JP3226819B2 - Printer monitor system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printer monitor system, and more particularly to a printer monitor system of a printer used as an output device in an information processing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional printer monitor system, an electrophotographic printer manufactured by NEC Corporation will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the conventional printer monitor system.

[0006] The printer monitor system shown in FIG. 6 includes a printer device 5 and a host computer 6. The printer device 5 includes a status monitoring unit 51 that detects a change in an event such as a printing status or an error occurrence inside the printer device.
And a communication unit 52 for notifying the host computer 6 of an event change in the printer device. The host computer 6 receives the event change information 7 of the printer device.
1 and an event analysis unit 62 for analyzing the received event change information
A screen display image data 63 indicating the event and the appearance of the printer device; and an image display unit 64 displayed on the screen.
And In addition, although not shown, there is a setup medium such as a CD-ROM and an FD for setting up a program operating on the host computer 6 side in the host computer 6.

In such a configuration, the printer 5
In order to display the event information on the host computer screen, first, the status monitoring unit 51 of the printer device 5 detects a change in the event, and transmits the event change information 7 to the host computer 6 via the communication unit 52. The communication unit 61 of the host computer 6 receives the event change information 7 and
Hand it over to 2. The event analysis unit 62 stores the event change information 7
, The image data 63 for screen display corresponding thereto is displayed on the screen display unit 64.

The host computer 6 prepares image data 63 indicating an event of the printer device 5 in advance.
With changes.

[0006]

A first problem with the above-mentioned prior art is that the image data of a printer monitor program running on a host computer changes because the appearance changes with the change of the printer device. Therefore, a change in the printer monitor program occurs every time the printer device changes.

A second problem is that the capacity of the setup medium for the printer monitor program increases due to the inclusion of image data.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer monitor system which realizes a versatile printer monitor program which does not need to be changed each time the printer device changes.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer monitor system which uses a host computer to display an event such as a printing status of a printer device or occurrence of an error by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of the event. A printer monitor system, wherein when the event of the event of the printer device occurs, only the first one is performed for each event.
Event types and image data corresponding to the event types;
From the second time, the type of the event is transmitted from the printer device to the host computer.

[0010] A second printer monitor system of the present invention is capable of monitoring events such as the printing status of a printer device and occurrence of an error.
A printer monitor system for displaying on a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of the event, wherein the image data stored in the printer device when a printer monitor program is set up in the host computer. Is transmitted to the host computer, and thereafter, when a change in the event of the printer device occurs, the type of the event in which the change has occurred is transmitted from the printer device to the host computer.

A third printer monitor system according to the present invention is capable of monitoring printing status of a printer device, occurrence of an error, and the like.
A printer monitor system for displaying on a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of event, wherein the image data corresponding to the type of event and a change in an event of the printer device are detected. A printer status monitoring unit that identifies the type of the detected event, and determines whether the image data corresponding to the type of the event has already been transmitted to the host computer. The event change information comprising the type of the event and the information without the image data is transmitted to the host computer, and if not transmitted, the type of the event and the information with the image data are transmitted. The event change information including the image data is transmitted to the host computer, and the image data is transmitted to the host computer. A printer device comprising: a first image data management unit that transmits the event change information to the host computer; and a printer that includes the first communication unit that receives the event change information from the first communication unit. A second communication unit,
With reference to the event change information, if the image data is attached, the image data is extracted, stored, and transmitted to an image display unit; otherwise, the stored image data is stored. A second image data management unit for transmitting the image data to the image display unit, and an image display unit for displaying the image data received from the second image data management unit on a screen. Features.

A fourth printer monitor system according to the present invention is capable of monitoring events such as a printing status of a printer device and occurrence of an error.
A printer monitor system for displaying on a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of event, wherein the image data corresponding to the type of event and a change in an event of the printer device are detected. Receiving a request for image data transmission from the host computer, and a printer status monitoring unit for specifying the type of the detected event,
Generate event change information consisting of the type of event, the presence or absence of image data, and image data for each event, store the image data transmission, transmit it to the host computer, and send the printer monitor program to the host computer. After the setup is completed, it is determined that the image data corresponding to the type of the event detected by the printer status monitoring unit has already been transmitted to the host computer, and the type of the event and information indicating that the image data is absent. A printer comprising: a first image data management unit for transmitting event change information to the host computer; and a first communication unit for transmitting the event change information to the host computer. When setting up the printer monitor program in a computer, the Making a request to transmit the image data to the communication unit of the host computer so as to transmit the image data, and storing the image data with reference to the event change information received via the first communication unit. After completing the reception and storing of the image data for all the events, the completion processing of the setup is performed.After the completion processing of the setup, the event change information including the type of the event and the information of no image data is stored. A second image data management unit for transmitting the received and stored image data to an image display unit, and making an image data transmission request to the first communication unit; and transmitting the event change from the first communication unit. A host computer including: a second communication unit that receives information; and an image display unit that displays the image data received from the second image data management unit on a screen. Printer monitoring system, characterized in that.

