Printer

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a printer device, for example, a printer device connected by two or more host interfaces.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

In the host interface that connects the host computer and the printer device, a plurality of host computers and the printer device are connected to one line like a network.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Since the host interface is connected like a network in this way, there is a problem that the data transfer rate for printing becomes slow depending on the frequency with which other host computers and printer devices use the network. Further, if the data transfer becomes slow, it becomes impossible to create the image data to be printed, so that there is also a problem that the printing speed becomes slow.

【0004】

On the other hand, the printer device during printing uses a plurality of host interfaces. In this case, in the case of an engine error (an error that printing cannot be executed such as jam or no paper), data cannot be received, so data transfer is not performed. Therefore, even during an engine error, a plurality of host interfaces are still in use, so that there is a problem that other printer devices cannot be used, which is wasteful.

【0005】

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide a printer device that is connected by two or more host interfaces and can increase the printing speed. A second object of the present invention is to provide a printer device capable of eliminating waste in the case of an engine error.

【0006】

[Means for solving problems]

In the invention described in claim 1, the receiving speed detecting means for detecting the data receiving speed of the interface which is a printer device connected by two or more host interfaces and the receiving speed detecting means is used. When the detected data reception speed is slower than the preset value, the data transmission request is made to the interface selection means for selecting the interface for which the transmission request is made according to the preset priority and the interface selected by the interface selection means. The first object is achieved by providing a data transmission / reception means capable of simultaneously receiving data from the selected interface. That is, in the invention of claim 1, when the data reception speed of the currently receiving interface is detected in the printer device connected by two or more host interfaces and the reception speed is slower than the preset value. Another feature is that an interface that makes a transmission request can be selected according to a preset priority, a data transmission request can be made to the selected interface, and data from the selected interface can be received at the same time. In this way, the amount of data transfer is increased by selecting the interface that makes the transmission request according to the preset priority, making the data transmission request to the selected interface, and receiving the data from the selected interface at the same time. Therefore, the printing speed becomes faster.

【0007】

In the invention according to claim 2, in the printer device according to claim 1, the reception speed detection means detects the reception speed of all the interfaces being received, and the interface selection means sets the reception speed in advance. When it is slower than the set value, the selection of the interface that makes the transmission request is repeated according to the preset priority. That is, in the invention of claim 2, the reception speed of all the interfaces being received is detected, and when the reception speed is slower than the preset value, the transmission request is made according to the preset priority. It is characterized by repeating the selection. In this way, by detecting the reception speed of all the interfaces being received and repeating the selection of the interface that makes a transmission request according to the preset priority when the reception speed is slower than the preset value. , The amount of data transfer will be increased, and the printing speed will be faster.

【0008】

In the invention according to claim 3, in the printer device according to claim 1, the interface selection means is set in advance when an engine error occurs while receiving data from two or more interfaces at the same time. An interface to be stopped is selected according to the priority order, and the data transmission / reception means can make a request to stop data transfer to the interface selected by the interface selection means. That is, in the invention of claim 3, when an engine error occurs while receiving data from two or more interfaces at the same time, an interface that stops according to a preset priority is selected, and the selected interface is selected. It is characterized in that it can make a request to stop data transfer. In this way, by selecting the interface to be stopped according to the preset priority and making a request to stop the data transfer to the selected interface, the host interface can be passed to another printer device, so that there is no waste. ..

【0009】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the printer device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a system using the printer device in this embodiment. As shown in this figure, in this system, there are a plurality of host computers 11, 12, 13 (referred to below, reference numeral (1) is used; the same applies hereinafter) and a plurality of printer devices (2). It is connected via the network (N). The host computer (1) performs various processes, creates print data, and gives instructions to print the created print data. As a plurality of networks, various networks such as LAN (Local Area Network) are used.

【0010】

The printer device (2) includes a CPU (3), a printer engine (4), a memory (5), n host interfaces 1 (6), 2 (7), ... n (8), and an engine interface. It has (9). The CPU (3) performs various processes by executing a predetermined program. For example, the print data of the host computer (1) is converted into print image data and passed to the printer engine (4) via the engine interface (9).

【0011】

The printer engine (4) prints print image data on paper. The memory (5) is a storage device used by the CPU (3), and various processing programs such as interface selection processing and printer engine error processing in the present embodiment and other various programs are implemented.

【0012】

The printer device (2) has the same number of host interfaces 1, 2, ... n as the network to which each host computer (1) is connected. The data reception speed is detected by this host interface 1, 2, ... n.

【0013】

Each host computer (1) is connected to the printer device (2) via at least one of the plurality of networks (N) and a host interface corresponding to the network. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the host computer 11 is connected to the host interface 1 (6) via the network N1 and is connected to the host interface 2 (7) via the network N2. Further, the host computer 12 is connected to the host interface 1 (6) via the network N1, is connected to the host interface 2 (7) via the network N2, and is further connected to the host interface n (8) via the network Nn. )It is connected to the. The host computer 13 is connected to the host interface n (8) via the network Nn.

【0014】

In this system, it is not necessary for one printer device to be connected to the network, and a plurality of printer devices to be the subject of the present invention may be connected to the same or / or different networks (N). Further, it may be connected together with a printer device which is not the subject of the present invention.

【0015】

Figure 2 shows an example of setting the data reception speed. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the reception speed is set to 2 Mbps for the host interface 1, the reception speed is set to 4.5 Mbps for the host interface 2, and the reception speed is set to 1 Mbps for the host interface n.

