JP2002215368A - Printer system for accounting and printing controller for estimating charge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an accounting with a printer occupying time to be taken into account, and enable a user to know rough charge before performing a printing, when the accounting is performed with the printer occupying time taken into account. SOLUTION: A printer driver 250 can refer to a DB 260 for charge calculation recording ink cost, etc., therein. The printer driver 250 measures the number of ink dots necessary for printing, when a spool file is prepared. An ink charge is estimated by the number of ink dots. Also, a printing time is estimated by the size of the spool file to calculate a time charge. In addition, a printing setting file 270 is referred to so as to estimate a sheet charge. Then, these charges are totaled and displayed as an estimated charge. After printing, the charge is calculated by the number of sheets used, the number of ink dots notified from the printer, and the printing time, and displayed on a screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a computer and a printer system for charging a user of a printer for use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a business form which provides a service of printing data carried by a customer with a printer and finishing it as a printed matter. In particular, in recent years, a form in which a computer (printer system) to which a printer is connected is lent and a customer himself operates the printer system to perform printing has increased. In such a business form, the use of the printer system and the consumption of consumables, for example, the consumption of printing paper, etc., are charged and collected as a printing fee to obtain profit.

A plurality of users belonging to different departments in a company or the like may use a common printer. In such a case, there is a request to charge the printer according to the usage amount of the printer and calculate the cost for each department to which the user belongs.

Under such circumstances, charging for printing using a printer has been performed. In general, billing for printing is divided into a fee for using the printer and a fee for consuming consumables. Conventionally, a uniform usage fee has been set for each printer as a fee for using the printer. In addition, a method of charging a fee for consumption of consumables according to the number of prints has been adopted for ease of management and the like.

[0005] However, among consumables, a medium such as ink or toner has a difference in the amount used depending on the print content. Some of these media are relatively expensive, such as color inks. For this reason, the method of charging according to the number of prints has a problem that the price of the consumable actually consumed does not always match the fee.

As a measure for solving this problem, there has been proposed a system in which billing is performed according to the amount of ink used in addition to the amount of printing paper used (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 200-200200).
No. 0-309147). According to this system,
When a user performs printing using a printer, the amount of consumables used in the printing is automatically detected, and the amount of consumables used is stored in association with personal information identifying each user. Then, the consumption information for each user is extracted from the stored consumption information, and the usage fee for each user can be calculated based on the consumption information for each user.

[0007]

Since one printer has one printing mechanism, a plurality of printings cannot be performed at the same time. For this reason, while printing certain print data, it is possible to receive other print data, but printing of other print data is delayed until the previous printing is completed. Therefore, print data having a long print time deteriorates the usage rotation rate of the printer, which affects profits and the like.

For this reason, in order to charge more in accordance with the actual situation, it is desirable to charge not only the consumables but also the time during which the printer is used, that is, the occupation time of the printer.

In addition, when charging for consumption of consumables such as the amount of ink used and charging in consideration of the occupation time of the printer, it is inconvenient because the user cannot know the fee before executing printing.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a technique for performing charging in consideration of the occupation time of a printer.

A second object of the present invention is to allow a user to know an approximate charge before executing printing when charging for consumption of consumables and charging in consideration of the printer occupation time. To provide technology.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system for accounting for a printing process, comprising: means for measuring a printing time; A printer system is provided, comprising: means for calculating a fee for using a printer based on time; and means for displaying the calculated fee for using the printer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control apparatus for generating print data to be output to a printer, comprising: an amount of consumables used for printing; Storage means for storing information defining the relationship of the above, a means for acquiring the amount of consumables necessary for printing with respect to the generated print data, and a means for acquiring the amount of consumables obtained and information stored in the storage means. In addition, there is provided a print control apparatus comprising: means for calculating an estimated charge for the amount of consumables used for printing; and means for outputting estimated charge information for the calculated amount of consumables.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an ink jet printer that performs printing using an ink filled in an ink cartridge as an image forming medium is used as a printer to which the present invention is applied. However, the present invention is not limited to an ink jet printer, and can be applied to a laser printer that performs printing using toner as a medium, a printer that performs printing using an ink ribbon, and the like.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a hardware system used in the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a computer 2 for realizing various processes by an application, a process by a printer driver for printing the result, and the like,
And a printer 1 connected to the computer 2.

