JP3678293B2 - Printing apparatus, printing system, and status change detection method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus suitable for a money handling system such as POS / ECR.

  A conventional printing apparatus has a status request command as a control command. When the control command is received from the host computer and executed, the status data is transmitted to the host computer.

  Therefore, the host computer transmits a status request command as necessary to obtain the status of the printing apparatus.

  However, to the extent that the status request command is executed occasionally, the host computer cannot know the moment when the status of the printing apparatus changes, and has confirmed it with some delay time. Therefore, in order to know without delay from the occurrence of the status change, the host computer tries to obtain status data at a short interval, and frequently sends a status request command to the printing apparatus.

  For this reason, the host computer is heavily loaded due to frequent transmission of status request commands. In addition, since a large amount of status data is received, the load due to status data analysis has also increased. Furthermore, even if a large amount of status data is sent, if the status of the printing device has not changed, status data with the same contents will be received continuously, which makes the status data analysis very efficient. It was getting worse. Further, since the printing apparatus also frequently executes status request commands, the throughput is reduced.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to obtain a change in the status of a printing apparatus required by a host apparatus with a minimum amount of status data.

  A printing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a status selection unit that selects a status to be automatically transmitted from a plurality of predetermined statuses of the printing apparatus according to predetermined data received from a host device, When the status to be subject to automatic status transmission is selected by the status selection means, automatic status transmission setting means for enabling automatic status transmission and automatic status transmission is enabled by the automatic status transmission setting means And an automatic status transmission unit configured to transmit status data of the plurality of predetermined statuses of the printing apparatus to the host apparatus when the status of the selected target of automatic status transmission changes later.

  In one embodiment, whether or not the predetermined data from the host device includes a plurality of bits corresponding to the plurality of predetermined statuses, and the status corresponding to the value of each bit is selected as an automatic status transmission target. It is possible to have a parameter indicating the above.

  In one embodiment, the status data may include a plurality of bits corresponding to the predetermined plurality of statuses and indicate a status corresponding to each bit value.

  As one embodiment, an error state may be included in the plurality of statuses.

A status change detection method for a printing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes:
(A) selecting a status to be subjected to automatic status transmission from a plurality of predetermined statuses of the printing device according to predetermined data received from the host device;
(B) when the status to be subject to automatic status transmission is selected in step (a), the step of enabling automatic status transmission; and
(C) When the status of the selected target of automatic status transmission changes after the automatic status transmission is enabled in step (b), the status data of the predetermined plurality of statuses of the printing apparatus is transferred to the host device. And a step of transmitting to the network.

  According to the present invention, when the status to be automatically transmitted is selected, the status data is transmitted only when the selected status is changed, and the change in the status of the printing apparatus required by the host computer is minimized. Since the host computer does not frequently transmit status request commands, the load of command transmission is reduced, and the number of status data received is reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In general, the recording paper used in the distribution industry includes single-cut paper and continuous paper. The single-cut paper is a non-standard slip paper called slip paper or a relatively regular copy paper called validation paper. Some have There are two types of continuous paper: journal paper for storage for store records and receipt paper for receipt.

  FIG. 1 is an overall view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention capable of printing on slip paper, journal paper, and receipt paper of these recording papers.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a print head body, which is a so-called wire dot head in which a plurality of wires are arranged vertically. The print head 1 performs printing while reciprocating in the directions of arrows 1A and 1B. Reference numeral 3 denotes an ink ribbon.

  Receipt paper 17 and journal paper 18 are in the form of roll paper, inserted from the back of the printing mechanism as shown in the figure, and discharged to the top. The slip paper 19 is inserted from the front of the printing mechanism (arrow 19A) and discharged upward (arrow 19B).

  Both receipt paper and journal paper are equipped with a near-end detector 20 that detects the end of the paper. The near-end detector 20 includes a near-end detection lever 20a that rotates in the direction of the arrow 20A according to the outer diameter of the roll paper, and a push switch 20b that is turned on and off by the near-end detection lever 20a. When the roll paper approaches the end, its outer diameter decreases. When the roll paper reaches the center of the roll paper, the near-end detection lever 20a rotates in the direction of the arrow 20B, and the push switch 20b is turned off to detect the near end of the paper.

