JP2006224514A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which gives an effective security effect by allowing users to certainly receive applicable printing jobs of which the printing is finished even when a plurality of users come to receive the printing jobs and allows the users to recognize which jobs belong to the users even when the printing jobs from the users concentrate on a printer. <P>SOLUTION: Users add their own ID No. information to specified positions of printing jobs by using a printer driver or the like, the printer 31 ejects paper to a special ejected paper tray 21 when there is ID No. information in the specified positions of the printing jobs, the printer recognizes ID card information of the users when the users come to receive the printing jobs. By showing the users the applicable special paper tray 21, the printer allows the users to receive printing jobs the users require. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer having a general paper discharge tray and a plurality of special paper discharge trays accessible only by a specific user.

  From the viewpoint of security, there is a problem in discharging a confidential print job to one discharge tray accessible to everyone. In addition, when print jobs from multiple users are concentrated on a printer connected to a network that has only one main output tray, these print jobs accumulate in one output tray, and which prints It was very difficult to identify which user the user was from.

JP 2000-020266 A

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-224922

  The problem to be solved is that, from a security point of view, a confidential print job is discharged to a single discharge tray accessible to everyone, and a plurality of users connected to the network can print a print job at once. If these print jobs are accumulated in one paper discharge tray, it becomes impossible to identify which one has been printed.

  The user uses a printer driver or the like to specify his / her ID No. at the designated position of the print job. Information is added, and the printer displays the ID No. at the designated location of the print job. If there is information, it will be ejected to the special paper ejection tray, and if the user comes to pick up the print job, the printer will recognize the user's ID card information and make sure that the special special paper ejection tray is shown to the user The receiving user can receive the desired print job.

  According to the present invention, even when a plurality of users come to obtain a print job, an effective effect on security can be obtained by ensuring that the corresponding print job printed by the user can be received. Further, even if print jobs from a plurality of users are concentrated on the printer, it is possible to recognize which job belongs to each user without mixing them.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples.

  FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the printer of the present invention. 1 is a portable ID card, 2 is a transmission antenna, 3 is a reception antenna, 4 is a transmission unit, 5 is a reception unit, 6 is a control unit, 7 is a display unit, 8 is a switch, 9 is a reception antenna, and 10 is a transmission antenna , 11 is a reception unit, 12 is a transmission unit, 13 is a network transmission / reception unit, 14 is a network, 15 is a personal computer, 16 is an overall control unit, 17 is a discharge tray control unit, 18 is a general discharge tray, and 19 is a card. Reader, 20 is paper sensor and stopper, 21 is special paper discharge tray, 22 is LED, 23 is paper sensor and stopper, 24 is special paper discharge tray, 25 is LED, 26 is paper sensor and stopper, 27 is special paper discharge Tray 28 is an LED, 29 is a special paper discharge tray unit, 30 is a paper discharge tray section, and 31 is a printer.

  When a user prints an arbitrary document or the like from the personal computer 15 and the user wants to receive paper from the special paper discharge tray unit 29, the job is to be printed using a printer driver or the like installed in the personal computer 15 in advance. User ID No. Add information. Usually, ID No. Considering the case where the information exists in a plurality of locations in the job, it is assumed that the information is added to a designated location (for example, a sheet header portion). If the general paper discharge tray 18 is acceptable, this ID No. Printing is performed without adding information. The following is an example in which paper is discharged to a special paper discharge tray.

  A print job is transmitted to the network transmission / reception unit 13 of the printer 31 via the network 14, and the print data is then transmitted to the overall control unit 16. The user ID No. is assigned to the designated location of the job received by the overall control unit 16. Determine whether information is added. If it is not added, it is discharged to the general discharge tray 18, and if it is added, the discharge tray control unit 17 confirms whether one or more of the discharge trays of the special discharge tray unit 29 are empty. The empty state of the special paper discharge tray unit 29 is always managed by the paper discharge tray control unit 17. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the special paper discharge tray, paper sensor, stopper, and LED provided in the special paper discharge tray unit 29 are three sets. In some cases, N sets may be provided.