The computer 2 functions as a print control device, and includes a computer main body 200, a display device 221 connected thereto, and a keyboard 222.

The computer main body 200 includes a CPU 201 for executing various programs, and a ROM 2 in which various data and various programs are stored in a nonvolatile manner in advance.
02 and R for temporarily storing data and programs
The AM 203, a display controller 204 connected to the display device 221 and controlling the display device 221 and a keyboard controller 2 connected to the keyboard 222 and controlling the keyboard 222
05, a flexible disk drive 206 for reading and writing the flexible disk, a hard disk drive 207 for storing data and programs, etc.,
CD-ROM for reading data from D-ROM
It has a drive 208, a printer interface 209 for connecting to the printer 1, and a network interface 210 for connecting to a network.

The printer 1 is, for example, an ink jet printer capable of performing color printing. This printer 1
It has a printing mechanism 100 and a printing control unit 160. Further, the printer 1 is equipped with ink cartridges containing ink, and the storage elements 400 provided in these ink cartridges are electrically connected.

The print control unit 160 includes a CPU 162 for executing various programs, and a ROM 162 in which various data and various programs are stored in a nonvolatile manner in advance.
And RAM for temporarily storing data and programs
163, an interface 164 for connecting to the computer 2, an EEPROM 165 which is a rewritable nonvolatile memory for storing ink remaining amount information, etc., a printing mechanism 100, a storage element 400, and an operation panel 167.
And a parallel input / output interface 166 for connecting the printer controller 160 and the print controller 160. This print control unit 16
0 is connected to the printing mechanism 100 to send print data and control a printing operation. Further, information indicating the printing state of the printing mechanism 100 is obtained and sent to the computer 2.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the configuration of the printing mechanism 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the printing mechanism 100 includes a carriage 101, an inkjet recording head 110 supported by the carriage 101, a carriage mechanism 120 supporting the carriage 101 and reciprocating in the line direction, and a paper sheet. And a paper feed mechanism 130 for feeding P.

The carriage mechanism 120 includes the carriage 10
1 and a carriage motor 1 for reciprocating the timing belt 121
23. The carriage motor 123 reciprocates the carriage 101 in the sheet width direction of the recording sheet P while being guided by the guide member 104 via the timing belt 121.

An ink jet recording head 110 is attached to the surface of the carriage 101 which faces the recording paper P, in the example shown in FIG. The recording head 110 is held on the carriage 101. The recording head 110 includes ink cartridges 107K and 107F.
To supply ink, eject ink droplets onto the recording paper P in accordance with the movement of the carriage 101 to form dots, and print images, characters, and the like on the recording paper P.

Here, the ink storage chamber of the ink cartridge 107K is filled with black (B) ink.
The ink cartridge 107F includes a plurality of ink storage chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM,
107Y are independently formed, and these ink storage chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 107LM,
107Y includes cyan (C), light cyan (LC),
Magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) inks are respectively filled. Therefore, the ink storage chambers 107C, 107LC, 107M, 1
From 07LM and 107Y, ink of each color is supplied to the recording head 110, respectively. These inks are ejected from the recording head 110 as ink droplets of each color to perform color printing. Of course, in the present invention, the types of color inks are cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM),
It is not limited to yellow (Y). For example, cyan (C),
Magenta (M) and yellow (Y) can also be used.

In the recording head 110, nozzle openings (not shown) corresponding to black (B), cyan (C), light cyan (LC), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) are arranged. It is lined up every.

The ink cartridges 107K and 107
In this embodiment, as shown in the block diagram of FIG.
0, a read / write control unit 420 for controlling reading and writing of data in the memory cell 410, and a clock signal C
An EEPROM including an address counter 430 that counts up when reading and writing data between the printer main body 100 and the memory cell 410 via the read / write control unit 420 based on the LK is used.