  The receipt paper 17 is cut by the cutter unit 14 after printing and handed to the customer.

  The printing apparatus is covered with a main body case (not shown), and is divided into a cover (not shown) and a lower case 15. Reference numeral 21 denotes a cover detector, which is composed of a counter-type photosensor. When the cover is closed, the light of the cover detector 21 is blocked and the cover close can be detected.

  FIG. 2 is a mechanism diagram showing an operation when printing continuous paper and cut sheet paper in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2A shows the case of printing on continuous paper (receipt paper in the figure), and FIG. 2B shows the case of printing on cut sheet paper (slip paper).

  The print head 1 has a wire pin (not shown) in the wire support portion 1 a and prints on the receipt paper 17 with the ink ribbon 3 interposed between the print head 1 and the platen 2.

  The receipt paper 17 is inserted between the paper guide plates 4a and 4b via the guide roller 5, and is fed by the paper feed rollers 6a and 6b. The paper feed roller 6a is coupled to a drive source (not shown) such as a motor. A receipt paper detector 12 is disposed in the middle of the paper guide plates 4a and 4b. The receipt paper detector 12 is configured by a counter-type photo sensor or a lever switch. In the figure, an example of a counter-type photosensor is shown. The receipt paper 17 fed by the paper feed rollers 6 a and 6 b passes between the ink ribbon 3 and the platen 2 and is discharged to the upper part of the printing apparatus via the paper pressing rollers 7 a and 7 b and the cutter unit 14. The cutter unit 14 includes a cutter blade 14a and a cutter cover 14b. The cutter blade 14a is moved in the direction of arrow 14A by a driving source such as a motor (not shown) to cut the receipt paper 17.

  Although the case of receipt paper is shown in the figure, the same configuration is also applied to journal paper except for the cutter unit.

  When printing slip paper (FIG. 2B), the slip paper 19 is inserted in the direction of the arrow 19A from the slip paper insertion opening 21 in front of the printing apparatus. During roll paper printing, the slip feed roller 9a is pulled in the direction of the arrow 10A by the plunger 10 as shown in FIG. 2A, and is separated from the opposing slip feed roller 9b. Therefore, the slip paper 19 can be inserted. When the slip paper 19 is inserted, the slip paper 19 abuts against the slip feed rollers 8a and 8b through the slip paper guides 11a and 11b. At this time, the slip paper detector 13 detects whether or not the paper is inserted. When the paper is inserted, the plunger 10 is released and the lever 10a rotates in the direction of the arrow 10B, the slip feed roller 9b is pressed against the slip feed roller 9a, and the slip paper 19 is held. The slip feed rollers 8b and 9b are coupled to a drive source such as a motor (not shown) and rotate in the directions of arrows 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B together with the opposing slip feed rollers 8a and 9a, respectively, to feed the slip paper 19 to the paper. To do. When printing is completed, the slip sheet 19 is discharged in the direction of the arrow 19B, the plunger 10 is driven, the slip feed roller 9a is separated from the slip feed roller 9b, and the next slip sheet can be inserted.

  The receipt paper 17 can be printed on the slip paper 19 as shown in the figure, and if the copy paper is attached to the slip paper 19, the slip paper 19 and the receipt paper 17 can be printed at the same time. Is possible.

  As with the receipt paper detector 12, the slip paper detector 13 uses a counter-type photosensor.

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a main body lower case, and reference numeral 16 denotes a case for supporting the head mechanism.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a printing unit of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The method for detecting the step-out of the head carriage drive motor is shown in the figure.

  The head 1 is fixed on the head carriage 1b together with the wire holder 1a, and the head carriage 1b moves left and right by a carriage transmission belt 32 and carriage drive gears 31a and 31b. The carriage drive gear 31a is coupled to a head carriage drive motor (not shown). As this motor, a pulse motor is generally used, and a pulse motor is also used in the embodiment. The carriage drive gear 31 a rotates the rotation detection plate 34 via the transmission gear 33. A carriage detector 35 composed of a counter-type photosensor is disposed so as to sandwich the rotation detection plate 34, and the rotation detection plate 34 rotates as the head carriage 1b moves, and this is detected by the carriage detector 35. The rotation detection plate 34 is formed in a propeller shape, and when this rotates, the output of the carriage detector 35 is periodically turned on and off. That is, when the head carriage 1b is moved left and right by a head carriage drive motor (not shown), the carriage detector 35 detects the movement of the head carriage 1b.

