JPH0499685A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate the necessity of continuous monitoring of the printing condition of printer by providing a character data generating section, a character read out section, and a section for comparing a character composed of test character data with a character read out at the character read out section thereby producing an alarm when the comparison result is lower than a predetermined value. CONSTITUTION:A data generating section 4 provides an input section 2 with test character data at every predetermined period. A printer body 1 performs printing according to the character data fed to the input section 2 and outputs a character list to an output section 3 which is then fed to a character read out section 5. The character read out section 5 reads out a character printed on the list and provides a character pattern to a comparing section 6. The comparing section 6 compares the test character pattern of test data fed to the input section 2 with a character pattern read out from the list at the character read out section 5 thus calculating a correct answer rate. An alarm section 7 produces an alarm for an maintenance crew if thus calculated correct answer rate is lower than a predetermined value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer, and particularly to a printer that is connected to a general-purpose computer and outputs a large amount of character data sent from the computer.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional printers do not have a function to notify that maintenance is required, and maintenance personnel either perform maintenance work periodically or check the printing status of character data output from the printer. Maintenance personnel were determining whether or not work was necessary.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional printers mentioned above do not have a function to notify that maintenance work is required, so maintenance personnel must perform maintenance work periodically or check the printing status of character data output from the printer. Therefore, maintenance personnel are required to judge whether maintenance work is necessary or not, which makes it impossible to perform maintenance work in a timely manner depending on the printing situation. The disadvantage is that the printing status of the printer must be monitored.

[Means to solve the problem]

The printer of the present invention includes a printer body, a data input section, and an output section, and includes a character data generation section that generates test character data and outputs it to the input section, and outputs from the output section. a character reading unit that reads the characters read by the character reading unit, and compares the test characters output from the character data generation unit and the characters read by the character reading unit based on the test character data output from the output unit. and a comparison section, and has an alarm means for outputting an alarm when the result of the comparison in the comparison section is less than or equal to a predetermined value.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, this embodiment shows a computer (not shown)
an input section 2 that receives data from the output section 2, an output section 3 that prints out the received data, a data generation section 4 that generates character data for testing, and a character reading section that reads the characters output from the output section 3. 5, a comparison section 6 that compares the test character pattern from the data generation section 4 and the character pattern from the output section 3 based on the test character data from the data generation section 4, and a comparison of the character patterns in the comparison section 6. An alarm unit 7 that outputs an alarm sound and an alarm signal to the computer when the result is lower than a predetermined accuracy rate, and a printer main body 1 that includes a control function and a printing function for the entire printer of this embodiment. It is composed of

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, the data generation section 4 outputs test character data at predetermined intervals and sends it to the input section 2. The printer body 1 performs printing according to the character data sent to the input section 2 and outputs it to the output section 3.

The list of characters outputted to the output section 3 is sent to the character reading section 5. The character reading section 5 reads the characters printed on the list and sends the character pattern to the comparison section 6. The comparing section 6 receives the test character pattern of the test data sent from the data generating section 4 to the input section 2, and also receives the test character pattern from the character reading section 5.
The correct answer rate is calculated by receiving the character patterns read from the list and comparing both character patterns.

When the calculated accuracy rate is less than a predetermined value, the alarm unit 7 sends an alarm signal to the computer side to notify the maintenance work of this embodiment, since it means that maintenance work is required. generates an alarm sound to the personnel.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention includes a character data generation section that generates character data for testing and outputs it to the input section, a character reading section that reads the characters output from the output section, and a test character data output section that outputs the character data from the character generation section. It has a comparison part that compares the characters read by the character reading part with the characters according to the test character data output from the output part and the characters read by the character reading part, and the comparison result value in the comparison part is less than a predetermined value. By having an alarm means that outputs an alarm when the comparison result is bad during the test, it will notify the need for maintenance work, allowing maintenance personnel to respond in a timely manner according to the printing status of the printer. Maintenance work can be carried out in a timely manner, and maintenance personnel can perform maintenance work in a timely manner depending on the printing status of the printer.In addition, maintenance personnel can always check the printer's printing to determine whether maintenance work is necessary. This has the effect that there is no need to monitor the situation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer body, 2... Input section, 3... Output section, 4... Data generation section, 5 - Character reading section, 6...
Comparison section, 7... Alarm section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A printer comprising a printer body, a data input section, and an output section, including a character data generation section that generates test character data and outputs it to the input section, and a character data generation section that reads characters output from the output section. and a comparison unit that compares the test characters output from the character data generation unit with the characters read by the character reading unit based on the test character data output from the output unit. hand,
A printer characterized in that it has an alarm means for outputting an alarm when the comparison result value in the comparison section is less than or equal to a predetermined value.