The memory cell 410 of the storage element 400 includes
Information related to the amount of ink in the black ink cartridge 107K or the color ink cartridge 107F, for example, the remaining ink amount, is stored.

FIG. 2A shows the first embodiment.
2 shows a functional configuration realized by the computer main body 200. The configurations described below are examples, and the present invention is not limited to these configurations.

The computer main body 200 exchanges data with various applications 240 implemented by application programs, a printer driver 250 implemented by a printer driver program, and a print control unit 160 of the connected printer 1. The communication control unit 230 includes a charge calculation DB 260 that stores information necessary for calculating a charge such as a consumable unit price, and a charge information DB 261 that stores charge information for each user. These perform various processes using the functions of the OS under the control of an operating system (OS) not shown.
These processes are realized by the CPU 201.

The printer driver 250 has a print management unit 251 and a print ink dot accumulation unit 25 as its functions.
3, a print setting receiving unit 254, a charge estimating unit 255,
And a billing processing unit 256.

The print management unit 251 functions as print data generation means for generating print data by performing rasterizing, color conversion, and the like on image data. That is, based on print requests from the application 240, the keyboard 222, and the like, the display data (RGB data) is black (B), cyan (C), light cyan (L
C), magenta (M), light magenta (LM), and yellow (Y) are converted into respective colors, which are further subjected to binarization processing for replacing the presence or absence of ink dots, and the like. It is stored in the storage unit 252. And read out according to the order of printing,
The print control unit 16 of the printer 1 via the communication control unit 230
Send to 0. Note that the spool file storage unit 252 includes the hard disk drive 207 and the like.

In the above-described binarization process, the print management unit 251 notifies the print ink dot accumulation unit 253 of information on the presence or absence of each color ink dot.

The printing ink dot accumulation unit 253 is a counter that is reset before printing starts or after printing ends. Based on information on the presence / absence of ink dots of each color from the printing management unit 251, the ink dot accumulation unit 253 for each ink color Multiply the numbers. That is, the total number of dots of each ink required for the printing is estimated and temporarily held.

The print setting receiving section 254 displays a setting screen for information on print finish on the display screen of the display device 221. Then, the setting of the user is received. The information for accepting the setting includes, for example, paper size, paper type, resolution, color / monochrome, and the like.
The settings received from the user are temporarily stored as a print setting file 270.

FIG. 5 shows a print setting screen 50 displayed by the print setting receiving unit 254 on the display screen of the display device 221.
It is a figure showing an example of 0. In this figure, the setting screen 50
Reference numeral 0 denotes a screen for setting information for designating a print finish. On this screen 500, for example, the paper type 50
1, paper size 502, printing direction 503, ink 50
4. The resolution 505 and the number of copies 506 can be set. Of course, the items that can be set on the print setting screen 500 are not limited to these.

Here, for example, the paper required for printing can be specified from the paper type 501 and the paper size 502, and the paper cost per print can be grasped.

The print setting screen 500 includes a charge estimation button 507, a print execution button 508, and a print cancel button 509.

The charge estimating unit 255 stores the total number of dots of each ink required for the printing and the print settings recorded in the print setting file 270 accumulated by the print ink dot accumulating unit 252, and the charge setting DB 260. Based on the unit price information and the like, the fee for executing the printing is estimated. Then, the estimated fee is displayed on the display screen of the display device 221.

FIG. 6 shows an estimated charge display screen 60 displayed on the display screen of the display device 221 by the charge estimation unit 255.
It is a figure showing an example of 0. In the figure, an estimated charge display screen 600 includes an area 601 for displaying the total estimated charge.
And an area 602 for displaying a breakdown of the estimated fee. The estimated charge display screen 600 is the print setting screen 5
A print setting change button 603 for displaying 00 and receiving print settings again, a print execution button 604 for executing printing, and a print cancel button 605 for canceling printing are provided. Of course, the items that can be set on the estimated charge display screen 600 are not limited to these.