【0016】

Figure 3 shows an example of host interface selection settings. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the host interface 1 has a priority of 10, the host interface 2 has a priority of 5, and the host interface n has a priority of 3. In this way, the priority of any one of priority 1 to priority n is preset for each of the n host interfaces. This priority can be set arbitrarily, and a priority other than the priority illustrated in FIG. 3 may be set. For example, the higher the reference reception speed, the higher the priority may be set. In this case, in the reception speed illustrated in FIG. 2, the host interface 2 has the highest priority among the three host interfaces 1, 2, and n, and then the host interface 1 and the host interface n have the highest priority. Set high.

【0017】

The reference reception speed illustrated in FIG. 2 and the priority order illustrated in FIG. 3 are stored in the memory 5.

【0018】

Next, the operation of the printer device in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. (1) First processing operation This first processing operation corresponds to claim 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the interface selection process by the first process operation. When the printer device (2) receives data from the host computer (1), the host interface receiving the data detects the data reception speed being received and supplies it to the CPU (3) (step 1; reception speed detection means). ). For example, when data is transmitted from the host computer 11 via the network N1, the host interface 1 (6) that receives this data detects the data reception speed.

【0019】

Then, the CPU (3) receives the detected data reception speed and compares it with the reception speed set for the received host interface (step 2). As a result of the comparison, if the data reception speed is high, the interface selection process is terminated and the data reception at the current host interface is continued.

【0020】

On the other hand, as a result of comparison, if the detected data reception speed is smaller than the set reception speed, the other host interface to which the host computer receiving the data is connected and has the highest priority is stored in the memory. Select from the priority settings (see Figure 3) stored in (3) (step 3). Then, a data transmission request (request for data retransmission) is made to the host computer from the host interface selected in step 3 (step 4). Next, enable printing on the selected host interface and receive data (step 5).

【0021】

(2) Second processing operation This second processing operation corresponds to claim 2. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the interface selection process by the second process operation. When the printer device (2) receives data from a specific host computer (1) via a plurality of networks (N), for example, by packet communication or the like, all host interfaces receiving the data receive the data being received. Detect the speed and supply it to the CPU (3) (step 11; reception speed detection means). For example, when data is transmitted from the host computer 12 via networks N1, N2, and Nn, all host interfaces 1 (6), 2 (7), and n (8) that receive each data receive data at a data reception rate. Is detected.

【0022】

Then, the CPU (3) receives each detected data reception speed and compares it with the reception speed set for each received host interface (step 2). As a result of the comparison, if all the data reception speeds are higher than the set reception speeds, the interface selection process is terminated and the data reception at each of the current host interfaces is continued.

【0023】

On the other hand, as a result of comparison, if one or more of the detected data reception speeds are smaller than the set reception speed, the host computer receiving the data is connected and the other with the highest priority. Select the host interface from the priority settings stored in memory (3) (see Figure 3) (step 3). At that time, if all of the detected data reception speeds are smaller than the set reception speed, the host interface having the highest priority is selected from all the host interfaces receiving data. On the other hand, if there is a detected data reception speed higher than the set reception speed, the host interface having the highest priority among the host interfaces receiving at a speed higher than the set reception speed is selected.

【0024】

Then, a data transmission request (request for data retransmission) is made to the host computer from the host interface selected in step 3 (step 4). Next, enable printing on the selected host interface and receive data (step 5).

【0025】

(3) Third processing operation This third processing operation corresponds to claim 3. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the printer engine error processing by the third processing operation. If a printer engine (4) error occurs while receiving data from the host computer (1) and the CPU (3) detects it (step 21), the CPU (3) will network with the host computer (1). Among the host interfaces connected via (N), the host interface with the lowest priority is selected by referring to the memory (5) (step 22).

【0026】

Next, on the selected host interface, make a data transmission stop request to the host computer (1) that is transmitting data (step 3). Then, the CPU (3) disables the receiving host interface (step 24) and ends the process. In this way, since the data transmission stop request is made to the host computer (1) during data transmission in step 3, the host computer (1) causes an error when an error occurs in the printer device (2) due to a jam or the like. Data transmission can be stopped without leaving the generated host interface in use, and it becomes possible to shift to other processing, for example, printing processing by another printer, if necessary.

【0027】

[Effect of the invention]

According to the invention of claim 1, the interface for which the transmission request is made is selected according to the preset priority, the data transmission request is made to the selected interface, and the data from the selected interface is also received at the same time. The amount of data transferred will be increased, and the printing speed will be faster. According to the invention described in claim 2, an interface that detects the reception speed of all interfaces being received and makes a transmission request according to a preset priority when the reception speed is slower than a preset value. By repeating the selection of, the amount of data transfer is increased and the printing speed is increased. According to the invention of claim 3, the host interface can be passed to another printer device by selecting an interface to be stopped according to a preset priority and making a request to stop data transfer to the selected interface. Therefore, there is no waste.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a system block diagram of the system using the printer apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is explanatory drawing which showed the setting example of the data reception speed in this embodiment.

[Fig. 3]

It is explanatory drawing which showed the setting example of the host interface selection in this embodiment.

[Fig. 4]

It is a flowchart which showed the interface selection process by the 1st process operation in this embodiment.

[Fig. 5]

It is a flowchart which showed the interface selection process by the 2nd processing operation in this embodiment.

[Fig. 6]

It is a flowchart which showed the printer engine error processing by the 3rd processing operation in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,11,12,13 Host computer 2 Printer device 3 CPU 4 printer engine 5 memory 6 Host interface 1 7 Host interface 2 8 host interface n 9 engine interface N, N1, N2, Nn network