JP2005205829A - Printing control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prolong a hard-disk product life at 24-hours turning on electricity for a net-work printer mounted with the hard disk. <P>SOLUTION: The printing control device is equipped with a judgement means performing the judgement whether a received printing job is the job using the hard disk or not and a control means performing the control of the hard-disk power supply according to the result of the judgement means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus capable of communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, a data processing method for the print control apparatus, and a storage medium storing a computer-readable program.

Conventionally, a print control apparatus that outputs information in units of pages converted from received print information by communicating with a data processing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium can increase the speed at the time of printing a plurality of copies or re-execute after a while. A secondary storage device such as a hard disk is provided for high-speed printing during printing, font data storage, and form data storage. Print jobs are stored in the secondary storage device, and multiple copies can be printed with a single data transfer. The result can be output (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-11-55501

  However, since the hard disk needs to be energized for 24 hours in a usage form as a print server in a network connection, a 2.5 inch type hard disk cannot be used to satisfy the hard disk device life. In addition, many print jobs do not require the use of a hard disk, but there was no idea of linking hard disk power control with a print job. For this reason, a hard disk must be positioned as a consumable for a product in which a 2.5 inch hard disk must be adopted due to space problems in the print processing apparatus.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus capable of extending the product life of a hard disk when energized for 24 hours in a network printer equipped with a hard disk. .

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a print control apparatus capable of communicating with an information device via a predetermined communication medium, print jobs to be transferred to the print control apparatus are sequentially stored as print data divided into pages. Storage means for transferring, transfer means for sequentially transferring each print data stored in the storage means to the printing apparatus, determination means for determining whether or not a print job uses the storage means, and And control means for controlling the power supply of the storage means according to the result.

  That is, a determination unit that determines whether or not the received print job is a job that uses a secondary storage device such as a hard disk, and a control unit that controls the apparatus power supply of the secondary storage device such as a hard disk according to the result of the determination unit It is what has.

  According to the present invention, determination means for determining whether a print job is a job using a secondary storage device such as a hard disk, and the device power of the secondary storage device such as a hard disk is controlled based on the result of the determination means. By having the control means, it has become possible to extend the product life of a secondary storage device such as a hard disk.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below based on examples.

  Before describing the configuration of the present embodiment, the configuration of a laser beam printer suitable for applying the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Needless to say, the printer to which the present embodiment is applied is not limited to a laser beam printer, and may be a printer of another printing method.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a first peripheral device to which the present invention is applicable.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1500 denotes an LBP main body, which inputs and stores recording information (character code, etc.), form information, or a macro instruction supplied from a host computer connected to the outside directly or via a network. A corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created according to the above information, and an image is formed on a recording sheet or the like as a recording medium. Reference numeral 1501 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged. A printer control unit 1000 controls the entire LBP main body 1500 and analyzes character information supplied from the host computer. The printer control unit 1000 mainly converts character information into a video signal having a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1502. The laser driver 1502 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1503, and switches on / off the laser light 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 in accordance with the input video signal. The laser beam 1504 is shaken in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 1505 to scan and expose the electrostatic drum 1506. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1506. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1507 disposed around the electrostatic drum 1506 and then transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1508 mounted on the LBP main body 1500 and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 1509, a transport roller 1510, and a transport roller 1511. It is supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

  The LBP main body 1500 is provided with at least one card slot (not shown) so that an optional font card and a control card (emulation card) having a different language system can be connected in addition to the built-in font.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer control system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, a laser beam printer (FIG. 2) will be described as an example.

  In the figure, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer, which has a CPU 1 for executing document processing in which figures, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets) and the like are mixed based on a document processing program stored in a ROM 3 program ROM. The CPU 1 generally controls the core devices connected to the system device 4.

