JP2009003860A - Printing system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system capable of shortening time from a printing request to a printing start and a program for making the printing system execute steps from the printing request to the printing start. <P>SOLUTION: The printing system 100 is provided with an information processor 101 and a printer 123. The information processor 101 generates print data. The printer 123 is connected to the information processor 101, has a hard disk 116 that can temporarily store the print data received from the information processor 101 and executes printing on the basis of the print data. When receiving an input operation from a user for generating the print data, the information processor 101 transmits a command to rotate a spindle motor of the hard disk 116 to the printer 123, and the printer 123 rotates the spindle motor after receiving the command. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that performs printing data generation to printing processing and a program used in the printing system.

  Recent printing apparatuses are equipped with a print data spool and a hard disk for temporarily storing the print data after the print data analysis.

  The hard disk has an active state, an idle state, a standby state, and a sleep state. The active state is a state in which the spindle motor that drives the hard disk is rotating and the hard disk is being read or written. The idle state is a state in which the spindle motor is rotating and can immediately shift to the active state. The standby state is a state where the spindle motor is completely stopped. The sleep state is a state where the spindle motor is completely stopped and the power supply is also stopped.

  When the power of the printing apparatus is turned on, power is also supplied to the hard disk, and the sleep state is shifted to the standby state. If printing is attempted from this state, the hard disk cannot be used until the spindle motor of the hard disk reaches a predetermined rotation speed, thereby extending the time until printing starts.

  To solve this problem, measures are taken to reduce the time until the start of printing by shifting from the sleep state to the idle state when the power of the printing apparatus is turned on, and always making the hard disk available. .

  However, an increase in the rotation time of the spindle motor of the hard disk causes problems such as an increase in power consumption and a shortened life of the hard disk.

Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which a hard disk is shifted to an idle state after a print request is issued from the information processing apparatus to the hard disk (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-31423 A

  However, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1, since the hard disk is shifted to an idle state after a print request is made, when the printing apparatus has received print data, the hard disk has not yet shifted to the idle state. In some cases, it takes time to start printing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can shorten the time from a print request to the start of printing and a program that causes the printing system to execute steps from the print request to the start of printing.

  The printing system of the present invention includes an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus. The information processing apparatus generates print data. The printing apparatus has a hard disk connected to the information processing apparatus and capable of temporarily storing print data received from the information processing apparatus, and executes printing based on the print data.

  The information processing apparatus transmits a command to rotate the spindle motor of the hard disk to the printing apparatus when receiving an input operation from the user for generating print data, and the printing apparatus rotates the spindle motor after receiving the command.

  In this configuration, since the spindle motor is rotated when an input operation is received from the user, the hard disk is in an idle state when a print request is made.

  In this configuration, the information processing apparatus monitors the rotation speed of the spindle motor in the printing apparatus, and if the spindle motor is less than a predetermined rotation speed when receiving an input operation from the user for generating print data, Is preferably transmitted to the printing apparatus. By transmitting a command when the spindle motor is less than a predetermined rotation speed, the hard disk is shifted to an idle state when a print request is made.

  Further, the information processing apparatus sends a command for stopping the rotation of the spindle motor to the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus does not access the hard disk for a predetermined time after receiving the command or when the predetermined time elapses after the access to the hard disk ends. The printing apparatus preferably stops the spindle motor after receiving the command. By stopping the rotation of the spindle motor, power consumption is reduced and the life of the hard disk is extended.

  The program according to the present invention is used in a printing system including a printing apparatus and an information processing apparatus. The printing apparatus includes a hard disk. The information processing apparatus is connected to the printing apparatus.

  When the information processing apparatus accepts an input operation from a user for generating print data, the program of the present invention sends a command for rotating a spindle motor of a hard disk provided in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus. Causing the printing system to execute the step of transmitting and the step of rotating the spindle motor after the printing apparatus receives the command.

