JP2002318674A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically select a printer capable of printing fastest or a printer capable of reducing power consumption most when a computer selects a printer in a printer system with which a plurality of printers are connected. SOLUTION: In the printer system with which the computer and the plurality of printers are mutually connected via a network, the time (warm up time) required for start are acquired from each of the plurality of printers connected with the network (S4) and the printer with the shortest time required for the start is automatically selected (S7, S8). In addition, when the printer with the lowest power consumption exists, it is automatically selected (S9, S10).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer system in which a plurality of computers and a printer device are connected to each other via a network. The present invention relates to a printer system that automatically selects a printer device that can reduce power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printing environment via a network, systems for reducing the printing load of each printer device and recovering errors have already been marketed. Also, in order to reduce the load on the printer device and speed up printing, an invention as described in JP-A-2000-78345 has been proposed. However, these methods aim at shortening the printing time, but are based on the assumption that the printing capabilities of the connected devices are almost the same, and no consideration is given to the power consumption required for printing. Not.

In general, a laser printer uses a fixing roller to fix toner on paper.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 14324, a large-sized fixing device is required to stabilize the fixing temperature in order to realize high-speed printing, and the start-up until printing starts with the enlargement of the fixing device. Time required (warm-up time)
Not only requires a lot of time, but also consumes much power at startup.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and the invention of claim 1 starts up from each of a plurality of printers connected to a network. The time required for printing (warm-up time) is acquired, and the printer that is already in a printable state is used, or the printer that requires the shortest time to start up is automatically selected, so that the time required for printing is reduced and consumed. An object is to enable a reduction in power.

[0005] Further, currently marketed devices provide information on each energy saving state on a network (Pr
inter MIB (Management Information Base)) does not provide information on the startup time at the time of printing by the printer device. Therefore, according to the invention of claim 2, by registering the estimated start-up time of each printer device in a computer in advance, even in a device in which the time required for start-up is not obtained from the printer device, the invention of claim 1 and It is intended to realize a similar function.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, by acquiring power consumption information from a printer device, a printer device having low power consumption is automatically selected for a printed material that does not require high-speed printing or a printed material with a small number of pages. By doing so, the object is to reduce the amount of power required for printing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when power consumption information cannot be directly obtained from a printer, a printer with low power consumption is automatically registered based on the power consumption of each printer registered in a host computer in advance. It is another object of the present invention to realize the same function as that of the third aspect of the present invention by appropriately selecting the function.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and the first technical means is to connect a computer and a plurality of printers to each other via a network. A printer system for automatically selecting one of the plurality of printer devices by the computer, and automatically selecting one of the plurality of printer devices according to the content of processing performed by the computer; The apparatus is characterized in that the estimated start-up time is obtained from the apparatus, and based on the estimated start-up time, a printer apparatus that can start printing the earliest is selected.

The second technical means connects a computer and a plurality of printer devices to each other via a network,
In the printer system, wherein the computer specifies to automatically select any one of the plurality of printers, and automatically selects any of the plurality of printers according to the content of processing performed by the computer, the plurality of printers Further, each energy-saving state is obtained, and a printer device that can start printing the earliest is selected based on the estimated start-up time in the energy-saving state registered in the computer in advance.

The third technical means connects a computer and a plurality of printers to each other via a network,
In the printer system, wherein the computer specifies to automatically select any one of the plurality of printers, and automatically selects any of the plurality of printers according to the content of processing performed by the computer, the plurality of printers More specifically, power consumption information is acquired, and a printer device requiring the least power consumption is selected based on the power consumption information.

A fourth technical means connects a computer and a plurality of printer devices to each other via a network,
In the printer system in which the computer specifies to automatically select any of the plurality of printers and automatically selects any of the plurality of printers according to the content of the processing performed by the computer, the printer is registered in the computer in advance. A printer device requiring the least power consumption is selected based on the power consumption information of the plurality of printers.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a printer system according to the present invention. The personal computers 11, 12 and the printer devices 21, 22, 23 are connected via a network N such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Here, it is assumed that usable printer devices are registered in the host computer (personal computer) in advance, but all printers searched on the network may be used.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed in the printer system shown in FIG. Less than,
An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. When a print command is issued by a user using a personal computer as a host computer, it is determined whether or not a printer to be used by the host computer is automatically selected (step 1). If so, printing is performed by the printer device specified by the user (step 2). In step 1, if the user has selected automatic selection of a printer, a process (paper size, paper size,
A printer device capable of performing double-sided printing, post-processing, etc.) is searched (step 3). As the search information, there are a case where the search information is obtained each time from the printer device and a case where it is registered in the host computer in advance.