The charge processing unit 256 stores the amount of ink used at the time of printing and the printing time in the print control unit 1 of the printer 1.
Obtained from 60. Then, the charge is calculated based on the acquired information, the print settings recorded in the print setting file 270, and unit price information recorded in the charge calculation DB 260 described later. Then, the calculated fee is displayed on the display screen of the display device 221. Further, for example, information for identifying the user, information on the printing date and time, and the like are added to the calculated fee and recorded in the charging information DB 261.

The charge calculation DB 260 is a database for storing various information necessary for charge estimation and charge calculation. Various kinds of information necessary for the charge estimation and charge calculation include, for example, as schematically shown in FIG. 7, ink unit price information 2061 that defines the correspondence between ink dots and ink usage charges, paper type, paper size, and paper usage. Paper unit price information 2062 that defines the correspondence with the fee, time unit price information 2603 that defines the correspondence between the printing time and the hourly fee, and logic 2604 for estimating the printing time can be used.

Here, as the logic 2604 for estimating the printing time, for example, the printing mechanism 10 of the printer 1 is used.
It is possible to create a table in which the relationship between the spool file size and the print time is determined in consideration of the print performance of 0, create the spool file when estimating the print time, and refer to this table. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a calculation formula that determines the relationship between the number of ink dots required for printing and the printing time, and a calculation formula that considers resolution, printing paper, and the like can be used.

As described above, the billing information DB 261 stores data obtained by adding information for identifying a user, information on printing date and time, and the like to a fee for printing. Based on the data recorded in the charging information DB 261, for example,
The charges for each user can be extracted and totaled.

Next, FIG. 2B shows a functional configuration of the print control unit 160. The print control unit 160 includes a print mechanism control unit 171 that controls the operation of the print mechanism 100, and a storage element 40.
The ink information management unit 172 reads the ink information from 0, updates the ink information, and transmits the ink information in response to a request from the computer main body 200.
And a print time measuring unit 1 that measures the time spent by the printer 1 for printing the print job that has received the print data.
73, and a communication control unit 174 that exchanges data with the computer main body 200. These features
This is realized by the CPU 161 executing a program stored in the ROM 162.

The ink information management section 172 can measure the number of ink dots ejected from the nozzle openings during printing. In this embodiment, when printing is completed, the ink information management unit 172 transmits information (the number of ink dots) relating to the amount of ink consumed in the printing to the printer driver of the computer 2 via the communication control unit 174. The information on the consumed ink amount is not limited to the number of ink dots required for printing, but may be, for example, a volume, a ratio to the capacity of the cartridge, or the like. At this time, unit price information corresponding to the information on the amount of ink is recorded in the fee calculation DB 260.

The print time measurement unit 173 measures the time spent by the printer 1 on printing for a print job that has received print data. Here, the measurement time is, for example,
The sum of the time spent for receiving the print data and the time actually used for printing using the printing mechanism 100 can be used. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this, and the time spent for receiving the print data and the time actually used for printing using the printing mechanism 100 may be measured. In this embodiment, when printing is completed,
The print time measuring unit 173 transmits information on the time spent for the printing to the printer driver of the computer 2 via the communication control unit 174.

Next, the operation of the printing system of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in the present embodiment, the printing system acquires information for identifying a user (S101).
This is to clarify the billing target. The information for identifying the user can be, for example, a user name, a user ID, or the like when the range of the user is limited like a printer in a company. Also, for example,
In the case where payment is settled for each print job, such as when providing print services to unspecified customers, processing is performed to clarify the start of use of the print system, for example, use of the print system Check-in processing for notifying start is performed. The process of acquiring information for identifying a user may be performed after receiving a print command, or may be performed when logging in to a computer.

Upon reading the print data on the application 240 and receiving a print command from the user, the printer driver 250 issues an identifier for the print job (S102). Then, the information for identifying the user acquired in the above processing and the identifier of the print job are stored in association with each other.

Then, the print setting receiving section 254 displays, for example, a print setting screen 500 as shown in FIG. 5 on the display screen of the display device 221 and waits for an instruction from the operator (S1).
03).

When the printer driver 250 receives the click of the print execution button 508 from the operator, the printer driver 250 starts executing the print processing without performing the estimation processing. Specifically, a spool file is created, and a print execution process (S2
01) and a billing process (S107).