  In the printing system according to the present invention, the hard disk is shifted to the idle state at the time of a print request, so the time from the print request to the start of printing can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, a printing system and a program used in the printing system according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing system 100 includes a computer 101 and a printer 123. The computer 101 corresponds to the information processing apparatus of the present invention. The printer 123 corresponds to the printing apparatus of the present invention. The computer 101 includes a CPU 102, RAM 103, ROM 104, HDD 105, system bus 106, keyboard controller 107, display controller 108, printer controller 109, keyboard 110, display 111, and interface 112. The printer 123 includes a CPU 113, RAM 114, ROM 115, HDD 116, system bus 117, input unit 118, print data analysis unit 119, printing unit interface 120, printer engine 121, operation panel 122, and operation panel controller 124.

  The CPU 102 executes document processing in which graphics, images, documents, and the like are mixed based on a program stored in the ROM 104. The CPU 102 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 106.

  The RAM 103 is used as a working area for the CPU 102.

  The HDD 105 stores print data and the like in the computer 101.

  The keyboard controller 107 converts an input from the user to the keyboard 110 into a signal and sends the signal to the CPU 102.

  The display controller 108 controls display on the display 111.

  The printer controller 109 is connected to the printer 123 through the interface 112 and communicates with the input unit 118.

  The CPU 113 generally controls each device connected to the system bus 117 based on a program stored in the ROM 115.

  The RAM 114 is used as a working area for the CPU 113.

  The HDD 116 stores print data spools and analyzed print data.

  The input unit 118 receives communication from the computer 101.

  The print data analysis unit 119 reads the print data from the HDD 116 and analyzes the data.

  The print unit interface 120 transmits the data analyzed by the print data analysis unit 119 to the printer engine 121 as appropriate.

  The operation panel controller 124 controls display on the operation panel 122.

  2A and 2B are schematic diagrams of screens for performing pre-rotation setting of the printer HDD. The user can set validity / invalidity of the pre-rotation setting of the HDD 116 and a printer for performing pre-rotation on the screens 401 and 402.

  FIG. 2A is a screen for selecting whether to enable the pre-rotation setting of the HDD 116. When selection is made to perform pre-rotation on the screen 401, the screen is switched to the screen 402.

  FIG. 2B is a diagram switched from FIG.

  An item 403 is an item for selecting a printer that performs pre-rotation of the HDD 116. A list of printers installed by the user is displayed, from which a printer to be pre-rotated can be selected.

  An item 404 is an item for selecting whether to pre-rotate the HDD 116 when an application for performing direct printing is started. A list of direct print applications installed by the user is displayed together with check boxes, and an application for pre-rotating the HDD 116 is selected.

  An item 405 is an item for selecting whether to pre-rotate the HDD 116 at the time of WEB push printing.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart in which the input unit 118 monitors the presence or absence of a rotation start command from the computer 101 to the HDD 116 and stops the rotation of the HDD 116 if there is no command for a certain period.

  The input unit 118 determines whether the pre-rotation setting of the HDD 116 is valid (S301). If it is not enabled, the process is terminated. When it is valid, the counter value is cleared (S302).

  Next, the input unit 118 monitors the presence / absence of a rotation command to the HDD 116 (S303). The rotation command corresponds to a command for rotating the spindle motor of the present invention. If there is a rotation command, the counter value is cleared (S305), and the process ends. If there is no rotation command, the counter value is incremented (S304).

  The input unit 118 determines whether or not the counter value has reached a certain value (S306). If the predetermined value is reached, the computer 101 issues a stop command for the HDD 116 and terminates the processing, assuming that there is no rotation command to the HDD 116 for a certain time (S307). The stop command corresponds to a command for stopping the rotation of the spindle motor of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart when the pre-rotation setting of the printer HDD is enabled.