  When one or more special paper discharge trays are not vacant in the above confirmation work, the overall control unit 16 sends “the special paper discharge trays are crowded” to the portable ID card 1 via the transmission unit 12 and the transmission antenna 10. Is it discharged to the general paper discharge tray? Message information “Yes” or “No” is transmitted. The portable ID card 1 that has received the message information at the receiving antenna 3 and the receiving unit 5 analyzes the message information at the control unit 6 and causes the display unit 7 to display the message. According to this message, when the user performs an operation corresponding to “Yes” with the switch 8, the print job is discharged to the general discharge tray 18, and the operation corresponding to “No” is performed with the switch 8. Check again if one or more special paper discharge trays are available.

  When one or more special paper discharge trays are available, the paper discharge tray control unit 17 reports to the overall control unit 16 that the print job has been discharged to the special paper discharge tray as soon as it is discharged to an empty special paper discharge tray. To do. Upon receiving this report, the overall control unit 16 transmits a message “A printed job has been discharged to the special discharge tray” to the transmission unit 12, and sends a message to the portable ID card 1 via the transmission antenna 10. Send. This message is received by the receiving unit 5 via the receiving antenna 3 and transmitted to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 displays the message transmitted from the printer 31 on the display unit 7. The user confirms the message “The printed job has been discharged to the special paper discharge tray” and goes to the printer 31 to get a print job. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the special paper discharge tray from which the job is discharged is the special paper discharge tray 21. Here, in general, the printer 31 is shared by a plurality of specific users on the network 14, and the number of special paper discharge trays provided in the special paper discharge tray unit is 1 to 5, at most about 10. Therefore, it is timed after the user's print job is discharged to the special discharge tray, and if the user does not receive the job after a certain period of time, it is discharged to the general discharge tray 18. . In this embodiment, this time is 30 minutes. It should be noted that this time can be set within a range determined by the user.

  If it has not been 30 minutes since the print job was discharged to the special paper discharge tray 21, the portable ID card 1 is brought into contact with the card reader 19 in the special paper discharge tray unit 29 of the printer 31. User ID information printed on the card 1 in advance is transmitted to the paper discharge tray control unit 17 via the card reader 19. The paper discharge tray control unit 17 turns on the LED 22 provided in the special paper discharge tray 21 from which the print job corresponding to the user ID information of the portable ID card 1 is discharged, and releases the paper stopper of the paper sensor and the stopper 20. . The user receives his / her printed job from the special paper discharge tray 21 whose LED 22 is lit. Whether the user has removed the job is checked by the paper sensor and the paper sensor of the stopper 20 and reported to the paper discharge tray control unit 17. The paper discharge tray control unit 17 reports to the overall control unit 16 that the corresponding user has received the print job. Receiving this report, the overall control unit 16 transmits a message “Your printed job has been received” to the transmission unit 12 and transmits the message to the portable ID card 1 via the transmission antenna 10. This message is received by the receiving unit 5 via the receiving antenna 3 and transmitted to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 displays the message transmitted from the printer 31 on the display unit 7. The user confirms the message “Your print job has been received by you”.

  Next, printer processing will be described with reference to FIG. In step 101, the user's ID No. is entered from the printer driver on the personal computer. Print the job with the information added. In step 102, the user ID No. Determine if the information is to be printed at the specified location. If it is determined that printing is not performed at the designated location, step 103 is performed, and the job is discharged to the general discharge tray 18. If it is determined that printing is performed at the designated location, it is then determined in step 104 whether one or more special paper discharge trays are available. If it is determined that one or more are not available, step 105 is performed, and the user's mobile ID card 1 reads “A special discharge tray is crowded. Do you want to output to the general discharge tray 18?“ Yes ”or“ “No” ”is displayed. If the user performs an operation corresponding to “Yes” from the portable ID card 1 in step 106, the process is performed in step 107 and the job is discharged to the general paper discharge tray 18. If the user performs an operation corresponding to “No” from the portable ID card 1 in step 106, the availability of the special paper discharge tray is determined again in step 104.