On the other hand, when the printer driver 250 receives a click of the charge estimation button 507 from the operator, it performs a charge estimation process prior to the print execution process (S104). Specifically, the print data to be printed is subjected to rasterizing, color conversion, and the like, converted into a data format that can be interpreted by the printer, and stored in the spool file storage unit 252 as a spool file. Note that the process of creating a spool file is also performed when the click of the print execution button 508 is received, as described above.

In this process, the printing ink dot accumulation unit 253 calculates the total number of dots of each ink required for the printing for each ink color as described above.

The charge estimation unit 255 calculates the total number of dots of each ink calculated by the print ink dot accumulation unit 253 and the ink unit price information 260 recorded in the charge calculation amount DB 260.
From 1, the charge amount for the ink consumption of the printing is calculated.

The fee estimating unit 255 refers to the print setting file 270 and acquires the type of paper used for printing and the number of sheets. Then, with reference to the sheet unit price information 2602 recorded in the charge calculation DB 260, an estimated charge for the sheet consumption of the printing is calculated.

Further, the fee estimating unit 255 acquires information necessary for estimating the printing time, for example, the size of the spool file, the paper type, the resolution, the number of prints, and the like by referring to the print setting file 270 and the like. And D for charge calculation
Printing time estimation logic 260 recorded in B260
According to 4, the printing time is estimated. Next, an estimated fee for the printing time of the printing is calculated from the estimated printing time and the time unit price information 2603.

Then, based on these estimation results, the charge estimation unit 255 calculates the estimated charge display screen 600 shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the display device 221. As described above, the estimated charge display screen 600 displays the area 6 for displaying the total estimated charge.
01 and an area 602 for displaying a breakdown of the estimated fee. The estimated charge display screen 600 displays the print setting screen 500 and accepts print settings again, a print setting change button 603, a print execution button 604 for executing printing, and a print cancel button for canceling printing. Button 605.

As described above, the estimated charge is displayed on the display device 22.
By displaying it in 1, the user can know the approximate estimated amount of the fee for the printing before printing. Also,
By displaying the print time estimate, the user can grasp the approximate time required for printing.

When the printer driver 250 receives the click of the print setting change button 603, it displays the print setting screen 500 and accepts the print settings again. By clicking the print setting change button 603, the user can
It is possible to change the print settings such as the resolution and estimate the fee again. Further, when the printer driver 250 receives the click of the print cancel button 605, the printing process is stopped.

On the other hand, when the print execution button 604 is clicked, the printer driver 250 transmits the print data stored in the spool file storage unit 252 to the printer 1 via the communication control unit 230.

The printer 1 having received the print data starts printing (S201). At this time, the printing time measuring unit 173 starts measuring time. When printing is completed,
The printing time measuring unit 173 ends the time measurement, and transmits the measured time to the accounting unit 256 of the printer driver 250. In addition, the ink information management unit 172 calculates the amount of ink (for example, the number of dots) consumed in printing, and uses the calculated amount of ink in the accounting unit 256 of the printer driver 250.
Send to These transmission processes are performed via the communication control unit 174.

The billing processing unit 256 includes the ink information management unit 1
72 and the charge calculation DB 26
From the ink unit price information 2601 recorded in 0, the ink usage fee for the printing is calculated. In addition, billing processing unit 2
Reference numeral 56 refers to the print setting file 270 to acquire the type of paper used for printing and the number of sheets. Then, the paper unit price information 2602 recorded in the fee calculation DB 260
Then, the fee for the paper consumption of the printing is calculated. Further, the charging processing unit 256 includes the print time measurement unit 17
3 and the time unit price information 2603 recorded in the fee calculation DB 260, the fee for the printing time of the printing is calculated.

Then, the charge processing unit 256 displays a charge display screen 700 as shown in FIG. 9 on the display device 221 based on the calculation results. Charge display screen 70
0 has an area 701 for displaying the total of charges and an area 702 for displaying a breakdown of the charges. The fee display screen 700 includes an end button 703 for confirming the fee and ending the printing process.