[0013]

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. The host computer 1 includes an image display unit 11, an image data management unit 12 that receives and manages image data 33 in the event change information 3, and a communication unit 13.
It is composed of The printer device 2 includes: a communication unit 21;
Image data management unit 22 that manages transmission of image data 24 corresponding to each event that has occurred to host computer 1
And a printer status monitoring unit 23 for monitoring an event change of the printer device 2, and image data 24. The event change information 3 is sent from the printer device 2 to the host computer 1. Here, image data indicating the appearance of the printer device displayed on the screen of the host computer 1 exists in the image data 24 of the printer device 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the event change information 3 of FIG. The event change information 3 includes information 31 indicating the type of event that has occurred, information 32 indicating the presence or absence of image data, and image data 33.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printer device 2 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the host computer 1 of FIG.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

In the printer device 2 shown in FIG. 1, a printer status monitor 23 monitors a change in an event of the printer device 2 at regular intervals. For example, when a cover open alarm is generated in the printer device 2, the printer status monitoring unit 23 that performs periodic monitoring detects a change in this event (step S301 in FIG. 3).

The printer status monitor 23 sets the detected cover open information to the information 31 indicating the type of event of the event change information 3. Then, the printer status monitoring unit 23
The event change information 3 generated as described above is transferred to the image data management unit 22 (Step S302).

The image data management unit 22 stores the event change information 3
Receiving the information 31 indicating the type of the event, the image data management unit 22 determines whether or not the cover-open image data 24 corresponding to the information 31 indicating the type of the event has already been transmitted to the host computer 1. The determination is made with reference to the transmission management record (step S303).

If the cover-open image data 24 has already been transmitted, the image data management unit 22 sets the image data absence 32 in the information 32 indicating the presence / absence of image data, and sets the event change information in the communication unit 21. 3 (Step S
304).

If the cover-open image data 24 has not been transmitted yet, the image data management unit 22
The cover open image data 24 is attached to the event change information 3 as the image data 33, and the information 32 indicating the presence or absence of the image data is set to the presence of the image data, and the event change information 3 is delivered to the communication unit 21 (step S30).
5).

Then, the image data management section 22 stores that the cover-opened image data 24 has been transmitted to the host computer 1 (step S306).

The communication section 21 transmits the event change information 3 to the communication section 13 of the host computer 1 to notify the host computer 1 of the occurrence of the cover open (Step S307).

On the other hand, the communication unit 13 of the host computer 1
Receives the event change information 3 from the communication unit 21 of the printer device 2 and transfers the event change information 3 to the image data management unit 12 (step S401 in FIG. 4).

First, the image data management section 12 refers to the information 32 indicating the presence or absence of image data, and checks whether or not the image data 33 is attached (step S402).

When the image data 33 is attached, the image data management section 12 takes out the image data 33 and stores it. This is because the image data 33 stored here is used when the image data 33 is not attached to the information 31 indicating the type of event that will occur in the future.

If the image data 33 is not attached, the image data management unit 12 recognizes that the cover open image data has already been received and stored, and converts the stored cover open image data into an image. The data is transmitted to the display unit 11 (step S403).

The image display unit 11 includes an image data management unit 12
Is displayed on the screen of the host computer 1 (step S404).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. First
1, which is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment, is that an image data transmission request 4 is added from the communication unit 13 of the host computer 1 to the communication unit 21 of the printer device 2, and From the image data management unit 12 to the communication unit 13 of the computer 1, the communication unit 2 of the printer device 2
This means that an arrow has been added in the direction from 1 to the image data management unit 22.

In such a configuration, when setting up the printer monitor program in the host computer 1, the host computer 1
An image data transmission request 4 is made to transmit all the image data 24 held by the printer device 2.

The image data management unit 22 of the printer device 2
Receives the request from the host computer 1 via the communication unit 21 and, for each managed event,
Event change information 3 including information 31 indicating the type of event, information 32 indicating the presence / absence of image data, and image data 33 is generated, image data transmission is stored, and the image data 24 is stored in the event change information 3 as image data. 33 and transmitted to the host computer 1.

