Typewriting machines – Including selection of type-face by...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-22
2001-06-12
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Typewriting machines
Including selection of type-face by...
C400S076000, C400S061000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244762
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printer apparatus connected to a host device in such a manner that bidirectional communication is possible, and more particularly, to a printer apparatus having a nonvolatile storage such as a flash memory, and a control method and an information recording medium for the same.
2. Background Art
Hitherto, some electronic devices including printer apparatus have stored information specific to the electronic device in built-in nonvolatile memories.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-64735 discloses a printing device which is connected to a network and which stores the printer-specific configuration information transmitted from a host in a nonvolatile memory and returns information regarding the printer configuration stored in the nonvolatile memory to the host in response to an inquiry command from the host.
Further, Patent Gazette No. 2593844 discloses an electronic device having a nonvolatile memory built therein, and the nonvolatile memory has an apparatus information area for storing data specific to the apparatus, data being written to and read from the outside.
However, in the printing device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-64735, the data of printer configuration information is stored in a predetermined block, i.e. data of a limited size from a predetermined address, allocated to the nonvolatile memory beforehand, and is read from the predetermined block, posing a problem in that it is impossible to rewrite or read a part of the information. For instance, in order to rewrite a part of the information, a host must read all the information stored in the predetermined block of the nonvolatile memory, edit the information, and write it back to the nonvolatile memory, thus making the processing complicated and taking a lot of time to complete the processing if the amount of information is large.
In the electronic device disclosed in patent gazette No. 2593844, apparatus-specific data is written to the area of a fixed capacity allocated to the nonvolatile memory in advance, presenting a problem in that a certain amount of memory is occupied regardless of the length of data to be actually stored, with consequent poor efficiency of utilization of the memory. For example, the information regarding the name of a manufacturer significantly varies in the length of data thereof, depending on each manufacturer, and it is necessary therefore to allocate a maximum width to the nonvolatile memory in advance, undesirably resulting in a large wasteful memory area.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems with the conventional arts set forth above and to efficiently store a plurality of pieces of printer apparatus information in a nonvolatile memory to permit flexible change, addition, and readout of the information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To solve the aforesaid problems, a printer apparatus in accordance with the present invention is connected to a host device and performs printing based on commands and data from the host device, the printer apparatus having nonvolatile storage capable of retaining stored contents even in a state when no power is supplied to the printer apparatus, data storing means for storing the data received following a first command in the nonvolatile storage in response to the first command from the host device, and data reading means for reading data stored in the nonvolatile storage in response to a second command from the host device and transmitting it to the host device, wherein the data storing means stores data in an amount specified by the first command at an address in the nonvolatile storage specified by the first command.
The data reading means reads and sends the data in an amount specified by the second command from an address in the nonvolatile storage specified by the second command.
With this configuration, the host device is able to store the individual information or management information regarding a printer apparatus in the printer apparatus itself and to read it from the printer apparatus to use it when the power of the printer apparatus is turned back on, thus permitting easy management of the printer apparatus. Even if, for example, the printer apparatus is replaced, the state of the printer apparatus can be easily ascertained so as to conduct proper printing control by reading the individual information or management information regarding the printer apparatus. It is also possible to store the management information regarding each host device when a plurality of host devices are connected.
In this case, if predetermined data is found among data to be stored, the data storing means may abort storing data following that data. This enables the host devices to store a required amount of data without the need for carrying out complicated processing for accurately knowing the amount of data to be stored, thus permitting easier processing.
In the case mentioned above, if a so-called “page mode”, in which mode the contents of the print buffer are printed, wherein a predetermined amount of print data received from the host device is expanded into a print buffer accommodating a plurality of lines it is desirable that the data storing means does not store the data.
If an address or a data amount specified by a data write command or a data read command is not valid, then it is desirable that the data storing means does not store the data. In these cases, there is a danger in that proper information exchange with the host device cannot be implemented and it is very likely that invalid data causes the host device to malfunction.
Preferably, a code specified by the data write command is compared with a code specified by the data read command, and the data reading means reads and transmits stored data only if the codes agree with each other. This makes it possible to disable unauthorized access to data stored.
Preferably, the nonvolatile storage is provided with a plurality of areas so that it is possible to disable storing and reading of the data in at least one area. This enables protection of important data. For instance, the data managed by a manufacturer is stored in the area that permits write/read protection so as to disable access by a user.
A printer apparatus in accordance with the present invention is connected to a host device to perform printing on the basis of commands and data from the host device, and has nonvolatile storage capable of retaining stored contents even in a state when no power is supplied to the printer apparatus, the nonvolatile storage having an area for storing information which is composed of a plurality of types of information for identifying a printer apparatus and which has a key for identifying the type of information and a terminator indicating the end of the information. The key is characterized in that it is positioned at the initial address of the area of the nonvolatile memory or immediately following the terminator. This makes it possible to efficiently store characteristic information or setting information regarding the printer apparatus in the nonvolatile storage.
The printer apparatus in accordance with the present invention has data storing means for storing, in response to a first command from a host device, the data received following the first command in a nonvolatile storage, and data reading means for reading data stored in the nonvolatile storage, in response to a second command from the host device, and transmitting it to the host device, wherein the data storing means stores a key specified by the first command, data in an amount specified by the first command, and a terminator in the nonvolatile storage. This enables the host device to easily store data without performing address management in the nonvolatile storage.
In this case, preferably, first key-searching means is provided for searching for a key specified by the first command in the area of the nonvolatile storage, and the data storing means deletes data from the key to the terminator according
Fukano Kazuko
Koakutsu Naohiko
Mochizuki Hidetake
Hilten John S.
Nolan, Jr. Charles H.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Watson Mark P.
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