As described above, by displaying the fee on the display device 221, the user can know the fee. In the case where the fee is settled for each print job, such as when a printing service is provided to an unspecified customer, the settlement process can be performed based on the fee displayed on this screen.

The billing processing unit 256 associates the calculated fee with information for identifying the user and sets the billing information D
Recorded in B261.

In this way, for example, the charges can be totaled for each user or for each department to which the user belongs, and the respective expenses can be calculated.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The first embodiment has described the case where one printer is connected to one computer. In this case, one computer connected to the printer creates data to be sent to the printer, and the computer estimates a fee based on the data and the like. Then, when printing is performed, a billing process is further performed. In the present embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which an independent accounting server is used when a plurality of computers connected to a network use a common printer.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the network of the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, computers 20A, 20B, 20C,
20D is connected to the accounting server 20S and the printer 1 via the network 5. Computer 20A, 20
B, 20C, and 20D are computers for reading print data and performing printing. Hereinafter, the computer will be described using the computer 20A as an example.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the computer 20A. Note that, in the following, since the basic processing contents are the same as those of the first embodiment, differences will be mainly described. Unless there is a particular confusion, the same reference numerals are given to the same functional units as in the first embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the printer driver 350 of the computer 20A has a print management unit 251, a print ink dot accumulation unit 253, and a print setting reception unit 254. That is, from the computer 2 in the first embodiment, the charge estimating unit 255 and the charging processing unit 256
The charge calculation DB 260 and the charge information DB 261 are omitted.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the accounting server 20S. As shown in this figure,
The billing server includes a communication control unit 230 and a charge estimation unit 255
, A charge processing unit 256, a charge calculation DB 260, and a charge information DB 261.

Next, the outline of the processing of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this embodiment, the computer 20A acquires information for identifying a user (S301).
Then, an identifier of the print job is issued (S30).
2). Note that the information for identifying the user and the print job identifier acquired in these processes are included in the information exchanged between the computer 20A, the accounting server 20S, and the printer 1 in the subsequent processes. For this reason, the billing server or the like that has received the information,
It is possible to identify which print job or the like of which computer.

Next, the computer 20A displays a print setting screen and waits for an instruction from the operator (S303). When a charge estimation instruction is received from the operator, a spool file is created, and the total number of dots of each ink required for the printing is calculated for each ink color (S304).

The number of ink dots required for printing and the contents of the print setting file 270 are stored in the communication control unit 2.
30 to the accounting server 20S.

The charge estimation unit 255 of the charging server 20S
A charge estimation process is performed based on the received information (S40).
1) Send the estimation result to the computer 20A.

Computer 20A that has received the estimation result
Displays the estimated charge display screen and presents the estimated amount to the user. Further, when a print execution command is received (S30)
6) Send the spool file to the printer 1.

The printer 1 executes the printing process, and transmits the number of ink dots consumed in printing and the printing time to the accounting server 20S (S501). Note that such information may be transmitted to the charging server 20S via the computer 20A.

The accounting server 20S, which has received the number of ink dots consumed in printing and the printing time, sets the charge calculation DB 2
Referring to 60, a fee is calculated. Then, while transmitting the calculated fee information to the computer 20A,
Information and the like for identifying the user are recorded in the charging information DB 261 in association with each other.

By doing so, the charge server 20A can collectively perform the charge estimation processing and the charge processing for printing on the computer connected to the network.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the printing time is measured by the printer 1 (S201, S501), but may be measured by the computer 2. In this case, for example, the printing time is measured on the computer side by monitoring status information of the printer notified from the printer 1 to the computer.

In the above embodiment, the consumables are
Although the amount of ink and the number of sheets of printing paper were taken as examples, the present invention
It is not limited to these. For example, the amount of toner, the amount of ink ribbon, and the length of paper in the case of continuous paper can be used.