  If the receipt paper, journal paper, or slip paper between the print head 1 and the platen 2 is jammed between the wire holder 1a and the platen 2, a paper jam occurs, and the head carriage 1b rotates the carriage drive motor. The carriage drive motor will step out. This is detected by the carriage detector 35. This is called a carriage error.

  The print head 1 needs a home position in order to specify the reference position of the print position. The home position detector 36 is a facing photo sensor and detects the head carriage 1b. That is, the position where the head carriage 1b moves to the left and blocks the light of the home position detector 36 becomes the reference position of the home position.

  When the head carriage 1b attempts to move to the home position, the home position detector 36 can detect that the head carriage 1b does not reach the home position due to a paper jam or the like. This is called a home position error.

  FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram of a control circuit for realizing the present invention.

  The print head 47, the motors 48, and the plungers 49 form a mechanism part of the above-described printing apparatus, and has a print mechanism drive circuit 46 that drives these print mechanisms. Further, the printing mechanism is equipped with a carriage detector 52, a home position detector 53, an auto cutter detector 54, each paper detector 55, and a cover detector 56, and a central control device (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 42. Connected. The auto cutter detector 54 is a detector that detects the position of the cutter blade 14a in FIG. 2, and drives a cutter blade drive motor (not shown) to generate a detection signal at a predetermined position. If a paper jam or the like occurs in the cutter blade, the cutter blade does not move to a predetermined position, and no detection signal is generated, resulting in an error. This is called a cutter error.

  Hereinafter, carriage errors, home position errors, and cutter errors are collectively referred to as error states.

  A CPU 42 that controls the entire printing apparatus includes a panel switch 45 for manually feeding paper, an interface 41 for communicating with a host computer, a ROM 50 for storing a control program, a print character pattern, and the like, a reception buffer and a print buffer Are connected to one terminal of the RAM 51 and the connector 43. A peripheral device 44 such as a cash drawer can be connected to the connector 43, and its state can be detected by the TTL level.

  When print data is input from the interface 41, it is stored in the reception buffer in the RAM 51. The CPU 42 decodes this data, reads out a character pattern corresponding to the data code from the ROM 50, and prints the print head via the print mechanism control circuit 46. 47, the motors 48 and the plungers 49 are driven to execute printing.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, and shows the relationship between the functional means.

  A host computer 61 transmits command data, print data, and the like to the printing apparatus. Reference numeral 62 denotes data receiving means for receiving data from the host computer 61 via the interface. All received data is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 63. The received data in the receiving buffer 63 is taken out one by one by the command analysis means 64, and this data code is analyzed to discriminate between print data and control commands for setting various commands for the printing apparatus. If it is a control command, the control means 66 performs a predetermined setting or a predetermined operation according to the control command. If it is print data, the character pattern is stored in the print buffer 65 in accordance with the data code. When a printing operation is performed by the control unit 66, a printing pattern is read from the printing buffer 65, and the printing mechanism 67 is controlled to perform printing.

  When an error such as a paper jam occurs in printing, paper feeding, paper cutting, etc., the error detection means 68 detects the error.

  Further, the cover detection means 69 detects the cover open, the presence or absence of printing paper is detected by the paper detection means 70, and the status of peripheral devices connected to the printing apparatus is detected by the peripheral device status detection means 71.

  The detection results of the error detection means 68, the cover detection means 69, and the paper detection means 70 are sent to the periodic status data generation means 73 via the offline detection means 72. When the off-line detecting means 72 detects any one of error, cover open, and no paper, it sends information indicating that the printing apparatus is in an unprintable state, so-called off-line, to the control means 66, and the control means 66 stops the printing mechanism 67, The analysis of the received data by the command analysis means is stopped and it goes offline. Further, the off-line detecting means 72 also sends the off-line detection result to the regular status data generating means 73.

