a manual inhibit flip-flop (hereinafter referred to as FF), 5
is the manual switch information storage register (SW
6 is an AND gate, 7 is a printer control circuit, 8 is a space control circuit, 9 is a print control circuit, and 10 is a paper feed control circuit.

In the present invention, when transmitting a one-line message LT from the host control unit HC to the printer, a manual operation inhibition command INH is added to the beginning of the message.
Send print command CR at the end of LT. This print command CR serves not only as a print start command but also as a manual operation inhibition release command for canceling the manual operation inhibition command. Of course, a dedicated manual operation prohibition release command OFF is also provided.

The decoder 1 decodes information transmitted from the host control unit HC and determines whether this information is a message LT, a print command CR, a manual operation prohibition command, etc. Based on the decoding result, Control is performed accordingly.

The line buffer memory 2 is a memory in which a message LT to be printed by the printer is written, and has a printing capacity for at least one line.

The line buffer control circuit 3 writes the message LT transmitted from the decoder 1 into the line buffer memory 2, and the printer control circuit 7 to be described later.
It performs control such as reading out the message written in this line buffer memory 2 based on a command from the line buffer memory 2.

FF4 outputs a control signal that suppresses the output of a signal based on the operation of a manually operated manual switch, and is set and outputs "1" based on a manual operation prohibition command transmitted from the decoder 1. Turn off AND gate 6. Then, when a manual operation prohibition release command is transmitted from the decoder 1 to the first reset terminal _R1 , or when a reset signal is transmitted from the printer control circuit 7 to the second reset terminal _R2 , it is reset to "0". is output, and the AND gate 6 is turned on.

The SW register 5 is a register that temporarily stores data input by an operator manually operating keys from a manual operation unit such as a key board in a printer. This includes the select switch described above. The data set in this SW register 5 will be output to the printer control circuit 7 when the AND gate 6 is on.

The printer control circuit 7 performs various controls for controlling the printer, and reads out the message LT from the line buffer memory 2 and outputs the message LT.
It transmits various control signals necessary for selecting the print for printing, controlling the space, controlling the feeding of printing paper, etc. to the space control circuit 8, print control circuit 9, paper feed control circuit 10, etc. ,1
It performs various controls such as outputting a reset signal to FF 4 when printing for a line is completed.

The space control circuit 8 controls the operation signals necessary to control the space between characters when printing the message LT onto printing paper, and determines the printing start position and the printing interval. be.

The print control circuit 9 performs the selection of type required when printing the message LT, and controls the printing coil for printing the selected type or characters.

The paper feed control circuit 10 controls the supply of printing paper necessary for printing a message, and includes 1
When printing for a line is completed, the paper supply unit is driven one pitch so that a message with a new line can be printed, and when printing is completed, the paper on which this message is printed is cut. .

Next, regarding the operation in Figure 4, the flow in Figure 6 A.
This will be explained with reference to the chart.

(1) When information is transmitted from the host control unit HC, the decoder 1 identifies whether this information is a character (message) or not, and if it is a message, sends it to the line buffer control circuit 3. and stores it in the line buffer memory 2.

(2) If the message is not LT, decode whether it is a manual operation prohibition command or not, and if it is a manual operation prohibition command, transmit the manual operation prohibition command to FF4, set it, and output "1". let This "1" is transmitted to the negative input terminal of AND gate 6, so AND gate 6
is turned off, and the information transmitted from the SW register 5 is not output. Therefore, when information is transmitted from the host control unit HC in the format shown in FIG. 5, the decoder 1 first decodes the first manual operation inhibition command INH, sets FF4, and turns off the AND gate 6. , then the message will be stored in the line buffer memory 2.

(3) If it is neither a message nor a manual operation prohibition command, it is decoded to see if the manual operation inhibition release command is OFF. When the manual operation inhibition release command is OFF, the decoder 1 outputs a manual operation inhibition release command to the FF 4, resets the FF 4, and turns the AND gate 6 on.

And manual operation prohibition release command OFF
If not, it decodes whether it is a print command CR or not, and if it is a print command, outputs a print command signal to the printer control circuit 7. The printer control circuit 7 thereby reads out the message previously held from the line buffer memory 2 via the line buffer control circuit 3, and in order to print this message, the space control circuit 8, print control circuit 9, and paper feed control are executed. Control the circuit 10 etc.,
A predetermined print embossing is performed. When printing of one line of message held in the line buffer memory 2 is completed, the printer control circuit 7 outputs a reset signal to the FF 4 to reset the FF 4 to output "0", and performs an AND operation. Gate 6 is turned on. In this way, the print command CR can also serve as a manual operation prohibition release command.