[0083]

As described above, according to the present invention, accounting can be performed in consideration of the occupation time of the printer. Further, according to the present invention, when charging for the consumption of consumables and charging in consideration of the occupation time of the printer, the user can know the approximate charge before executing printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a hardware system used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing a functional configuration realized by a computer main body in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a functional configuration realized by a printer in the first embodiment; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a printing mechanism of the printer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage element mounted on an ink cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen 500 displayed on the display screen of the display device 221 by the print setting receiving unit 254.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing that the charge estimating unit 255 is displayed on the display device 22;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an estimated charge display screen 600 displayed on the first display screen.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of information stored in a fee calculation DB.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the printing system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example in which the billing processing unit 256 is connected to the display device 22.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a fee display screen 700 displayed on a first display screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network in which a plurality of computers, a billing server, and a printer are connected.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration realized by a computer 20A in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration realized by a charging server 20S in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the printing system according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer 100 ... Printing mechanism 160 ... Printing control part 161 ... CPU 162 ... ROM 163 ... RAM 164 ... I / F 165 ... EEPROM 166 ... I / F 167 ... Operation panel 171 ... Printing mechanism control part 172 ... Ink information management part 174 communication control unit 2 computer 200 computer main unit 201 CPU 202 ROM 203 RAM 209 P / I / F 221 display device 222 keyboard 230 communication control unit 240 application 250 printer driver 251 printing Management unit 252 Spool file storage unit 253 Printing ink dot integration unit 254 Print setting reception unit 255 Charge estimation unit 256 Charge processing unit 260 Charge calculation DB 261 Charge information DB 270 Print setting file 310 CD -ROM 32 0: Flexible disk 400: Storage element 5: Network

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A printer system for charging for print processing, comprising: means for measuring a print time; means for calculating a charge for a printer use time based on the measured print time; and use of the calculated printer. Means for displaying a fee for time. 2. A printer system for charging for a printing process, comprising: means for measuring a printing time; means for obtaining an amount of consumables used for printing; and use of the printer based on the measured printing time. Means for calculating a charge for time, means for calculating a charge for the use of consumables based on the amount of consumables obtained, a charge for the calculated use time of the printer, And a means for displaying a printer. 3. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein: a unit for generating information for identifying a print process to be charged; and a charge for the calculated use time of the printer. And a means for storing in association with the printer system. 4. A method for charging for a printing process, comprising: a step of measuring a printing time; a step of calculating a fee for a printer usage time based on the measured printing time; And displaying a charge for the billing method. 5. A process for obtaining a printing time from a connected printer, a process for calculating a fee for the printer usage time based on the obtained printing time, and outputting fee information for the calculated printer usage time. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the processing is recorded. 6. A print control apparatus for generating print data to be output to a printer, comprising: storage means for storing information defining the relationship between the amount of consumables used for printing and a fee; Means for acquiring the amount of consumables necessary for printing, and means for calculating an estimated fee for the amount of consumables used for printing based on the acquired amount of consumables and information stored in the storage unit. Means for outputting estimated charge information for the calculated amount of consumables. 7. A print control apparatus for generating print data to be output to a printer, comprising: storage means for storing information defining a relationship between a print time and a charge; and a print time based on the generated print data. Estimating means, means for calculating an estimated fee for the printing time based on the estimated printing time and information stored in the storage means, and means for outputting estimated fee information for the calculated printing time. Printing control device. 8. A fee estimating device for estimating a fee for a printing process, comprising: storage means for storing information defining a relationship between the amount of consumables used for printing and the fee; and the amount of consumables required for printing. Means for obtaining an estimated charge for the amount of consumables to be used for printing based on the obtained amount of consumables and information stored in the storage means, and the calculated consumables. Means for outputting estimated charge information for the amount of the information via a network. 9. A method for estimating a fee for a printing process, the method comprising: obtaining, for print data to be output to a printer, an amount of consumables necessary for printing; Based on information that defines the relationship between the amount of consumables used for
A charge estimating method comprising: calculating an estimated charge for an amount of consumables used for printing; and outputting estimated charge information for the calculated amount of consumables. 10. A process for generating print data to be output to a printer, means for acquiring the amount of consumables necessary for printing with respect to the generated print data, Based on the rules governing the relationship between the amount of consumables used and the price,
A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process of calculating an estimated charge for the amount of consumables used for printing and a process of outputting estimated charge information for the calculated amount of consumables.