  The printer controller 109 monitors whether the printer driver for which the user has enabled the pre-rotation setting is activated (S201). The state in which the printer driver is activated corresponds to the time when an input operation is received from the user for generating the print data of the present invention. If activated, it is confirmed whether the HDD 116 is in an idle state (S204).

  If the printer driver is not activated, the printer controller 109 monitors whether the user has opened the WEB page built in the printer and set the WEB page push print (S202). If the setting state is detected, it is confirmed whether the HDD 116 is in an idle state (S204).

  If the web page push print setting is not detected, the printer controller 109 monitors whether an application having a direct printing function is activated (S203). If the application is activated, it is confirmed whether the HDD 116 is in an idle state (S204). If the application is not activated, the process returns to S201.

  If the HDD 116 is not in the idle state in S204, that is, if the spindle motor in the present invention is less than the predetermined rotation speed, the computer 101 issues a rotation command to the HDD 116 (S205). If the HDD 116 is idle in S204, the process of S205 is not performed.

  The printer controller 109 monitors whether the user has issued a print start command (S206). If the user is setting printing with a driver or the like and the print start command is not issued, the printer controller 109 monitors whether the HDD 116 is in an idle state (S207). If the HDD 116 is idle, the process returns to S206 again. When a predetermined time has elapsed since the issuance of the rotation command to the HDD 116 and the HDD 116 is not in the idle state, the computer 101 issues the rotation command to the HDD 116 again (S205).

  When the print start command is issued, the printer controller 109 generates print data (S208). The printer controller 109 inquires of the input unit 118 whether or not the generated print data can be transmitted (S209). When transmission is not possible, monitoring is performed until transmission is possible. When transmission is possible, the printer controller 109 starts transmission of print data (S210).

  The input unit 118 starts receiving print data (S211). Next, the input unit 118 starts spooling the received data to the HDD 116 (S212, 213). At this time, since the HDD 116 is in an idle state, spooling to the HDD 116 can be started with a shorter waiting time than conventional.

  The print data analysis unit 119 reads the spooled data from the HDD 116 (S214), analyzes the print data, and develops the print data in a state where it can be printed (S215). The print unit interface 120 receives the print data from the print data analysis unit 119 and sends the data to the printer engine 121 as appropriate to obtain a print output (S216).

  In FIGS. 3 and 4, a program for executing each step may be assembled in advance and controlled by the program.

  Finally, the description of the above-described embodiment is to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a schematic view of a screen for performing a pre-rotation setting of the HDD of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart for stopping a spindle motor of an HDD of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart when the pre-rotation setting of the HDD of the printer according to the embodiment of the invention is validated.

Explanation of symbols

100-printing system 101-computer (information processing apparatus)
116-HDD (hard disk)
123-Printer (printing device)

Claims (4)

An information processing device for generating print data;
A printing apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus, having a hard disk capable of temporarily storing print data received from the information processing apparatus, and executing printing based on the print data;
With
The information processing apparatus transmits a command to rotate the spindle motor of the hard disk to the printing apparatus when receiving an input operation from a user for generating print data,
The printing system, wherein the printing apparatus rotates the spindle motor after receiving the command.   The information processing apparatus monitors the rotation speed of the spindle motor in the printing apparatus, and when the spindle motor is less than a predetermined rotation speed when receiving an input operation from a user for generating print data, The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a command is transmitted to the printing apparatus. The information processing device is a command for stopping the rotation of the spindle motor when the printing device has not received the hard disk for a predetermined time after receiving the command or when the predetermined time has elapsed after the access to the hard disk is completed. To the printing device,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus stops the spindle motor after receiving the command. A printing device with a hard disk;
An information processing apparatus connected to the printing apparatus;
A program for use in a printing system comprising:
When the information processing apparatus accepts an input operation from a user for generating print data, the information processing apparatus transmits a command to rotate the spindle motor of the hard disk provided in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus. Step to
Rotating the spindle motor after the printing device receives the command;
That causes the printing system to execute.

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