  The periodic status data generation means 73 generates status data in a data format that can be periodically transmitted to the host computer based on the detection results of the offline detection means 72, error detection means 68, paper detection means 70, and peripheral device state detection means 71. To do.

  In this embodiment, the error detection means 68, the cover detection means 69, the paper detection means 70, the peripheral device state detection means 71, and the offline detection means 72 are used as status detection means.

  In this embodiment, the interface uses RS-232C, which is a bidirectional serial interface, and the data length is 8 bits when the power is turned on. Therefore, the status data is generated with a length of 8 bits.

  The status data generated by the periodic status data generating means 73 is compared with the status data held in the status data holding means 76 for the status selected by the automatic status transmission selecting means 75 by the status data comparing means 74, If they are different, the status data generated by the periodic status data generating means 73 is transmitted to the host computer 61 via the data transmitting means 77, and stored in the status data holding means 76 and held. Update the data.

  The automatic status transmission selection means 75 is controlled by the control means 75 in accordance with an automatic status transmission selection command transmitted from the host computer. The status detection means selected by the automatic status transmission selection means 75 is any one of the statuses detected by the offline detection means 72, the error detection means 68, the paper detection means 70, and the peripheral device status detection means 71. It is also possible to select, and when selected, automatic status transmission is enabled. If none is selected, the periodic status data generating means 67 does not invalidate the status data generation and the automatic status transmission is invalidated.

  In this embodiment, the contents of status data generated by the periodic status data generating means are defined as shown in Table 1.

図６は本発明の一実施例である印刷装置における制御コマンドの説明図で、自動ステータス送信の対象となる状態を選択するための自動ステータス送信選択コマンドを示している。”ＧＳ
ａ”８０は”ＧＳ”コード（１ＤＨ）と”ａ”（６１Ｈ）コードの組み合わせによる制御コマンドの種類を示し、このコードがコマンド解析手段により解析されると、自動ステータス送信選択コマンドであると解釈される。”ｎ”８１はコマンドのパラメータであり、自動ステータス送信の対象となるステータスを選択する値である。本実施例では、”ｎ”８１は表２のように選択され、図５における制御手段６６によって自動ステータス送信選択手段７５に設定される。

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a control command in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows an automatic status transmission selection command for selecting a state to be subjected to automatic status transmission. GS
a "80 indicates the type of control command by the combination of the" GS "code (1DH) and the" a "(61H) code. When this code is analyzed by the command analysis means, it is interpreted as an automatic status transmission selection command. “N” 81 is a parameter of the command and is a value for selecting a status to be an object of automatic status transmission.In this embodiment, “n” 81 is selected as shown in Table 2, and in FIG. The automatic status transmission selection means 75 is set by the control means 66.

デフォルト値は０Ｈとし、対象となるステータスが選択されていないため、自動ステータス送信が無効となっている。

The default value is 0H, and since the target status is not selected, automatic status transmission is disabled.

  7, 8, and 9 are flowcharts illustrating a process of a control method for a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method for executing automatic status transmission of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The periodic status data generation means 67 confirms whether automatic status transmission is valid or invalid by the automatic status transmission selection means 75 (step 101). If it is set as valid, the error detection means 68, paper detection means 70, Based on the detection results of the peripheral device state detection means 71 and the offline detection means 72, status data in the data format shown in Table 1 is generated (step 102). If it is set to invalid, the process ends without generating status data. Next, the status data comparison means 74 compares the status data generated in step 102 with the status data held in the status data holding means 76 (step 103), and if it is determined that they are the same status data, The processing ends here, and the status data generated in step 102 has no meaning. If it is determined that the status data is different, the status selected by the automatic status transmission selection means 75 and compared with the status selected as the status data comparison target is compared (step 104). If there is no change, the process ends here, and status data is not transmitted. If the selected state has changed, the generated status data is transmitted to the host computer 61 by the data transmitting means 77 (step 105), and the status data is retained by the status data retaining means 76 (step 105). 106) The automatic status transmission process is terminated.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a method of executing status data generation (step 102) in FIG.