(4) In the present invention, as described above, a dedicated manual operation prohibition release command OFF is prepared, and for the print command CR, an instruction as a manual operation prohibition release command is added in addition to the original print start command. ing. When this print command CR is received, decoder 1
first outputs a print command to the printer control circuit 7 to start print control, then sends a command to cancel the manual operation prohibition to the FF4 to reset the FF4, and then the AND gate 6
Turn on.

When the AND gate 6 is turned on in this way, the operator manually operates the key SW using the key board, and the data based on this manual operation is stored in the SW register 5, as shown in FIG. 6B. Thereafter, this data is transmitted to the printer control circuit 7 via the AND gate 6, and various control operations can be performed manually. Therefore, it is possible to print out manually input sentences from a printer.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5A, when sending a message for one line to be printed to the printer concerned, a manual operation inhibition command INH is added to the beginning of the message, so that the printer can
Even if the SW is operated manually, its output is not transmitted to the printer control circuit 7, so there is no adverse effect. The print command CR sent at the end of the message is given a manual operation prohibition canceling function, and the manual operation prohibition state is canceled after the message is printed. Therefore, the print command
Even if a deselect signal indicating that the select switch was operated is transmitted immediately after CR, printing for the previous message is reliably executed, so the problem explained in Figures 1 and 2 does not occur. does not occur. Of course, the host control unit HC can control the next printer after reading this print command CR, so the problem shown in FIG. 3 does not occur.

Of course, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. All you have to do is add the manual operation prohibition release command OFF. As a result, the manual operation prohibition state is canceled, and no print command is sent for the canceled message, so even if such a dedicated manual operation prohibition cancellation command OFF is provided, as explained in Figure 3. No problems will occur.

Note that as the manual operation inhibition command INH and the manual operation inhibition release command OFF used in the present invention, the following commands can be used as a type of extended command.

INH…[ESC(×′1B′)+J(×′4A′), HA(×′CA′)+×××0××××] OFF…[ESC(×′1B′)+J(×′4A′) ′), Ha (×′CA′)+×××1××××〕 Here, ESC is an escape command, J and Ha are ASCII codes, ×××0×××× and ×
XX1XXXX is an 8-bit parameter code.

To cancel the manual operation prohibition command, use other print commands such as LF, FF, VT, relative address line feed command, etc. in addition to the manual operation prohibition cancellation command OFF and print command CR (×'0D', ×'8D). You can also use

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if a manual switch such as a select switch is pressed when a message is transferred from the host control unit to the printer, the print command is transferred from the host control unit and the printer prints the message. (or line break) After finishing the operation,
Alternatively, the host control unit transfers a manual operation prohibition release command, and the printer is deselected when the command finishes executing, so the host control unit can reliably recognize the status of the message and forward it to the printer side. It is possible to prevent the messages sent from being inadvertently deleted.

In this way, it is possible to prevent information from disappearing due to operator error when using the printer, and when used for high-speed information processing, it is possible to reduce the information transfer procedure on the host controller side. Since it can be controlled from the host controller side via the interface,
Message processing control can be performed very reliably and efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram when multiple printers are multi-connected to the host control unit, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining its operation, Figure 3 is a diagram explaining problems, and Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the problem.
The figure is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing its operating state, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a decoder, 2 is a line buffer memory, 3 is a line buffer control circuit, 4 is a manual inhibit flip-flop, 5 is a manual switch information storage register, 6 is an AND gate, 7 is a printer control circuit, and 8 is a space control circuit. , 9 indicates a print control circuit, and 10 indicates a paper feed control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a printer device that is connected to multiple printers and has a host device that sends messages to these printers, prohibiting decoding means for decoding information transmitted to the printers and manual switch operation on the printers. comprising: manual operation prohibition instruction means that performs a set operation in response to a manual operation prohibition instruction transmitted; message holding means that temporarily retains a message transmitted from the host; and printer control means; When a manual operation prohibition command is transmitted from the host, the manual operation inhibition instruction means is set and operated in response to the manual operation inhibition command, and when a release command to cancel the manual operation inhibition command is transmitted, or when the printer prints a required message. 1. A serial printer control method, characterized in that, when this happens, the printer control means resets the manual operation prohibition instruction means.