  Further, the ROM 3 program ROM stores the control program of the CPU 1 and the like, the font ROM ROM 3 stores font data used in the document processing, and the ROM 3 data ROM stores the document. Stores various data used for processing and the like. Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM which functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 1. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls key input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRT controller (CRTC) which controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 10. Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk controller (DKC), which is an access to an external memory 11 such as a hard disk (HD) or a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) for storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, and the like. To control. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via an interface 21 including a wireless communication interface such as IrDA or Bluetooth in addition to an interface typified by a Centronics interface, and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500. . Note that the CPU 1 executes, for example, outline font development (rasterization) processing on the display information RAM set on the RAM 2, and is registered based on commands instructed by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10. Are opened and various data processing is executed. In the printer 1500, reference numeral 12 denotes a printer CPU that accesses various devices connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. And an image signal as output information is output to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected via the printing unit interface 16. Further, the control program of the CPU 12 is stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information. If the data ROM of the ROM 13 is a printer without the hard disk 14, information used on the host computer, etc. Is remembered. The CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer via the input unit 18 and is configured to notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer. Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM that functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 12, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 19 is used as an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NVRAM, and the like. Access to the hard disk (HD) 14 is controlled by a disk controller (DKC) 20. The HD 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, form data, print data, and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes an operation panel described above, on which switches for operation, LED indicators, and the like are arranged.

  Further, the number of external memories described above is not limited to one, and at least one external memory is provided. In addition to the built-in font, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages with different language systems can be connected. May be. Furthermore, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a hard disk power supply control circuit in the printing control apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 1000 denotes the above-described printer control unit, and reference numeral 30 denotes a hard disk. A relay switch 101 or the like is provided on the power line of the hard disk, and the power is controlled according to the procedure described later.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. When a print command is issued, the print control apparatus starts receiving data (S101). In S102, if the print job includes an instruction to use the hard disk such as printing a plurality of copies or saving data, the process proceeds to S103, and the hard disk is turned on. In step S104, the process waits until the motor rotation of the hard disk is stabilized. In step S105, the print data is stored in the hard disk or read from the hard disk. After the print job is completed, a predetermined time is waited in S106, and it is determined in S107 whether the next print job is coming. If the next print job is coming, hard disk access may still be necessary, so this procedure is terminated without turning off the power. However, if the next print job is not coming, the process proceeds to S108. It is determined whether or not a preset number of weights has been reached, and if it has been reached, the process proceeds to S109 to turn off the hard disk power. If it has not reached the set value, the process proceeds to S106, waits for a certain unit time, and it is determined whether the next print job has arrived until the set value of the weight is reached. Turn off the power and end this procedure.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a print control apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer control system to which a print control apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. 2 is an example of a hard disk power supply control circuit of the print control apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data processing procedure of the print control apparatus according to the present invention. 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 5 Keyboard controller (KBC) 6 CRT controller (CRTC) 7 Disk controller (DKC) 8 Printer controller (PRTC) 9 Keyboard (KB) 10 CRT display (CRT) 11 External memory 12 Printer CPU 13 ROM 14 External memory (Hard Disk) 15 System Bus 16 Printing Unit I / F 17 Printing Unit (Printer Engine) 19 RAM 20 Disk Controller 30 Hard Disk 101 Relay Switch 1000 Printer Control Unit 1500 LBP Printer Main Body (Printer) 1501 Operation Panel 1502 Laser Driver 1503 Semiconductor Laser 1504 Laser Light 1505 Rotating polygon mirror 1506 Electrostatic drum 1507 Unit 1508 sheet cassette 1509 paper feed roller 1510 and 1511 the transport roller

Claims (1)

A print control apparatus capable of communicating with an information device via a predetermined communication medium,
Storage means for sequentially storing print jobs to be transferred to the print control apparatus as print data divided into pages, transfer means for sequentially transferring the print data stored in the storage means to the printing apparatus, and printing A printing control apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not a job uses the storage unit; and a control unit that controls an apparatus power supply of the storage unit based on a result of the determination unit.

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