The image data management unit 12 of the host computer 1 stores the image data 33 with reference to the event change information 3 received via the communication unit 13. However, no screen display is performed during setup. When recognizing that the reception and storage of the image data 24 for all events has been completed and stored, the image data management unit 12 performs a setup completion process.

Thereafter, the operation when an event change occurs in the printer device 2 is the same as the operation described in the first embodiment, but in the second embodiment, the host computer 1 When setting up the monitor program, image data 2 of all events of the printer device 2
4 is stored in the image data management unit 12 of the host computer 1, so that the image data 33 is not attached to the event change information 3.

That is, the event change information 3 when an event change occurs in the printer device 2 includes information 31 indicating the type of event that has occurred and information 32 indicating the presence or absence of image data set to no image data. Is attached, and there is no need to transmit image data when a change in event occurs.

[0037]

As described above, the first advantage of the present invention is that it is not necessary to change the printer monitor program operating on the host computer even when the printer changes.

A second effect is that the capacity of the setup medium of the printer monitor program operating on the host computer is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of event change information 3 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the printer device 2 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the host computer 1 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional printer monitor system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 host computer 11 image display unit 12 image data management unit 13 communication unit 2 printer device 21 communication unit 22 image data management unit 23 printer status monitoring unit 24 image data 3 event change information 31 information indicating event type 32 presence or absence of image data 33 Image data 4 Image data transmission request

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer monitor system for displaying an event such as a printing status of a printer device, occurrence of an error, or the like to a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to a type of the event, wherein the event of the printer device is provided. When the change occurs, only the first one
And the image data corresponding to the event type
A printer monitor system wherein the kind of the event is transmitted from the printer device to the host computer from the first time. 2. A printer monitor system for displaying an event such as a printing status of a printer device or occurrence of an error on a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of the event. At the time of printer monitor program setup, the image data held in the printer device is transmitted to the host computer, and thereafter, when a change in the event of the printer device occurs, the type of the event in which the change has occurred is indicated by the printer. A printer monitor system for transmitting the data from an apparatus to the host computer. 3. A printer monitor system for displaying an event such as a printing status of a printer device, occurrence of an error, or the like to a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of the event. A printer status monitoring unit that detects a change in the event of the printer device and identifies the type of the detected event; and the image data corresponding to the type of the event is already the host. Determine if it ’s being sent to your computer,
If the event has already been transmitted, the event change information including the type of the event and the information without the image data is transmitted to the host computer, and if not already transmitted, the type of the event and A first image data management unit that transmits event change information including the image data presence information and the image data to the host computer, and stores that the image data has been transmitted to the host computer; A first communication unit that transmits the event change information to the printer; and a second device that receives the event change information from the first communication unit.
With reference to the event change information, the image data is taken out when the image data is attached, stored and transmitted to the image display unit, and is stored when the image data is not attached. A host computer, comprising: a second image data management unit that transmits the image data to the image display unit; and an image display unit that displays the image data received from the second image data management unit on a screen. A printer monitor system comprising: 4. A printer monitor system for displaying an event such as a printing status of a printer device, occurrence of an error, etc. to a host computer by image data for screen display corresponding to the type of the event. A printer status monitoring unit that detects a change in an event of the printer device and identifies a type of the detected event; receives an image data transmission request from the host computer; After generating the event change information consisting of the type, presence or absence of image data, and image data, storing the image data transmission and transmitting it to the host computer, after completing the setup of the printer monitor program to the host computer, The image data corresponding to the type of the event detected by the printer status monitoring unit is already A first image data management unit that determines that the event has been transmitted to the host computer, and transmits event change information including the type of the event and the information indicating that there is no image data to the host computer; And a first communication unit for transmitting the event change information to the host computer. When setting up the printer monitor program in the host computer, transmitting the image data held by the printer device. Requesting the communication unit of the host computer to transmit the image data, storing the image data with reference to the event change information received via the first communication unit, and transmitting the image data for all events. After the reception is completed and stored, the setup completion processing is performed. A second image data management unit that receives event change information including the type of the image data and the information indicating that there is no image data, and transmits the stored image data to an image display unit; A second communication unit that makes a transmission request and receives the event change information from the first communication unit, an image display unit that displays the image data received from the second image data management unit on a screen, A host computer comprising: and a printer monitor system comprising: