Printer and printing system

Abstract

This disclosure discloses a printer comprising: a host communication device that performs information transmission and reception by wired or wireless communication for the functioning as a host device of a target device; and a target processing portion that performs predetermined processing in accordance with target device information acquired from said target device when said host communication device performs information transmission and reception with said target device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-133586, which was filed on Jun. 3, 2009, No. 2009-137507, which was filed on Jun. 8, 2009, and No. 2009-182039, which was filed on Aug. 5, 2009, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]The present disclosure relates to a printer and printing system connectable to a variety of target devices.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In the past, a printer was connected to a host device, such as a PC, and printing was performed based on the control information from the host device. As a result, when an operator wanted to use the printer, the operator needed to connect the PC and printer using a cable or the like, and suitably operate the PC keyboard, mouse, or other device to set up various print settings and provide print execution instructions. Such operations have been burdensome to the operator...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]It is therefore a first object of the present disclosure to provide a printer and printing system capable of improving operator convenience.

[0013]It is a second object of the present disclosure to provide a printer that makes it possible to visually recognize at a glance whether or not the target device is bootable.

[0014]It is a third object of the present disclosure to provide a printing system capable of producing desired labels from a plurality of printers in a system simply and easily constructed without use of a network.

[0016]The first aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above-described object is a printer that transmits and receives information with a target device by host communication device, thereby functioning as a host-side device of the target device. When the host communication device transmits and receives information with the target device, target processing portion performs predetermined processing in accordance with the information on the target device side acquired by the target device side. With this arrangement, the printer which serves as a host-side device determines the connectability with the target device, notifies the operator in accordance with the determination result and, in a case where the target device is another printer that differs from the host, acquires the printing related information of the other printer, thereby making it possible to execute printing using the appropriate printer in accordance with the print form intended by the operator. Thus, operator convenience is improved.

[0018]The second aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above-described objects is a printing system that is connected to a printer and target device in a manner that enables information transmission and reception by wired or wireless communication, wherein the printer performs information transmission and reception with the target device by host communication device, thereby functioning as a host-side device of the target device. In the printer, when the host communication device transmits and receives information with the target device, the target processing portion performs predetermined processing in accordance with the information on the target device side acquired by the target device side. With this arrangement, the printer which serves as a host-side device determines the connectability with the target device, notifies the operator in accordance with the determination result and, in a case where the target device is another printer that differs from the host, acquires the printing related information of the other printer, thereby making it possible to execute printing using the appropriate printer in accordance with the print form intended by the operator. Thus, operator convenience is improved.

Problems solved by technology

Such operations have been burdensome to the operator, especially those without a thorough understanding of office automation equipment, such as the elderly and children.

Since it is difficult to provide interfaces corresponding to all models of each target device, however, there are inevitably bootable models for which a corresponding interface has been provided, and unbootable models for which a corresponding interface has not been provided.

Nevertheless, the operator is unable to distinguish between the bootable and unbootable target devices based on outward appearances.

For this reason, the operator must suffer the extreme inconvenience of connecting each arbitrary target device to the printer using a USB cable or the like, and testing each device one by one to see if the device is bootable.

However, to construct a fixed system with such extensive network connections is extremely cumbersome for the operator.

Additionally, the network connections may result in recognition errors or communication errors as a result of the effects of the communication environment or the like, and prompt recovery from such errors is not easy for an operator having a normal skill level.

Further, depending on the environment, network construction itself may be difficult and, in such a case, the above-described prior art does not particularly take that into consideration.

Thus, as described above, each of the aforementioned prior arts increases the labor burden of the operator, decreasing operator convenience.

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