  First, in the data format shown in Table 1, the status data is initialized with the error state, no paper, online, and the peripheral device state as HIGH values and unused bits as fixed values, that is, 10H ( Step 107). Next, if the error detection means 68 detects an error (step 108), bit 6 is set to 1 to obtain error status data (step 109). Next, if the paper detection means 69 detects the absence of paper (step 110), the bit 5 is set to 1 and used as paper-less status data (step 111). Next, if the off-line detecting means 72 detects off-line (step 112), bit 3 is set to 1 to obtain offline status data (step 113). Next, if the peripheral device state detecting means 71 detects HIGH (step 114), bit 2 is set to 1 to obtain peripheral device HIGH status data (step 115).

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an automatic status transmission selection command execution method in the printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. Data transmitted from the host computer 61 and received by the data receiving means 62 is stored in the reception buffer 63. The command analysis means 64 takes out data one by one from the reception buffer 63 and performs analysis. If the analyzed command is not an automatic status transmission selection command (step 116), it is executed as another control command, or a print pattern is stored in the print buffer 65 as print data (step 117). If the command is an automatic status transmission selection command (step 116), one piece of data is taken out from the reception buffer 63, and a status to be compared with automatic status transmission is selected based on Table 2. If the comparison target is selected, automatic status transmission is enabled, and if no comparison target is selected, it is disabled (step 118). If the automatic status transmission is invalid (step 119), the process ends here. If the automatic status transmission is valid, the status data generation by the periodic status data generation means 73 is validated, and the status data to be transmitted first is generated by the procedure shown in FIG. 8 (step 120). The generated status data is transmitted to the host computer 61 by the data transmission means 77 (step 121) and held in the status data holding means 76 (step 122). At this time, the status data comparing means 74 does not compare the status data held in the status data holding means 76 with the status data to be transmitted. By doing so, it becomes possible for the host computer 61 to know the timing at which automatic status transmission is switched from invalid to valid.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this embodiment is only the illustration for description of this invention, and is not the meaning which limits the scope of the present invention only to this embodiment. The present invention can be implemented in various other modes without departing from the gist thereof.

1 is an overall view of a printing apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a mechanism diagram of a printing apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing unit of a printing apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. The circuit block diagram of the control circuit explaining one Example of this invention. The functional block diagram explaining one Example of this invention. Explanatory drawing of one Example of the control command used for this invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of an embodiment of a control method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of an embodiment of a control method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of an embodiment of a control method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

61 Host computer 62 Data reception means 63 Reception buffer 64 Command analysis means 65 Print buffer 66 Control means 67 Printing mechanism 68 Error detection means 69 Cover detection means 70 Paper detection means 71 Peripheral device state detection means 72 Offline detection means 73 Periodic status data generation Means 74 Status data comparison means 75 Automatic status transmission selection means 76 Status data holding means 77 Data transmission means

Claims (6)

Status selection means for selecting a status to be subjected to automatic status transmission from a plurality of predetermined statuses of the printing device according to predetermined data received from the host device;
Automatic status transmission setting means for setting automatic status transmission to be valid when the status to be automatically transmitted by the status selecting means is selected;
When the status of the selected target of automatic status transmission changes after the automatic status transmission setting means is enabled by the automatic status transmission setting means, the status data of the predetermined plurality of statuses of the printing apparatus is sent to the host apparatus. An automatic status transmission means for transmitting the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.
A parameter indicating whether or not the predetermined data from the host device includes a plurality of bits corresponding to the plurality of predetermined statuses, and the status corresponding to the value of each bit is selected as a target of automatic status transmission. A printing apparatus characterized by comprising: The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
The status data, the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the value of each bit comprises a plurality of bits corresponding to said predetermined plurality of status shows the corresponding status.
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The printing apparatus, wherein the plurality of statuses include an error state. A printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A printing system comprising: a host device that transmits the predetermined data to the printing device and receives status data from the printing device. (A) selecting a status to be subjected to automatic status transmission from a plurality of predetermined statuses of the printing device according to predetermined data received from the host device;
(B) when the status to be subject to automatic status transmission is selected in step (a), the step of enabling automatic status transmission; and
(C) When the status of the selected target of automatic status transmission changes after the automatic status transmission is enabled in step (b), the status data of the predetermined plurality of statuses of the printing apparatus is transferred to the host device. A status change detection method comprising:

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