If there is a printer capable of printing, device information such as an energy saving state, a rise time, an amount of power consumption, and a printing speed (PPM value) is obtained from each printer (step 4). . These information are registered in the host computer in advance, and the PrinterMI
The estimated time required for starting up may be calculated based on the information on the energy saving state obtained in B.
4).

For a job having a large total number of printed pages, a printer device having a short total time required for printing can reduce the power consumption. Further, the occupation time of the printer device is shortened, which is preferable as a network printer used by a plurality of users. Therefore, in step 5, a printer device with a high printing speed is selected based on the printing speed acquired in step 4 based on the total number of printed pages of the job, and printing is performed (step 6). The total number of printed pages of a job may be determined by automatically investigating the contents of the job or by the user, but any method may be used.

In step 5, for a job having a small total number of printed pages, the process proceeds to step 7, where the printer to be used is selected according to the rise time of the printer, and printing is performed (step 8). This is because the power consumption for raising the fixing device from the standby state to the printing state is much larger than the power consumption for raising the fixing device from the energy saving state to the printing state, and the reduction of the total printing time is reduced. This is because it can be performed (claims 1 and 2).

If it is determined in step 7 that there is no printer device having a short rise time, the process proceeds to step 9 and, based on the device information acquired in step 4, it is determined whether there is a printer device with low power consumption (step 9). If there is a printer device that consumes less power, a printer device that consumes less power is selected and printing is performed (step 10).
If there is no printer device with low power consumption in step 9, a printable printer device is selected and printing is performed (step 11). Further, the system of the invention according to claims 3 and 4 performs the determination of step 9 instead of the processing of step 7. In this case, printing is performed with priority given to reduction in power consumption.

[0018]

According to the printer system of the first aspect, since the device capable of printing at the earliest can be automatically selected, the user operation can be reduced, and a printer device having a short rise time (warm-up time) can be used. Can also achieve power saving.

According to the printer system of the second aspect, it is not necessary to acquire information on the estimated start-up time from the printer device necessary for achieving the effect of the printer system of the first aspect, and it is based on the information of the energy saving state. Thus, the same function as that of the first aspect can be achieved without significantly modifying the currently used printer system.

In the printer system according to the third aspect, since the printer device requiring the least power consumption can be automatically selected, the power consumption of the entire system can be reduced.

According to the printer system of the fourth aspect, it is not necessary to obtain power consumption information from the printer device necessary to achieve the effect of the printer system of the third aspect.
Based on the power consumption information registered in the computer in advance, it is possible to achieve the same function as that of the third aspect of the present invention without significantly modifying the currently used printer system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed in the printer system shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 12 ... personal computer, 21, 22, 2
3 ... Printer device, N ... Network.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A computer and a plurality of printers are connected to each other via a network, and the computer designates one of the plurality of printers to be automatically selected. In the printer system for automatically selecting any one of the printer devices, an estimated start-up time is obtained from the plurality of printer devices, and based on the estimated start-up time, a printer device that can start printing the earliest. A printer system characterized by selecting. 2. A computer and a plurality of printers are connected to each other via a network, the computer designates automatic selection of any of the plurality of printers, and the plurality of printers are designated according to the content of processing performed by the computer. In a printer system that automatically selects any one of the printer devices, acquiring the respective energy-saving states from the plurality of printer devices, based on the estimated startup time in the energy-saving state registered in advance in the computer, A printer system characterized by selecting a printer device that can start printing the earliest. 3. A computer and a plurality of printers are connected to each other via a network, the computer designates automatic selection of one of the plurality of printers, and the plurality of printers are designated according to the content of processing performed by the computer. In the printer system for automatically selecting any one of the printer devices, acquiring power consumption information from the plurality of printer devices, and selecting a printer device that requires the least power consumption based on the power consumption information. A printer system. 4. A computer and a plurality of printers are connected to each other via a network, and the computer designates automatic selection of any one of the plurality of printers. A printer system that automatically selects one of the printer devices, wherein a printer device that requires the least power consumption is selected based on power consumption information of the plurality of printers registered in advance in the computer. A printer system characterized by the above-mentioned.