  If it is determined in step 104 that one or more special paper discharge trays are available, step 108 is executed to discharge the job to an empty special paper discharge tray, and at the same time, “printed job” is printed on the user's portable ID card 1. Is ejected to the special output tray ”. In step 109, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the job was discharged to the special discharge tray. If it is determined that the specified time has passed, step 110 is performed, and the paper is discharged to the general paper discharge tray. At the same time, it is discharged to the user's mobile ID card 1 because it has been discharged to the general paper discharge tray. Is displayed. If it is within the prescribed time, it is determined in step 111 whether the user has brought the portable ID card 1 close to the card reader 19. If it is determined that they are not approaching, it is determined again in step 109 whether a prescribed time has elapsed. If it is determined that the portable ID card 1 is close to the card reader 19, step 112 is performed, the user ID information of the portable ID card 1 is read, the LED of the corresponding special discharge tray is turned on, and the paper stopper is released. .

  Next, in step 113, it is determined whether the user has removed the print job. If it is determined that it has not been removed yet, it is determined in step 114 whether a specified time (for example, 3 minutes) has elapsed. If it is determined that it has elapsed, step 115 is performed, and the print job is discharged to the general discharge tray 18. At the same time, the user's portable ID card 1 is displayed as “The paper has been discharged to the general paper discharge tray 18 because the specified time has been exceeded”. If it is determined that the specified time has not elapsed, it is determined again in step 113 whether the user has removed the print job. If it is determined that it has been removed, step 116 is performed to display "Your user has received the printed job" on the user's mobile ID card.

  The present invention is widely applicable to home appliances in general. For example, in the case of FAX or the like, efficiency can be achieved by notifying a mobile ID card when a FAX arrives from the other party. Also, when recording a program or the like on an AV device or the like, it is possible to check the current situation (for example, the end of recording, etc.) using the ID card even if the user leaves the seat. In the case of a refrigerator, it is considered possible to notify the user's ID card when information such as the expiration date of food is entered into the refrigerator and the refrigerator recognizes it and the deadline approaches or expires.

It is a block diagram which shows the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable ID card 2 Transmitting antenna 3 Transmitting antenna 4 Transmitting part 5 Receiving part 6 Control part 7 Display part 8 Switch 9 Receiving antenna 10 Transmitting antenna 11 Receiving part 12 Transmitting part 13 Network transmission / reception part 14 Network 15 Personal computer 16 Overall control part 17 Paper discharge tray control unit 18 General paper discharge tray 19 Card reader 20 Paper sensor and stopper 21 Special paper discharge tray 22 LED
23 Paper sensor and stopper 24 Special paper output tray 25 LED
26 Paper sensor and stopper 27 Special paper output tray 28 LED
29 Special output tray unit 30 Output tray unit 31 Printer

Claims (1)

A transmitter for transmitting various signals to the printer, a receiver for receiving signals from the printer, an ID card having a switch and a display, a receiver for various signals transmitted from the ID card, and the status of itself In a printer equipped with a transmission unit and an operator panel for reporting, the ID No. Means for adding information and user ID No. Means for discharging a print job to which information is added to a special discharge tray having N stages different from a normal discharge tray; and a job printed by the user on the ID card is transferred to the special discharge tray. A means for notifying that the paper has been discharged and that the user has surely received the print job by bringing his / her ID card close to the card reader in the special paper discharge tray. The LED provided on the special paper discharge tray is lit, the stopper that locks the print job is released, and the user prints out the job printed by the user from the special paper discharge tray. A printer characterized by transmitting a signal.

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